StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six musicians to watch in 2021

As the new year begins, no one is sure exactly when live music will resume on a widespread, regular basis or when touring artists will be able to start traveling again. We can, however, still keep an eye and ear on some of the jazz artists who seem likely to be influential over the next 12 months. So let's take a look at some performances from six musicians who made news in the year just ended and are poised for even bigger things in 2021.

First up is Nubya Garcia, whose most recent album Source showed up on a lot of critics' year-end "best of" lists for 2020. The London-based saxophonist and her band are seen here performing a mini-set for NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts at Soup Studio, a recording facility built on a decommissioned floating lighthouse that's moored on the River Thames in London. It's also where Garcia recorded Source, and this set features three songs from the record.

After the jump, you can see a set by drummer, producer and "beat scientist" Makaya McCraven, performing with his band in August 2019 at the Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland. McCraven in 2020 released Universal Beings E&F Sides, an extension of his critically-acclaimed 2018 album Universal Beings, which the New York Times said "affirms the drummer and beatsmith's position as a major figure in creative music."

Next up is another Londoner, saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, who is seen here with Sons of Kemet, one of three bands he leads, in a set recorded live in March 2019 at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN.

That's followed by a set by the most-talked about young vibraphonist in jazz, Joel Ross. This clip was recorded in August 2020 at the Arts Center at Duck Creek in upstate New York, with Melissa Aldana on tenor saxophone, Matt Brewer on bass and Craig Weinrib on drums.

The fifth video features another up-and-coming saxophonist, Immanuel Wilkins, who debut album Omega, released in August by Blue Note, earned much positive attention from critics and fans alike. Wilkins and his quartet are seen here in a show recorded in November 2019 at the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Today's sixth and final video features trumpeter Theo Croker, who's been around since the mid-2000s, but has enjoyed favorable buzz recently thanks to his 2019 album Star People Nation and the EP Understand Yourself, which came out last year. The video was recorded in June 2019 at Paste Studio in NYC.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Sunday Session: November 1, 2020

Sun Ra Arkestra

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Artist Feature: Hasan Shahid and the Return of Al-Fatihah (JazzRightNow.com)
* Happy 80th Eddie Henderson! (London Jazz News)
* How the Shure SM57 became an industry standard microphone – from presidential duties to pop (MusicRadar.com)
* Joni Mitchell: 'I'm a fool for love. I make the same mistake over and over' (The Guardian)
* EXCLUSIVE: John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan Discuss Music, Legacy and Beyond (RollingStoneIndia.com)
* On Performing Fluxus in 2020 (New Music Box)
* Jeff Hamilton, Drummer’s Drummer (Jazz Times)
* This Year’s Model Elvis Costello is back with his 31st (or so) studio album. But don’t look for any consolation from him. (Vulture.com)
* Sun Ra Arkestra :: Swirling (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* A No. 1 Song Written by a Solitary Songwriter Is Becoming a Thing of the Past (Billboard)
* Lost interviews hold new Bob Dylan insights (Chicago Sun-Times)
* “We’re Just a House Band on the Titanic”: A Conversation With Devo’s Gerald Casale (Tidal.com)
* Shabaka Hutchings Lets The Tape Roll (DownBeat)
* Angel Bat Dawid, Musician and Myth Scientist, Shares Her Story and Takes a Righteous Stand (WBGO)
* The Sun Ra Arkestra Is Swirling Through Space (Jazz Times)
* A Conversation with Peter Guralnick About His Latest Book, ‘Looking To Get Lost’ (American Songwriter)
* B.B. King Estate Announces Official Biopic, Clears Up Wendell Pierce Confusion (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)
* The 30 greatest synth players of all time: keyboard wizards, programming gurus and sound design legends (MusicRadar.com)
* Makaya McCraven Refracts The World Around Him (DownBeat)
* What’s in a Name? (Jazz Times)
* New Charlie Parker Vinyl Box Set, ‘The Mercury & Clef 10-Inch LP Collection’ Set For Release (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* How do the best horror scores scare the crap out of us with just a few notes? (AV Club)
* 80 years ago today: the Benny Goodman-Count Basie Octet (Jazz on the Record)
* Historic Labels: An Enlightening Sonic Window to the Past (WQXR)

Sunday Session: September 6, 2020

Makaya McCraven

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Play what you see: how graphic scores can unleash your inner musical genius (The Guardian)
* At home with Paul McCartney: His most candid interview yet (GQ)
* Trent Reznor talks ‘Watchmen’ score, covering Bowie’s “Life on Mars” & more in new interview (BrooklynVegan.com)
* Chick Corea: Chelsea boy makes good (Bay State Banner)
* The Friendship Of Kahil El’Zabar And David Murray Grows Deeper (DownBeat)
* Stonehenge enhanced sounds like voices or music for people inside the monument (Science News)
* Dolly Jones, the First Recorded Female Jazz Trumpeter (Reverb.com)
* Endless Field Records in the Wild (Jazz Times)
* In Memoriam: Saxophonist Mark Colby (DownBeat)
* Kenny Washington’s Slow Rise to Vocal Stardom (Jazz Times)
* Who will own the virtual concert space? (Music Industry Blog)
* Makaya McCraven: Cross Border Traffic (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Personal Story: My failed music career (New Statesman)
* Live Music Is On Life Support (Offbeat)
* Wynton Marsalis: ‘Continue to fight for the world you envision’ (San Jose Mercury News)
* Meet the Man Who Used Kraftwerk, Fela Kuti, and Other Fascinating Music to Try to Lure Aliens to Earth (Pitchfork.com)
* Maria Schneider Split Between Natural, Digital Worlds (DownBeat)
* “It Takes a While to Perfect Your Soul”: A Conversation With Sonny Rollins (Tidal.com)
* The Jazz Collective Drowning Out Far-Right Rallies with Terrible Music (Vice.com)
* The John Cage work performed over 639 years (DW.com)

Sunday Session: April 26, 2020

Cándido Camero

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Kansas City Musicians Win Grocery Money In Charlie Parker Song Contest (KCUR)
* Giuseppi Logan 1935–2020 (The Wire)
* Ian Whitcomb ‘You Turn Me On’ Singer, Dead at 78 (BestClassicBands.com)
* Facing An Uncertain Future, Jazz Artists Get Creative (DownBeat)
* Checking in on the Village Vanguard, New York’s oldest jazz club (JewishInsider.com)
* Jon Hassell: Words with the Shaman (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Deep Dive: A Toast to Candido, Who Holds the Key to Conga Drumming, As He Turns 99 (WBGO)
* REPORT | Live Streaming Is Here To Stay — The Future Of An Emerging Technology (Ludwig-Van.com)
* The coronavirus-related death toll in jazz keeps rising, to tragic effect (Chicago Tribune)
* Giuseppi Logan rises to the stars (NoSoundLeftBehind.com)
* William Parker pays tribute to Henry Grimes (1935–2020) (The Wire)
* More Than 800 Music Venues Join Together to Ask Congressional Leaders for Aid (Rolling Stone)
* 'Fetch Your Tool Of Liberation': Fiona Apple On Setting Herself Free (NPR)
* COVID-19 Claims The Lives Of Countless Artists (DownBeat)
* Angel Bat Dawid: An Epic Artist’s Choice (Jazz Times)
* What Brought Beyoncé, U2, and BTS to Amish Country? (Esquire)
* Makaya McCraven Makes The Old New Again (DownBeat)
* How the fake Beatles conned South America (BBC)
* Bootsie Barnes, Saxophonist and Cornerstone of Philadelphia Jazz, Dies of COVID-19 at 82 (WBGO)
* Sales of Instruments and Music Gear Are Soaring. Will Quarantine Spark a Renaissance? (Rolling Stone)
* Zena’s Flyer (CarnegieHall.org)
* Music legend Bohannon passes (Newnan Times-Herald)
* Library of Congress Launches Open-Source Hip-Hop Sampling Tool (ConsequenceOfSound.net)

Sunday Session: January 27, 2019

Terri Lyne Carrington

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Houzz Tour: Rock Musician’s Tiny House Wakes Up the Neighborhood (Houzz.com)
* FIRST LISTEN: Brand new Snarky Puppy unveiled (JazzFM.com)
* Festival of New Trumpet Music West to debut in San Diego at eight venues in one week in January (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Pharoah Sanders – The Creator's Master Plan (Q&A) (Pollstar.com)
* Mark Mothersbaugh on his journey from Devo to Hollywood (AV Club)
* Scenes From the Winter Jazzfest: A Slide Show (WBGO)
* Makaya McCraven’s ‘Distillation of Ideas’ (DownBeat)
* Myra Melford: Both Sides Now (Jazz Times)
* Bob Clearmountain: Living in the Mix (Tape Op)
* Why won’t City Hall fight for Chicago’s homegrown music scene? (Chicago Reader)
* Hugh Masekela’s legacy can still be heard throughout South Africa (QZ.com)
* Donny McCaslin: ‘Just Be Brave’ (DownBeat)
* 'Swingin' in Seattle' Finds Cannonball Adderley at a Crossroads, Reaching Out and Speaking Up (WBGO)
* Spotify data shows how music preferences change with latitude (ArsTechnica.com)
* Eric Dolphy: It’s All Out There Now (Jazz Times)
* Terri Lyne Carrington Looks to Transform the Culture (DownBeat)
* Blue Note Records Presents The Tone Poet Audiophile Reissue Series (BlueNote.com)
* Jaco Pastorius Shares How He Learned Bass and Composition in Unpublished Interview (Reverb.com)
* We Analyzed Every Dang Song That Cracked the Billboard Top 5 in 2018 (Soundfly.com)
* ‘Magic baton’ helps blind musicians feel conductor (BBC)
* This mouth-controlled synthesizer is the wildest instrument I’ve ever heard (TheVerge.com)
* Michel Legrand, Oscar-winning composer, dies aged 86 (The Guardian)
* How Eric Dolphy Sparked My Love of Jazz (The New Yorker)

Sunday Session: October 28, 2018

Melvin "Wah Wah Watson" Ragin

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* When David Bowie Became a Superstar: ‘It Was the Happiest I’d Ever Seen Him’ (The Daily Beast)
* Is your business streaming music for customers? That's breaking the law (The Guardian)
* Kandace Springs Motors Forward (DownBeat)
* Reconsidering Composer Raymond Scott, From Cartoons to the Cutting Edge, in Deep Dive (WBGO)
* Live Review: 2nd October Revolution in Philadelphia (Jazz Times)
* The Velvet Revolution of Claude Debussy (The New Yorker)
* Did Muddy Waters’ First UK Tour Launch The British Blues Boom? (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Here’s how horror film scores have evolved to scare us over the years (AV Club)
* City Hall lets KC’s American Jazz Museum languish with no permanent director or board (Kansas City Star)
* The Top 100 Albums Of The Quietus' Existence, As Picked By tQ's Writers (TheQuietus.com)
* The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition Returns (NPR)
* The Strange World Of... Awesome Tapes From Africa (TheQuietus.com)
* My Teenage Son and I Went to the Same Music Festival. Our Experiences Were Totally Different (Observer.com)
* What crisis? Why music journalism is actually healthier than ever (The Guardian)
* The Music of “Doctor Who” Makes a Glorious Return to Form (The New Yorker)
* Wah Wah Watson, Guitarist for Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, Dead at 67 (Rolling Stone)
* Randy Weston 1926–2018 (The Wire)
* Makaya McCraven Isn’t Interested in Saving Jazz (Rolling Stone)
* Opinion: Apple Music’s human curation falls apart when it comes to less mainstream tastes (9To5Mac.com)
* In Ann Arbor, Edgefest Showcases Chicago Avant-Garde (DownBeat)
* Monk Institute Piano Competition Set for Dec. 2 and 3 (Jazz Times)
* Photos: 2018 BRIC JazzFest (Jazz Times)
* David Bowie: the day I pulled the plug on his Glastonbury comeback (The Guardian)