Sunday Session: December 20, 2020

Stanley Cowell

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

* “Up From the Streets: New Orleans: The City of Music” Documentary Debuts Today (Offbeat)
* A Marvelous Marble Machine for Making Music (Kottke.org)
* Art Tatum on V-Disc (Jazz Times)
* Sir Barry Gibb: 'Christmas songs haven't been appropriate for 50 years' (BBC)
* Watch Legendary Saxophonist Azar Lawrence Share His Favorite LPs (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* 50 Years Later, 'Feliz Navidad' Still Delivers On Its Bilingual Message (NPR)
* "My goal is to reach people on an emotional level" — The Kenny Barron interview (Ottawa Citizen)
* Danny Jonokuchi & The Revisionists Win Inaugural Count Basie Contest (DownBeat)
* An Examination of Black Coffee by Peggy Lee (Jazz Times)
* Brilliant Acting Makes ‘Ma Rainey’ A Transcendent Film (DownBeat)
* Chicago blues harmonica player Sugar Blue: Running one step ahead of the coronavirus around the world (Chicago Tribune)
* How Branford Marsalis recreated the perfectly imperfect style of 1920s blues for ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (GoldDerby.com)
* In Memoriam: Jazz Night in America Remembers 10 Musicians Who Altered Shape Of Jazz (NPR)
* 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' composer Branford Marsalis says blues legend Rainey commanded attention (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
* The Mutual Musicians Foundation is fighting the gentrification of Jazz in Kansas City (ScalawagMagazine.org)
* Big Data will analyse the mystery of Beethoven's metronome (Phys.org)
* Stanley Cowell, Pianist, Composer and Educator with a Kaleidoscopic View of Jazz, Is Dead at 79 (WBGO)
* Nels Cline Double-Sizes The Singers (DownBeat)
* Jeff Clayton 1955–2020 (Jazz Times)
* Black Mystery School Pianists (New Music Box)
* Jeff Clayton, Versatile Saxophonist and Flutist, and Devoted Jazz Educator, Has Died at 66 (WBGO)
* A Christmas Waltz with Duke Ellington (Jazz Times)
* For midsized music venues, ‘thoughts & prayers’ won’t be enough (Buffalo News)
* Stanley Cowell, Pianist, Composer and Educator with a Kaleidoscopic View of Jazz, Is Dead at 79 (WBGO)

Sunday Session: December 13, 2020

Branford Marsalis

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

* Revisit a Vibrant San Francisco Music Scene in Harlem of the West (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* The Treasure in Frank Zappa’s Secret Subterranean Vault (The New Yorker)
* Bob Dylan sells his entire catalog of songs to Universal (CNN)
* Paul McCartney opens up about friendship with John Lennon in new interview (NME.com)
* Matthew Shipp at 60 (CliffordAllen.me)
* How John Coltrane Introduced the World to His Radical Sound in the Groundbreaking Recording of “My Favorite Things” (OpenCulture.com)
* Knocking Down Barriers: An Interview with Abdul Wadud, 1980 (PointOfDeparture.org)
* 'Sittin' In: Jazz Clubs of the 1940s and 1950s' Opens a Portal to the Past, and a Dialogue (WBGO)
* Wait, Bob Dylan Owned ‘The Weight’? An Explainer (Rolling Stone)
* There Goes the Neighborhood: What really caused the decline of 18th & Vine (ScalawagMagazine.org)
* Meet säje, the vocal supergroup thriving on female empowerment (Jazz.fm)
* ‘Mostly Hard Times’: How the City’s Few Jazz Clubs Are Hanging On, Barely (Curbed.com)
* Whit Dickey on the Path to Wisdom (Jazz Times)
* Jazz City: The Once — and Future — Sound of Memphis (Memphis Flyer)
* Ukulele Ike, a.k.a. Cliff Edwards, Sings Again (Jazz Times)
* Tough Times for Jazz Promotion (Interview No. 5 with Wendy Kirkland of Chesterfield Jazz Club) (London Jazz News)
* 82% of Musicians Earn Less Than $270 a Year From Spotify and Other Music Streaming Music Platforms, Study Finds (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* The New Vocabulary of Funkadelic (1970) (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* 'I'm a song catcher': 60 years of Arhoolie Records, the label for a lost America (The Guardian)
* Mary Lou Williams, Writ Large (DownBeat)
* Branford Marsalis on the Music of ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ and Chadwick Boseman’s Performance (Variety)
* George Benson Innovates, Crafts Pop Hits (DownBeat)
* Concert Industry Lost $30 Billion in 2020 (Variety)
* Our Revels Now Are Ended (The American Scholar)
* Joni Mitchell: “I know what I want and I’m not afraid to stand up for it” (New Statesman)
* He's the Leader: An Interview with Aretha's "Main Man" Fonzi Thornton (PopMatters.com)
* “Then there was the time I was buried in a hole”: Phil Minton at 80 (The Wire)
* Berkeley jazz clarinetist marks the days of pandemic in ‘Plague Diary’ (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Charley Pride, Pioneering Black Country Singer, Dead at 86 (Rolling Stone)

Sunday Session: July 19, 2020

Matthew Shipp

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

* Terence Blanchard Addresses The Past Through Work With Spike Lee And Preps For Brighter Future (DownBeat)
* Sun Ra: ‘I’m Everything and Nothing’ (New York Review of Books)
* A Trademark Attorney Explains Why the Former Lady Antebellum Is Suing the Black Singer Lady A (Slate)
* Better late than never: the story of Beverly "Guitar" Watkins (LouderSound.com)
* The Strange World Of... Sun Ra (TheQuietus.com)
* Britain’s choirs are facing oblivion (The Spectator)
* Rick Wakeman on his top 5 synths: “I suddenly had an instrument that could give the guitar a run for its money” (MusicRadar.com)
* Gary Lucas: "The guitar is like an extension of my nervous system - I try to play what I feel and transmit it" (Guitar World)
* Bill Frisell Is a Rambler in Quarantine (Jazz Times)
* Session Legend Harvey Brooks Publishes Memoir, “A View From The Bottom” (NoTreble.com)
* MATTHEW SHIPP with George Grella (BrooklynRail.org)
* Most Births at a Concert?! The Wildest Records Ever Written Into the Music History Books (EOnline.com)
* Eddie Gale 1941–2020 (Jazz Times)
* The Galaxy-Expanding, Peace-Loving Trumpet Of Eddie Gale: Hear The Essentials (NPR)
* Playing Music Together Online Is Not As Simple As It Seems (NPR)
* And all that jazz! Bram Dijkstra’s invaluable record collection to be donated to SDSU (Del Mar Times)
* A New Album Turns The Sound Of Endangered Birds Into Electronic Music (NPR)
* NEA Jazz Masters Ceremony Moves Online To Honor Kirk, McFerrin, Mitchell, Workman (DownBeat)
* How Kendrick Lamar, Marvin Gaye and ‘Black genius’ inspired a jazz/hip-hop supergroup (Los Angeles Times)
* A History of Music Supervision in Advertising (SynchTank.com)
* A Deep Dive into John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' by His Biographer, Lewis Porter (Pt. 1) (WBGO)
* Don’t Expect to See Concerts Before 2022, Top Touring Exec Marc Geiger Says (Variety)
* The future of Tipitina's is uncertain: By fall, 'we're going to be in a really tough spot' (NOLA.com)* Discover the Sacred Afro-Cuban Chants That Are Celia Cruz's First-Known Recordings (Billboard)
* Ambrose Akinmusire – Every Calloused Moment (ZoneOut.com)
* Mike Clark, the Oakland Groove behind Herbie, Chet and Charlie Brown (Jazz Journal)

Sunday Session: June 21, 2020

Pee Wee Ellis

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

* British Jazz Pianist Keith Tippett Dies at 72 (DownBeat)
* Keith Tippett (1947 -2020) (FreeJazzBlog.org)
* Saved from Irrelevance: Sinatra’s Comeback Led to the Pop LP and the Concept Album (MagellanTV.com)
* Pandemic-Era Insights From Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Brandee Younger And More (DownBeat)
* NAMM Announces Plans To Hold 2021 Trade Show (DownBeat)
* ‘Live From Here With Chris Thile’ Canceled Because of COVID-19 Pandemic (Rolling Stone)
* Pee Wee Ellis: ‘America was built on slavery and exploitation – but change is coming’ (The Independent)
* UK government criticised for “unworkable” advice on reopening music venues (NME.com)
* Could Music Companies Help Black Artists By Adjusting Old Record Deals? (Rolling Stone)
* The Ascent of JLCO’s Marcus Printup (DownBeat)
* Criss Cross Jazz Is Back to Business (Jazz Times)
* On John Coltrane’s “Alabama” (The Paris Review)
* Matthew Shipp’s Steady Diet Of Improv And Hard News (DownBeat)
* Samora Pinderhughes is Hopeful About Our 'Black Spring,' But Wary About the Road Ahead (WBGO)
* For Vijay Iyer, A Livestream From The Village Vanguard is Another Opportunity to Speak Out (WBGO)
* Carmine Street Guitars: tuning up with New York’s finest plank-spankers (The Guardian)
* Now, About The Bad Name I Gave My Band (NPR)
* Experiment without Inhibition: A Celebration of Anthony Braxton (River Cities Reader)
* How The Jazzworld Is Indelibly Tied To The Travel Industry (DownBeat)
* The roots album that never got made (AfricasACountry.com)
* ‘Da 5 Bloods’ Composer Terence Blanchard on That Opening Scene and His Relationship with Spike Lee (Collider.com)
* Aaron Parks Brings Talk Talk, Brian Eno, and More to His Free-Roaming Jazz Songs (Bandcamp.com)
* Play It Forward: Lakecia Benjamin Sings Through Her Saxophone (NPR)
* Opinion: Black Protest Is Music. Learning The Melody Isn't Enough (NPR)
* Suites, shoots and leaves: Spanish opera house reopens with concert for plants (The Guardian)
* Live Nation Wants Artists to Take Pay Cuts and Cancelation Burdens for Shows in 2021 (Rolling Stone)
* Mr. Elegant: Jimmy Cobb Reconsidered (Jazz Times)
* The Fate of James Brown's Fortune Turns Thanks to a Most Unusual Court Decision (Hollywood Reporter)
* A Guide to Soul Jazz, Which Used Black Music History to Speak to the Present and to Build the Future (Bandcamp.com)
* The Subtlety Of Norah Jones (DownBeat)
* Thelonious Monk’s unlikely Palo Alto High show becomes thrilling live album (San Francisco Chronicle)
* The Juneteenth Jazz Jamboree (WFIU)
* A Look Back at TV’s Stars of Jazz (Jazz Times)
* High Culture Brought Low (Vulture.com)
* 10 Books Highlighting the History of Racial Injustice and Resistance in Jazz (WBGO)
* Quincy Jones Launches Initiative to Bring Jazz, Blues and Gospel Awareness Into Schools (Variety)

Jazz this week: Matthew Shipp, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a solo performance from a singular pianist, the local debut of a rising star on organ, a new album release from a hometown favorite band, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 22
Organist Delvon Lamarr and his trio will make their St. Louis debut with the first of five nights of performances continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

The Seattle-based Lamarr, who cites Booker T and the MGs as a major influence, formed the band in 2015 and they've issued two recordings so far, both of which made the top 10 of the US jazz albums chart.

Thursday, January 23
Pianist Kara Mehrmann and her quartet will perform in a free concert to kick off this semester's offerings from the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; drummer Steve Davis' band with singer Feyza Eren plays at Joe's Cafe; and guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a trio The Dark Room

Friday, January 24
Pianist Matthew Shipp (pictured, top left) will perform in a solo concert presented by New Music Circle and Washington University at 560 Music Center. (Shipp also will present a free "artist talk" on Friday afternoon in Room 102 of the Music Classroom Building on the Wash U campus.)

Shipp's improvised solo performances defy easy description, but you can sample several of them via video in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Friday, the Jazz Troubadours perform at Evangeline's; singer Robert Nelson returns to Parkside Grille; and the eclectic multi-instrumentalist Sam Golden has rounded up a posse of like-minded St. Louis players to perform as Fiddlin' Sam and the Golden Bolo Band for a "Western Swing Showcase" at Focal Point.

Saturday, January 25
Singer and actress Sara Sheperd, who's starred on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, brings her cabaret show "Female On Fire - A Celebration of Female Singer/Songwriters" to Blue Strawberry; Miss Jubilee performs for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and The Gaslight Squares return to the Frisco Barroom.

Sunday, January 26
The Funky Butt Brass Band (pictured, bottom left) will promote the release of their latest recording Onward with a matinee performance at Off Broadway; and jazz-fusion trio Tracer, aka pianist Ptah Williams, bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Gary Sykes, continues their weekly residency at Troy's Listening Room.

Monday, January 27
Guitarist Dave Black leads a quartet in a concert at the Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster University campus.

Tuesday, January 28
Singer Jan Shapiro, pianist Dave Venn and bassist Eric Warren perform at Evangelines, and Arvell Keithley, Jim Manley and the Wild, Cool & Swingin' Horns return for another encore performance at the Gaslight Theater.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Matthew Shipp

Today, StLJN's video spotlight is focused on pianist Matthew Shipp, who will be performing a solo concert presented by New Music Circle and Washington University on Friday, January 24 at 560 Music Center.

Shipp also will present an "artist talk" that will be free and open to the public at 3:00 p.m. that Friday in room 102 of the Music Classroom Building on the Wash U campus.

With a distinctive style that defies easy comparisons, Shipp has said he sees his playing as part of the "black mystery school" of pianists, led by Thelonious Monk and including other singular talents such as Mal Waldron, Randy Weston, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, and Andrew Hill.

Since moving to New York in mid-80s, Shipp has been credited as leader or co-leader on nearly 70 recordings, playing solo; with a trio; in duos with bassist William Parker, saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Evan Parker, and others; and in larger groupings including stellar players such as trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Roy Campbell and saxophonist Marshall Allen. Shipp also forged enduring partnerships with two saxophonists, the late David S. Ware and Ivo Perelman, recording 20 albums with the former and, to date, more than 30 with the latter.

The last time Shipp was here in St. Louis, in March 2015, he performed with bassist Michael Bisio at The Stage at KDHX. This time, he'll be playing solo, and so today's post features several videos of his solo work, starting up above with a set recorded in September 2018 at Zurcher Gallery in New York City.

After the jump, there are four more sets of solo piano by Shipp in reverse chronological order, starting with one from April 2018 at a venue called Kaleidophon in Ulrichsberg, Austria, followed by another from November 2017 recorded at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Then, there's a set from August 2015 at Jazzfestival Saalfelden in Austria, and one from February 2014 recorded at Cafe Oto in London.

The final video shows Shipp playing a duo set with his frequent collaborator, bassist William Parker, in June 2019 during the 24th annual 24th Vision Festival at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY.

For more about Matthew Shipp, read his interview from May 2019 with Jazz Times, and his 2018 conversations with DownBeat and JazzTrail.net.

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

Sunday Session: June 9, 2019

Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest, drawn from StLJN's inboxes, newsfeeds, and assorted other sources:

* Joey DeFrancesco: From Musical Prodigy to Jazz Icon (AllAboutJazz.com)
* John Coltrane Wanted To Be A Saint. The Coltrane Church Honors His Religious Legacy (OkayPlayer.com)
* John Coltrane at the Age of 32 (DownBeat)
* For jazz man, nine years of practice led to one electric, life-changing moment (Newport News Daily Press)
* Weasel Walter on Getting The Flying Luttenbachers Together Again (DownBeat)
* Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes Coming to U.S. Theaters (Jazz Times)
* Sheet Happens: One of Music's Oldest Businesses Is Growing in the Digital Age (Billboard)
* Carlos Santana Reflects On 50 Years Of Making Music And His New Africa Speaks (Stereogum.com)
* The Enduring Passion of Leo Feigin, Leo Records Founder (DownBeat)
* Branford Marsalis: Listening with Sonic Ears (Stereophile)
* Effort underway to restore iconic Detroit club that once hosted jazz legends like Miles Davis (MichiganRadio.org)
* Singer Sheila Jordan going strong at 90 (Chicago Tribune)
* Branford Marsalis’ Secret (Jazz Times)
* ‘Creativity is a muscle. It must be worked out. It must be pushed.’ (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Lawrence “Lo” Leathers 1981-2019 (Jazz Times)
* Planned demolition of Cab Calloway's former Baltimore home stirs conservation critiques (Baltimore Sun)
* Searching For Disco's Cro-Magnon (NPR)
* Brian Wilson Postpones Tour, Citing “Mental Insecurity” (Pitchfork.com)
* Several Directions at Once: Listening With Myra Melford, Before a Residency at The Stone (WBGO)
* CD Baby Guest Post: The 5 Most Important Things to Know about Music Distribution in the Streaming Era (Berklee.edu)
* Exclusive: Chick Corea Revisits His Own Past with His Spanish Heart Band on “My Spanish Heart” (Paste)
* Dr. John, iconic New Orleans musician, has died at age 77 (New Orleans Advocate)
* Remembering Dr. John (Keyboard)
* Singer-songwriter Todd Rundgren shares his journey Sunday in Great Barrington (Berkshire Eagle)
* 'We fell like cosmic rain': how the Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices became global stars (The Guardian)
* The Man Who Made His Computer Sing: Max Mathews & the Invention of Digital Music (5Mag.net)
* Joshua Redman Finds ‘Founts of Inspiration’ (DownBeat)
* Videos: Those times Dr. John lit it up (Offbeat)
* How the Moers Festival became a celebration of avant-garde change (DW.com)

Sunday Session: May 19, 2019

Kenny Burrell

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest, drawn from StLJN's inboxes, newsfeeds, and assorted other sources:

* Rhiannon Giddens and What Folk Music Means (The New Yorker)
* The Japanese reissue phenomenon: a view from the inside (ResidentAdvisor.com)
* Payola 2.0: The native ad model for streaming music? (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Why Aldi Doesn’t Play Music (Southern Living)
* Playlist Malfeasance Will Create a Streaming Crisis (Music Industry Blog)
* Preserving The House Of A Pioneering Musician — Who We Will Never Hear (NPR)
* Brian May: Queen haven’t earned a penny from Bohemian Rhapsody (LouderSound.com)
* As A Crowdfunding Platform Implodes, A Legendary Composer Rebounds (NPR)
* Whose Is Bigger? ASCAP and BMI Are Holding Their Film & TV Awards Dinners on the Exact Same Night (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* New Orleans Jazz Fest at 50: Keep on Rolling (Without the Stones) (Jazz Times)
* Facing Homelessness And Crushing Medical Debt, A Renowned Jazz Guitarist Reaches Out (NPR)
* Matthew Shipp and Simplicity Itself (Jazz Times)
* Mulligan memories (Jazz Journal)
* Feature Doc to Chronicle Legendary London Jazz Club Ronnie Scott’s (Variety)
* New film seeks funds to realise Marshall Allen's dream (The Wire)
* Cleveland's Joe Lovano Comes Home (NPR)
* JazzTimes 10: Landmark ECM Albums (Jazz Times)
* Google I/O showcases a cross-platform future for music-makers (MusicTech.net)
* A Beginner’s Guide to the interstellar music of Sun Ra (TrebleZine.com)
* Brecker Bonds with Big Bands Over Fusion (DownBeat)
* The Apostle of Now-ness (New York Review of Books)
* Horror buffs, meet music nerds (TheOutline.com)
* Patitucci Juggles ‘All the Elements of Music’ (DownBeat)
* End to End: An Interview with Barre Phillips (NoTreble.com)

Sunday Session: March 31, 2019

Matthew Shipp

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:

* Jazz in Troubled Times: Watson Professor, WSJ contributor Larry Blumenfeld Riffs on ‘Relevance, Resonance’ of Jazz Culture (Syr.edu)
* Bootsy Collins: The Warner Bros. Era (CultureSonar.com)
* 1918-2018: 20 works that defined a century (Classical-Music.com)
* Michael Wolff’s Miraculous Turn (DownBeat)
* 30 Years of 'Nick of Time': How Bonnie Raitt's 'Underdog Record' Swept the Grammys & Saved Her Career (Billboard)
* The Art Ensemble of Chicago on the Past and Future of Their ‘Great Black Music’ (Rolling Stone)
* Carla Bley Plays the Big Band With Her Hands (Westword)
* Pianists Born 100 Years Ago Prove: There's No One Way To Play Jazz (NPR)
* How the music of 1950’s Cuba revolutionized the sound of young Senegal (QZ.com)
* Carla Bley Stretches Out at Big Ears (DownBeat)
* Signature Moves - A brief conversation with underground jazz piano great Matthew Shipp (RockAndRollGlobe.com)
* Resonance Records to Release Archival Recordings by Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans (Jazz Times)
* DJs of the Future Don't Spin Records—They Write Code (Wired)
* Big Ears Festival 2019: The Best (Echoes.org)
* The best decade for pop music has been revealed – according to science (NME.com)
* Frank Sinatra And Elvis Presley: When The Chairman Met The King (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* The Brotherhood of Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martinez (DownBeat)
* The Eclectic Artistry of Gary Lucas (Van Wyck Gazette)
* How the Music of Hawaiʻi’s Last Ruler Guided the Island’s People Through Crisis (Smithsonian)
* Downtown Music Acquires CD Baby Owner AVL Digital Group (Price Tag: $200 Million) (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* ‘What The F*** Is Happening Right Now’: A Look At ‘The Bizarre World Of Frank Zappa’ (Pollstar.com)
* Aaron Diehl: paradox at the piano (Rochester City Newspaper)
* Jazz Guitarist Joe Morris: Enhance the Risk (Premier Guitar)
* Jazz Duo Explores the Intersection of Math and Music (Flagpole)

Sunday Session: September 16, 2018

Billy Cobham

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:

* For Chelsea native Chick Corea, one passion, many paths (Boston Globe)
* Pianist Matthew Shipp can make magic with the perfect partner (Chicago Reader)
* Bassist Eric Revis works at the conflux of the mainstream and its far-out tributaries (Chicago Reader)
* Conversation with Billy Cobham, Part 1: The Art of Creation (SomethingElseReviews.com)
* Conversation with Billy Cobham, Part 2: Brian Gruber and Ronnie Scott’s (SomethingElseReviews.com)
* Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates 40 years in Japan – and China could be the next stop (South China Morning Post)
* Hank Mobley, the greatest sax player you never heard (The Spectator)
* Channeling the cosmic imperfections of Sun Ra’s record sleeves (TheVinylFactory.com)
* Israeli music scene jolted by international boycott movement (Associated Press)
* Documentary Offers Intimate Portrait of a Demur Abercrombie (DownBeat)
* Barre Phillips announces his farewell record End To End (The Wire)
* Guantánamo Mixtape: This Would Be the Soundtrack to Hell (LitHub.com)
* Quincy review – portrait of a musical legend fails to sing (The Guardian)
* Musicians, Labels and Festival Programmers Anxious Over Brexit (DownBeat)
* Live Review: 2018 Detroit Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* The Untold Stories of Paul McCartney (GQ)
* No Boundaries: The Many Sides of Steven Bernstein (SFJAZZ.org)
* Fifteen Questions Interview with Olivia Block (15questions.net)
* The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s (Pitchfork.com)
* 'I didn’t just fade off the planet.’ Reconnecting with ’70s funk queen Betty Davis (Washington Post)
* No more heroes: how music stopped meaning everything (Irish Times)
* Count Basie Orchestra Knows Pop Music (DownBeat)
* Jazz in the Display Case (Jazz Times)
* With 'Emanon,' legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter finds a way to marry comic books and jazz (Los Angeles Times)
* In Memoriam: Randy Weston (DownBeat)
* Cuong Vu Keeps it Close to Home for ‘Change In The Air’ (DownBeat)
* Former Bad Plus pianist still 'loves playing in the Midwest' despite rocketing career (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
* Wilco Guitarist Nels Cline Reclaims Mood Music In The City Of Brotherly Love (NPR)
* Berkeley's Legendary Fantasy Studios to Close Its Doors (KQED)
* Trumpet Colossus Kenny Dorham Towers Alongside the Jazz Gods (Austin Chronicle)
* The World On Six Strings (ArtForum.com)

Sunday Session: February 19, 2017

Clyde Stubblefield

Here are some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Why Music Ownership Matters (TheSmartSet.com)
* Vocalist Al Jarreau Dies at 76 (Jazz Times)
* The Great Al Jarreau, An Appreciation (with Rare Photos) (EurWeb.com)
* Black Classical: Composers and Conductors Who Shaped Music History (WQXR)
* Scofield, Nash, Collier Win Big at Grammys (DownBeat)
* The Audiographa Project Captures the Compositions of Music (Design-Milk.com)
* Christoph Cox on The History of Sound Art, Full Lecture (SonicField.org)
* Doctor Who composer Delia Derbyshire’s archive to be digitized (FactMag.com)
* 'Game Of Thrones' Composer Ramin Djawadi On Melodies That Stick (NPR)
* Keith Jarrett: Alone in a Crowded Room (Jazz Times)
* Jarrett’s Profoundly Emotional Excursion at Carnegie Hall (DownBeat)
* Why happy music makes you do bad things (BBC)
* 'Respect' Wasn't A Feminist Anthem Until Aretha Franklin Made It One (NPR)
* Bill Evans on meeting Miles (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Drum Legend Jack DeJohnette Returns to Austin (Austin Chronicle)
* Master blaster: the woman making Björk, Aphex Twin and Eno sound so good (The Guardian)
* The Man Who Broke Ticketmaster (Vice.com)
* Sound and Space: Our Acoustic Perception of the World (TheEpochTimes.com)
* Ohio Players Founder, Junie Morrison, Dead At 62 (OkayPlayer.com)
* Free Jazz Pianist Muhal Richard Abrams Brings 70 Years Of Sounds To Wesleyan (Hartford Courant)
* A Conversation With Brian Eno About Ambient Music (Pitchfork.com)
* Indian Secrets: Old and new Mardi Gras Indian traditions face off (Offbeat)
* Mick Jagger wrote a 'masterpiece' memoir that has never been published (The Guardian)
* All-Star Band Hudson To Release Album, Tour North America (DownBeat)
* The Thinning of Big Mama (Oxford American)
* Q&A with Matthew Shipp: On Home Turf (DownBeat)
* Moog are the music makers: Inside the small town factory that builds the world’s best-loved synths (FactMag.com)
* Clyde Stubblefield, James Brown's 'Funky Drummer,' Dead at 73 (Rolling Stone)

Sunday Session: January 22, 2017

Matthew Shipp

Here are some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Donny McCaslin: Bowie Deepened The Relationships In My Band (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Julius Eastman’s Guerrilla Minimalism (The New Yorker)
* Ex-Time Warner CEO reopens famed Harlem jazz club (New York Post)
* Why Has This One Bassline Been Sampled Seventy-Seven Times? (Vice.com)
* Prolific Free-Jazz Pianist Matthew Shipp Leaves Recording Behind (Village Voice)
* Music's Weird Cassette Tape Revival Is Paying Off (Fast Company)
* Mysterious Stone Instruments Keep Being Discovered in Vietnam (Atlas Obscura)
* “Not a political composer”: Interview with John Adams (Bachtrack.com)
* Is NYC (still) capital of jazz? (Jazz Beyond Jazz/ArtsJournal.com)
* Meyer's Ace Hardware Closing, Leaving Historic Jazz-Age Relics At Risk (DNAinfo.com)
* William Onyeabor: one of music’s most insoluble puzzles to the end (The Guardian)
* Susan Rogers: From Prince to Ph.D. (Tape Op)
* This Is the "Jass" Record That Introduced Millions of Americans to a New Kind of Music (Smithsonian)
* Bill Laswell Shares the Stories Behind Some of His Most Memorable Releases (Bandcamp.com)
* What 'La La Land' Gets Right About Jazz (Billboard)
* Projecting Trends: The Music Streaming Playlist Economy (Synchtank.com)
* Maria Schneider: Protecting the Power of Music (Jazz Times)
* If music was a regular job, would anyone do it? (Irish Times)

Sunday Session: July 19, 2015

Horace Silver

For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Red Bull, Awolnation And The Evaporating Division Between Bands And Brands (Forbes)
* Robert Glasper: 'When hip hop took over the world' (TheArtsDesk.com)
* New Coryell Box Set Features Unreleased Live Recordings (DownBeat)
* Jamming with the cosmos: CERN and the music of physics (CERN)
* The portable wilderness of John Luther Adams (Boston Globe)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center and Sony Music Team Up for Blue Engine Records (New York Times)
* Lost Jack Bruce Cream Tapes X: 'Albert King Asked Me, Where's The Money?' For Bad Sign (Forbes)
* Is The Music Industry Sleepwalking Into Disaster? (HypeBot.com)
* Multiple Generations Salute Horace Silver at Pittsburgh JazzLive Fest (DownBeat)
* Review: John Zorn Brings Avant-Garde Style to the Stone (New York Times)
* Jazz exhibit opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago with 'music you can see' (Art Daily)
* Rooting Around The Tonight Show's Sound (Pro Sound News)
* Talking Turntable: How Not To Launch A Music Tech Startup (HypeBot.com)
* Is Transparency The Music Industry's Next Battle? (NPR)
* How the Multi-Story Orchestra has transformed a car park in to a concert hall (Classical Muse)
* Why musicians need to get off Apple Music and Spotify immediately (DailyDot.com)
* Shipp, Malaby Embrace Revolutionary Spirit at New York’s Vision Fest (DownBeat)
* What Songs Look Like as 3-D Printed Sculptures (Wired)
* Sounds of the solar system: probing Pluto's predicted score (The Guardian UK)
* 20-50% of Royalties Never Reach the Artist, Study Finds (DigitalMusicNews.com)

Sunday Session: July 5, 2015

Charles Mingus

For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Matthew Shipp unveils new trio with upcoming release The Conduct of Jazz (Something Else)
* Ornette Coleman and a Joyful Funeral (The New Yorker)
* Until the Real Thing Comes Along - Sorting out the Billie Holiday centennial onslaught (Jazz Times)
* The Next Generation of 3D-Printed Musical Instruments Are Worthy of a Star Trek Movie (Classical Lite)
* The Great Columbia Jazz Purge: Coleman, Evans, Jarrett, And Mingus (WFIU)
* The Singer and the Song (Ronan Guilfoyle)
* BMG Acquires Catalog of Verse Music, Includes Songs of Nina Simone, J. Lo (Billboard)
* How Jazzman Robert Glasper Won Over the Hip-Hop Heads (Mother Jones)
* The Exit Interview: I Spent 12 Years in the Blue Man Group (Atlas Obscura)
* If SoundCloud Goes Under, Music Will Change for the Worse (Mic.com)
* Apple Music first impressions: something borrowed, something new (The Verge)
* Meet Brian Wilson's Secret Weapon: Darian Sahanaja (Rolling Stone)
* The Care and Feeding of Songwriters: Why “Art for Art’s Sake” Could Have An Unfortunate Future (Pro Sound News)
* How Do You Teach A Robot Feelings? Make It Sing Opera (Vice.com)
* Terry Riley, a Founder of Minimalism, Turns 80 (Studio 360)
* The Con Man Who Invented American Popular Music (Radio Silence)
* Digital Watch: Apple Music Conflict Highlights the Problem of Free Music (Radio Survivor)
* Did Nielsen Kill The Radio Star? (FiveThirtyEight.com)
* Minimalist Composer La Monte Young on His Life and Immeasurable Influence (Vulture)
* Quincy Jones: Honey, we have no music industry (Fortune)
* Does The Death Of Album Revenue Spell The End For Rock Stars As We Know Them? (SeatSmart.com)
* Deep Soul - How Muscle Shoals became music's most unlikely hit factory (The Telegraph UK)
* John Luther Adams: a force of nature (The Guardian UK)
* Cassette Revolution: Why 1980s Tape Tech Is Still Making Noise in Our Digital World (Collector's Weekly)
* Ringo's no joke. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him (The Spectator UK)
* NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums Of 2015 (So Far) (NPR)
* Fife and drum: Keeping the Mississippi rhythm alive (BBC)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Guitarist John Abercrombie and pianist Marc Copland will present a free, public master class at 3:30 p.m. this coming Tuesday, April 7 at Washington University. The class will take place in the Goldberg Formal Lounge on the second floor of the Danforth University Center, 6475 Forsyth on the Wash U campus, with parking available in the adjacent garage.

(Note that while the master class is free and open to the public, it's $25 for a ticket to see Abercrombie's quartet perform at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night for Wash U's Jazz at Holmes series.)

* StLJN extends condolences to the family, friends and musical colleagues of St. Louis pianist and organist Eddie Plitt, who died suddenly this past Monday, March 30. A service will be held at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, April 4 at Stygar Florissant Chapel and Cremation Center, 13980 New Halls Ferry Rd., with interment at Oak Grove Cemetery to follow. An online guestbook can be found at the Stygar Chapel website.

* Don Wolff (pictured), host of the HEC-TV program I Love Jazz and a longtime jazz advocate and radio personality on several stations, has been named by the Jazz Journalists Association as one of 24 local "Jazz Heroes" from across the US for 2015. St. Louis JJA member and freelance writer Terry Perkins tells StLJN that efforts are underway to set up a public presentation of Wolff's award, at a time and location TBA.

* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts' next "Business Edge" workshop, "Anatomy of a Contract," is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. next Monday, April 6 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar. The session presented by attorney Ryan Hardy will cover contract basics and "help you sharpen your negotiation skills." Get more info or register for the event by sending an email to vlaa@stlrac.org.

* The Bosman Twins' forthcoming album When Lions Roar, set for release next week, is the subject of a feature story from the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* KDHX has posted on their website some photos from last Saturday's New Music Circle concert by Matthew Shipp and Michael Bisio.

* A little further down the "photo set" aisle, saxophonist David Sanborn has posted on Facebook some pics from his sit-in Wednesday night with the band on The Late Show with David Letterman.

* Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch reviews some recent jazz CDs, including drummer Jack DeJohnette's all-star session Made In Chicago, here.

* Jazz radio update: And speaking of Wilson, Saturday's episode of his Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis program “Somethin’ Else” will use the 100th anniversary of Billie Holiday's birth on April 7 as an occasion to examine her musical legacy via her own recordings and those of others including Dexter Gordon and Marcus Miller.

After that on "The Jazz Collective," host Jason Church will be spinning tracks from Down To The Bone, Steely Dan, Chris Standring, Swing Out Sister, Gato Barbieri, Jamiroquai, Shakatak, Herb Alpert, Ramsey Lewis, Jesse Gannon, Funky Butt Brass Band, Jim Stevens, and more.

"Somethin' Else" can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by "The Jazz Collective" at 9:00 p.m. on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Jazz this week: Matthew Shipp & Michael Bisio, Shades of Jade, T. Oliver Reid, Koplant No, Essentially Ellington Festival, and more

It's another busy weekend of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a number of noteworthy shows from both touring and local performers, including a new variation on the usual booking formulas from Jazz St. Louis, as Jazz at the Bistro will for the first time in recent memory feature three different acts on three consecutive weekend nights.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday March 25
The Funky Butt Brass Band performs in concert for the monthly music series at the World Chess Hall of Fame; singer Erin Bode emerges for a rare gig at Nathalie's; and the new music duo Patchwork will deliver a program of contemporary compositions at 560 Music Center.

Thursday March 26
If you're a Francophile or Francophone, you're doubly in luck this evening, as The Poor People of Paris play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, while Gypsy jazz group Franglais returns to Evangeline's.

Elsewhere around town, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Thurman Grill, and the Tavern of Fine Arts will present their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music.

Friday March 27
Singer and actor T. Oliver Reid (pictured, top left) will draw on jazz classics from the 1930s and 40s for the first of two performances of his Gaslight Cabaret Festival show "Drop Me Off In Harlem" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville hosts the Essentially Ellington Regional Festival at Dunham Hall on campus, with performances from participating high school bands, the SIUE Concert Jazz Band and visiting clinicians including saxophonist Ron Carter, former Count Basie Orchestra drummer Dennis Mackrel, trumpeter Derrick Gardner; tuba player Bob Stewart; and bassist Jeff Campbell, plus various members of the SIUE jazz faculty.

Elsewhere around town, singer Denise Thimes will play a one-nighter at Jazz at the Bistro; singer Feyza Eren and pianist Curt Landes return to The Wine Press; and the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom.

And if all that's not enough, saxophonists Tim Cunningham and Willie Akins will be making a rare joint appearance at Troy's Jazz Gallery; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform at Venice Cafe; and percussionist Herman Semidey and Orquesta Son Montuno will offer up a variety of Latin sounds at Club Viva.

Saturday, March 28
Pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio (pictured, center left) will play a concert sponsored by New Music Circle at The Stage at KDHX. 

Shipp, who last performed here in 2011, is widely thought to be one of the most important improvising pianists of his generation, and Bisio is the bassist in his long-running trio. Their music as a duo, while obviously related to the sounds they make with drummer Whit Dickey, seems both more intimate but also potentially more raucous, as the absence of percussion forces a recalibration of relationships and a reallocation of sonic space. For more about Shipp, and video samples of his playing, check out this video post from last week.

Also on Saturday, Koplant No, who mix jazz-fusion, contemporary composition, and electronic music with a grab-bag of other influences, will present their first-ever performance at Jazz at the Bistro; and trumpeter Jim Manley, singer Charlie B. and pianist Arthur Toney will team up to play at the house concert venue KindaBlue.

Sunday March 29
The ever-evolving menu of Sunday jazz brunches has another new entry, as Mokabe's in the South Grand neighborhood now is featuring live music weekly from bassist David Certain and CertainBeat World Bop.

Sunday evening, the young Kansas City based band Shades of Jade, offering a neo-soul/hip-hop-influenced take on contemporary jazz and featuring former St. Louisan and Jazz St. Louis All-Star Joshua Williams (pictured), will make their debut at Jazz at the Bistro.

Monday, March 30
Animal Children will celebrate the release of their first (apparently self-titled?) CD at Foam Coffee And Beer, with The 442s opening the show.

Also on Monday, Dean Christopher returns with his "Rat Pack & More" show to One 19 Tapas & Wine Bar; "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play their monthly date at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups; and Webster University's student jazz combos will show off what they've learned this semester in a performance at the Community Music School on the Webster campus. 

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)