Sunday Session: April 19, 2020

Henry Grimes

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

* These are the musicians being listened to more (and less) during the pandemic (QZ.com)
* A Titan of Tumbao: Remembering Latin Jazz Bassist and Bandleader Andy González (WBGO)
* Lockdown learning: How a techno-head got into Beethoven (The Guardian)
* Why Do We Even Listen to New Music? (Pitchfork.com)
* Live Concerts Won’t Return Until “Fall 2021 at the Earliest,” Health Expert Warns (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Just Play - Ruminations on the themes of McCoy Tyner’s life on the occasion of his passing (TheNewInquiry.com)
* Coronavirus: Healthcare expert predicts concerts and festivals will not return until autumn 2021 (NME.com)
* Band Practice at Home Alone, Together: How JamKazam Became an Essential App Amid Self-Isolation (Billboard)
* Charles Lloyd Offers A Respite From Life’s Countless Dilemmas (DownBeat)
* Ticketmaster Slammed by US Congresswoman: ‘Worst Customer Service In Any Industry’ (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Hands Off: A 100th Anniversary Guide to Theremin Music (Bandcamp.com)
* Pandemic Complicates Nashville's Already Fragile Studio Business: 'We're Dealing In This Unknown' (Billboard)
* Behind The Scenes: Mixing Monitors On A Late-Night TV Show (ProSoundWeb.com)
* Lightning Strikes Twice: Songs Topping the Billboard Hot 100 Twice (MusicTimes.com)
* For Asian-American Jazz Artists, The Pandemic Uncovers Deep Wounds (DownBeat)
* The Morbid Comforts of Pandemic Playlists (Pitchfork.com)
* Tenor badness: Benny Golson, last legend of bebop (The Spectator)
* Ryo Kawasaki, Jazz Fusion Guitarist and Guitar Synth Inventor, Dies at 73 (Billboard)
* Lee Konitz, Alto Saxophonist Who Exemplified Jazz's Imperative to Make It New, Is Dead at 92 (WBGO)
* Exhibiting Wit And Chops Until The End, Saxophonist Lee Konitz Dies At 92 (DownBeat)
* John Prine: The Last Days and Beautiful Life of an American Original (Rolling Stone)
* A Touring-Dependent Genre Feels the Pain: ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ (Billboard)
* Music to his ears: How Jackie Robinson’s love of jazz helped civil rights movement (TheUndefeated.com)
* Van Dyke Parks’ existential awakening: ‘This is a time for reimagining’ (Los Angeles Times)
* Giuseppi Logan, Free-Jazz Multireedist Who Returned Once From Oblivion, Has Died at 84 (WBGO)
* Henry Grimes, Bassist of Avant-Garde Pedigree and a Storied Return, Dies of COVID-19 at 84 (WBGO)
* You Have a TikTok Hit! Now, Quick — Change the Title (Rolling Stone)
* Delfeayo Marsalis Is A Merchant Of Joy (DownBeat)

Sunday Session: April 12, 2020

Ron Carter

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

* Even in the Swinging Sixties, Ray Davies was feeling nostalgic (The Spectator)
* How Professor Bop Paid His Dues: Babs Gonzales (IndianaPublicMedia.org)
* John Edward Hasse Remembers U.S. Rep. John Conyers (Jazz Times)
* Guitarists Fareed Haque And Goran Ivanovic Reconvene After 15 Years (DownBeat)
* An Extraordinary Documentary About the Art of Sun Ra (The New Yorker)
* Chicago’s elder jazz musicians are playing not just for money but for time and yearn to return to the stage (Chicago Tribune)
* Jazz At Lincoln Center, Cultural Institutions Open Up Archives Amid Pandemic (DownBeat)
* Stayin’ alive! How music has fought pandemics for 2,700 years (The Guardian)
* Hal Willner, Music Producer and Longtime ‘SNL’ Music Supervisor, Dead at 64 (Rolling Stone)
* John Prine, Hero Of 'New' Nashville, Dies After Developing COVID-19 Symptoms (NPR)
* John Prine's Songs Saw The Whole Of Us (NPR)
* Onaje Allan Gumbs, Pianist Whose Reach Spanned the Soulful and the Smooth, Dies at 70 (WBGO)
* Kendrick Lamar Thinks Like A Jazz Musician (NPR)
* Ron Carter: A record-breaking jazz legend returns to Tokyo (Japan Times)
* Lakecia Benjamin Pursues a Spiritual Quest (DownBeat)
* Bob Dylan Scores First-Ever No. 1 Song on a Billboard Chart With 'Murder Most Foul' (Billboard)
* Blue Engine Chronicles Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Performances (DownBeat)
* Jazz Artists Raise Concerns Over Coronavirus Cancellations (Jazz Times)
* Best McCoy Tyner Albums: 20 Essentials From The Legendary Pianist (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* People Are Remembering What Music Is Really For (The Atlantic)
* Uri Caine Celebrates the Legacy of Octavius Catto (Jazz Times)
* Roscoe Mitchell reconciles improvisational sources and orchestral means (Chicago Reader)
* Unwinding the mystery of degraded reel-to-reel tapes (Phys.org)
* Nerding Out With Thundercat - On his new album, losing Mac Miller, and the Evangelion dubbing controversy (Vulture.com)
* Shine On Till Tomorrow: The Beatles’ Breakup at 50 (Rolling Stone)
* Bassist Andy González Dies At The Age Of 69 (DownBeat)
* Fenway Park's Organist Gives Fans That Ballpark Sound At Home — And He Takes Requests (NPR)
* Jazz Messengers’ Bassist Jymie Merritt Dies At 93 (DownBeat)
* Jymie Merritt, Bassist Who Brought a Rooted Yet Exploratory Spirit to Post-Bop, Dies at 93 (WBGO)
* The legal underbelly of livestreaming concerts (Water & Music)
* Coronavirus ravages storied New Orleans Mardi Gras group (Associated Press)

Sunday Session: March 15, 2020

Roy Haynes

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

* Long-Overdue Love for Louie (Premier Guitar)
* Word crimes? 'Weird Al Seriously' takes academic look at beloved parody musician (Bakersfield Californian)
* “An Evening with Branford Marsalis” at the Patchogue Theatre (Long Island Advance)
* In Praise of Roy Haynes: A Take Five Tribute to the Peerless Jazz Drummer, As He Turns 95 (WBGO)
* Interview: South Africa's Nduduzo Makhathini On His Upcoming Blue Note Records Debut (OkayAfrica.com)
* Trad-Jazz Revivalist Bria Skonberg Explores New Territory (Jazz Times)
* Growth, Change Apparent at PDX Festival (DownBeat)
* Jon Hassell :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview (AquariumDrunkard.com)
* How Explaining Copyright Broke the YouTube Copyright System (NYU.edu)
* Co-Producer Of PBS Chuck Berry Show Talks Star-Studded Guest List (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* For Jeff “Tain” Watts, it’s all about the purity in music (Jazz.fm)
* The confounding career of Pat Metheny (New Zealand Listener)
* Cold Fusion: The Search for the Jazz/Rock Unicorn, Part 1 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* McCoy Tyner: essential albums (Jazzwise)
* James Taylor & John Pizzarelli: Setting a Standard (Jazz Times)
* Kassa Overall Unpacks His “Backpack Jazz” Approach (Bandcamp.com)
* ‘Everything Is in Chaos’: The Concert Business Stands to Lose Billions From Coronavirus (Rolling Stone)
* Why Cancel Concerts? A Doctor Explains Coronavirus’ Spread (Rolling Stone)
* Bassist Linda May Han Oh Is A Musician Rooted In Curiosity (NPR)
* Musicians Were Depending On Those Jazz Nights And Senior Living Gigs (NPR)
* Pat Metheny Expands His Vision on ‘From This Place’ (DownBeat)
* Bird land: Jaimie Branch takes jazz to new heights (Columbia Daily Tribune)
* Sound Of Silence Banishes Music Across The Land (ClassicalVoiceAmerica.org)

Sunday Session: March 8, 2020

McCoy Tyner

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

* How The Brain Teases Apart A Song's Words And Music (NPR)
* The jazz icon Sonny Rollins knows life is a solo trip (New York Times)
* Public Enemy Fires Flavor Flav After Bernie Sanders Rally Spat (Rolling Stone)
* Haden Triplets Find Songs’ Simplicity (DownBeat)
* Spotify’s Newest Pitch to Labels and Musicians: Now You Pay Us (Bloomberg.com)
* 'The road will kill you': why older musicians are cancelling tours (The Guardian)
* What the US record industry should fear about its future – and what it deserves to celebrate (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* After 60 Years, Sergio Mendes Is Still Writing Songs 'In The Key Of Joy' (NPR)
* Oscar Peterson’s Africa Suite Comes to Life in Toronto (Jazz Times)
* Nona Hendryx on Paying Tribute to Sun Ra at the Met: 'Afrofuturism Has Always Been' (Billboard)
* The Archive Of Contemporary Music — And Its 3 Million Recordings — Is Leaving NY (NPR)
* The Port-au-Prince Jazz Festival: A Small Triumph in Haiti (DownBeat)
* Soundtrack City: How Nashville is awash in film, game scores (ABC News)
* 'It's hopeful and generous': Thurston Moore's experimental record shop (The Guardian)
* Art Blakey, the Mightiest Mentor (DownBeat)
* Q&A with Rudresh Mahanthappa: A Jazz Festival Grows in Princeton (JAZZIZ)
* Read Universal Music Group Chief Archivist’s Update on Damage From 2008 Fire (Variety)
* Brecker and Rovatti Examine Their ‘Sacred Bond’ (DownBeat)
* In Memoriam: McCoy Tyner (DownBeat)
* McCoy Tyner, Jazz Pianist Who Anchored John Coltrane’s Legendary Quartet, Dead at 81 (Rolling Stone)
* Austin officials cancel South by Southwest festival (Associated Press)
* McCoy Tyner, Groundbreaking Pianist Of 20th Century Jazz, Dies At 81 (NPR)
* Arts & Culture: A Blast from the Past (APS.org)
* ‘Hot Rats’ at 50: How Frank Zappa busted up his band, moved to L.A. and helped invent jazz-rock (Los Angeles Times)
* The 10 most groundbreaking free jazz albums of all time (HappyMag.tv)

Sunday Session: March 11, 2018

Herbie Hancock

Here's the 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:

* Ben Sidran Remembers Tommy LiPuma (Jazz Times)
* An ‘Astral Weeks’ origin story, told 50 years after Van Morrison fled to Boston (Boston Globe)
* Big Ears 2018 – Q&A With Milford Graves (ArtsKnoxville.com)
* McCoy Tyner In The ’70s: Part 1 (BurningAmbulance.com)
* Herbie Hancock 'still learning,' as eclectic music icon works on new album with Kendrick Lamar, Wayne Shorter and more (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Why are concert tickets going on sale so early? And where does all that cash go? (Kansas City Star)
* 7 Candid Photos of Jazz Legends (BBC)
* Like A Cosmic Newspaper: Val Wilmer On Sun Ra (TheQuietus.com)
* How the classical took control of the jazz in ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Mere Virtuosity - Variations on a Slippery Idea (VQROnline.org)
* Inside the Bizarre, Booming Business of Turning Hit Songs into Baby Lullabies (Thrillist.com)
* Q&A with Steven Bernstein: On Respectability (DownBeat)
* Founder of Tower Records dies at 92 while drinking whiskey and watching the Oscars (Sacramento Bee)
* Herbie Hancock Taps Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat for New Album (Rolling Stone)
* NPR’s Tiny Desk Is Actually Not Tiny at All (Vice.com)
* NME to close print edition after 66 years (The Guardian)
* Big Ears Announces Full 2018 Lineup (DownBeat)
* An Impressive Audio Archive of John Cage Lectures & Interviews: Hear Recordings from 1963-1991 (OpenCulture.com)
* There’s a Tuba Crime Wave Sweeping America (Wall Street Journal)
* The Many Dimensions of Drummer, Composer and Bandleader Allison Miller (WBGO)
* Van Morrison teams up with Hammond hero Joey DeFrancesco on new album You’re Driving Me Crazy (Jazzwise)
* A Cherished BBC Radio Show Asks Celebrities to Pick a Desert Island Survival Kit (AtlasObscura.com)
* For iconic jazz club Village Vanguard, music rather than food is its main gig (New York Business Journal)
* Taylor Ho Bynum Presents New Suite in Hartford (DownBeat)
* Linda Ronstadt: From Tucson to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, her lifetime love affair with music (AZCentral.com)
* The Original Noise Artist: Hear the Strange Experimental Sounds & Instruments of Italian Futurist, Luigi Russolo (1913) (OpenCulture.com)
* An Interview with Billy Cobham, Genius Drummer with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel, Etc. Etc. (The Stranger)
* Kobalt invests $150m in independent artists to challenge ‘stupidity’ of traditional major label deals (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Her Tiny Apartment is New York’s Most Secret Jazz Club (MessyNessyChic.com)