Sunday Session: July 4, 2021

Sun Ra

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

* Congressmen Introduce American Music Fairness Act to Compel Radio to Pay Royalties on Recorded Music (Variety)
* Experimental Musicians Turn to Multimedia Art During the COVID-19 Pandemic (TheRoadToSound.com)
* Jon Hassell, avant garde US composer, dies aged 84 (The Guardian)
* How Sun Ra Taught Us to Believe in the Impossible (The New Yorker)
* Anitta, ‘The Girl From Rio,’ on Interpolating the Classic ‘Ipanema’ Melody for a U.S. Pop Breakthrough (Variety)
* Burton Greene, Pioneering Free Jazz Pianist, Dies at 84 (WBGO)
* Zenón Finds Light in Ornette (DownBeat)
* 20-Year-Old Pi Recordings Builds Path from Past to Future (DownBeat)
* The pop star versus the playlist (Vox.com)
* Spotify Executive Calls Artist ‘Entitled’ for Requesting Payment of One Penny Per Stream (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Elk Live promises next-gen remote collaboration: “play music together like you’re in the same room” (MusicRadar.com)
* The Smithsonian Institution to release 129-song anthology of rap music (NME.com)
* Queen are making £100,000 a day from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ biopic (NME.com)
* Rock sideman Earl Slick: ‘Bowie had gone levels into insanity’ (The Guardian)
* Less Than 5% of Pandemic Relief Funds for Nightlife Venues Have Been Distributed. Owners Fear the Show Might Not Go On (Time)
* “Blue” Gene Tyranny Was Texas’s Greatest Piano Prodigy (Texas Monthly)
* Herbie Hancock’s favourite books of all time (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Nels Cline: "I had no desire to gyrate and hump my amplifier and set my guitar on fire – I wanted to take a modest path" (Guitar World)
* A Conversation with Mr. Ron Carter (BassMusicianMagazine.com)

Sunday Session: May 23, 2021

Quincy Jones

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

* Pioneering composer Terry Riley finds himself comfortably marooned in Japan (ToysMatrix.com)
* Curtis Fuller (1932-2021) – A Tribute by Nils Wogram (London Jazz News)
* "Part of the Tradition is Tipping Your Hat": An Interview with Miguel Zenón (Popmatters.com)
* Sam Leak – Findings of the ‘Livestreaming Music’ survey – and a personal perspective (London Jazz News)
* Moers Festival Interviews: Fred Frith (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Long Hair And Lowriders: Latin Rock In 1971 (NPR)
* Making an Album About George Washington Carver Taught James Brandon Lewis About Himself (Bandcamp.com)
* María Grand Moves Her Music Closer to Nature (Jazz Times)
* The golden ratio: an ancient Greek formula could be responsible for most hit musicals (TheConversation.com)
* Bob Koester leaves a colossal legacy in Chicago jazz and blues (Chicago Reader)
* “Stay Literally Forever Young”: A Conversation with Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans (DwellerForever.blog)
* Mars Williams: The Albums That Shaped My Career (SomethingElseReviews.com)
* How a Favela Orchestra Brilliantly Used Soccer to Get Brazil Excited for Classical Music (Adweek)
* THR Icon: Quincy Jones Reflects on Career, Michael Jackson and Why He Wouldn’t Work With Elvis (Hollywood Reporter)
* Marking Legendary Golden-Age Pianist Erroll Garner's Centennial (NPR)
* Joni Mitchell’s First Song Made Her Piano Teacher Angry (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Fifteen Questions Interview with Claire RousayFlawed, Unsure, and Deeply Human (15Questions)
* Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ Is as Relevant Today as It Was in 1971 (Smithsonian)
* Bob Dylan at 80: in praise of a mighty and unbowed singer-songwriter (The Guardian)
* Linda May Han Oh: the Perth muso immortalised by Pixar (Sydney Morning Herald) * Wadada Leo Smith :: Transmissions (AquariumDrunkard.com)

Sunday Session: March 21, 2021

Miguel Zenón

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

* History: Irving Mills' relentless drive to promote the best jazz music (Palm Springs Desert Sun)
* A Take Five Toast to Grammy Winners in Jazz and Blues (WBGO)
* Sally Grossman, Bob Dylan Cover Icon and Wife of Manager Albert, Dead at 81 (Rolling Stone)
* Maria Schneider, Chick Corea Win Big at 2021 Grammy Awards (Jazz Times)
* Unearthly acoustics as saxophone and overtone flute improvise duet in giant cooling tower (ClassicFM.com)
* From Billie Holiday to Jeff Buckley: The 10 saddest albums of all time (FarOutmagazine.co.uk)
* Anita Baker asks fans not to buy or stream her music as she battles for her masters (TheGrio.com)
* Jazz: Where Have All the Giants Gone (Red Hook Star-Revue)
* Don Cherry on creativity and “the mysticism of sound” (TheVinylFactory.com)
* KCRW Presents Lockdown Listening: Karriem Riggins (NPR)
* Big Music Needs to Be Broken Up to Save the Industry (Wired)
* The New Science Of Superfans (Billboard)
* Walter Page: Freedom Bass Dance (Jazz Times)
* Saxophonist Miguel Zenón pays tribute to jazz giant Ornette Coleman (Bay State Banner)
* Tired of collecting normal vinyl records? Alan Cross has some abnormal options for you (GlobalNews.ca)
* Freddie Redd, Pianist and Composer Known For 'The Connection,' Has Died at 92 (WBGO)
* Ringo Starr says Peter Jackson’s new Beatles doc is full of joy (NME.com)
* Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s Blues Awards Nomination Rescinded Over ‘Dukes’ Confederate Imagery; Guitarist Says He Retired It (Variety)
* Why bands are disappearing: 'Young people aren’t excited by them' (The Guardian)
* How 22-Year-Old Christone Ingram Is Making the Delta Blues New Again (Rolling Stone)
* A Brief History of the Harmonica (Smithsonian)
* The era of genius worship must end with James Levine (Boston Globe)
* Mass Hipgnosis (TheBaffler.com)
* Paul Jackson, Headhunters Bassist Who Played With Herbie Hancock, Dies At 73 (NPR)
* Irving Azoff, Musician Orgs Hail California Bill to Cap Recording Contracts at 7 Years (Billboard)

Sunday Session: July 9, 2017

Miguel Zenon

Here's the weekly roundup of various music-related items of interest that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* The real motor of the performing arts isn’t vision. It’s the board, stupid. ​(Washington Post)
* Like it or not, we are in the midst of a second arts revolution (Chicago Tribune)
* Nora Holt - The pioneering African-American composer and critic left little trace of her work, making it – as Matthew Guerrieri writes – all the more important to celebrate her story (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Jazz Greats in Paris (The New Yorker)
* A room where sound goes to die — and scientists go to study (Seattle Times)
* Redefining the rock god - the new breed of electric guitar heroes (TheConversation.com)
* Churches struggling to find organists (Baltimore Sun)
* Hats Off To The Hammond (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Assessing 'Queen of Bebop: The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan' (WBGO)
* Hudson’s Collective Groove Exceeds Expectations at Montreal Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* INTERVIEW: Rhys Chatham On Tony Conrad (TheQuietus.com)
* Jazz fest: Robert Glasper takes teamwork cues from Miles Davis (Montreal Gazette)
* Brain Music: How 'Fly Me To The Moon' Can Explain Your Brain On Anesthesia (WBUR)
* The Music Industry's Still Off Key (Bloomberg.com)
* A 60-year run at Royal Studios in Memphis--recording hits with 1960s vacuum-tube technology (KCBX)
* Guitarists Explore Music of Monk in NYC Concert (DownBeat)
* Everything You Need to Know About Music Sales in 2017 (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Why prog rock still deserves your time (The Economist)
* Scrapbook from the Apple (Jazz Journal)
* How to Double Vinyl Record Sales In 2 Years or Less (Guaranteed!) (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* The final bar? How gentrification threatens America's music cities (The Guardian)
* Global Swing: Catching Up with Miguel Zenón in Spain (DownBeat)
* Jane Bunnett & Maqueque: 21st Century Women (Jazz Times)
* The Sound of Avant Garde Jazz: Stream 35 Hours of Experimental Jazz by Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane & More (OpenCulture.com)
* Ornette Coleman: A Jazz Visionary Ready for Prime Time (NBCNews.com)
* 'Baby Driver's' true theme song is 'B-A-B-Y' and Carla Thomas loves it (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
* Stars turning out for tribute to famed SF nightclub Keystone Korner (San Jose Mercury-News)

Sunday Session: February 5, 2017

Maria Schneider

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

* How Chic’s ‘Good Times’ Launched Rap (Wall Street Journal)
* What would it take to make audio 'cool' again? (CNet.com)
* The story of Ash Koosha, now banned from the USA (DazedDigital.com)
* Volnovod is a robot sculpture that uses wire to make sound visually (CreateDigitalMusic.link)
* David Byrne's New Doc 'Contemporary Color' Shows Off 'Art Sport' And Indie Stars (NPR)
* From The Critic's Desk: A Preview Of 2017 In Jazz (NPR)
* Newport Jazz Festival Announces First Wave of Artists for 2017 (Jazz Times)
* Bob Dylan's New Triple Album Reimagines The Classics (NPR)
* ‘Dog Breath in the Year of the Plague’: A fanboy’s appreciation of Frank Zappa’s ‘Uncle Meat’ (DangerousMinds.net)
* Unreleased Bill Evans Trio Album To Be Released March 24 (DownBeat)
* How a pair of former Detroit Lions helped inspire one of Marvin Gaye’s most defining records (TheUndefeated.com)
* First Listen: Miguel Zenón, 'Típico' (NPR)
* Trombone Shorty Signs with Blue Note, To Release Label Debut in April (DownBeat)
* Colleagues, Collaborators Remember Michael Brecker in NYC Concert (DownBeat)
* How Embattled LA DIY Venue The Smell Is Using VR to Preserve Its Legacy (Vice.com)
* For The Last Time: Rock Is Not Dead, You’re Just Not Paying Attention (Uproxx.com)
* Is the era of weird instruments over? (Perfect Sound Forever)
* From Joni Mitchell to Laura Marling: how female troubadours changed music (The Guardian)
* Maria Schneider ‘Attacking the Data Lords’ (DownBeat)
* Is Spotify Going Bankrupt In 2017? Wall Street Delivers Another Red Flag (DigitalMusicNews.com)

Sunday Session: July 12, 2015

Miguel Zenón

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

* Facebook Is Negotiating Music Video Licensing With Major Labels. (Digital Music News)
* Paul McCartney Opens Up About Lennon, Yoko, and More (Esquire)
* Here’s What Apple Music Looks Like to Artists (Create Digital Music)
* Zenón Spotlights Identities Project at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase (DownBeat)
* The Wall of Sound (Vice.com)
* Sonifying the world (Aeon)
* The Anxious Ease of Apple Music (The New Yorker)
* The Finger’s on the Self-Destruct Button - The Ugly Truth about Apple, Google, Spotify, and the Rest of the Music Streaming Universe (Medium.com)
* SESAC to Buy HFA (New Music Box)
* SubCulture in New York Cancels Much of Its Schedule (New York Times)
* Rdio bets big on curation with new label and influencer radio station (Venture Beat)
* Why the AACM and AfriCOBRA still matter (Chicago Reader)
* I’m An Independent Artist And Apple Music Screwed Up My Entire Discography (Digital Music News)
* Masters Behind the Mix: A Behind the Scenes Glimpse Into Music Making With Audio Engineer Jim Anderson (Atlantic Records)
* This Is What 70 Years of Computing Sounds Like (Vice.com)
* Violinist Kevin Yu Invents a High-Tech Tux Shirt (Violinist.com)
* Why We’ll Never Have an Iconic Record Cover Like ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Again (Medium.com)
* Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
* The Power of Creation in an Age of Destruction (New Music Box)
* Glasper, Valdés Joyfully Explore Diverse Material in San Francisco (DownBeat)
* Sony Music Tells Court It's Not Their Job To Make Artists Money (Hypebot.com)
* Did Rock and Roll Pacify America? (The Atlantic)

Jazz this week: Miguel Zenon, Elizabeth Harnik, Paul Metzger & Tim Kaiser, and more

It should be a good weekend to go out and hear some live music in St. Louis, and fortunately, there's a nice variety of jazz and creative music happening at local venues.

The biggest name in town and the pick show of the week is alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon (pictured), who's performing at Jazz at the Bistro nightly through Saturday, You can read more about Zenon and see some video of his playing in this post from last week.

On Thursday, Austrian pianist Elizabeth Harnik and her trio will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. English-languange info on Harnik seems to be somewhat scarce on the Internet, so I can't tell you too much about her music, other than that in addition to performing jazz and improvisational music, she also has classical training, composes music for chamber ensembles and theater, and has even written an opera.

On Friday, improvisational guitarist/banjoist Paul Metzger and multimedia performer Tim Kaiser return to Open Lot. You can read more about the show and them here. Also on Friday, keyboardist, electronic musician and composer James Hegarty will present a concert titled "Antithesis Reflex" at the Three Sinks Gallery, 8715 Big Bend Blvd in Webster Groves.

According to the promotional email sent out by New Music Circle, Hegarty's performance includes two movements; the first, "Space Churn Red," combines improvised piano with interactive computer accompaniment. The piece was inspired by a kinetic sculpture of the same title by George Rickey at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University (which Hegarty recently visited), and incorporates computer-manipulated recordings of kinetic sculptures, spoken dialogues, synthesis and environments. The second movement, "Antithesis Reflex," is for unaccompanied piano and "explores abstract and flexible formal structures as applied to improvisation."

Also on Saturday, the Ambassadors of Swing perform with ballroom dancers Alex Borodko and Angi Heren in a show at the Lucas School House to benefit the Family Center. And on Sunday afternoon, guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason give a free in-store performance at Webster Records. They'll be playing music from their new holiday CD A Midnight Clear, which you can learn more about by reading this post.

UPDATE - 2:30 p.m., 11/8/08: Sunday also brings a benefit show for Mae "Lady Jazz" Wheeler at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. Wheeler has been battling cancer, and an impressive lineup of local blues singers will perform to raise money to help with the veteran vocalist's medical and living expenses. The show runs from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and scheduled performers include Kim Massie, Robbie Montgomery, Renee Smith, Uvee Hayes, Marsha Evans and Kari Liston of the Bottoms Up Blues Gang.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. On Tuesday, the Brookmeyer/Mulligan-inspired band Utter Chaos is at The Gramophone, and the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will have its monthly meeting, spinning John Coltrane's Giant Steps with KSDK reporter/anchor Cordell Whitlock and JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford at the Borders Store in Brentwood, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd.

Last but not least, next Wednesday Erin Bode will begin a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro to promote the release of her new Christmas CD, while the "free jazz/power electronics" ensemble Squid Choir Orkestra will play the Way Out Club, 2525 S. Jefferson, as the opening act for experimental rock band Skarekrau Radio.

You can find the latest updates and more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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: Three from Miguel Zenón

This week, we take at look at some video clips featuring alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, who's one of the fastest-rising young jazz stars to emerge this decade. Zenón will be in St. Louis next week to perform Wednesday, November 5 through Saturday, November 8 at Jazz at the Bistro, and to help those who haven't heard him get acquainted, today we've got excerpts from three performances that reveal different aspects of his musical personality.

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón is a graduate of both Berklee College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. His credits include performances and/or recordings with artists including David Sanchez, Charlie Haden, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Bobby Hutcherson, Bob Moses, The Either Orchestra, Guillermo Klein, the Mingus Big Band, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, Ray Barretto and Steve Coleman. St. Louis listeners also may remember Zenon from his appearance here in 2006 at the Bistro with the SF Jazz Collective, which he helped found.

Zenon has put out four recordings as a leader, with the most recent, Awake, released earlier this year. He has received many awards, this year including fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation (sometimes called the “Genius Grant”). That kind of recognition tends to raise expectations to daunting levels, but those who have heard Zenón can attest that he's definitely got the goods to be a significant force in creative music for many years to come.

The embedded video windows up top feature Zenón at the Nuyorican Cafe in NYC, offering a rather quirky deconstruction of the familiar Latin standard "Oye Como Va" with some help from Aldemar Valetin on bass, Tony Escapa on drums and Reynaldo de Jesus on congas. Those listeners who are expecting something akin to the famous versions by Tito Puente and/or Carlos Santana may be taken aback, but hearing a musician offer a fresh take on a well-known tune can provide useful insights into the way their mind works, and I think that's the case here.

Down below, Zenón displays a more romantic side and a lusher sound in a performance of a Latin ballad titled "Qué Te Pedí" recorded at Zinco Jazz Club in México City. The final embedded video showcases a Zenón solo on the tune "Birdlike," recorded in June 2006 at Smalls with Bruce Barth on piano, Doug Weiss on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums. Though the video is dark, it's worth checking out to hear Zenón show off some blazing bop chops.