Notes from the Net: Still more Miles to cover; Brubeck on the mend; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Starting with some Miles Davis news, here's a recent article by PopMatters.com's Will Layman that asks, "How much Miles Davis is enough?" Well, for us, not just one item, that's for sure - so here's a review of the deluxe 40th anniversary collectors' edition of Bitches Brew, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Chris M. Slawecki. Meanwhile, yet another Davis-related book, Miles: The Companion Guide to the Autobiography, is currently scheduled for a February 2011 release date.

Also, via Miles Davis Online, there's news that hip-hop star/actor Q-Tip is working on a play about Davis (pictured) with author and filmmaker Nelson George. Also, there's another documentary film about Davis in the works, and the magazine The Revivalist just ran several stories on the Bitches Brew anniversary in their inaugural issue. The package includes interviews with saxophonist Bennie Maupin and drummer Lenny White, who played on the sessions for the album, and Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn, as well as a never-before-released live recording of “Directions.”

* Turning to news of other former St. Louisans, saxophonist Oliver Lake has just opened a show of his visual art in the galleries of radio station WBGO in Newark. The exhibit runs through January 28.

* Here's a review of guitarist Grant Green's CD Retrospective from Tim Niland of Music and More.

* In news of recent visitors, guitarist Russell Malone, who played Jazz at the Bistro in October and has a new CD on the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ, just did an interview on WBGO's The Checkout.

* And here's a review of drummer/keyboardist Gary Husband's latest, Dirty and Beautiful Volume 1, from AAJ.com's Ian Patterson. Husband was in St. Louis last month at The Sheldon with guitarist John McLaughlin's band 4th Dimension.

* The Rebirth Brass Band, who played at The Gramophone in October, have just released Rebirth Revisited, a collection of remixes by the band and various contributing producers. You can check out a sample track, "Do Whatcha Wanna (Jazzhouse SPD Remix)," by clicking on the embedded audio player below.



* Dave Brubeck is on the mend from the health difficulties that forced him to cancel his appearance here in October at the Sheldon. Here's a review of Brubeck's return to the stage at the Blue Note in NYC, courtesy of the Times' Nate Chinen, and a recent feature story on the venerable pianist and composer written by Marc Myers for the Wall Street Journal.

* Wrapping up with some items of more general interest, a recent story from the New York Times' Daniel J. Wakin chronicles the shrinking amount of work available to NYC freelance classical musicians, while another recent Times piece from A.G. Sulzberger looks at the ambivalent relationship that many working musicians have with holiday music.

* The first season of the HBO series Treme will be released on DVD in March. Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott is just one of many jazz and blues musicians who appeared earlier this year in the HBO series about New Orleans residents recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of the city.

* Nominees for the 2001 Grammy Awards were announced last week, and though no St. Louis jazz musicians were nominated this year, a number of the jazz nominees have played here recently, as you can see if you check out the complete list here.

Notes from the Net: Phil Perry's new collaboration; Mtume vs. Crouch; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* In this week's Miles Davis-related news, Davis' former percussionist James Mtume and journalist and critic Stanley Crouch recently debated the merits of the trumpeter's electric music of the 1970s, and their discussion was captured on video and posted online. Most opinions I've seen so far say Mtume schooled Crouch, but you can make up your own mind after watching the video clips here.

Meanwhile, Davis' iconic image remains as marketable as ever, with another recent example being Canada's jazz.fm using a limited edition print of a photo of Davis for a pledge premium.

* East St. Louis native Phil Perry (pictured) is the vocalist and co-writer on "Forever United," the first single released from Chicago flute player Nicole Mitchell's upcoming CD The Bi-Polar Music Project...Vol. 1: Licensed to Chill. Mitchell and Perry wrote the tune with Preston Glass, whose songs have been recorded by Aretha Franklin, Jermaine Stewart, Whitney Houston, Earth Wind and Fire, Kenny G, Lenny Williams and others. The single is showing on the Music Choice R&B/Soul channel and getting radio play in the U.K.

* In news of recent visitors to our town, the New Jersey public radio station WBGO's program The Checkout recently interviewed guitarist John McLaughlin, who was in St. Louis on Friday at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of his current tour of North America. The guitarist also was interviewed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before a show in that city, and is the subject of Follow Your Heart, a recently published book by music journalist Walter Kolosky that offers a song-by-song analysis of McLaughlin's recorded work.

* Violinist Regina Carter played Jazz at the Bistro earlier this month, and then went to Minneapolis to perform at the Dakota, where Pamela Espelund of the Twin Cities jazz blog Bebopified caught the show and wrote a enthusiastic review.

* Pianist Vijay Iyer, who was here the weekend before last with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet, last week selected five of Smith's recordings for a sort of "intro to..." post about the trumpeter on NPR's A Blog Supreme.

* Saxophonist Victor Goines, who played the Sheldon that same weekend, just did a performance & lecture for the Chicago Humanities Festival exploring the standard "Body & Soul"

* Glancing quickly at the "coming attractions" file, The Bad Plus, who will be here in January at the Bistro, just played the London Jazz Festival

* Lastly, a few items of general interest to jazz fans: The Concord Music Group is offering 25% off the entire order when you spend at least $40 on recordings from the group's contemporary artists such as John Pizzarelli, Esperanza Spalding, Christian Scott, Stanton Moore, Stanley Clarke and others. Use the promo code NEWJAZZ to get the special pricing. There's also a free sampler album available for download, with tracks by Spalding, Scott, Mindi Abair, Fourplay, Hiromi, Lee Ritenour and Gerald Albright.

* Want to follow your favorite jazz artist(s) on Twitter? Donna, the single-named proprietress of the blog Elements of Jazz, has put together a handy yet comprehensive list of Twitter addresses for jazz musicians, receord labels, presenters, journalists, organizations, and so on.

* And from the "Handy Things You Can Do On The Internet" file, have you ever wanted to save the audio from a YouTube video as an .MP3 file for later reference? Turns out there are a number of websites created specifically for this purpose, and yr. humble StLJN editor recently has used two of them - http://www.video2mp3.net/ and http://www.listentoyoutube.com/ - with quite satisfactory results. Both sites are free, and neither requires registration. They do serve some pop-ups and interstitial ads, but if you don't mind clicking through that stuff, both seem to handle the conversion quickly and easily.

Notes from the Net: The Miles Davis Radio Project reissued; Sanborn plays through pain; plus news, reviews, interviews & more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Let's start, as we usually do, with news of Miles Davis. Via Miles Davis Online comes word that Davis, who in the 1970s recorded an album called On The Corner, soon may have an actual NYC street corner named after him. Also: the Miles Davis Radio Project, an eight-part, 16-hour audio documentary about the trumpeter first recorded nearly 20 years ago, is now available for purchase as a series of digital downloads; Toronto trumpeter Brownman Ali just completed a five-week series of concerts paying tribute to Davis; and images of Davis and other members of the band that recorded Kind of Blue apparently are sufficiently cool to be featured on some new skateboards and sneakers.

* In news of other former St. Louisans, saxophonist and clarinetist Marty Ehrlich (pictured) has teamed with trombonist Ray Anderson to co-lead a quartet on a new CD called Hear You Say, out now on Challenge Records. Here's a review of the disc from AllAboutJazz.com's Bruce Lindsay, and another perspective from the UK Guardian's John Fordham.

* Singer, actor, comic and Belleville native Lea DeLaria also has a new CD, Be A Santa, out on the Warner Classics & Jazz label. AAJ's Bruce Lindsay reviewed DeLaria's disc, calling it "an album full of festive standards that swings like a sleigh bell on a Christmas tree and entertains in stylish fashion."

* Via Avant Music News: Saxophonist, composer and onetime Webster University student John Zorn will present a performance of his classical works later this month at Bard College in upstate New York.

* Another saxophonist and former St. Louisan, David Sanborn, played the Blue Note in NYC last month with his trio, and got a nice review from the Times' Nate Chinen. Sanborn's performance seems even more remarkable in retrospect, given the recent news that he's been performing for months now while suffering acute pain from a kidney stone.

* In other medical-related news, pianist Dave Brubeck, who had to cancel his October performance here at the Sheldon Concert Hall for health reasons, recently underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed. There's good news, too, though - after the operation, Brubeck's doctors said he should be able to resume practicing and performing soon. Brubeck also is the subject of a new documentary film, directed by Clint Eastwood and set to premier next month on the BBC.

* Meanwhile, drummer Max Weinberg, who did make it here with his new Big Band to perform last month at the Argosy Alton Casino, recently talked to the website Popeater about his own recent heart surgery, his decision not to join Conan O'Brien's new show on TBS, and more.

* Pianist Kenny Barron, seen in St. Louis last month in duet with fellow pianist Mulgrew Miller at Jazz at the Bistro, talked with NPR's A Blog Supreme about his recent listening habits here.

* Also recently at the Bistro was guitarist Russell Malone, who did a four-night stand to celebrate the release of his latest CD Triple Play on the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label. Now, reviews of the disc are coming in, including favorable mentions from the New York Times, DownBeat and DustyGroove.com.

* Violinist Regina Carter, who was here last week at the Bistro, played the previous week at Regatta Bar in Boston; here's an article about the gig, from the Harvard Crimson.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, pianist Vijay Iyer, who will be in St. Louis this Saturday to perform with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet at 560 Music Center, recently was a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air".

* Speaking of Wadada Leo Smith, he's got a new disc out, recorded as a duo with drummer Ed Blackwell, called The Blue Mountain’s Sun Drummer. Read a review here, courtesy of Burning Ambulance blogger Phil Freeman.

* Zappa Plays Zappa, set to play The Pageant on December 8, recently celebrated what would have been Frank Zappa's 70th birthday with a concert in London. In related news, keyboardist George Duke, who worked with FZ for several years in the 1970s, will join ZPZ onstage for the first time ever in an upcoming show in Los Angeles.

* Last but not least, Lisette Dennis of Regional Arts Commission kindly emailed with the news that the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City wants to hire a Grants Development Officer. Interested individuals can find out more about the position and how to apply here.

Notes from the Net: A Miles Davis interview rediscovered; fall CD releases; plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Starting once again with some Miles Davis news, via Miles Davis Online we learn that Soulandjazz.com has posted a radio interview with Davis originally done in the mid-1980s for musician/broadcaster/author Ben Sidran's NPR program "Sidran on Record." Also via MDO, netmag The Quietus asks rock stars to name their favorite Miles Davis albums, and the news that the list price of the recent box-set-of-box-sets The Genius of Miles Davis has been reduced from $1,199 to $749.

Meanwhile, over at AllAboutJazz.com, Victor L. Schermer considers "Miles: The Autobiography... Two Decades Later", while Warner Jazz in the UK has issued Perfect Way – The Warner Bros. Years, a compilation album drawn from Davis' late-career output that also includes some previously unreleased tracks.

* Trumpeter, singer and St. louis native Clark Terry is the subject of an interview at Marc Myers' JazzWax blog; check out part one here, and part two here.

* The Wall Street Journal reports that saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn, who was back home in August to play Jazz at the Bistro, is selling his NYC townhouse for $9 million.

* From the "coming attractions" file, the New York Times' Nate Chinen reviews The Bad Plus' new CD Never Stop here. Also, TBP finally made their Kansas City debut last month at the Folly Theater, and Bill Brownlee of the KC jazz blog Plastic Sax was there to review the show for the Kansas City Star. The Bad Plus return to St. Louis in January to play at the Bistro.

* Singer Jane Monheit (pictured), who will perform at the Bistro in December, also has a new CD, Home, on sale now.

* Guitarist John McLaughlin and his band 4th Dimension are set to play NYC's Town Hall on November 13, six days before they come to St. Louis to play the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* JazzHouston has an interview with pianist Vijay Iyer, who will be back in St. Louis next month with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet for a New Music Circle-sponsored concert at the 560 Music Center.

* In news of some recent visitors, saxophonist Kirk Whalum has released his new CD paying tribute to singer, songwriter, pianist and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway. Special guests on the disc include Hathaway's daughter, R&B singer Lalah Hathaway; bassist Christian McBride; and guitarist Jeff Golub. Whalum and Golub were in St. Louis with the Guitars and Saxes tour at the Pageant in August , while McBride has played here this year with his band Inside Straight at the Bistro and in a duo concert with pianist Peter Martin at the Sheldon.

* Meanwhile, guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who was here in July to play at the Casino Queen, will release a new CD called Zen Food on Mack Avenue Records on November 23.

* Finally, a few more notes of general interest: The MU Concert Jazz Band from the University of Missouri has released their debut CD Vertigo, featuring a guest appearance by vibraphonist Mike Manieri;

* AllAboutJazz.com has revamped their free services for jazz musicians as part of an overall site redesign;

* And "early bird" registration for the next Jazz Education Network conference, to be held in January in New Orleans, ends this Friday.

Notes from the Net: Bitches Brew turns 40; new CDs from Vijay Iyer and The Bad Plus; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* We start, as usual, with some Miles Davis news, much of it related in some way to this year's 40th anniversary re-release of Bitches Brew. The website LAist has a look at a panel discussion on the 40th anniversary of Bitches Brew at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, who played on the sessions; actor Don Cheadle, who's set to portray the trumpeter in the proposed film biography; Davis's nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr. and his son, Erin Davis; and others.

On a similar note, the New York Times' Ben Ratliff devoted a good part of recent podcast to Miles and the recording of Bitches Brew. In somewhat-related news, here's a beer enthusiast's review of the new Bitches Brew ale, the brewers of which claim Miles as inspiration. Lastly, Miles Davis Online recently asked readers to pick their favorites from a gallery of Davis' album covers.

* Following up on some recent visitors to St. Louis, guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion Tour, which played here in May at the Touhill, is set to resume in October for 19 more shows, mostly in the northeast US.

* Meanwhile, bassist Christian McBride and his band Inside Straight, including St. Louis' own Peter Martin on piano, recently were featured on NPR's Jazz Set. McBride and Martin did a duo concert last Saturday at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the bassist will be back here in March for a Ray Brown tribute at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Speaking of Martin, he and fellow MAXJAZZ recording artists Russell Malone and Romero Lubambo will perform this weekend with vocalist Dianne Reeves at the 53rd annual Monterey Jazz Festival. Malone will be at the Bistro next month to celebrate his upcoming release on the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ, while Lubambo will play with Martin at the Sheldon in December.
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* In other news of coming attractions, singer and guitarist Jonathan Butler recently was featured on CNN. Butler will be in St. Louis next Friday for a concert at the 560 Music Center.

* Singer Jane Monheit just did an interview with Jazz Times discussing the Great American Songbook and her favorite contemporary composers. Monheit comes back to St. Louis in December for four nights at the Bistro.

* Also on the road right now are pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Barron, seen here together at the Detroit Jazz Festival; singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli, who just did a Duke Ellington-themed show at Scullers in Boston; and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who were just in Indiana at Goshen College. Miller and Barron are here next week at the Bistro; Pizzarelli will return to St. Louis in April to play the Sheldon, and the PHJB will perform with the Del McCoury Band in October at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

* Pianist Vijay Iyer's new solo CD was featured on NPR's "Piano Jazz," reviewed in DownBeat and on the blog Music and More, and served as impetus for a feature about Iyer in the Wall Street Journal. Iyer will be in St. Louis with the Golden Quartet in November for a New Music Circle-sponsored concert at the 560 Music Center.

* Speaking of new records, The Bad Plus' latest album Never Stop is out this week, and already has been featured on NPR and on the website Spinner, and reviewed by Music and More. They'll be back in St. Louis in January to kick off the new year at Jazz at the Bistro.

* In other recording news, the band Yellowjackets have signed a deal with Mack Avenue Records. The 'Jackets, with drummer Will Kennedy back in the fold after the departure last year of St. Louis native Marcus Baylor, will return to St. Louis in April to play at the Bistro.

* Also, Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) have signed with Basin Street Records, also home to trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport and many other jazz artists. The label "worked with Rebirth from the sidelines" in 2005 on Throwback, an album that reunited the band with founding member and now labelmate Kermit Ruffins. Rebirth are expected to release their first album on Basin Street in February 2011. They'll be in St. Louis on Thursday October 7 to perform at The Gramophone.

* Finally, those with an interest in unusual musical instruments and/or extended instrumental techniques may enjoy this recent New York Times piece about "Robert Dick's Glissando Headjoint and Other Inventions"

Notes from the Net: A rare Miles Davis TV appearance; the JaLCO visits London; plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* There's lots of Miles Davis news this week, starting with, appropriately enough, a post from Howard Mandel on his Jazz Beyond Jazz blog reflecting on Davis' continued ubiquity nearly 20 years after his death. Then there's the recent discussion at Organissimo.org on the influence of Davis’ Kind of Blue, and a review of a concert by bassist Marcus Miller's Tutu band (which draws its setlist from the Miller-produced Davis album of the same name), written for the New York Times by Nate Chinen.

For more Miles, here's a personal reminiscence of Davis and conversation with his biographer, St. Louis native Quincy Troupe, from the NY Examiner's Deardra Shuler; a brief review of the "We Want Miles" exhibit in Montreal from Jazz.FM's Ross Porter; and video of a TV interview Davis did in 1986 for a Philadelphia program called Timeout, recently posted by the show's host Bill Boggs.

* Saxophonist and former St. Louis Oliver Lake just did a three-day residency in Pittsburgh sponsored by City of Asylum, an organization that provides sanctuary to writers exiled under threat of death, imprisonment, or persecution in their native countries. Lake will perform with Trio 3 for the NYC Museum of Modern Art's Summergarden series on Sunday, July 18.

* Opening the "recent visitors" file, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra just completed a series of performance in London, reviewed here by the blog London Jazz and here by the Independent newspaper. Marsalis also has a new book, Moving To Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life, reviewed here by Florence Wetzel for AllAboutJazz.com. Marsalis and the JaLCO were in St. Louis earlier this year to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* Bassist Rufus Reid recently was the subject of an interview podcast for Jason Crane's The Jazz Session. Reid and the other members of his trio, pianist Steve Allee and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca, were here in May for the Jazz Education Network Conference, and they're gigging this weekend at the NYC venue Kitano.

* Here's a review of guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli's Rockin' In Rhythm CD by Percy Zvomuya of the Johannesburg Mail & Guardian. Pizzarelli was in St. Louis most recently in April to play at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, bassist Stanley Clarke (pictured) has a new CD, The Stanley Clarke Band, just out on the Heads Up label. It features keyboardists Hiromi and Ruslan Sirota and drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr., along with singer Cheryl Bentyne of the Manhattan Transfer, keyboardist Larry Dunn of Earth, Wind & Fire, and various other guest musicians. Clarke and Hiromi will be in St. Louis in February to perform at the Bistro.

* Here's a review of guitarist John McLaughlin's latest release One from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Bob Karlovits. McLaughlin will be in St. Louis in November to play at Sheldon Concert Hall.

* And here's a review of saxophonist Gerald Albright's Pushing The Envelope, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Woodrow Wilkins. Albright comes to St. Louis in August to perform with Guitars and Saxes at the Pageant.

* Smooth jazz saxophonist Boney James says he's eager to return to the stage after a serious car accident that resulted in two broken teeth and a fractured jaw. James was rear-ended by a speeding motorist on the San Diego Freeway on May 15 when returning from a show at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Jazz Festival. James will play this Saturday in Healdsburg, CA before coming to the Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar next Thursday, July 8.

* Finally, in case you missed it, here's a list of the winners of the 2010 Jazz Journalists Association Awards, via AllAboutJazz.com. (In case you were wondering, none of the winners are from St. Louis, but a number of them have performed here in recent years. )

Notes from the Net: Miles Davis re-examined, Clark Terry honored, Grant Green reissued, plus news, reviews, interviews, and more.

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* The new 70-disc Miles Davis mega-box set collecting all of the trumpeter's work for Columbia/Sony Music is out, and David Was, jazz fan and one of the principals in the group Was (Not Was), reviews it for NPR here. Meanwhile, the major museum exhibit honoring Davis continues in Paris; here's a review from the New York Times by Yasmin Ryan, and here's an article from the UK newspaper the Guardian about Davis' enduring affection for all things Parisian.

Over on this side of the Atlantic, Chris Smith of the Winnepeg Free Press reviews The Blue Moment: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music by British writer Richard Williams. (And speaking of Kind of Blue, here are some transcriptions of Davis' playing on that classic album. )

Meanwhile, Canada's National Post has published an article wondering if we have "too many Miles," asserting that "the forward-looking musician still has us looking backwards, which only makes jazz seem more like a retrospective art form." Closer to home, Christopher McRae, a graduate student at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, recently presented a one-man show about Davis called “Miles Away From ‘The Cool’” inspired in part by a gig Davis had played long ago at Carbondale’s Tuscan Lodge.

* Turning to news of other St. Louis natives, trumpeter Clark Terry will be among the artists to receive the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award during Grammy week in January. Other recipients will include Michael Jackson, Leonard Cohen, Bobby Darin, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Loretta Lynn, and Andre Previn. The awards also will be acknowledged during the Grammy ceremony on January 31.

* The new vinyl reissue of Grant Green's Matador is reviewed for AllAboutJazz.com here by Matt Marshall, who calls the 1964 recording teaming Green (pictured) with pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Bob Cranshaw "nothing less than Green's best album."

* Opening the "coming attractions" file, singer/pianist Jamie Cullum will release a single from his new CD/DVD The Pursuit in January, then tour the UK for the first time in five years before heading stateside for a series of dates that will bring him to our town's Roberts Orpehum Theatre on March 14. Cullum also recently made the news when he busked with his band in London's Covent Garden in aid of Crisis, a charity that aids the homeless.

* Guitarist Pat Metheny will release his new CD Orchestrion in January, and will follow up with a 37-city North American tour that will bring him to St. Louis' Touhill Performing Arts Center on May 8. The CD and tour showcase the concept dating back to the late 19th century of using mechanical devices to play actual orchestral instruments.

Metheny’s version of the Orchestrion includes "several pianos, drum kit, marimbas, “guitar-bots,” dozens of percussion instruments and even cabinets of carefully tuned bottles." The CD features five new original pieces showcasing the instruments as they are "struck, plucked, and otherwise played via the technology of solenoid switches and pneumatics. " For more Metheny, check out this review writtn by Ed Murray for Popdose of Richard Niles' new book The Pat Metheny Interviews.

* Here's a review of bassist John Patitucci's latest trio album Remembrance written for AllAboutJazz.com by J. Hunter. Patitucci will be in St. Louis at the end of April to play at Jazz at the Bistro.

* The Independent Ear has an interesting interview with multi-instrumentalist Douglas Ewart, who will be in St. Louis on Saturday, January 30 for a duo performance with Zimbabwe Nkenya presented by New Music Circle at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* Catching up with news of some recent visitors, singer Kurt Elling, who was here in St. Louis earlier this month to perform at the Bistro, has earned his ninth career Grammy nomination for his CD Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman.

* Saxophonist Najee, who was here last weekend for a concert at the Ambassador, will play the national anthem on Christmas Day for the NBA's Orlando Magic.

* Here's another review of Dr. Lonnie Smith's latest CD, The Art of Organizing, this time from the prolific Tim Niland's blog Music and More. Smith has played the Bistro with saxophonist Lou Donaldson and in March of this year with his own trio.

* Saxophonist Larry Ochs, who was here in October at the Sheldon Concert Hall with his group Sax & Drumming Core, recently made the international news when he aroused the ire of a Spanish concertgoer who proceeded to call the cops, claiming that Ochs and his group weren't playing jazz.

* Closing out with some items of more general interest for jazz fans, the new issue of Bill Shoemaker's webzine Point of Departure now online.

* Saxophonist and radio host Dave Koz says it's time to stop mourning the demise of the smooth jazz radio format.

* Finally, Newsweek's music critic Seth Colter Walls is getting a bit of blogospheric buzz with a year-end piece examining the state of jazz, saying that "It's time, finally, to separate the question of "Is today's jazz good?" from the question "Is today's jazz popular?" and concluding that "this music deserves wider hearing, and greater coverage."

He adds that "jazz's economic status isn't a hideous reflection of poor aesthetic health. But even if jazz is finally buried in that (expanding) graveyard of former mass-culture obsessions, that doesn't mean the music isn't still happening, or that it isn't still perfectly capable of talking to us at an individual level. As long as they don't starve to death, committed jazz musicians will be there for you, the forbidding economics of their pursuit be damned. And even if no one you know is talking about what they're playing, be wary of any strangers who tell you they aren't swinging anymore." Read the whole thing here.

Notes from the Net: Phil Perry recovering; the continuing legend of Miles Davis; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest.

* Starting, as we usually do, with some Miles Davis items, it seems that the impending release of Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection, the upcoming book The Blue Moment by Richard Williams, and the exhibit "We Want Miles" at the Cité de la Musique in Paris recently prompted the London Times to ask, "Why is Miles Davis so legendary?"

The answer, in part: "Miles’s celebrated urge to keep moving — to play music that was one minute beguiling, the next baffling (“It’s my curse”) is one reason...But music aside, Miles remains an eminently marketable star...Today’s jazz names — from Diana Krall to Pat Metheny — look a meek lot by comparison. "

In other Miles-related news, AllAboutJazz.com has a review by C. Michael Bailey of the recent reissue of Davis' 1950s sessions with Sonny Rollins, and another by George Kanzler covering the 50th anniversary reissue of Sketches of Spain plus a new tribute CD, Miles Ahead Live, by saxophonist Dave Liebman and the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra.

* Moving on to news of other locals past and present, singer Phil Perry, another former East St. Louisan, is recovering after collapsing while on stage in Connecticut with Pieces of A Dream on October 23. Perry spent three days in the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven, Conn and was equipped with a new defibrillator. Perry says he is doing fine and will be back on the road soon: “My heart is wired like the Energizer Bunny, with a nifty little defibrillator to keep me on beat and keep me on my feet.”

* Writing on the band's blog Do The Math, The Bad Plus' Ethan Iverson recently linked to an interesting 1994 interview with the late saxophonist and former St. Louisan Julius Hemphill.

* The prolific saxophonist and composer John Zorn, who once studied at our town's Webster University, has a new CD called Femina, featuring an all-female ensemble performing a suite dedicated to women artists from various disciplines, such as Louise Bourgeois, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Plath, Meredith Monk and Yoko Ono. Here's a review from AllAboutJazz.com's Troy Collins.

* Turning to news of recent visitors, here's a review of Stone Shift, the most recent CD from saxophonist Larry Ochs & Drumming Core. Ochs and the Core were here last month for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* Moving on to the "coming attractions" file, bassist Christian McBride and his band Inside Straight, with St. Louis' Peter Martin on piano, will be featured on a live audio/video Webcast from NYC's Village Vanguard starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, November 11 (tomorrow evening). They'll be here in St. Louis next week for a four-night run at Jazz at the Bistro; meanwhile, you catch the Webcast on the site of NYC public radio station WBGO,

* An article by Nate Chinen in the latest Jazz Times calls singer Kurt Elling "the most influential jazz vocalist of our time." Elling will be in St. Louis in December to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Here's a review of singer/songwriter/pianist Nellie McKay's new CD Normal as Blueberry Pie, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Matt Marshall. McKay (pictured) is coming to St. Louis under the auspices of Cabaret St. Louis to perform next Wednesday and Thursday at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* Organist Joey DeFrancesco has a new disc called High Note, reviewed here by Music and More's Tim Niland. DeFrancesco returns to St. Louis at the end of March for four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Pianist Vijay Iyer, who will play the Bistro from January 20 through January 23, just wrapped up a gig at NYC's Jazz Standard, reviewed here by the New York Times' Ben Ratliff, and also was just featured on NPR's "Song of The Day."

* Last but not least, from the "miscellaneous items of interest file": A new research paper done by the Council for Research Excellence (CRE) with support from the Nielsen Company challenges many of the myths about how people today listen to music. The study tracked 752 days of audio media usage last year by participants in five markets and found that "from broadcast radio to MP3 players, some popular notions about listening in the digital age appear to be horribly off the mark." Read more about "How U.S. Adults Use Radio and Other Forms of Audio" here.

Notes from the Net: Lester Bowie reissued; Jimmy Cobb's So What band reviewed; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest.

Starting off, as we usually do, with a couple of items about Miles Davis, it seems that Kind of Blue drummer Jimmy Cobb's So What band played last week at the Gem Theater in Kansas City, and the show was reviewed for the Kansas City Star by Bill "Plastic Sax" Brownlee here, for Pitch Weekly by Jason Harper here, and by local music blogger Joel Francis here.

In other Davis-related news, Monster, the company that makes premium-priced audio cables and similar products, is coming out with Miles Davis special edition headphones. The 'phones, which feature a silhouetted image of the trumpeter, have a "pre-sale price" of $399 (!) and go on sale in November.

* Turning to news of other St. Louis natives and former denizens, the late trumpeter Lester Bowie's first recordings as a leader, made in 1967 for the Nessa label, have been reissued on a two-CD set. All The Numbers: Complete Numbers 1 & 2 Sessions features Bowie, saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman, and bassist Malachi Favors in the first documentation of what would soon become the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and includes everything from the original LP plus much previously unreleased material and outtakes.

* Baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett performed with percussionist Kahil El’Zabar last weekend at Sista’s Place in Brooklyn, NY.

* Meanwhile, multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet with James Zollar on trumpet, Erik Friedlander on cello and Pheeroan akLaff on drums, just played a concert at NYC's Miller Theater.

* And way out West, we learn via LeRoy "The JazzCat" Downs that saxophonist Eric Person and Meta Four West just performed this past weekend at Santa Monica College.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn will be featured in January by the jazz series at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. Sanborn just wrapped a four-night stand at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby (pictured) will lead a group of Berklee College of Music students on Monday for a gig in NYC at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola as part of the Lincoln Center Upstarts! program, where up-and-comers and veteran musicians jam together on one bandstand. Osby also is blogging now for the Web site Indaba Music, and his recent entry on the sartorial choices and mistakes of jazz musicians has attracted some attention and sparked some conversations among musicians and fans.

* Here's a review of saxophonist John Zorn's new Masada CD, which feature tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano.

* Electronic/experimental/noise composer and former St. Louisan Andy Ortmann is now doing a podcast called "The Eternal Now" for NYC's eclectic public radio station WFMU. Get more info, subscribe to the podcast feed, or listen online here.

* Opening up the "recent visitors" file, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins and his band will perform a special benefit concert for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater in December at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, NY. Rollins played here last month at the Touhill Performing Arts Center under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis.

* New photos from DowntownMusic.net include shots of a recent concert by Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core at NYC's Roulette. The pics were taken just four days after their St. Louis performance, presented by New Music Circle at the Sheldon Concert Hall. And here's a review of Och's show, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Martin Longley and bundled with three other live reviews, including one of a Kenny Garrett set two weeks ago at NYC's Iridium. Garrett was in St. Louis this weekend to play at Jazz at the Bistro.

*Singer DeeDee Bridgewater, who also was here earlier this month at the Sheldon Concert Hall, is in Shanghai, China to perform with an international big band

* Catching up with the "coming attractions" file: From the Huffington Post, here's an interview with Nellie McKay about her new CD, which is a tribute to singer and actress Doris Day. McKay will be St. Louis on November 18 and 19 to perform for Cabaret St. Louis at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* Here's a review by the New York Times' Stephen Holden of the new duet show featuring singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey, at the Carlyle in NYC. Pizzarelli will be back in St. Louis in April to play at the Bistro.

* Also from the NYT, here's a feature story about bassist John Patitucci, who will follow Pizzarelli at the Bistro next spring.

*Singer Kurt Elling and pianist Bill Charlap were among the musicians featured on the recent 30th anniversary celebration of NPR's "Piano Jazz" program, hosted by Marian McPartland. Elling will be in St. Louis the first week in December to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, while Charlap comes to town the following week for four nights at the Kranzberg backing singer Sandy Stewart (who's also his mom).

* Our fave avant-jazz blog Destination: Out just featured a guest post from pianist Vijay Iyer with two tracks from his new CD. Iyer also recently performed live on the radio program "Studio Session," broadcast by WBGO radio in Newark NJ and available online here. And here's a review of Iyer's latest CD from Music and More's Tim Niland. Iyer will be here in January to play at the Bistro.

* In an interesting little review/essay, Popmatters' Will Layman muses about virtuosity in jazz as it applies to saxophonists Chris Potter and James Carter. Carter returns to St. Louis in May, bringing his organ trio to Jazz at the Bistro.

* Singer/pianist John Proulx, who has a new CD on the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, just kicked off a new "After Hours" series at Feinstein's at Loews Regeny is NYC. performance Sunday, October 18 at 10:00PM. Meanwhile, another MAXJAZZ artist, singer and pianist Dena DeRose, was among the performers at the just-concluded Seasons Festival in Seattle.

*And finally, last week's "Hearing Voices" program on NPR featured excerpts from “The Bushy Wushy Rag,” a new composition by Phillip Kent Bimstein that combines sounds from a St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball game, motifs from Scott Joplin’s "Maple Leaf Rag," and the distinctive calls of veteran Busch Stadium beer vendor Robert Logan, a.k.a. "Bushy Wushy the Beer Man." Bimstein's piece was performed by the Equinox Chamber Players, who premiered the work here in St. Louis. Although "Hearing Voices" isn't broadcast over the air here - it runs on KWMU-2, a digital subchannel of the local NPR affiliate - you can hear the broadcast with "The Bushy Wushy Rag" online at the program's Web site.

(Updated on 10/26/09 to correct the price of the Miles Davis headphones.)

Notes from the Net: New releases from Marty Ehrlich and Keyon Harrold, plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest.

* In the latest Miles Davis-related news, the Associated Press has distributed a feature story about the 50th anniversary of Kind of Blue, with remarks from Jimmy Cobb, Quincy Jones, Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Chris Botti and others.

Meanwhile, Wolfgang's Vault, which claims to be "the largest collection of licensed streaming live recordings on the Internet," will open its archives beginning November 3 to add more than 1,000 titles from 919 artists to the approximately 500 already available for purchase from the site's Concert Vault section. To promote "Cracking the Vault Day," they're offering a few new shows twice weekly, with concerts featuring Davis, Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra going online this Friday, October 16.

Also, here's a review of the new Complete Birth of the Cool reissue from Tim Niland's blog Music and More, and a free download of a previously unissued Davis concert, recorded November 3, 1969 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, France.

Lastly, news comes this week that Davis' former home on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu is up for sale; if you've ever wondered just how large the trumpeter was livin' on the West Coast, you can check out the description and photos here.

* Turning to news of other St. Louisans, here's a review written by Marcia Hillman for AllAboutJazz.com of three new solo piano CDs, including the posthumously issued I Remember You from the late St. Louis native John Hicks.

* Here's a review of saxophonist Oliver Lake's new Organ Trio CD Makin' It written for for AllAboutJazz.com by Hrayr Attarian, who calls it "a very stimulating session that successfully marries the soul-jazz format of the organ/saxophone/drums trio to freer improvisations and edgy avant-garde styles."

* Here's a review of a recent Hamiet Bluiett duo gig in Takoma Park, MD that paired the baritone sax master with poet Lee Pearson.

* Multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet has a new CD, Things Have Got To Change, on the Clean Feed label. Inspired by the sound of Julius Hemphill’s Dogon A.D., it features Ehrlich (pictured) on alto sax with James Zollar on trumpet, Erik Friedlander on cello, and Pheeroan AkLaff on drums. AllAboutJazz.com already has up two reviews of the disc, one from Stuart Broomer here, and another from Troy Collins here.

* Here's an interview with bassist and St. Louis native Steve Kirby, who now teaches music at the University of Manitoba, focusing on his take on the Canadian jazz sound and Canadian musicians.

* The Night Lights program on radio station WFIU in Bloomington, IN recently broadcast “John Zorn’s Hardboiled Bop,” a tribute program featuring music from the alto saxophonist's two News for Lulu releases; Voodoo: the Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet; and other late-1980s recordings. Zorn attended Webster University here in the mid-1970s.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold has just released his first CD as a leader, Introducing Keyon Harrold, on the Criss Cross label. The disc features six original tunes, a spiritual, and an interpretation of Horace Silver's "Peace," performed by a band including Harrold, saxophonist Marcus Strickland, his brother E.J. Strickland on drums, pianist Danny Grissett and bassist Dezron Douglas. Harrold's former teacher, trumpeter Charles Tolliver, guests on one track.

* Turning to news of recent visitors to St. Louis, JazzWax' Marc Myers has a multi-part interview with saxophonist Sonny Rollins, focusing on Rollins' affinity for the Wild West and the connection between his childhood love of Western movies and his 1957 album Way Out West. Read part one here, and follow the links to subsequent installments. Rollins was here last month for a concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

* Singer and pianist Ann Hampton Callaway, who was in town a couple of weeks ago for a performance at the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis, will perform this week at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on a bill with pianist Ramsey Lewis.

* Turning to the "coming attractions" file, there's some entertaining reading in one saxophonist's account of how "James Carter Ruined My Life," via the Twin Cities jazz blog bebopified. Carter will be back in St. Louis next May to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Pianist Vijay Iyer, who will make his St. Louis debut in January at the Bistro, recently was featured on NPR's A Blog Supreme. Also, here are two reviews Iyer's new CD - the first written for AllAboutJazz.com by Troy Collins, and the second from About.com's Jacob Teichroew.

* From the "items of more general interest" file: A new issue of the always interesting online jazz magazine Point of Departure is now available.

* And, last but not least, regular readers of this space know that yr. humble editor has an interest in unusual musical instruments. from homemade to high tech. Falling into the latter category is the Eigenharp, a new synth controller that looks like something played by the aliens in the Star Wars cantina band and costs nearly $6,400 US . Is the Eigenharp, as its British developers claim, "the most expressive electronic musical instrument ever made," or is it just a tarted-up Chapman Stick with a bassoon-like breath controller stuck on the side? See it (and decide for yourself) in a BBC report here.

Notes from the Net: A free Miles Davis download; a Lester Bowie tribute; the "death" of jazz, continued; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest.

* Let's start with our usual helping of Miles Davis-related news - specifically, some more details about the upcoming 70-CD set reissue of all of Davis' albums on Columbia/Sony.

Next up, the blog Hidden Track has a free download of a previously unissued set by Davis' late 1960s "Lost Quintet," with Chick Corea (keyboards), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Dave Holland (bass) and Wayne Shorter (saxophones). The recording was made November 9, 1969 in Rotterdam for Radio Netherlands, and contains versions of "Directions," "Bitches Brew," "Sanctuary" and "Masqualero."

In other Davis-related news, the UK classical music blog Overgrown Path has an interesting post about the new book by Richard Williams, The Blue Moment: Miles Davis and The Remaking of Modern Music; Davis' former bassist and producer Marcus Miller did a tribute to the trumpeter over the weekend at the Indianapolis Jazz Festival; and, via the always useful Miles Davis Online, there's news of an exhibition devoted to Davis at the Cité de la Musique in Paris. It's organized into rooms dedicated to various periods in Miles’ life, from his upbringing in East St. Louis all the way to the retrospective concert he did at La Villette in Paris a few weeks before his death

* Turning to news of other St. Louisans past and present, Baikida Carroll is among the trumpeters appearing at this years Festival Of New Trumpet music (FONT) in NYC.

* Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the James Carter Quartet and saxophonist Fred Ho will pay tribute to the late trumpeter and St. Louis native Lester Bowie in a concert on Friday, October 9 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

* Trumpet player, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport, who now holds down the house gig at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans, recently joined some of the hotel's employees to help rebuild homes in Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish. Davenport will return to his hometown in November for a Thanksgiving weekend gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

* NYC's New Languages festival includes a tribute to former St. Louisan Julius Hemphill from his friend and admirer, saxophonist Tim Berne. Read about it in this article from the Wall Street Journal's Martin Johnson.

* From the "coming attractions" file, saxophonist Kenny Garrett (pictured) is featured in the latest episode of the online TV show Jazz it Up! Garrett, who will be in St. Louis in October to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, was filmed during a gig at NYC's Iridium. (Bonus St. Louis content: The episode also features the vocal group Take 6 with interpretations of songs from Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.)

* Singer, pianist and songwriter Nellie McKay, who will be here in November to perform for Cabaret St. Louis at the Kranzberg Arts Center, has a new CD called Normal As Blueberry Pie - A Tribute To Doris Day

* A recent gig by singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli recreating his Radio Deluxe program live on stage is reviewed here by R. J. Deluke for All About Jazz.com. Pizzarelli will be back in St. Louis in April at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Finally, let's wrap up with a few more items loosely related to the latest outbreak of the recurring "is jazz dead?" meme.

One thing to keep in mind about the whole controversy is that there is a great of subjectivity involved. Case in point: In a recent post on his Jazz Beyond Jazz blog, veteran jazz journalist and Chicago native Howard Mandel sang the praises of the current scene in his hometown, calling it "the best American city for jazz."

The very same week, an unbylined piece headlined "Chicago Jazz Scene" on AllAboutJazz.com offered a much gloomier view, citing the closings of the Jazz Showcase and Hot House clubs, the cancellation of the jazz studies program at Northwestern University, and the elimination of jazz from radio station WPEZ (91.5 FM). "These are truly dark days for the first truly American art form. We hope for better days ahead," it concludes, before segueing to a fairly extensive listing of venues and upcoming shows. Maybe it all really does depends on your perspective...

(Digressing for a moment on the general subject of jazz clubs, here's an entertaining feature story written by Michael Pronko for Japan Times about what is alleged to be the smallest jazz club in the world, Tokyo's Hot House. )

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the USA, "the jazz-club circuit is shrinking. Increasingly, jazz is presented at arts centers and universities," notes the Wall Steet Journal's Larry Blumenfeld in a piece recounting the growth of Jazz at Lincoln Center into an institution with a $38 million annual budget. While some might see this as decidedly a good thing for jazz, not everyone agrees:

"Five years ago, some feared that machine would swallow a chunk of the New York jazz scene. That hasn't been the case. "They make our business even better," said Lorraine Gordon, whose Village Vanguard celebrates its 75th year in 2010. "It creates a positive attitude and it educates people. I think it's an asset...

Within the jazz industry, some are troubled by Mr. (Wynton) Marsalis's dominance in that arena. "What if all that funding was spread across the entire spectrum of jazz," asked Scott Southard, whose International Music Network specializes in jazz, "instead of concentrated in one spot?" Then again, some credit Mr. Marsalis with engendering such support. For Randall Kline, who heads the San Francisco-based SFJazz, "Jazz at Lincoln Center was important in establishing legitimacy. Before, there were no models for jazz in the institutional world."

One observer who's particularly skeptical of the JALC model is Chris Rich, who blogs at Brilliant Corners, A Boston Jazz Blog, and calls the WSJ piece "a typical rationalization of a begging incrementalism where if you are a first rate suck up and career player or some hallowed jazz geezer ready for your boat ride across the Styx you'll get a shot of some of that 38 million bucks they blow each year on this funerary stuff."

In a series of scathing, yet often funny posts, Rich mocks Marsalis and a number of other well-known jazz figures, while lamenting that much of the money that goes to large institutions ends up getting spent to maintain and enhance their prestige and their physical facilities - some refer to this as "the edifice complex" - and to preserve the past, instead of being used to pay musicians and composers to create the future.

So, could that $38 million possibly do more if it were spread around instead of concentrated in one spot? Sure, but the problem is that the corporations and foundations who supply much of that sweet, sweet funding generally prefer to deal with institutions, which they perceive to be stable and relatively accountable, rather than individual artists, who are often seen as difficult and unreliable. The notion of hundreds of smaller presenters fostering musical innovation all over the country certainly is appealing; I'm just not how to get there from our present reality. Please feel free to offer your thoughts, observations and/or rants in the comments...

(Edited 9/30/09 to fix a garbled sentence.)