Sunday Session: June 13, 2021

Terence Blanchard

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

* Tulsa Race Massacre: How The Gap Band Was a Tribute to the Former ‘Black Wall Street’ (TheWrap.com)
* JazzTimes 10: Essential Horace Silver Recordings (Jazz Times)
* A “Phenomenal Concept,” and A Mega Synth Studio Goes Minimalist (SonicScoop.com)
* Five Months Later, Only 31 of 13,619 Music Venues Have Gotten Their Grants Approved (Rolling Stone)
* ‘This sounds like a human synthesiser’: the evolution of rap, one verse at a time (The Guardian)
* A Guide to the Early Work of Sonny Rollins on Prestige Records (Bandcamp.com)
* The Strange World Of… Don Cherry (TheQuietus.com)
* Floating Along In Uncertainty With Vijay Iyer (NPR)
* The Sound of Joy (SPIN)
* ‘Perry Mason’ composer Terence Blanchard: ‘It was a huge honor’ to remix the iconic theme of the original series (GoldDerby.com)
* U.S. Jazz Venues Announce Reopening (Jazz Times)
* Ray Charles’ ‘True Genius’ Box Set to Feature Previously Unreleased Live Tracks (Rolling Stone via Yahoo News)
* Tone Glow 067: George Lewis (ToneGlow.Substack.com)
* Jazz vs. Classical Funding (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Uncovering the Rich History of Spanish Experimental Music (Bandcamp.com)
* Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and more join campaign for law change on streaming (The Guardian)
* Just a Lego robot strumming a ukulele (AVClub.com)
* Chronology: Freddie Redd Steps Out of the Shadows (Jazz Times)
* Larry Goldings Reaches New Audience as Comedian (Jazz Times)
* Julian Lage: “I bought a stethoscope and taped it to the back of the Telecaster. I could only handle it for about a day and thought, ‘This is abusive!’“ (MusicRadar.com)
* Live music is back, but for roadies and crews, the pandemic’s toll may be irreversible (Los Angeles Times)
* In historic move, Sony Music is disregarding unrecouped balances for heritage catalog artists (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Overdue Ovation: Steve Slagle Remains Optimistic with New Album (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: April 11, 2021

Esperenza Spalding

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

* The life and tragic death of Lee Morgan: “He was a young man, already older than his years, thrilled with his talent and the wonders of the world around him” (Jazzwise)
* Islands in the Stream (American Prospect)
* 10 tracks by Herbie Hancock I can’t do without… by Jon Opstad (London Jazz News)
* Brian Bromberg Continues his Journey into the Eclectic (Jazz Times)
* Quincy Jones On Bebop, Jazz And His Streaming Venture, Qwest TV (Forbes)
* 2021 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert to Take Place Virtually April 22, 2021 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Marion Brown's Musical Portrait of Georgia (The Bitter Southerner)
* 'Our music was born in hard times': How Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra keeps playing (Asbury Park Press)
* On "Let Me Tell You 'Bout It," JD Allen Discusses His New Creative Zeal, and a Solo Sax Album on the Horizon (WBGO)
* Morris 'B.B.' Dickerson, Founding Member of War, Dies at 71 (Billboard)
* From History to Biographies, Here Are the Best Books About Jazz (Billboard)
* Listening for baselines beyond anthropophony: An interview with Bernie Krause by D. Ferrett (AllAroundSound-Bloomsbury.com)
* Healing, grace and enlightenment: How Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points made a spiritual album for the dark ages (The Independent)
* Exit/In: Inside the Last-Ditch Effort to Save Nashville’s Legendary Music Club (Rolling Stone)
* How Tangerine Dream conquered the UK charts in the 70s (LouderSound.com)
* Warren Wolf: A Before & After Listening Session (Jazz Times)
* World-Class Trombonist Andre Hayward's Spiritual Journey (Austin Chronicle)
* Play It Forward: Angel Bat Dawid Knows How To Deliver Emotion Through Song (NPR)
* 2021 NEA JAZZ MASTERS: A Q&A with music director Miguel ZenÓn (SFJAZZ.org)
* Pino Palladino, pop's greatest bassist: 'I felt like a performing monkey!' (The Guardian)
* Meet the Man Recreating Ancient Musical Instruments Lost to Time (AtlasObscura.com)
* Inside the Dirty Business of Hit Songwriting (Variety)
* Flipping Alone: An Oral History of Record Stores During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Consequence of Sound)
* Esperanza Spalding’s New Songwrights Apothecary Lab Is the Music Therapy We Need Now (Vogue)
* The Treatment - Terence Blanchard: ‘Da 5 Bloods’
* ‘It has never been more pertinent’ – Margaret Atwood on the chilling genius of Laurie Anderson’s Big Science (The Guardian)
* Merry Clayton Bares Her 'Beautiful Scars' (NPR)
* The Film That Jazz Deserves (The New Yorker)
* 36 of America’s Best Independent Music Venues on Surviving and What’s Next (Pitchfork.com)
* Trevor Dunn: “It’s in my personality to sit back and groove with the drummer – I took to bass immediately“ (Guitar World)
* Live Music Should Be More Accessible For Disabled Fans (Vice.com)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis is one of 13 local organizations that will share a total of $115,000 in funding from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis as part of a new program called the Arts and Healing Initiative.

JSL will use their portion of the money for Beat NF, described as "a jazz music motor therapy program for toddlers with special needs," which was developed in conjunction with the Washington University Neurofibromatosis (NF) Center and will be implemented by Jazz St. Louis educational staff and St. Louis Children’s Hospital Therapy Services practitioners.

* Jazz/fusion band Bach to the Future will provide part of the musical entertainment for "Wine and Jazz Under the Stars," a "virtual happy hour" being presented online for the benefit of radio station Classic 107.3 on Saturday, October 24.

The cost is $220 per household, which includes delivery of three bottles of wine from A. Bommarito Wines and appetizers provided by WhiteBox Catering, plus live-streamed entertainment, which also will include music from violinist Anne Akiko Myers, Americana band The Brothers Lazaroff, and more. Proceeds from the event will go to Classic 107.3 (fka Radio Arts Foundation) and its mission to support classical music programming and the arts in the St. Louis region.

* Miles Davis (pictured) is the number one jazz musician of all time, according to the "Jazz 100" poll recently conducted by ABC Jazz radio in Australia.

* If you didn't get the opportunity to see trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Champion when it was premiered by Opera Theater of St. Louis back in 2013, now you've got another chance. Presenting organization SFJAZZ will be streaming a video of their 2016 co-production of the work with San Francisco's Opera Parallèle for three days later this month, from Wednesday, October 21 to Saturday, October 24. You can get details and sign up at https://sfjazz.org/.

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: July 5, 2020

Freddy Cole

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

* John Scofield Honors Steve Swallow on New Album (Jazz Times)
* Revisiting the lost recording of Pink Floyd jamming with jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli on ‘Wish You Were Here’ (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Identifying a melody by studying a musician’s body language (News.MIT.edu)
* Freddy Cole, Singer Who Eluded the Shadow of His Brother Nat "King" Cole, Has Died at 88 (WBGO)
* How Jazz Is Coping with COVID-19 (Jazz Times)
* Pixar’s Upcoming “Soul” May Have a Problem: No Actual Soul Music, Most of the Artists Included So Far Are White (ShowBiz411.com)
* Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard Talk Scoring to Picture on ‘Da 5 Bloods’ (Watch) (Variety)
* In conversation with saxophonist Kamasi Washington (Bay State Banner)
* Making Music With Brain Waves And Heartbeats (AEON.co)
* Making A New Kind Of Scene: New York City's Five Spot (WFIU)
* Societal Reckoning Over Racism Encompasses The Jazz Community (DownBeat)
* Jacques Coursil 1938–2020 (The Wire)
* The car radio turns 90 this year. Here’s how it all came about (AJournalOfMusicalThings.com)
* 48 Hours With Backpack Jazz Producer Kassa Overall (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
* Who in their right mind would go to a "herd immunity" music festival? (Mic.com)
* Full Spectrum: Derrick Hodge Sees Endless Possibilities In Music (DownBeat)
* Reflections on unlocking live music by Tony Dudley-Evans (London Jazz News)
* Thurston Moore: Into the Out World (Jazz Times)
* The Kosmische Path Less Traveled: Nine Krautrock Rarities to Know (Bandcamp.com)
* Can the music take flight again? (Financial Times)
* Eddie Henderson On Maturity And Revisiting Bop Standards (DownBeat)
* The Short and Curious Life of Wade Legge (Buffalo Rising)
* Experiment Without Inhibition: A Celebration of Anthony Braxton (River Cities Reader)
* Impulse! Records: An Alternative Top 20 Zeitgeist Seizing Albums (AllAboutJazz.com)
* A Conversation with Zappa, Vol. 1 (American Songwriter)
* An encounter with Keith Tippett (The Wire)
* With YouTube Music, Google is holding my speakers for ransom (Ars Technica)
* Georgia Anne Muldrow Finds ‘The Sound Of Mixed Emotions’ (DownBeat)
* The Summer Of ’70: What Was It Good For? Absolutely…American Top 40 (RadioInsight.com)
* Musicians and Composers Respond to a Chaotic Moment (The New Yorker)
* Plunge into the world of Sun Ra and the Outer Space Visual Communicator (CDM.link)
* Five Black Jazzworld Figures Detail How Racism Impacts The Industry (DownBeat)

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)

Sunday Session: December 22, 2019

Gerald Cleaver

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

* Mars Williams brings his Albert Ayler Xmas across Europe and back home to Chicago (Chicago Reader)
* Gershon Kingsley, Moog Synthesizer Pioneer, Dies at 97 (Billboard)
* Wayne Shorter Continues to Forge Ahead (DownBeat)
* 'We loved each other': America’s first racially integrated all-girl swing band (The Guardian)
* A small Wisconsin company stored thousands of people’s CDs, then suddenly vanished (TheVerge.com)
* Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Finally Recognizes Woman Who Practically Invented Rock and Roll (Jezebel.com)
* Dave Brubeck’s Legacy Enters a New Era (DownBeat)
* The Siren Sound of the Clash’s ‘London Calling,’ 40 Years Later (TheRinger.com)
* How Many Spotify Streams Do You Need To Live Above The Poverty Line? (HaulixDaily.com)
* Terence Blanchard, American jazz trumpeter weaving opera history (Prothomalo.com)
* Don Was On The Past, Present, And Future Of Blue Note Records (ClashMusic.com)
* On The Scene: Tony Bennett—The Visual Artist (The Aquarian)
* Why Are There No New Christmas Songs? (NPR)
* George Benson: the album that changed my life (Jazzwise)
* Gerald Cleaver Bridges the Divide Between Structure and Freedom (DownBeat)
* Chamber Music America Grants $180,000 to Female-Led Jazz Ensembles (Jazz Times)
* The South African Songbook: Jazz Musicians Who Stayed During Apartheid (NPR)
* Tony Bennett Brings the Holiday Spirit With His Animated Yule Log (Parade)
* A Major Music Distributor Has Stifled Vinyl Sales for Record Stores and Indie Labels, Sources Say (Pitchfork.com)
* 'It's a Total Nightmare': Problems at Direct Shot Distributing Have Made New Vinyl and CDs Scarce (Billboard)
* No Other Love Is the B-Side of the Chicago Gospel Story (Chicago)
* How headphones are changing the sound of music (QZ.com)
* A Bessie Smith Christmas (Jazz Times)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard's shows this week at Jazz St. Louis were previewed in a story by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio is sponsoring a holiday giveaway with prizes including free access to their instructional videos featuring well-known jazz players, and more. Winners will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, December 23. You can find out more and enter (with a valid email address) here.

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation's St. Louis Music Initiative was spotlighted this week by John Pertzborn of KTVI (Fox 2),who interviewed KAF's Sean Smothers and Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis.

* Cabaret Project of St. Louis will hold a holiday fundraiser on Saturday, December 7, featuring musical entertainment by singer and impressionist Christine Pedi. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the CPStL website.

* The biographical documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, directed by Stanley Nelson and released earlier this year, was nominated this week for the 2020 Grammy Award for "Best Music Film."

* On a related note, the recently issued box set of Davis' complete Birth of the Cool recordings (pictured) was reviewed in DownBeat.

* Singer and keyboardist Katarra Parson's forthcoming debut recording Cocoa Voyage was the subject of a feature by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer. Parson, who is one of this year's Kranzberg Arts Foundation artists-in-residence, will promote the release with a show on Friday, November 29 at The Dark Room.

Jazz this week: Terence Blanchard and E-Collective, Michael Rosen, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of a New Orleans trumpeter who has become a local favorite here, a free concert featuring a multi-national ensemble of players, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, November 20
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard (pictured, top left) is back in town with his band, the E-Collective, to perform for the first of five nights continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

Blanchard already has spent a fair amount of time in St. Louis this year, as Opera Theater of St. Louis premiered his second opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones in June. Since then, the trumpeter has moved from his native New Orleans to Los Angeles to accept a job as the first Kenny Burrell Chairman in Jazz Studies at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.

Though he hasn't released any new recordings since 2018's Live, Blanchard is always writing new music, so don't be surprised to hear a few new compositions mixed in with pieces from the E-Collective's three albums.

Also on Wednesday, vocal group Java Jived teams up with pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's organ group Spiral Trio plays at Evangeline's.

Thursday, November 21
Keyboardist Jim Hegarty will perform with bassist Paul Steinbeck and drummer Del Robles in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, The Dark Room has a double-header, with guitarist Dave Black playing at the dinner hour and keyboardist Ryan Marquez and his trio performing the late-evening show.

Friday, November 22
Trumpeter Jim Manley returns to Evangeline's, and saxophonist Stan Coleman will play at The Dark Room.

Saturday, November 23
Saxophonist Michael Rosen, a former New Yorker now living in Italy, will front a multi-national ensemble in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Wash U.

Rosen (pictured, bottom left) will joined by two St. Louisans, guitarist William Lenihan and pianist Jay Oliver, plus British bassist Tony Grey and Italian drummer Lucrezio De Seta.

Also on Saturday, percussionist Herman Semidey and Orquestra son Montuno play salsa, Latin jazz and more at Club Viva; and fusion/funk band Wright's Project returns to Troy's Listening Room.

Monday, November 25
The Webster University Jazz Singers perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher returns with his "Rat Pack and More" show to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Tuesday, November 26
The Big Little Big Band with vocalist Steve Shininger performs 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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Radio host, author and photographer Dennis Owsley and his new book St. Louis Jazz: A History were the subjects of a feature story in the Webster-Kirkwood Times. 

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn was interviewed by NextBop.com about Pyramids, the new album from his Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra.

* Meanwhile, saxophonist Andre Delano (pictured) has released a new single, "Where Will You Go," an instrumental version of a tune by R&B crooner Babyface, for whom Delano currently serves as musical director and bandleader. 

*  Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor, members of the Saint Boogie Brass Band, and saxophonist Kwanae Johnson appeared Monday on the morning newscast at KTVI (Fox 2). They were promoting the benefit show this Sunday at .ZACK raising money for Johnson and his family, who recently lost their home to a fire. 

* Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which premiered last season at Opera Theater St. Louis, next year will be the first opera by an African-American composer ever to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

* At the New York opening weekend of the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, the film's director Stanley Nelson and writer Quincy Troupe, who co-authored Davis' autobiography, took part in a Q&A session, which was recorded and now has been posted on YouTube.

* Davis and his landmark album Birth of the Cool are the subjects of an essay in the latest Jazz Times by composer and arranger Ryan Truesdell

* The latest episode of the podcast "Jazz at 100" features music recorded by Davis' quintet and sextet between 1956 and 1959.

* Davis' late 1950s music also was the subject of a recent tribute concert by Richard Pite’s Jazz Repertory Company at Cadogan Hall in London, which was reviewed by London Jazz News.

* Lastly, the Miles Davis estate has announced the impending release of a new music video for "Moon Dreams," as recorded by Davis in 1949 for Birth of the Cool. The video is "influenced by Miles Davis’ own sketches and imagines a night in New York City through every era of jazz."

Sunday Session: September 15, 2019

Mary Lou Williams

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

* The thrilling evolution of British jazz has reached a whole new audience (BigIssue.com)
* Chris Potter: What Influences the Influencer? (AllAboutJazz.com)
 * What do music/tech startups REALLY think about working with major labels? (Medium.com)
* Why is Chicago jazz so successful in Europe? (Chicago Reader)
* Tony Bennett, at 93: ‘I just want to keep learning and expressing the truth’ (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Apple Wanted to Revolutionize the Way Streaming Pays. Here’s Why It Wasn’t Allowed (Rolling Stone)
* Abdullah Ibrahim: A Focus on Spirituality (DownBeat)
* The Beatles, Stones, and… Olivia Newton-John?: These are the 50 most valuable records in the world (NME.com)
* Not All 'Lost' Jazz Albums Are Created Equal (NPR)
* Inside Hemen & Co: the tiny Kolkata sitar shop that supplied the Beatles (The Guardian)
* How Mary Lou Williams Shaped The Sound Of The Big-Band Era (NPR)
* How composer Terence Blanchard wove history into the score for “Harriet” (Fast Company)
* The Bad Plus announce new album; tour dates (GratefulWeb.com)
* 'This tape rewrites everything we knew about the Beatles' (The Guardian)
* What Happens When DJs Don’t “Own” Their Record Collections Anymore? (5Mag.net)
* Gearhead: How Gene Krupa Kicked the Drum Kit into the Jazz Age (Jazz Times)
* ‘Nobody Is Scrutinizing This’: How Labels Pay to Get Songs on the Radio (Rolling Stone)
* Two Chicago institutions bridge jazz and blues (Chicago Reader)
* When the Pianos Went to War (AtlasObscura.com)
* Chops: Streaming Jazz on the Installment Plan (Jazz Times)
* George Benson: “I’ve always been an experimenter. When I was young, I thought I was going to be a scientist” (MusicRadar.com)
* The best classical music works of the 21st century (The Guardian)
* Free jazz research and guerrilla scholarship: an interview with John Gray (The Wire)
* A Blue Note Founder’s View of Jazz Music’s Private Side (The New Yorker)
* Average Music Listening Time Is Down. How Much Does That Matter? (Billboard)
* With New Ensemble Members, SFJAZZ Collective Builds a Bigger Tent (DownBeat)
* New World Prophecy (The American Scholar)
* Soul On Soul: Allison Miller And Derrick Hodge On Honoring Mary Lou Williams (NPR)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* St. Louis magazine's annual "A List" issue is out, and the winners in the readers poll include Vintage Vinyl for "Record Store," the Whitaker Music Festival for "Free Music Series," and singer Erin Bode for "Musical Artist, Female."

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo also got a special mention from the editors as a "Musician So Good, Barack Obama Loves Her." You can see the complete list of 2019 "A List" winners here.

* Following up his 2006 tome City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973, radio host, photographer, and author Dennis Owsley has written Jazz in St. Louis: A History, which he calls "a new book on St. Louis jazz that brings everything up to date." The book (pictured) comes out on Monday, July 15 from The History Press and can be pre-ordered here. (Full disclosure: StLJN and yr. humble editor are name-checked on page 122.)

* Guitarist Todd Mosby will release a new album, Open Waters, on Thursday, August 1.

* Saxophonists and former St. Louisans Oliver Lake, Marty Ehrlich, and the late Hamiet Bluiett are among the 33 musicians interviewed by bassist William Parker for his new book Conversations 3, now available (in English) from the French publishers RogueArt.

* With Opera Theatre of St. Louis' production of Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones set to close this Saturday night, reviews still are coming in, including notices locally from the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn and KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

Jazz this week: Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Denise Thimes, Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the return of a unique fusion group; a visit home from a favorite local expat; two of the bands that launched the "jazz-rock" genre 50 years ago; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 26
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features singer Feyza Eren and guitarist Dave Black at The Stage at KDHX, along with the jam session hosted by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, June 27
The reunited original lineup of Béla Fleck and The Flecktones (pictured, top left) return for their first St. Louis performance in seven years at Powell Hall. You can see some videos of recent performances and some footage from the early days of the Flecktones, including their very first performance, in this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Thursday, it's the penultimate performance of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, with the finale set for Saturday night.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Chris Swan play The Pat Connolly Tavern; and the latest installment of the Bruxism experimental music series, featuring Curt Oren, William Morris, Michael Williams and Henry Claude, and Francis Hacienda, happens at the Schlafly Tap Room.

Friday, June 28
Singer Denise Thimes (pictured, bottom left), who last year moved from St. Louis to Chicago in search of greater career opportunities, will be back home to perform for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Friday, the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to the Parkside Grille; and guitarist Dan Rubright and the Wire Pilots will perform at the Ozark Theatre.

Saturday, June 29
Guitarist Brian Vaccaro and vocalist Stephanie Stewart will play a matinee at Alpha Brewing Company; singer Bre Hammond presents "A Tribute To The Ladies of Jazz" at the Ozark Theatre; and The Dark Room features pianist Ryan Marquez playing for dinner and Andrew Stephen's Texturz performing for the late show.

Sunday, June 30
There are several noteworthy daytime events on Sunday, including the summer edition of the St. Louis Record Show at the American Czech Center; jazz brunch with pianist Adam Maness at Thurman's in Shaw or singer and bassist Janet Evra at Evangeline's; and the monthly Traditional Jazz Jam Session at the Folk School of KDHX.

Then on Sunday evening, in an odd bit of synchronicity, two of the bands that helped popularize the jazz-rock genre a half-century ago will be in St. Louis on the same night, as Chicago plays at the Fox Theatre and Blood, Sweat & Tears performs at the River City Casino & Hotel.

The current touring version of Chicago includes three original members - keyboard player and singer Robert Lamm, trumpeter Lee Loughnane and trombonist (and St. Louis native) James Pankow. 

Meanwhile, BS&T, which has seen dozens of musicians come and go over the past 50 years, has no members remaining from their hit-making days, but fields a lineup of players selected by founding member and drummer Bobby Colomby, who doesn't perform with the group but owns rights to the name.

Tuesday, July 2
Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays a free outdoor concert at Fanetti Park.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and former U Citian Marty Ehrlich (pictured) was the subject of an "Overdue Ovation" profile in Jazz Times.

* The world premiere production of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis continues to generate press coverage, including preview stories from Bob Duffy in St. Louis magazine and St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin, and reviews from Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Paul Friswold of the Riverfront Times, Mark Bretz of Ladue News, and John von Rhein on the website Chicago Classical Review. The production continues in "rolling rep" at OTSL until the end of the month.

* Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True appeared Tuesday on the morning newscast from KTVI (Fox 2).

* The new Miles Davis set Complete Birth of the Cool was reviewed by Nate Chinen for Pitchfork.

* Jazz Journal reviewed the new reissue of Davis' Cup, a 1956 compilation of some of Davis' early recordings for the Prestige label, originally issued only in Europe.

* Twenty local arts organizations have won operating support grants for the next year from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, including Jazz St. Louis, the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Radio Arts Foundation.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced the winners of its 2020 St. Louis Arts Awards, and among the honorees will be pianist Adam Maness (pictured), who will receive the Arts Collaborator award at a banquet and ceremony to be held on January 27, 2020 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* The Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held last Saturday at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, was the subject of a feature story in the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Stanley Nelson Jr., the director of the new Miles Davis documentary Birth of the Cool, was interviewed about the film by Jazz Times.

* Meanwhile, combination listening sessions and panel discussions on the new reissue of Davis' Complete Birth of the Cool, which was released last Friday, were presented in New York City and Los Angeles.

* Lastly, after putting out excerpts on a four-song EP for this year's Record Store Day, the Miles Davis estate and Rhino/Warner Records will release the full version of the trumpeter's "lost" album Rubberband, recorded in the mid-80s and then shelved in favor of what would become the album Tutu. The vinyl LP includes 11 tracks, which were completed by the original producers and Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, with new vocals added by Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi.

* Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the new opera by trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard that premieres tonight at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, was previewed by Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American.

* Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott wrote about the music of the late Dr. John for The Daily Beast.

* Former Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, who left the organization last month to take a job as director of the cultural division of Broward County, FL, was profiled in the south Florida publication Art Hive.

* Snarky Puppy's performance last month at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion was reviewed by KDHX's Joseph Ferber.

Jazz this week: Terence Blanchard, Matthew Whitaker, Trombone Shorty, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a couple of noteworthy free events, the local debut as a leader of an up-and-coming keyboardist, the return of one of New Orleans' favorites, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 5
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard and his electric band, the E-Collective (pictured, top left), will play a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Blanchard has been a frequent visitor in recent months as Opera Theatre of St. Louis prepares to premiere his second opera, Fire Shut Up In My Bones, later this month. For this gig, he and the E-Collective likely will be leaning on material from their two Blue Note releases, 2015's Breathless and 2018's Live, but perhaps Blanchard will use the occasion to try out something new as well.

Also on Wednesday, keyboardist Matthew Whitaker makes his Jazz St. Louis debut as a bandleader with the first of five nights of performances continuing through Sunday.

A late addition to the season schedule to compensate subscribers for Dr. Lonnie Smith's cancelled dates last fall, Whitaker is an 18-year-old phenom originally from New Jersey. Although blind since birth, he has progressed rapidly to professional status after studying at Harlem School of the Arts and the Manhattan School of Music's pre-college program.

Whitaker released his first album in 2017 with a supporting cast including heavyweights like bassist Christian McBride and saxophonist James Carter, and already has played major venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Apollo Theater.

Thursday, June 6
Pianist Adam Maness' trio is back at Thurman's in Shaw, fusion trio Tracer plays at  The Dark Room, and saxophonist Vince Sala leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, June 7
Trombonist, trumpeter and singer Trombone Shorty (pictured, bottom left) and his band Orleans Avenue will perform at The Pageant.

You can see some recent video of Shorty (real name: Troy Andrews) and find out more about what he's been up to recently in this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Friday, singer Jan Shapiro and pianist Dave Venn, abetted by bassist Ben Wheeler, will reunite with an old friend, drummer Henry Ettman, for a show at the Ozark Theatre.

The gig brings together Shapiro, Venn and Ettman for the first time in more than 40 years; look for more on that in Friday's "So What" post.

Elsewhere around town, the Hard Bop Messengers return to Evangeline's; Tony Viviano sings music associated with Dean Martin at Table Three; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

Saturday, June 8
Due to conflicts between city government and the organizers of Fair U City, the U City Jazz Festival, for this year at least, has moved to Gazebo Park in Webster Groves and been renamed the Old Orchard Jazz Festival.

Featured performers at the free event, which runs from early afternoon through the evening, will include the Fusion Warriors, led by bassist Darrell Mixon, offering a "Tribute to Stanley Clarke," as well as Bach to the Future, Joe Mancuso, Soul Cafe, Mo Egeston All-Stars, The Avant-Gardians with Maurice Carnes, and Morphelonious.

If you're planning to attend, you may want to arrive early, as Gazebo Park is smaller than Heman Park, the fest's usual/previous site, and the event also is running concurrently with the Webster Arts Fair. The Arts Fair, with music by Dizzy Atmosphere, the Webster Groves HS Jazz Band, and various other acts on Saturday, will be happening just a few blocks to the west on the grounds of Eden Seminary, which means parking in the general vicinity could be scarce.

Update, 4:30 p.m. 6/5/19: Due to the possibly of bad weather on Saturday, the Old Orchard Jazz Fest has been moved indoors to the Ozark Theatre, located on Lockwood Ave to the east of gazebo Park, and will run from 2:00 p.m.  to 10:00 p.m.

Also on Saturday, the Alton Museum of History and Art presents their annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival, this year featuring saxophonist Michael Fitzgerald, guitarist Tim Jarden and singer Carmen Bonner, at Jacoby Arts Center

Sunday, June 9
Bassist and singer Janet Evra plays for brunch at The Dark Room, and the St. Louis Symphony with singers Dee Daniels and Denzal Sinclaire will pay tribute to the Cole family of pop/jazz fame with a program called "Unforgettable: Nat and Natalie" at Powell Hall.

Monday, June 10
Pianist and singer Jesse Gannon returns to The Dark Room.

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.)

Whitaker Music Festival, U City Jazz Fest announce 2019 lineups

There's news this week on the lineups for two summer festivals of interest to StLJN readers.

The 2019 Whitaker Music Festival will start its season at the Missouri Botanical Garden at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 29 with Americana band Old Souls Revival.

For jazz fans, though, the action really begins the following week, when trumpeter Terence Blanchard (pictured) performs on Wednesday, June 5. Blanchard has been a frequent visitor here in recent months as Opera Theatre of St. Louis prepares to premiere his second opera, Fire Shut Up In My Bones, as part of their 2019 season.

Other jazz or jazz-adjacent performers appearing this year will include Tonina Saputo (June 12), Mardra and Reggie Thomas (July 3), and Annie and The Fur Trappers (July 17). All the concerts are free and open to the public, and you can see the complete schedule on the Missouri Botanical Garden website.

The 2019 U City Jazz Festival will take place on Saturday, June 8 at Heman Park in University City, starting at 1:00 p.m. and continuing throughout the afternoon and evening. This year's festival will feature a headlining performance from Fusion Warriors, led by bassist Darrell Mixon, paying tribute to Stanley Clarke.

Other bands and musicians scheduled to perform include Bach to the Future with guitarist Dave Black and violinist Tracy Silverman, singer Joe Mancuso, Soul Cafe, keyboardist Mo Egeston's All-Stars, drummer Maurice Carnes and the Avant Gardians, and Morphelonious. The event is free and open to the public.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Thanks to a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Jazz St. Louis will be offering more live video streams of performances from the Bistro, starting with tonight's 7:30 p.m. set by the Mark Guiliana Quartet.

JSL experimented last season with live-streaming a handful of performances, but with the upgraded gear purchased with funds from the grant, they'll be streaming from three to six more performances this spring, and more than 20 performances during the 2019-20 season. The video streams will be accessible from JSL's Facebook and YouTube pages, as well as on a new live-streaming page on their website.

* Singer Michael Buble's performance last week at the Enterprise Center was reviewed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Dan Durchholz. The Post also published online a gallery of photos from the show.

* The Bosman Twins (pictured) were interviewed on a recent episode of the web series SMilesTV.

* Organizers of the concert series promoting the release of the book St. Louis Sound have posted to Facebook a gallery of photos from last Friday's "Experience Jazz" show at the Grandel Theatre.

* The St. Louis Low Brass Collective was the subject of an HEC-TV feature by reporter Paul Schankman.

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard's recent local appearances to promote the upcoming premiere of his opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones this season at Opera Theatre of St. Louis were covered by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn and the Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller.