Sunday Session: July 25, 2021

Terri Lyne Carrington

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

* The Strange Magic Of YouTube's '80s Remix Culture (NPR)
* Meet Terri Lyne Carrington (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Summer of Soul review – the best concert film ever made? (The Guardian)
* What Will Happen to My Music Library When Spotify Dies? (The Atlantic)
* The Sounds of Healing (ReasonsToBeCheerful.world)
* Pressing issues: vinyl revival held back by production capacity, Brexit and more (The Guardian)
* NEA Names Its 2022 Jazz Masters: Hart, Clarke, Wilson And Harrison (NPR)
* Billy Gibbons: storyteller, hot sauce merchant, lover of public transport (LouderSound.com)
* A Guide to the Early Music of John Coltrane on Prestige Records (Bandcamp.com)
* Are You Relivin’ the Years?: How Steely Dan Became a Cult Favorite for Millennials (TheRinger.com)
* The Essential Herbie Hancock (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* Thelonious Monk Estate Says Biopic Starring Yasiin Bey Is Unauthorized (Pitchfork.com)
* Yasiin Bey says he won’t play jazz legend Thelonious Monk in biopic since family disapproves (NME.com)
* Jazz Night's Favorite Grooves Of 2021, So Far (NPR)
* Funkadelic's 'Maggot Brain' At 50: R&B, Psychedelic Rock And A Black Guitarist's Cry (NPR)
* ‘My strength isn’t looking at a computer screen. I wouldn’t join the music business today, because I don’t want to be a typist.’ (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* From Soldier to Jazz Giant: The Life of Billy Bang (Bandcamp.com)
* Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram Reflects On Leaving – And Sharing – '622' (NPR)
* The greatest keyboard players of all time, revealed (MusicRadar.com)
* Monterey Jazz Festival Quickly Sells Out Despite No Vaccination Requirements (DigitalMusicNews.com)

Sunday Session: December 27, 2020

George Coleman

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

* Three Reissues That Illuminate South African Jazz During Apartheid (Discogs.com)
* How Branford Marsalis Found Ma Rainey’s Sound (Vanity Fair)
* Har Mar Superstar's Latest Gig: Mail Carrier (MSPMag.com)
* Tenor Sax George Coleman Shines On Newly Released Live Record, 'In Baltimore' (NPR)
* New Releases from Sonny Rollins and Charles Mingus Reveal Crucial Conceptions of Political Art (The New Yorker)
* The Best Shot We Have To Play Live Music Again: News From The COVID Frontline (Offbeat)
* ‘The New Thing’: The Subversive Bridge From Bop To Free Jazz (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Congress Passes Covid-19 Relief Bill With Funding for Live Music Venues (Rolling Stone)
* Kids Became A&R's 'Secret Weapon' In a Work From Home Year (Billboard)
* Listening to the Joy in James Baldwin’s Record Collection (Hyperallergic.com)
* The Importance Of Mary Halvorson’s Recordings During The Pandemic Year (DownBeat)
* The Royal Bopsters Keep Their Group Identity Alive (Jazz Times)
* When Will Live Music Return? (Rolling Stone)
* Thelonious Monk: An Alternative Top Ten Albums Of Deep And Staggering Genius (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Can a trippy VR film bring classical music to a new generation? (The Guardian)
* Dayna Stephens Fulfills Long-Held Dreams (DownBeat)
* 'Jazz is just a reflection of life': The musical genius of Jerry Granelli (CBC)
* Sonny Rollins: Bright Moments (Jazz Times)
* Ma Rainey’s Moment: The Mother Of The Blues Gets Her Due (Slate.com)
* R.I.P. Leslie West, Legendary Mountain Frontman Dies at 75 (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* “Music is my way of being in the world”: remembering “Blue” Gene Tyranny (The Wire)
* Frank Zappa’s 10 greatest albums of all time (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Holiday Shopping Sends Vinyl Album Sales Soaring to Another Record Week (Billboard)
* Modern Hollywood Discovers Its Jazz ‘Soul’ (The Nation)
* When Sonny Rollins Went Dutch (DownBeat)
* A Bessie Smith Christmas (Jazz Times)
* Paul McCartney: read the exclusive track-by-track story of ‘McCartney III’ (NME.com)
* Music made 2020 better, but we failed to make 2020 better for musicians (TechCrunch.com)

Sunday Session: September 20, 2020

Tomeka Reid

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

* Hawaii Passes the ‘Truth in Music Advertising Act’ to Prevent ‘Imposter Performers’ That Claim to Be Classic Bands (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Book Review: Crime and Espionage — to the Sounds of Jazz (ArtsFuse.org)
* Discovering—and Preserving—the Earliest Known Stereo Recordings (Pro Sound News)
* Chick Corea bonus Q&A: What he learned playing with Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz and others (San Diego Union Tribune)
* New Billie Holiday Documentary to Open in November (VIDEO) (Jazz Times)
* Why the struggle of small venues will affect the entire music industry (MidiaResearch.com)
* LJ Talks to Ricky Riccardi, Author of "Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong" (Library Journal)
* 55 Years Ago: Otis Redding Sets a New Standard With ‘Otis Blue’ (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* Visa fees for foreign artists touring the US to increase by over 50% (NME.com)
* The Thrills and Frustrations of a Rediscovered Thelonious Monk Recording (The New Yorker)
* Remembering Bassist Gary Peacock, with a Recent Conversation on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Fridays at Five: A Look Behind the Scenes (SFJAZZ.org)
* Stanley Crouch, Towering Jazz Critic, Dead At 74 (NPR)
* Bootsy Collins Collaborates With George Benson, Branford Marsalis And More On ‘The Power Of The One’ (DownBeat)
* Is Richard Wagner Simultaneously the Most Controversial and Influential Composer Ever? (Pitchfork.com)
* How South Africa’s Blue Notes Helped Invent European Free Jazz (Bandcamp.com)
* Stanley Crouch 1945–2020 (Jazz Times)
* Musicians Are Surviving the Pandemic by Giving (and Receiving) Virtual Lessons (Pitchfork.com)
* Vinyl frontier: The story behind one of the rarest records in the universe (TheVinylFactory.com)
* I saw a different side of Stanley Crouch (TheUndefeated.com)
* Late Night TV Show Musicians Sign Open Letter to Networks Asking for "Economic Parity" (Hollywood Reporter)
* Jazz cellist Tomeka Reid to make debut as Mills professor with virtual show (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Toto, ELO, Queen ... why hits from happier times top Covid lockdown playlists (The Guardian)
* The Sheer Force Of Artemis (DownBeat)
* The Greenwich Village jazz scene is scrambling to stay alive (Time Out New York)
* Beyond High Concept, Beyond Algorithms: Classical Recording Artists Go “Off the Leash” (WQXR)
* Retired Victoria broadcaster finds long-lost tapes of Joni Mitchell recording session (Victoria Times Colonist)
* Meet the NEA Jazz Masters, Class of 2020 (NPR)

Sunday Session: August 2, 2020

Ornette Coleman

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

* Chris Spedding: living life backwards (Jazz Journal)
* What Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Mean To Jazz (DownBeat)
* Sullivan Fortner: Before & After (Jazz Times)
* Unsolved Mysteries: Conglomerate Records (AnomalyIndex.com)
* Jon Hassell, music's great globetrotter: 'Be more aware of the rest of the world!' (The Guardian)
* New Lives: Experimental, Folk, and Jazz Artists Revitalize the Live Album (Bandcamp.com)

* Book Review: Ornette Coleman –The Life of a Jazz Visionary (ArtFuse.org)
* Jazz Commentary: Ornette Coleman — An Outsider Cracks the Egg (ArtsFuse.org)
* TRIBUTE: Anita Wardell remembers Annie Ross (London Jazz News)
* When jazz royalty came to Paly: Monk's long-lost record (nearly) goes public (PaloAltoOnline.com)
* New Bill Aims To Help Music Venues Suffering Amid COVID-19 Pandemic (NPR)
* 17 pro guitarists who play cheap guitars (Guitar World)
* Remembering Fleetwood Mac Founder Peter Green, The Soulful Voice Of British Blues (NPR)
* Senators Introduce Bill to Fund Independent Venues Struggling During COVID-19 (Rolling Stone)
* Rhiannon Giddens Named Artistic Director of Silkroad (BroadwayWorld.com)
* Danny Scher: Back To School With Thelonious Monk (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Academic Programs Restructure Amid Pandemic (DownBeat)
* Interview with Latin Jazz Musician and Educator John Santos (WorldMusicCentral.org)
* Fishbone’s (mostly) original lineup working on first new album in decades; Fat Mike producing (Brooklyn Vegan)
* Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says working musicians may no longer be able to release music only “once every three to four years” (TheFader.com)
* Interview: Jeff Parker on Chopping and Assembling "Max Brown" (Reverb.com)
* Where Are The Thousands Of Nazi-Looted Musical Instruments? (NPR)
* Spotify thinks the Top 40 is over (and other key takeaways from its Q2 results) (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* The Stars Shine: A Newport Jazz Festival Special (NPR)
* The “Palo Alto” record: How a high schooler, a janitor and Thelonius Monk made local history (TheSixFifty.com)
* Spotify CEO talks Covid-19, artist incomes and podcasting (interview) (MusicAlly.com)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A jazz film mini-festival (shutdown edition)

With live music still shut down for the foreseeable future, this week we revisit an idea used in this space occasionally during the slow weeks of summer, and offer up a mini-festival of six feature-length films about jazz. 

The first film, embedded up above, is 1959, The Year That Changed Jazz, a 2009 documentary originally aired on the BBC. It uses archival performances and interviews to look at developments in jazz as reflected in four historically significant albums released that year by Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman.

After the jump, you can see A Great Day In Harlem, an Academy Award-nominated documentary released in 1994 that tells the story of the iconic 1958 photo of dozens of jazz greats taken on a Harlem stoop.

Next up is Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968, a documentary by filmmaker Thomas Reichman that captures the bassist and composer at a particularly tumultuous time, including some infamous footage of Mingus being evicted from his New York City apartment.

After that, it's keyboardist, bandleader, composer and self-proclaimed extraterrestrial Sun Ra in an extended cut of Space is the Place, a 1972 film that DownBeat described as "a sci-fi trip through the East Bay during the 1970s with Sun Ra in the lead."

The penultimate video is Thelonius Monk: An American Composer, a 1993 documentary that includes archival footage and various jazz greats discussing Monk and his enduring influence on jazz.

Last but not least, it's Herbie Hancock - Possibilities a 2006 "making of" documentary about Hancock's album of the same name, featuring guest performers drawn from rock, pop, hip-hop, and more.

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

Sunday Session: August 11, 2019

Sam Rivers

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

* Joni Mitchell's 'Mingus' At 40: A Look Back At A Seminal Jazz Collab (Grammy.com)
* The Night Charlie Parker Soared in South Central L.A. (AltaOnline.com)
* Why Stevie Ray Vaughan Turned Down a David Bowie Tour (Rolling Stone)
* Woodstock Had Some of the Most Legendary Performances in History. But Many Attendees Never Heard a Single Note (Time)
* Herbie Hancock & Cecile McLorin Salvant Among 9 Best Moments at 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (Billboard)
* How SFJAZZ Center Established Itself As A Cultural Force In San Francisco (Grammy.com)
* Roger McGuinn Shoots Down David Crosby’s Byrds Reunion Idea (Again) (Rolling Stone)
* Mike Stern: Different Orbits (AllAboutJazz.com)
* From The Tent Show To The Parlor: Bessie Smith's Travels In Her Time (NPR)
* Laurie Spiegel’s expanding universe (CrackMagazine.net)
* The sounds of Woodstock reborn (CBS News)
* Copyrighting the 'Building Blocks' of Music? Why the Katy Perry Case Alarms Producers (KQED)
* Art Neville spent a lifetime 'throwin' bricks' with the Meters and Neville Brothers (NOLA.com)
* How "Free Exploration" Can Inspire New Compositional Creation (Guitar World)
* Tools for the Personal Studio (Pro Sound News)
* JAZZIZ Backstage Pass: Pianist Monty Alexander Plays Monk with a Reggae Twist (Jazziz)
* Bob Wilber, Saxophonist and Clarinetist Who Carried a Torch for Classic Jazz, Has Died at 91 (WBGO)
* Noncommercial Sounds Draw Crowds to Berlin’s A’larme! Festival (DownBeat)
* Want to Get on the Radio? Have $50,000? (Rolling Stone)
* The Unheard ‘Abbey Road’: An Exclusive Preview of Beatles’ Expanded Final Masterpiece (Rolling Stone)
* How Decca Records Brought Jazz Music To The World (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* First-Time Leaders Preserve and Evolve Newport Legacy (DownBeat)
* How a Collaboration Between Roky Erickson and Doug Sahm Became Part of the Blueprint for Punk Rock (Austin Chronicle)
* John Fogerty celebrates 1960s rock with ‘My 50-Year Trip’ tour (Boston Globe)
* Cultivating the Legacy of Sam Rivers (DownBeat)
* How composer Matthew Burtner is putting climate change into song (PBS)
* Listen With Me (Columbia Journalism Review)

Sunday Session: November 11, 2018

Charles Mingus

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Edgefest 2018: The Chicago Connection (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Release of Live Mingus Recordings to be Celebrated at Jazz Standard (DownBeat)
* A Great Day in Harlem, Revisited (Wall Street Journal)
* In Memoriam: Roy Hargrove (DownBeat)
* Blown away: will we miss the sweet sound of school recorders? (The Guardian)
* Myra Melford: Taking Flight Where Life Leads Her (NationalSawdust.org)
* Roy Hargrove 1969 – 2018 (Jazz Times)
* Everything Adds Up for Lorraine Feather (DownBeat)
* Novelist Jeff Jackson on the 4 Best Rock Chronicles You’ve Never Heard of (Vulture.com)
* Aretha Franklin doc ‘Amazing Grace’ to finally see the light (Associated Press)
* Engineer Al Schmitt on Winning 23 Grammys and Working With Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney & Steely Dan (Billboard)
* Has stadium rock been unplugged? (BBC)
* Inside the booming business of background music (The Guardian)
* Sound decision: Why studios still matter in the age of smart phones (Toledo Blade)
* Aaron Parks Crafts a New Context (DownBeat)
* Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz to be Renamed in 2019 (DownBeat)
* The Free Music Archive is closing this month (TheVerge.com)
* 26 Abandoned Discos (Flashbak.com)
* At Tampere Jazz Happening, History and Revolution (DownBeat)
* Guitar Center Unveils Remodeled Hollywood Store and How It Plans to Come Back From the Brink (Billboard)
* Spotify debuts an analytics service for music publishers (TechCrunch.com)
* L.A.’s air raid sirens are blaring this week. Why composer Lawrence English says you should listen (Los Angeles Times)
* Blanchard Premieres New, Poignant Commission in Cleveland (DownBeat)
* Eliot Zigmund: A Sideman Moves to the Front (Jazz Times)
* Cécile McLorin Salvant: Wide Open Window (Jazz Times)
* Dianne Reeves: Christmas Time Is Here (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* There Was No Song of the Summer This Year — and There Won't Be Ever Again (Rolling Stone)
* 'Mingus: Jazz In Detroit' Catches A Giant At A Moment Full Of Possibility (NPR)
* Monsters of Rock Criticism: Greil Marcus Interviews Robert Christgau (Rolling Stone)
* Bar Four: A Vibraphone Summit (Jazz Times)
* A Jazz Legend Out of the Shadows (IberiaNet.com)
* Tyshawn Sorey Unveils a 3-Disc Extravaganza (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: October 28, 2018

Melvin "Wah Wah Watson" Ragin

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* When David Bowie Became a Superstar: ‘It Was the Happiest I’d Ever Seen Him’ (The Daily Beast)
* Is your business streaming music for customers? That's breaking the law (The Guardian)
* Kandace Springs Motors Forward (DownBeat)
* Reconsidering Composer Raymond Scott, From Cartoons to the Cutting Edge, in Deep Dive (WBGO)
* Live Review: 2nd October Revolution in Philadelphia (Jazz Times)
* The Velvet Revolution of Claude Debussy (The New Yorker)
* Did Muddy Waters’ First UK Tour Launch The British Blues Boom? (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Here’s how horror film scores have evolved to scare us over the years (AV Club)
* City Hall lets KC’s American Jazz Museum languish with no permanent director or board (Kansas City Star)
* The Top 100 Albums Of The Quietus' Existence, As Picked By tQ's Writers (TheQuietus.com)
* The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition Returns (NPR)
* The Strange World Of... Awesome Tapes From Africa (TheQuietus.com)
* My Teenage Son and I Went to the Same Music Festival. Our Experiences Were Totally Different (Observer.com)
* What crisis? Why music journalism is actually healthier than ever (The Guardian)
* The Music of “Doctor Who” Makes a Glorious Return to Form (The New Yorker)
* Wah Wah Watson, Guitarist for Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, Dead at 67 (Rolling Stone)
* Randy Weston 1926–2018 (The Wire)
* Makaya McCraven Isn’t Interested in Saving Jazz (Rolling Stone)
* Opinion: Apple Music’s human curation falls apart when it comes to less mainstream tastes (9To5Mac.com)
* In Ann Arbor, Edgefest Showcases Chicago Avant-Garde (DownBeat)
* Monk Institute Piano Competition Set for Dec. 2 and 3 (Jazz Times)
* Photos: 2018 BRIC JazzFest (Jazz Times)
* David Bowie: the day I pulled the plug on his Glastonbury comeback (The Guardian)

Sunday Session: September 23, 2018

John Scofield

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Sons of Kemet frontman Shabaka Hutchings: 'I trust in my ability to write really dope s***' (The Standard)
* R.I.P. Big Jay McNeely, April 29, 1927-Sept. 16, 2018 (LA Weekly)
* A conversation with DJ Amir Abdullah about newly unearthed Charles Mingus recordings (TrebleZine.com)
* Congressional Black Caucus Honors Jazz Players During Annual Washington Concert (DownBeat)
* Jazz From Monterey: 1958, The Birth Of A Festival (WFIU)
* Music from many if not all points of the compass: Rhys Chatham interviewed (Freq.org.uk)
* New Orleans Jazz Makes Room for All the Grooves (64Parishes.org)
* Fired or retired? What happens to the aging orchestral musician (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
* The Guide to Getting into John Coltrane's Quasi-Religious Ecstasy (Vice.com)
* The Women of Detroit Music, Living and Gone, Take Spotlight at Detroit Jazz Festival (Billboard)
* Tiny Desk Concert: GoGo Penguin (NPR)
* Vinyl Is Bigger Than We Thought. Much Bigger (Forbes)
* Tracing The Genetic Code Of New Orleans Funk Music (LiveForLiveMusic.com)
* The Poetic Inspiration of Pianist Lynne Arriale (DownBeat)
* 5 Vibraphonists You Should Know About (Revive-Music.com)
* Music Modernization Act Passes, Despite Music Industry Infighting (Rolling Stone)
* India's singing village, where everyone has their melody (France24.com)
* Americans Listen to 151 Minutes of Music Each Day (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Spotify to Allow Indie Artists to Upload Music Directly to Service, Bypassing Distributors (Billboard)
* Comprehensive history of KC Women’s Jazz Festival (JazzJournalists.org)
* How David Crosby Found a New Harmony (Rolling Stone)
* The Fat Lady Is Singing - Is American opera in terminal condition? (Commentary)
* Roy Babbington on the 50-Year Evolution of Soft Machine (DownBeat)
* Imagine: Previously Unseen Footage Of John Lennon And George Harrison (NPR)
* Ticketmaster stung by undercover journalists, who reveal that the company deliberately enables scalpers and rips off artists (BoingBoing.net)
* John Scofield's Outside-In Approach To Jazz (SFJAZZ.org)
* Founding Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts in critical condition after 'freak accident' (NBC)
* Live Review: 2018 Chicago Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* "Three Is One": Thelonious Monk's Influence On Joanne Brackeen, Kris Davis & Helen Sung (SFJAZZ.org)
* The San Francisco Tape Music Center Was an Early Home to the Avant-Garde (Bandcamp.com)
* Tracing Ska Music’s Great Migration (AtlasObscura.com)
* How Auto-Tune Revolutionized the Sound of Popular Music (Pitchfork.com)

Sunday Session: July 1, 2018

Don Cherry

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Catherine Russell: Queen of the Armstrong Blues (Jazz Times)
* Legendary Experimental Composer Jon Hassell Is Still Dreaming Up New Worlds (Vice.com)
* What happened to the blues? (Chicago Defender)
* DC Jazz Festival Reaches New Peak with Sanders, Carrington (DownBeat)
* Spotify Can Boost an Artist’s Royalties by $163,000 With One Playlist Add, Study Calculates (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* DownBeat Announces Winners of 2018 Critics Poll (DownBeat)
* Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas step up with Sound Prints at the Village Vanguard (Jazzwise)
* The Saxophone’s Unlikely Journey Out of Meme Hell (Vice.com)
* Thelonious Monk Inside Out: A Fresh Perspective On His Music (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The Story of Don Cherry’s Forgotten Classic “Home Boy (Sister Out)” (Bandcamp.com)
* Swedish Jazz, Excavated (DownBeat)
* How Did A Major Label Manage To Lose A John Coltrane Record? (TheQuietus.com)
* Composing Your Thoughts (Nautilus)
* WOULD SUIT MUSIC SCHOOL: How Total Refreshment Centre became the collaborative heart of London (TheVinylFactory.com)
* R+R=NOW’s Robert Glasper On Being Free AF For Juneteenth, ‘Collagically Speaking’ & More [Interview] (OkayPlayer.com)
* Kamasi Washington, the wisest man on Earth (TheFader.com)
* Jazz great Sheila Jordan's 70-year career was launched by a single song (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
* A Year After Geri Allen’s Death, A Tribute From Howard University (DownBeat)
* John Coltrane's 'Lost Album' Is A Window Into His Pursuit Of The Impossible (NPR)
* The Average Working Musician Makes Less Than an Uber Driver, Study Finds (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Antiquated copyright laws threaten aging musicians: Guest opinion (Portland Oregonian)
* A sound supreme: lost John Coltrane treasures rediscovered (Irish Times)
* When Miles Davis and Charlie Parker were in SF, this was the go-to club (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Deep Dive with Lewis Porter: Considering John Coltrane's 'Lost Album,' From All Directions (WBGO)
* This music is designed for extraterrestrials. Listen carefully (BigThink.com)
* Jon Hassell at 81: Visionary Composer-Trumpeter Reflects on a Half Century of Music on His Own Terms (Billboard)
* Angry George Benson fans BOO legendary star and demand refunds when he loses his voice and can't sing during Royal Albert Hall concert (Daily Mail)
* Raymond Scott, the musical genius you probably don't know, is getting his own L.A. festival (Los Angeles Times)
* 50th anniversary editions of The Band's 'Music From Big Pink' due Aug. 31 (Los Angeles Times)
* Ravi Coltrane On the State of Jazz & Why John Coltrane's Lost Album Couldn't Have Been Found at a Better Time (Billboard)

Sunday Session: February 18, 2018

Snarky Puppy

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Olympic Figure Skaters Perform to Ed Sheeran, 'Wonderwall' & More Pop Songs After Rule Change (Billboard)
* Q&A with Adam Nussbaum: The Drum Thing (DownBeat)
* Portraits In Black: Jazz Tributes To African-American Heroes (WFIU)
* Laurie Anderson Details How Hurricane Sandy & Loss Influenced Her New Album & Book (Billboard)
* Why is the price of vinyl albums at a record high? (Toronto Star)
* Systemic Discrimination: the Burden of Sameness in American Orchestras (ICareIfYouListen.com)
* Honor Society: The Importance of Tributes in Jazz (Jazz Times)
* Gibson ‘running out of time — rapidly’ (Nashville Post)
* The Life and Times of the Late, Great CD (DigitalTrends.com)
* When Quincy Jones Covered The Beatles (And Other Insights From a Shrewd Jazz Career) (WBGO)
* Second Line Blues: A Brief History of New Orleans Brass Bands (Reverb.com)
* Exalting Blackness Amid White Noise: Afro-Latino Artists Speak on Navigating the World & Music Industry (Billboard)
* Why Madison Square Garden Thinks It Has Designed the Venue Of the Future (Billboard)
* Scott LaFaro, how one man redefined the piano trio (Jazz in Europe)
* Iyer Excels in Disparate Settings at Four-Day SFJAZZ Run (DownBeat)
* Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Why Rock Stars Are Suddenly Retiring (Rolling Stone)
* This DC Taxi Driver Was a Superstar in Ethiopia (Vice.com)
* The 50 Greatest Rock and Roll Movies of All Time (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Music Snobs Could Save the Music Industry, But They Won't (TrackRecord.net)
* A Primer on Weird Vinyl Design (Magenta.as)
* 99% of All Music Streaming Comes from Just 10% of Available Songs (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Stream the “Complete” John Coltrane Playlist: A 94-Hour Journey Through 700+ Transformative Tracks (OpenCulture.com)
* Snarky Puppy’s GroundUP Fest Grows in its Second Year (DownBeat)
* Music streaming is booming… So what happens next? (MusicAlly.com)
* Meet the Eccentric Master of Jazz Melody (Ozy.com)
* Who Was Andrea Davis? Revealing Minnie Riperton’s Secret History (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Gilles Peterson: 'The boundary between club culture and jazz is finally breaking' (The Guardian)

Sunday Session: February 11, 2018

Cécile McLorin Salvant

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Cécile McLorin Salvant: The Ghost Writer (Jazz Times)
* In Memoriam: Hugh Masekela (DownBeat)
* Sirius XM Radio Has 32.7 Million Subscribers — Less Than Half That of Spotify (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Here’s the Entire Facebook Contract for Music Publishers & Songwriters (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* LISTEN: Dennis Edwards recalls the angry studio session behind 'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone' (Detroit Free Press)
* California brewery must face lawsuit by son of jazz great Thelonious Monk (Reuters.com)
* Monk’s son wins right to sue over ‘Brother Thelonious’ ale (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Ndugu Chancler, Drummer On Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," Dead At 65 (OkayPlayer.com)
* La Monte Young - The Well-Tuned Piano 81 X 25 6:17:50 - 11:18:59 PM NYC (Pitchfork.com)
* India sings the blues (The Hindu)
* How the Super Bowl halftime show gets set up in just six minutes (TheVerge.com)
* Photos: “A Musical Tribute to Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams” (Jazz Times)
* Frank Zappa Hologram to Play With Former Mothers on 'Bizarre World' Tour (Rolling Stone)
* Meditating On The Healing Power Of Alice Coltrane's 'Journey In Satchidananda' (NPR)
* Snarky Puppy Evokes 1960s at Carnegie Hall Concert (DownBeat)
* Geri Allen’s Spirit Fills Winter Jazzfest During All-Star Tribute (DownBeat)
* In Conversation: Quincy Jones (Vulture.com)
* Blue Note at Sea a Showcase for Abundant Talent (DownBeat)
* David Crosby: Crosby, Coltrane & Miles (Jazz Times)
* 'Body and Soul' doc explores links between jazz and Jews (Chicago Tribune)
* A Look Back at Hipgnosis, Pioneers of the Avant-Garde Record Cover (Vice.com)
* A Conversation With Ken Vandermark (WFIU)
* Johnny O’Neal: Pianist, Singer, Storyteller (Jazz Times)
* Q&A with Alfredo Rodríguez: Global References (DownBeat)
* Electronic pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto: 'My great regret is not reconnecting with Bowie' (The Guardian)
* How Black Panther Composer Ludwig Göransson Found the Sound of Wakanda (Pitchfork.com)
* The Night Latin Jazz Was Born (OZY.com)
* Terry Gibbs: Tales of a True Bebopper (Jazz Times)
* Wesla Whitfield’s Long Musical Adventure Comes to an End (KQED)

Sunday Session: December 3, 2017

The Soul Rebels

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

* The Grateful Dead Levitate Egypt’s Pyramids Under A Lunar Eclipse (Flashbak.com)
* Rudy Royston on Cymbal Creativity (Jazz Times)
* A War Is Brewing in the Steely Dan Universe (Vulture.com)
* Walter Becker Estate Responds to Donald Fagen's Steely Dan Lawsuit (Paste)
* 'We could build something revolutionary': how tech set underground music free (The Guardian)
* What Thelonious Monk's Most Famous Composition Owes to Dizzy Gillespie (WBGO)
* Tricky Repertoire: The Soul Rebels step out of the box (Offbeat)
* Within The Context Of All Contexts: The Rewiring Of Our Relationship To Music (NPR)
* Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) (Offbeat)
* Have Scientists Found a Secret Chord for Happy Songs? (Scientific American)
* Jon Hendricks obituary (The Guardian)
* Billy Childs, Fred Hersch and Chris Potter Lead the Jazz Nominees for the 60th Grammy Awards (WBGO)
* The Payola Blues: New Technology, Same Old Tune? (Hhhhappy.com)
* 17 of the Greatest Televised Moments in Music History (Soundfly.com)
* John McLaughlin on his final US tour and playing with Miles Davis (Chicago Tribune)
* Mel Martin, Stalwart of the Bay Area Jazz Scene, Dead at 75 (KQED)
* Kurt Elling Channels Divinity, Philosophy, and Poetry into Jazz (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* What the hell’s happening to music’s trade press? (And what does it mean for the rest of us?) (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* A Brief History of Funk (Afropop.org)
* What Music-Playing Plants Can Teach Us About Consciousness (Hyperallergic.com)
* Clarke Peters: from green hair to good times, Louis Jordan brought joy to my world (The Guardian)
* Antonio Sanchez: Immigrant Songs (Jazz Times)
* Deck the Halls with Vince Guaraldi (The New Yorker)
* Hermeto Pascoal's Music Reaches Far Into The Stratosphere (NPR)
* The Tree That Rocked The Music Industry (NPR)
* Mickey Hart On His Experimental New Solo Album And Why It’s Impossible For Him To Leave The Grateful Dead (Uproxx.com)
* Jimmy Iovine Breaks Down What's Wrong With the Music Business, Warns Against Overoptimism in Streaming: 'They're Not Making Money' (Billboard)
* For Women in Jazz, a Year of Reckoning and Recognition (New York Times)

Sunday Session: November 12, 2017

John McLaughlin

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

* Let's face the facts: Facebook controls classical music (OvergrownPath.com)
* Arts Critics Are Disappearing From Newspapers. Or, Wait, Is That The Good News? (ArtAndSeek.org)
* A Hard Day's Night: Solving a Beatles mystery with mathematics (ABC.net.au)
* Essential Solos: 40 Great Improvisations (Jazz Times)
* Van Morrison Announces New Album 'Versatile' (Rolling Stone)
* Field Notes: John McLaughlin & Jimmy Herring in NYC - Thinking about a jazz-guitar icon’s U.S. farewell tour (Jazz Times)
* Joni Mitchell Talks Exes, Addictions and Music in Candid, All-Access Biography (Rolling Stone)
* The demons and obsessions of jazz genius Thelonious Monk (The Guardian)
* Critic bashing - Defending the Music Media (Atavist.com)
* Blue Note Records Unveils a New Subscription Boxed Set Series, Blue Note Review (WBGO)
* The Strange World Of... Linda Sharrock (TheQuietus.com)
* The rise of ‘three-car garage rock’ (Curbed.com)
* Why the indie band never dies: fake breakups, permanent adolescence and cash comebacks (The Guardian)
* Bill Frisell Receives Honorary Degree and Is Subject of Film (Jazz Times)
* I went to see La Monte Young playing in his New York loft, and you should do the same (Medium.com)
* 'Only 17th-century industrial bluegrass will do': your favourite weird records (The Guardian)
* 'Their DNA is forever ingrained in the keys' - Roman Rabinovich on playing composers' own pianos (TheArtsDesk.com)
* After Six Decades in the Vault, 'Ella at Zardi's' Brings New Shine to Ella Fitzgerald's Centennial (WBGO)
* Malleable Structures: An Interview with Tyshawn Sorey (Atavist.com)
* How Concert Ticket Prices Vary Across the U.S. (Wanderu.com)
* The Many Faces of Jazz Today: The Big Picture (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Return of the Top 40 Troubadour: How Singer-Songwriters Reclaimed Pop Radio (Billboard)
* Pat Metheny: Driving Forces (AllAboutJazz.com)
* ‘In five seconds my life changed. I was worse than the worst jazz snob’ (Irish Times)
* A Jazz Centennial of a Seamier Sort: The End of Storyville, As Remembered Through the Ages (WBGO)
* Paul Buckmaster, Essential Arranger for David Bowie and Elton John, Dead at 71 (Rolling Stone)
* Meet Rufus Harley, the First Jazz Bagpiper (AtlasObscura.com)
* Herbie Hancock: ‘I like to discover new rules so I can break them’ (The Guardian)

Sunday Session: November 5, 2017

Muhal Richard Abrams

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

* John McLaughlin on His Final U.S. Tour, Revisiting Mahavishnu Orchestra (Rolling Stone)
* Jack DeJohnette is a Deluxe Drummer (Montreal Gazette)
* Donald Fagen: ‘With Steely Dan there was no career plan’ (The Times)
* 'I never envisaged what lay ahead’: the first issue of Rolling Stone (The Guardian)
* Music and space (Varsity.co.uk)
* Steely Dan reviewed, London O2 Arena, October 29, 2017 (Uncut.co.uk)
* Playlist: The Roots, And The Reach, Of Fats Domino (NPR)
* Russian Espionage and Electromagnetic Fields: The Story of the Theremin (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Orrin Keepnews: Thelonious Monk—A Remembrance (Keyboard)
* Want to 'train your brain'? Forget apps, learn a musical instrument (The Guardian)
* When Bob Dylan Saw God (Esquire)
* Introducing: Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV (Jazzwise)
* Breaking: Florida Supreme Court Rules That Oldies Recordings are Public Domain (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Thelonious Monk: Tributes from Colleagues (Keyboard)
* Jazz Community Unites To Support Puerto Rico Relief Efforts (NPR)
* I can go for that: how soft rock finally got cool (The Guardian)
* Muhal Richard Abrams Dies at 87 - Hugely influential pianist-composer co-founded the AACM (Jazz Times)
* Muhal Richard Abrams, A Sweepingly Influential Jazz Artist, Has Died At Age 87 (NPR)
* Muhal Richard Abrams, jazz champion and innovator, dies at 87 (Chicago Tribune)
* Muhal Richard Abrams, An Artist Always Looking Forward, Leaves Us Behind (WBGO)
* The Musical Revolution of Muhal Richard Abrams (The New Yorker)
* Billie Holiday to perform live in Los Angeles 58 years after her death (The Independent)
* Chuck D of Public Enemy and Prophets of Rage opens up about the history of rap and hip-hop (Orange County Register)
* This Kennedy Center director is making performance art out of jazz. Can he bring fans along? (Washington Post)
* Sonny Rollins Spent A Mythical 'Night at the Village Vanguard' 60 Years Ago Today (NPR)
* Bad Plus thrills fans at SFJazz Center on last tour of original lineup (SFGate.com)
* Will Spotify Kill the Local Music Scene? (ElectricLiterature.com)
* How Advertisers Get Away With Using Fake Versions of Your Favorite Songs (Pitchfork)

Jazz this week: John Pizzarelli, Sammy Miller and the Congregation, a tribute to Thelonious Monk, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the St. Louis debut of an up-and-coming young band; a tribute to a distinctive jazz composer and pianist; the return of a longtime local favorite for a benefit performance; and more. 

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 25
Pianist Adam Maness, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Montez Coleman will salute one of the greatest composers in jazz in the first of two nights of a "Thelonious Monk Centennial Celebration" at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features cornetist and singer T.J Müller at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, a jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, October 26
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents "Streams of Extremity II," a free concert featuring pianist Ptah Williams, guitarist/bassist William Lenihan, drummer Steve Davis, and a string trio performing and improvising based on the music of Bela Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and more.

Elsewhere around town, New Orleans keyboardist and singer John "Papa" Gros returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and trumpeter Keith Moyer leads a quintet at The Dark Room

Friday, October 27
Drummer/singer Sammy Miller and the Congregation (pictured, center left) will make their St. Louis debut and wrap up a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis with the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.

For more about Miller and his band of twenty-somethings, plus some sample performances on video, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival presents singer and pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano in a one-night-only performance of their cabaret show "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" at the Gaslight Theater.

Elsewhere around town, the Midwest Jazz-tette returns to Evangeline's, and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 28
Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli (pictured, top left) will perform for the annual "ArtSounds" benefit gala at the Sheldon Concert Hall. (For those interested in just hearing the music, the Sheldon may have some concert-only tickets available; check with their box office for details.)

Also on Saturday, the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to Broadway Oyster Bar.

Sunday October 29
The Folk School of KDHX presents their monthly traditional jazz jam session; the Bosman Twins (pictured, bottom left) will headline a benefit at the Sheldon raising money for the Royal Vagabonds scholarship fund; and the students of the JazzU Big Band will perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Monday, October 30
Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will lead a quintet of members of the Webster University jazz faculty in "1967: Jazz in Transition" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

The program will feature performances of songs first released in 1967 by artists including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Lloyd, Gary Burton, Sam Rivers, Chick Corea, and more.

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.)