Sunday Session: April 15, 2018

Nina Simone

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:

* The British jazz explosion: meet the musicians rewriting the rulebook (The Guardian)
* Monika Herzig’s SHEroes Addresses Gender in Jazz (DownBeat)
* Why Hip-Hop Is Taking Center Stage On Netflix's Original Music Programming (Forbes.com)
* At Tiny Telephone music studio, recording to tape is not a metaphor (KALW)
* MATA at 20 (New Music Box)
* How Drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath Learned to Play Jazz (Westword)
* Philadelphia native James Mtume returns to celebrate 35th anniversary of ‘Juicy Fruit’ (New Pittsburgh Courier)
* Jimmie Vaughan’s B-3 Vibe (Jazz Times)
* The Deceptively Accessible Music of Cecil Taylor (The Atlantic)
* Illuminating Cecil Taylor with Pianist Jason Moran, on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Turning The Tables: The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women (As Chosen By You) (NPR)
* “All at Full Fullness”: Remembering Cecil Taylor - Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Matthew Shipp and Wadada Leo Smith pay tribute to an avant-jazz icon (Jazz Times)
* All That Jazz: A #JazzAppreciationMonth Podcast Round-up (Arts.gov)
* Music Publishers Win Major Copyright Fight Over Streaming of Legendary Rock Concerts (Hollywood Reporter)
* Composer Tyondai Braxton: 'I'm at war with myself. That's what the piece sounds like' (The Guardian)
* Spotify could kill Jazz, Soul and Classical music. Really. (SoulTracks.com)
* Q&A with Al Di Meola: In a Good Place (DownBeat)
* The New Jazz Torchbearer: Kamasi Washington on His Musical Message (Rolling Stone)
* Cecil Taylor and the Art of Noise (The New Yorker)
* The Revolutionary Genius of Cecil Taylor (The New Yorker)
* The British Guitar Embargo: When Brits Were Banned from Buying American (Reverb.com)
* How Nina Simone Captivated a New Generation (Rolling Stone)
* In Memoriam: Cecil Taylor (DownBeat)
* ‘It’s an insane project’: Toronto resident documenting city’s live-music history through posters (The Globe and Mail)
* Esperanza Spalding: Redefining Production - The bassist, composer and bandleader on her innovative recent "pop-up" album, "Exposure" (Jazz Times)
* How Musicians Are Using Field Recordings to Capture the Politics of Place (Pitchfork.com)
* ‘A Singular Sound, A Singular Force’: Artists Remember Jazz Great Cecil Taylor (BedfordAndBowery.com)
* Saxophonist Kamasi Washington Announces New Album 'Heaven and Earth' With Two Teaser Videos (NextBop.com)
* Hitting Reboot: Manhattan Transfer (DownBeat)
* American orchestras: Revamping the model, or embracing the obvious? (Washington Post)

Sunday Session: July 3, 2016

John Handy

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

* Philip Glass on David Bowie: 'He was a master unto himself' (The Guardian UK)
* Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson, Hatsune Miku, Whitney Houston, and Elvis: Dead Artists Are Killing It In Music (The Daily Beast)
* David Lynch is throwing a music festival, and the lineup is absolutely bonkers (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Listen to jazz artist John Handy's collaborations with India's classical music greats (Scroll.in)
* Shuffle Along Revives Legacy of Black Broadway Pioneers (DownBeat)
* Spoleto Festival USA - Performances included René Marie, Randy Weston, Cécile McLorin Salvant and more (Jazz Times)
* Sampled or stolen? Untangling the knotty world of hip-hop copyright (FactMag.com)
* Brian Wilson talks ‘Pet Sounds,’ 50 years later (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Why Music-Based Social Networks are Doomed (Medium.com)
* Tyondai Braxton on His New EP to Raise Money for Everytown for Gun Safety (Bandcamp.com)
* Reverse Engineering The YouTube Algorithm (TubeFilter.com)
* The Miami sound is gone. But the beat goes on. Here is what replaced it (Miami Herald)
* Fuse Commentary: Critical Injury at the “Boston Globe” (ArtsFuse.org)
* DeJohnette, Coltrane & Garrison at Funhouse Fest - All-star trio performs music from "In Movement" (Jazz Times)
* The Story Behind the First Pulitzer for Jazz (NiemanReports.org)
* Smithsonian Exhibit to Showcase Jazz Photographer Herman Leonard (Offbeat)
* The incisive 'Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words' gives the iconic rocker the stage (Los Angeles Times)
* Black Disco: How jazz became the music of resistance in apartheid South Africa (TheVinylFactory.com)
* When Music Is Violence (The New Yorker)
* Moon Zappa Shares Heartfelt Post About Family Drama (Jambase.com)
* Can electronic music revolutionise school music lessons? (The Guardian UK)
* Lawyer Who Pursued ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Case Against Led Zeppelin Suspended From Practicing Law (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* The Day Riverport Rioted (Riverfront Times)
* Did the Star-Spangled Banner land Stravinsky in jail? (Boston Globe)
* Watch a beautiful meditation on the function of music (CreateDigitalMusic.com)
* FAME Studios: From Revolutionizing ‘60s Soul to Reimagining Nashville Country (Reverb.com)

Jazz this week: Kenny Barron, Tyondai Braxton, Thurman Barker, an all-star band with Cohen, Wilson, Hill & Oh, and more

It's a terrifically busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a number of interesting musicians visiting town over the next few days. So let's skip the rest of the preamble and go straight to the highlights...

Wednesday, April 6
Pianist Kenny Barron returns to St. Louis for the first of two evenings with his trio at Jazz at the Bistro.

Officially designated as an NEA "Jazz Master," the 72-year-old Barron is a stylistically versatile pianist, albeit with a notable affinity for the music of Thelonious Monk, who possesses touch, technique, tone, and taste in abundance, and deploys them in a consistently satisfying fashion. For some samples of his playing, check out the video post that preceded his appearance last year at the Bistro.

Thursday, April 7
Percussionist Thurman Barker, a founding member of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians who's played with some of the most significant figures of the past half-century of improvised music, will headline a ticketed concert ($10 GA, $5 students) for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Barker (pictured, top left) will be joined by saxophonist Joel Vanderheyden, trombonist Wayne Coniglio, and bassist Paul Steinbeck, who teaches at Wash U. He'll also perform in a separate event at Wash U on Friday (see below). For more about Barker, and some video samples of him performing in several different musical context, see this video post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Most weeks, Barker's performance would a shoo-in must-see for local fans of adventurous music, but that's complicated in this particular instance by the appearance of composer Tyondai Braxton in St. Louis on the same night for a solo performance at The Luminary.

Braxton, the son of famed composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, has made a variety of music in his career, ranging from experimental rock with the group Battles to compositions for full orchestra to sound installations in museums. While it's not clear from the advance promotion exactly what's involved in one of his solo performances, based on his recent work and reputation, it should be worth hearing.

Elsewhere around town on Thursday, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with St. Louis' own Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts performing "Nuance and Novelty" at the Gaslight Theater; singer Ralph Williams begins a monthly residency at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and The Gaslight Squares will play traditional jazz at Thaxton Speakeasy

Friday, April 8
This week, Jazz St. Louis has brought several well-known musicians to town for educational residencies, and to wrap up their stay, clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, drummer Matt Wilson, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and bassist Linda Oh will take the stage at Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights of performances.

While an ad hoc ensemble like this one obviously doesn't have an established songbook to tap, Cohen (pictured, center left) and Wilson have both led their own bands at the Bistro before, offering ample energy and showmanship in the process, while Hill and Oh are regarded as two of the top up-and-coming players in jazz on their respective instruments. So, with a little help from Jazz St. Louis' own Phil Dunlap on piano, a good time should be had by all.

Meanwhile, over at Washington University, Thurman Barker, Joel Vanderheyden & Paul Steinbeck will improvise live music to silent films for "Sonic Visions: Experimental Film + Live Jazz", a free event presented in Brown Hall's Auditorium (aka Room 100) on the Wash U campus.

Also on Friday, jazz/fusion band Dreaming In Colour performs at the Kranzberg Arts Center; The Sidemen will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and singer, songwriter and pianist Steven Lutvak offers "A Gentleman's Guide to A Gentleman's Guide" for the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater.

Saturday, April 9
The Bloomington, Indiana-based Liberation Music Collective (pictured, lower left) will be in town for two events at the Center for Social Empowerment and Justice, located at Wellspring Church, 33 S. Florissant Rd.

LMC is a self-described "socially conscious big band" featuring students and alumni of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Following "in the footsteps of Charlie Haden, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, and many others, " the group is "dedicated to performing original compositions about contemporary social issues." They'll host an afternoon workshop for young musicians (middle school to college age), with a  "Jazz for Justice" concert that evening.Both events are free, with donations accepted.

Also on Saturday, saxophonist Rahsaan Barber will be in town to present an afternoon performance and workshop at Saxquest, and The Wire Pilots will serve up their original jazz fusion that evening at the gallery and event space 1900 Park.

Sunday, April 10
If you're in the mood for some Gypsy jazz and swing this weekend, Sunday would seem to be the pick day and the Central West End the place, as Franglais are playing for the jazz brunch at Evangeline's, and Coco Rico will be doing an early evening performance at Nathalie's.

Monday, April 11
The Webster University Jazz Collective will perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus

Tuesday, April 12
The Saxquest Nonet Jazz Orchestra will return for an early evening performance at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

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.)

April gets adventurous with concerts by Fred Lonberg-Holm & Frode Gjerstad, Tyondai Braxton, and Thurman Barker

Three shows recently added to the St. Louis concert calendar mean the first full week of April could be a busy one for local fans of adventurous jazz and creative music:

* Chicago-based cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad (pictured, top left) will team up for a concert of improvised music at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 5 at Jackson Pianos, 4354 Olive St.

Lonberg-Holm is an active participant in Chicago's busy free-improv and jazz scenes, and has collaborated there and around the globe with musicians including Joe McPhee, Peter Brötzmann, Ken Vandermark, Chris Corsano, Lotte Anker, Mats Gustafsson, Glenn Kotche, Jim O'Rourke, Jeff Parker, Michael Zerang, and many more. He's also contributed to recording projects by rock groups such as Califone, Freakwater, God-is-my-co-pilot, L'altra, Smog, Super, US Maple, Wilco, and others.

Gjerstad, who concentrates on alto sax but also plays clarinet and flute, has contributed to more than 50 recordings since beginning his career in the 1970s. He too has played with Peter Brötzmann, and also has performed with many other well-known improvising musicians, such as William Parker, Borah Bergman, Derek Bailey, and Evan Parker.

Admission to the Fred Lonberg-Holm/Frode Gjerstad performance will be "$10-$15 suggested" at the door, a price that includes "free beer/wine/food."

* Composer Tyondai Braxton will perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, April 7 at The Luminary.

Braxton, former front man for the experimental rock band Battles and the son of famed saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton, has created a wide variety of music during his career, ranging from a recent duo collaboration with Phillip Glass to symphonic works such as his album Central Market, which has been performed live by orchestras including the London Sinfonietta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

His multimedia installation "HIVE" recently premiered at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, with an accompanying soundtrack set for release next month on Nonesuch Records.

Braxton (pictured, center left) will perform solo at The Luminary, with St. Louis' Hylidae as opening act. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 day of show.

* Another well-known, Chicago-based improviser, drummer Thurman Barker, already was scheduled to be in St. Louis that same week to perform on Thursday, April 7 for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series.

Now, Wash U has announced another performance by Barker (pictured, bottom left), a free event at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 8 in the auditorium (aka Room 100) of Brown Hall, which for many years has been a site for film screenings on campus.

"Sonic Visions: Experimental Film + Live Jazz" will feature Barker, saxophonist Joel Vanderheyden, and bassist and Wash U faculty member Paul Steinbeck creating improvised scores for silent films by Stan Brakhage, Tomonari Nishikawa, and Walter Ruttmann.