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: October 4, 2020

Dorothy Ashby

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

* The Stanley Crouch I Knew (New York Review of Books)
* Cecil Taylor and his Mendota Players – Snapshots. By Paul Ruppa (The Wire)
* Captain Beefheart’s ’10 commandments of guitar playing’ (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Deep algebra for deep beats: The beautiful sounds of musical programming (Ars Technica)
* Wire Playlist: Musician-Owned Record Labels In Jazz In The 1970s (The Wire)
* Dorothy Ashby: Pioneering Jazz Harpist (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* The Death and Rebirth of the Rock Saxophone (TrebleZine.com)
* In Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company, An Overlooked Institution of Moog Music (Bandcamp.com)
* John Hollenbeck Takes Back Recordings And Forges Ahead (DownBeat)
* What It’s Like to Be Black in Indie Music (Pitchfork.com)
* New Dave Brubeck Releases in Fall Pipeline (Jazz Times)
* ‘The Story I’m Telling’: An Interview with Archie Shepp (New York Review of Books)
* Sharel Cassity Is ‘Fearless’ Amid Recovery (DownBeat)
* North Philly activist, poet, and musician Moor Mother on her free jazz musical, Afrofuturism, and Patti LaBelle (Philadelphia Inquirer)
* Antidote to Isolation - Vijay Iyer On How Music Reconnects Us In A Socially Distant World (Steinway.com)
* “This is more than an annoying blip.” Aaron Liddard’s perspective on the future of the music industry (London Jazz News)
* Arlo Guthrie on His Dad, Protesting, and “Alice’s Restaurant” (UnderTheRadarMag.com)
* Wire Playlist: Tashi Dorji (The Wire)
* The Futility of Rolling Stone’s Best-Albums List (The New Yorker)
* A Deep Dive into John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' by His Biographer, Lewis Porter (Pt. 3) (WBGO)
* Harlem of the West: San Francisco's Fillmore District (PleaseKillMe.com)
* Maria Schneider: A Tale Of Two Worlds (Jazz Times)
* The Canterbury Scene: How A Bunch of Bookish Bohemians Became The Monty Pythons of Prog (UDiscoverMusic.com) * JT Video Premiere: The Love Letter Sessions by Jimmy Heath (Jazz Times)
* The True Poet of Jazz (City-Journal.org)

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: September 8, 2019

Hamid Drake

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

* Linda Ronstadt Has Found Another Voice (The New Yorker)
* Charles Lloyd: 'Looking for the one note that can say it all' (Japan Times)
* White Supremacy Tried to Kill Jazz. The Music Triumphed (TruthOut.org)
* Vijay Iyer (Musicality, Wigmore Hall residency, 2019/20) (London Jazz News)
* Drummer Rudy Royston’s Always Listening (DownBeat)
* Michael Brecker Competition Continues Legacy of Generous Musician (Jazz Times)
* The Voice That Shattered Glass (NPR)
* Detroit Jazz Festival Offers a Mixed Bag (DownBeat)
* CBS SF Talks To King Crimson Bassist Tony Levin (CBSLocal.com)
* The Many Requirements Of Hold Music, A Genre For No One (NPR)
* Jimmy Johnson, Muscle Shoals Guitarist Who Backed Soul & Rock Giants, Dead at 76 (Rolling Stone)
* A Decade of Music Is Lost on Your iPod. These Are The Deleted Years. Now Let Us Praise Them (Esquire)
* Brian Blade & Life Cycles: Uncorking The Spirit of Bobby Hutcherson (SFJAZZ.org)
* How Ella Fitzgerald Turned Forgotten Lyrics Into One Of Her Best Performances Ever (NPR)
* Vinyl Is Poised to Outsell CDs For the First Time Since 1986 (Rolling Stone)
* Iggy Pop: 'I've finally got the voice I was supposed to have' (BBC)
* ‘We Always Swing’ To Launch 25th Anniversary Season (DownBeat)
* Music legend Taj Mahal talks music, race and the Rolling Stones (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Delving Into Consciousness: Hamid Drake's Favourite Music (TheQuietus.com)
* Abdullah Ibrahim: Grace Under Pressure (Jazz Times)
* “I Was Always Trying To Get Better”: Sonny Rollins On A Life In Jazz (UDiscoverMusic.com)

Sunday Session: July 14, 2019

Abdullah Ibrahim

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

* All hail young blues aristocrat Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram (Guitar)
* An evening with João Gilberto, the bright wallflower of bossa nova (The Guardian)
* Burning Its Way Toward A Musical Sweet Spot - Interview With Burnt Sugar Founder Greg Tate (SFJAZZ.org)
* How Richmond jazz legend Lonnie Liston Smith is bridging generations (WTVR)
* Herbie Hancock still experimenting after six musical decades (Vancouver Sun)
* When Mingus met Mitchell (Jazz Journal)
* The Black Swan: A History of Race Records (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Snapshot NY: Tiny Harlem Apartment Home To Popular Jazz Parlor (NewYork.CBSLocal.com)
* Artist Spotlight: Vijay Iyer (Jazz Times)
* An Eight-Second Film of 1915 New Orleans and the Mystery of Louis Armstrong’s Happiness (The New Yorker)
* Kamasi Washington Says Security Guard Assaulted His Father at Austria Show, Cuts Set Short (Pitchfork.com)
* ‘Getz At The Gate’: A Scintillating Performance By A Dynamic Stan Getz (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Sun Ra: The Philadelphia Years (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Sisters of Swing (Vanity Fair)
* 'We need to put inclusion at the start of the process': the disabled musicians making their own instruments (The Guardian)
* Ernest Dawkins on AACM, Conduction and Dictators (DownBeat)
* Seamus Blake Is Playing Between Many Worlds (Jazz Times)
* Steps Taken That Could Determine The Fate Of The Former Home Of Jazz Musician Cab Calloway (Baltimore.CBSLocal.com)
* Finding 'The Balance': Jazz Legend Abdullah Ibrahim Looks To Past, Present And Future (NPR)
* Ban Brass Bands On Frenchmen? (Offbeat)
* Mini model of Stonehenge created by scientists could reveal how the ancient monument SOUNDED during the mysterious rituals held at the site more than 2,000 years ago (Daily Mail)
* A jazz legend said he was in desperate need of money. His friends had questions (Washington Post)
* An Alternate Canon of Afrofuturist Classics (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Jimmie Vaughan Digs into Covers (DownBeat)
* Flutes you: Lizzo and the woodwind renaissance (The Guardian)
* The Legacy of Live Aid, 30 Years Later (The Atlantic)
* The Science of Sound: An Interview with Alvin Lucier (SecondInversion.com)
* In Conversation: The Fast-Paced Life of Bill Frisell (Jazz in Europe)
* Janis Siegel: Answering the Calling of Vocal Jazz (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: April 21, 2019

Branford Marsalis

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:

* Arturo O’Farrill’s ‘Fandango at the Wall’ Transcends Borders (LatinoUSA.org)
* 'People who sing it want the world to know they exist': 50 years of My Way (The Guardian)
* New Orleans trumpeter celebrates personal rebirth at French Quarter Festival (New Orleans Advocate)
* Best Jazz Albums: 50 Essentials You Need To Hear (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Louis Armstrong: ‘more important than Picasso’ (Jazz Journal)
* Gerald Clayton Talks About Jazz and the Creative Process (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* Home Taping Is Killing Music: When the Music Industry Waged War on the Cassette Tape in the 1980s, and Punk Bands Fought Back (OpenCulture.com)
* The Shape-Shifting Music of Tyshawn Sorey (The New Yorker)
* Icons: Michael Beinhorn is Preventing Bad Music by Promoting Pre-Production (SonicScoop.com)
* A Visit to John Cage’s 639-Year Organ Composition (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Chris Potter Has His ‘Circuits’ Rewired (DownBeat)
* Concord Jazz Festival Returns for 50th Anniversary (Jazz Times)
* The Crimson King Seeks a New Court (Rolling Stone)
* Stanley Crouch, Bob Dorough, Abdullah Ibrahim, Maria Schneider Honored at NEA Jazz Masters Tribute (DownBeat)
* How a world-renowned cellist used Bach to blast Trump (RawStory.com)
* Branford Marsalis Discusses the Genre, Teaching Music and Getting Up Early (DownBeat)
* Why is jazz unpopular? The musicians 'suck', says Branford Marsalis (Sydney Morning Herald)
* Unplugged: Is the Guitar Solo Finished? (Rolling Stone)
* Impulse For Change: The Story Of Impulse! Records (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Integral to Over a Century of Piano Culture, Steinway & Sons Looks to the Future (Billboard)
* 12 Women Influencing the Future of Jazz (Paste)
* Iyer, Taborn Build Something Majestic on New ECM Album (DownBeat)
* Space is the Place: an introduction to the music of jazz visionary Sun Ra (List.co.uk)
* the musical genre is dead, gen z killed it (Vice.com)
* The All-Female Big Bands That Made History During World War II (NPR)

Sunday Session: August 26, 2018

Mary Halvorson

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:

* He read the news all day, oh boy: how Beatles ‘froze out’ George Martin on White Album (The Guardian)
* How a Jewish kid from the burbs helped launch Springsteen and make music history (Times of Israel)
* Nicole Johänntgen Channels the Vitality of New Orleans (DownBeat)
* The Sounds of Music in the Twenty-first Century (The New Yorker)
* When a Music Legend Dies, How Does Today’s Mostly Automated Radio React? (Variety)
* Joe Lovano Toasts Ben Webster, and Vocalist Emma Frank Visits 'Ocean Av,' on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Why does bass make you want to dance? (MedicalNewsToday.com)
* Lifetime Achievement: Joe McPhee’s Vast and Brilliant Improvisational Discography (Bandcamp.com)
* Unlocking the Secrets of Jazz Genius Bill Evans (Playbill.com)
* Regional, International Talent Meet at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest (DownBeat)
* Napster Proves That Streaming Music Can Be Profitable (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* "Just the Essential Thing": Bill Frisell and Mary Halvorson Honor Johnny Smith's Jazz Legacy (Reverb.com)
* My Journey with Jazz (The New Yorker)
* Eddie Willis, Original Motown Funk Brother, Dies At 82 (Billboard)
* Live Review: 2018 San Jose Jazz Summer Fest (Jazz Times)
* Will Ramsey Lewis retire after Jazz Fest? He’s having second thoughts (Chicago Tribune)
* Wynton Marsalis on Aretha Franklin's All-Caps Emails and 'Healing' Voice: She Was a 'Triumph Over the Blues' (Billboard)
* Vijay Iyer: A Moral Imperative to Speak for the Musical Margins (LitHub.com)
* Sony Confesses To Releasing Fake Michael Jackson Music (Vibe.com)
* For Chick Corea, Music is an Antidote to Life’s Dark Side (ShepherdExpress.com)
* The Dearth Of Musical Performances On Late Night TV Speaks To A Larger Cultural Shift (Uproxx.com)
* From Bowie's Blackstar to Restoring Lou Reed: The Death and Re-Birth of The Magic Shop Studio (Reverb.com)
* Beyond Genre: Taylor McFerrin Creates His Own Musical World (SFJAZZ.org)
* Meet the Company Preparing to Be the Last CD Distributor Standing (Billboard)
* Wayne Shorter to Release 3-Disc Set with Graphic Novel (Jazz Times)
* Can data reveal the saddest number one song ever? (BBC)
* Music is ‘fast becoming the birthright of the elite’, say leading conductors, performers and educators (ClassicFM.com)

Sunday Session: July 22, 2018

Chucho Valdés

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:

* Major Labels Are Upset That They Aren’t Getting More Songs Onto Spotify Playlists, Deutsche Bank Says (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Classical Composers Have Been Inspired For Centuries By Insects (NPR)
* Montreal Jazz Fest Shapes Surrounding City—and Vice Versa (DownBeat)
* The Stone: An Oral History - Musicians and scenesters recount their experiences at John Zorn's storied NYC venue (Jazz Times)
* Guru’s ‘Jazzmatazz’ Uniquely Tied Together Jazz and Hip-Hop (DownBeat)
* In Tandem, the Morans Expand Notions of Art (DownBeat)
* Mary Halvorson: Reinventing the Identity of the Jazz Guitarist (Jazz Times)
* Joey DeFrancesco on Working With Van Morrison (Jazz Times)
* Vijay Iyer: 'We're all improvisers and we're all creative people making choices every step of the way.' (List.co.uk)
* Sound Matters: A History Of Legendary Recording Studios (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* The Perils Of A Cruise Ship Musician (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* Universal Music Group Is Making a Huge Move Into Nigeria (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Billie Holiday: A Complex Woman, A Jazz Legend (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Copenhagen Festival Spans Poetic Swing, Hard-Bop Themes (DownBeat)
* The Charles Lloyd Interview: Life of a Song (Jazz Times)
* George Wein: A Life and Legend in Jazz (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The scam industry: How the hip-hop boom sets hopefuls up for failure (AV Club)
* Asante Drum Language (Afropop.org)
* Chucho Valdés and Irakere: A Musical Revolution (SFJAZZ.org)
* Sun Ra in Sin City The origins of an outer-space empire (Lapham's Quarterly)
* The Music of Fred Rogers’ Neighborhood (Jazz Times)

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: January 21, 2018

Charles Mingus

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:

* Interview: Paul McCartney On His Life as a Bassist | Bacon's Archive (Reverb.com)
* 25 Essential Jazz Soundtracks You Should Own (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* At Umbria, Multi-Media and Perfect Pitch (DownBeat)
* Johnny Cash's 'At Folsom Prison': Rosanne Cash Recalls Iconic Live Album (Rolling Stone)
* Too Much Music: A Failed Experiment In Dedicated Listening (NPR)
* Jimi Hendrix Collaborators on Assembling Guitarist's Long-Awaited New LP (Rolling Stone)
* Two Views From the Winter Jazzfest Marathon, Where Clamor and Conviction Abound (WBGO)
* Anchorage author chronicles 8-year friendship with Dizzy Gillespie (AlaskaPublic.org)
* For Wynton Marsalis, forgetting the roots of jazz is forgetting the history of race in America (The Undefeated.com)
* How Benny Goodman Orchestrated 'The Most Important Concert In Jazz History' (NPR)
* Notations: John Cage Publishes a Book of Graphic Musical Scores, Featuring Visualizations of Works by Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, The Beatles & More (OpenCulture.com)
* Winter Jazzfest Gilded With Guitarists and Vocalists (DownBeat)
* Get The Lawyers In! Experts On The Del Rey vs Radiohead vs Hollies Case (TheQuietus.com)
* Interview: Vijay Iyer on Bay Area ties and how he’s not really that famous (San Jose Mercury News)
* 2018 Winter Jazzfest NYC - An overview of the marathon of jazz concerts and events during the 2018 Winter Jazzfest NYC (Jazz Times)
* Marching The Tradition Forward: Celebration of Preservation Hall Jazz Band (SFJAZZ.org)
* Swinging Along the Border: Charles Mingus' Album 'Tijuana Moods' Finds New Resonance (WBGO)
* Interview: Milford Graves (BombMagazine.org)
* Where To Start: The Cosmic Genius Of Sun Ra (ClashMusic.com)
* London’s young jazz heroes are crafting their own sound (HuckMagazine.com)

Sunday Session: October 29, 2017

Ambrose Akinmusire

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

* Jazz Night in America: At the Ojai Music Festival, Vijay Iyer Showcases Improvisation (WBGO)
* Joni Mitchell: Fear of a Female Genius (TheRinger.com)
* No alternative: how brands bought out underground music (The Guardian)
* Classical and Jazz musicians show different brain responses to unexpected events, study finds (PsyPost.org)
* Why anyone that says the recording industry is dead is wrong (AudioHertz.com)
* October Revolution in Jazz & Contemporary Music 2017 (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Music Publishers Want to Create a Comprehensive Song Database — 15 Years Too Late (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* A bold venture to restore Gershwins' music (Chicago Tribune)
* Blue Note All-Stars' Debut Album Paints A Portrait Of Contemporary Jazz (NPR)
* Bernie Grundman’s Mastering Masterclass (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* The 50 Best Jazz Saxophonists Of All Time (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* The World’s Most Remote Record Store, And Other Cool Stats (Discogs.com)
* Entry Point: Sonny Rollins Bridge Project (Rutland Herald)
* Marsalis, Krall, Corea Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners (DownBeat)
* Fats Domino, New Orleans' founding father of rock 'n' roll, has died at age 89 (New Orleans Advocate)
* Fats Domino, Architect Of Rock And Roll, Dead At 89 (NPR)
* Playing Boogie Woogie With Fats Domino (The Paris Review)
* Fats Domino: Remembering a Rock and Roll Pioneer (The Atlantic)
* Little Richard Remembers Fats Domino: 'He Could Make a Piano Talk' (Rolling Stone)
* Ambrose Akinmusire on Current Trumpet Greats (Jazz Times)
* AUM Fidelity’s World of Free Jazz and Elemental Light (Bandcamp.com)
* The life and death of the indie-rock heyday (Vox.com)
* The Beatles’ Popularity Is Plunging on Google & YouTube (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Sonny Clark Steps Out of the Shadows, on a Revelatory New Reissue From 1960 (WBGO)
* The Greatest Week in the History of Avant-Garde Jazz (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Talent And Tourism Keep Blues Alive In Clarksdale, Mississippi (NPR)
* Deep Dive with Lewis Porter: What John Coltrane Borrowed From Ravel (WBGO)
* How club culture and EDM inspired jazz musicians (Financial Times)
* Magnetic Tape and the Emergence of High-Fidelity Recording (TelosAlliance.com)

Sunday Session: September 10, 2017

Art Tatum

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

* Steely Dan Guitarist Walter Becker Dies at 67 (DownBeat)
* EWS: Walter Becker (1950-2017) R.I.P. (London Jazz News)
* Walter Becker Was A Master Of Musical Understatement (NPR)
* Vijay Iyer On Jazz's 'History Of Defiance,' His Influences And Playing In A Sextet (NPR)
* Gunter Hampel at 80: Still Ahead of Time (JazzDaGama.com)
* Every Night Perfect (Popular Mechanics)
* The Rise And Fall Of Tower Records (Flashbak.com)
* Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR) (WBGO)
* Roscoe Mitchell, Who Helped Invent New Chicago Jazz Sound, Comes Home (Chicago magazine)
* Chicago Jazz Fest Shines Spotlight on Hometown Talent (DownBeat)
* Holger Czukay, sampling pioneer and co-founder of Can, has died at age 79 (FactMag.com)
* Holger Czukay obituary (The Guardian)
* Tower Of Power Singer Rick Stevens Dies (Pollstar.com)
* BassDrumBone and the New Haven Jazz Renaissance (AllAboutJazz.com)
* In Praise of Art Tatum, Stealth Radical in the Jazz Piano Pantheon (WBGO)
* Looking back at 20 years of neglected promise at 18th and Vine — and forward to 2020 (Pitch Weekly)
* Ella Fitzgerald Sings With London Symphony Orchestra On New Album (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Berklee To Turn A Legendary Recording Studio Into Its New York City Home Base (WBUR)
* Jimmy’s Blues (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* A Nation of Tinkerers: How a Canadian University Shaped Electronic Music in North America (Vice.com)
* The World’s Largest Music Publishers Just Declared War on Spotify — In No Uncertain Terms (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* We Talked to People at the Largest Free Jazz Festival on the Planet (Vice.com)
* Iggy Pop: Croon & Destroy - From his Stooges days to a surprising recent collaboration, the punk pioneer discusses his jazz past (Jazz Times)
* World’s oldest jazz band in Shanghai a rare constant amid China’s breakneck modernisation (South China Morning Post)
* Should Spotify Try to Become the 'Netflix Of Music'? Not So Fast (Billboard)
* 'Germans Love Their CDs': Universal Music Exec on How Germany's Music Market Is Transforming 'Differently' (Billboard)
* Two Years Later, Is New Music Friday Doing Its Job? (Forbes)
* What if you used synthesizers to emulate nature and reality? (CDM.link)
* Why Esperanza Spalding Is the Most Audacious Innovator in Jazz (Time)
* How We Can Support the World’s Rich Musical Diversity (Smithsonian)
* Review: Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 - Artist-in-residence Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and others impress at this outstanding free fest in the Motor City (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: August 6, 2017

Jason Moran

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

* Concert Review: Umbria Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* SZA: ‘The record company took my hard drive from me’ (The Guardian)
* Did Meek Mill and TIDAL Just Scam the Billboard 200? (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Is Schlager Music The Most Embarrassing Thing Germany Has Ever Produced?
Deutschland über us. (TheAwl.com)
* Sax Greats Remember Coltrane on 50 Year Anniversary of His Death (Observer.com)
* July '67 altered the sound, sensibilities of Detroit musicians — and those yet to be born (Detroit Free Press)
* The Inside Story Of SoundCloud's Collapse (Buzzfeed)
* Kamasi Washington: An Opinion of Difference (Jazz Times)
* The Best Band Nobody Can Sign (TheFader.com)
* An Archive of Iconic Photos from the Golden Age of Jazz: William Gottlieb’s Portraits of Dizzy, Thelonious, Billie, Satchmo & More (OpenCulture.com)
* Concert Security's New Frontier (Rolling Stone)
* Seeing Aretha Franklin Sing For The Last Time (NPR)
* Meet The Kenyan Collective Bridging The Gap Between Traditional And Electronic Music (TheFader.com)
* Kamasi Washington Announces New Tour, Reveals 'Harmony of Difference' EP Release Date (OkayPlayer.com)
* BANFF | Q&A: 29 Questions For Vijay Iyer (MusicalToronto.org)
* Sad Songs, Artificial Intelligence and Gracenote’s Quest to Unlock the World’s Music (Variety)
* Who Was Bix? Beiderbecke Museum Has Answers (DownBeat)
* Why Are So Many Heritage Artists on the Road Again? This Explains Everything. (AJournalOfMusicalThings.com)
* Brian Wilson review – frail Beach Boy isn't made for these times (The Guardian)
* This music production tool is the reason why all new music sounds the same (Qz.com)
* Review: Warsaw Summer Jazz (Jazz Journal)
* The Problem with NPR's '150 Greatest Albums Made by Women' List (The Stranger)
* Satellites Are Spinning: Notes on a Sun Ra Poem (The Paris Review)
* Metheny Goes Nordic at Molde Fest (DownBeat)
* Time Machines: The Life and Music of Conlon Nancarrow (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Jazz Pianist Jason Moran on Artistic Self-Determination (Bandcamp.com)
* Inside the Music Publishing World's Epic Struggle to Build a Single Song Database (Billboard)
* The Swampers return to their sweet home thanks to Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine (AlabamaNewsCenter.com)
* The Brief Career and Self-Imposed Exile of Jutta Hipp, Jazz Pianist (Longreads.com)
* This Map Shows The Top-Selling Musician Born In Each State (CraveOnline.com)

Sunday Session: June 18, 2017

Ornette Coleman

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

* Trombone Shorty: Living for the Crescent City (Jazz Times)
* 10 Musicians Look Back on the Albums They Don’t Remember Recording (SPIN)
* Web Exclusive: Hal Blaine (Modern Drummer)
* Tom Oberheim On The Art Of Synthesizer Design (Synthtopia.com)
* After 7 Decades, Sonny Rollins Can't Get Music Off His Mind (NPR)
* Charlie Parker's Yardbird review – beauty, anger and poetry, but the jazz great's genius eludes us (The Guardian)
* Do Androids Dream of Electric Guitars? Exploring the Future of Musical A.I. (Pitchfork.com)
* Interview: Airto Moreira (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2018 Class of NEA Jazz Masters (Arts.gov)
* Gregg Allman: The Wild Times, Lost Years and Rebirth of a Southern-Rock Legend (Rolling Stone)
* Transcending genre labels, Vijay Iyer leads the Ojai Music Festival toward bold new territory (Los Angeles Times)
* Go-Go Forever - The rise, fall, and afterlife of Washington, D.C.’s ultimate rhythm (MTV.com)
* Steve Earle: 'My wife left me for a younger, skinnier, less talented singer' (The Guardian)
* This interracial couple endured discrimination and bullying — but loved each other until the end (Washington Post)
* All That Jazz: The Business Of Over 35 Years At The Blue Note Jazz Club (Forbes)
* Guest Editorial: Why Musicians Don’t Get Paid—A New Orleans Musician’s View (Offbeat)
* A new generation of jazz comes to the fore at Tokyo Lab (Japan Times)
* Who killed the contemporary Christian music industry? (The Week)
* 2 guitars returned to Muddy Waters' heirs in ongoing estate battle (Chicago Tribune)
* Gibson Brands transforms guitar-making into diverse 'music lifestyle' firm (Los Angeles Times)
* Celebrate Ornette Coleman: Artists pay homage to the legendary avant-garde saxophonist (TheVinylFactory.com)

Sunday Session: May 7, 2017

David Murray

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

* Jonathan Demme's 'Stop Making Sense' Is the Past, Present, and Future of Concert Films (Vice.com)
* The perfect score? How composers are taking pop festivals by storm (The Guardian)
* Henry Threadgill: Dirt, and More Dirt (WQXR)
* Jazz Flutist Nicole Mitchell’s New Concept Album Asks, “What is Progress?” (Bandcamp.com)
* The greatest music teacher who ever lived (BBC)
* R.I.P. Pono, Neil Young Kills Off His Digital Player (Noise11.com)
* ‘Unless you’re 100% sure your artist is wrong, go with their vision’ (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* The Unsettling Performance That Showed the World Through AI’s Eyes (Wired)
* The 2017 International Jazz Day Global Concert - Art, people before politics at this all-star show in Havana, Cuba (Jazz Times)
* A Confluence of Vibrant Rhythm and Hopeful Goodwill in Havana, For International Jazz Day (WGBO)
* Revisiting Alice Coltrane's Lost Spiritual Classics (Rolling Stone)
* Herb Alpert talks back (Offbeat)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala Celebrates Fitzgerald, Features Diverse Lineup (DownBeat)
* The Evolutionary Vocabulary of the Human Voice (PopMatters.com)
* Iggy Pop on Singing Jazz, Turning 70 (Rolling Stone)
* Millennials Are Buying Vinyl, But Not From Record Stores (MusicThinkTank.com)
* Butch Morris’s workbook for spontaneous composition published (Jazz Beyond Jazz/ArtsJournal.com)
* Interview Series: Michael Heller, Loft Jazz (IASPM-US.net)
* On the Record with Pianist Vijay Iyer (OberlinReview.org)
* A Huge Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music (1920-2007) Featuring John Cage, Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart & More (OpenCulture.com)
* Overdue Ovation: John Lindberg - A circle still in progress (Jazz Times)
* Guitarist John McLaughlin Talks Mahavishnu, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Yoga (Newsweek)
* Trevor Watts & Other Intakt Artists Go Exploring in Vortex (DownBeat)
* Marc Ribot: Barriers to Participation (Guernica)
* John Coltrane Documentary Chasing Trane Is a Flub Supreme (Miami New Times)
* Interview: Cooper-Moore on Lifetime Achievement Award From Vision Festival & More (Free Jazz Blog)
* This Record Label Releases Albums That Are Almost Impossible to Play (Vice.com)
* A Young Saxophonist Channels His Inner Jedi, With Music, For International Star Wars Day (WBGO)
* Patti LaBelle on Her First-Ever Jazz Album: ‘It Sounds More Beautiful Than I Ever Imagined’ (Variety)
* Napster, Spotify and the Fall of the 'Middle-Class Musician' (Rolling Stone)
* Chicago musicians speak up about the Affordable Care Act (Chicago Reader)
* Tenor Titans Unite to Honor Sonny Rollins (DownBeat)
* How The Music Industry Is Putting Itself Out Of Business (Forbes)
* David Murray Is Back in Town (Stereophile)
* Trumpeter Sean Jones Aims for ‘Raw’ Sound with Live Album (DownBeat)
* New Orleans Jazz Festival: 1st Weekend Photos (Jazz Times)
* How Star Wars Influenced Funk and Disco, in 7 Songs (Pitchfork.com)
* Remembering Jazz's Greatest Year With the Living Legends of 1959 (Billboard)

Sunday Session: April 30, 2017

Hugh Masekela

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

* UK music industry braced for Brexit (BBC)
* Nudity, chimps, and Dolly Parton's disembodied head: are these the worst album covers of all time? (The Telegraph)
* Trombone Shorty Pushes Tradition Forward (NPR)
* Preservation Propagation: Preservation Hall Jazz Band has left the museum behind (Offbeat)
* Hancock, Spalding, McBride Celebrate Shorter in Hometown (DownBeat)
* Review 'Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary' serves the jazz legend well (Los Angeles Times)
* Jazz Giant Wadada Leo Smith on Four Recent Collaborations (Bandcamp.com)
* Afrobeat Legend Tony Allen Honors Jazz Great With 'Tribute to Art Blakey' EP (Rolling Stone)
* Interview: Hugh Masekela on No Borders, Satchmo and reuniting the Jazz Epistles (BestOfNewOrleans.com)
* From the Magazine: Sipiagin Soars on New Sextet Album (DownBeat)
* Q&A: Henry Threadgill - Master improviser speaks on sustaining creativity (Austin Chronicle)
* Ella Fitzgerald: Beyond Words (Merriam-Webster.com)
* Duke Ellington And Copyright: Five Things You Should Know (JDSupra.com)
* Record Store Day Is Boon for Vinyl Sales (DownBeat)
* Remembering Ella Fitzgerald, Who Made Great Songs Greater (NPR)
* Stax Records Plots Massive 60th Anniversary Campaign (Rolling Stone)
* The Hidden Legacy of The Jazz Epistles, South Africa's Short-Lived But Historic Band (WBGO)
* What Controversial Changes at Harvard Mean for Music in the University (TheLogJournal.com)
* Ashok and Vijay Squeeze Blood from a Drum Machine (AAWW.org)
* The Story of Science Faction, the Company That Brought Lasers to Rock and Roll (Vice.com)
* A Jazz Classic Becomes a Picture Book (TabletMag.com)
* Q&A: Miles Mosley - The fiery, soulful bassist, singer and composer launches his Uprising (Jazz Times)
* Blue Note Jazz Festival Announces Lineup - Concerts by Metheny, Glasper, Collier, Hiromi, Tyner, Ponty and many more (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: December 18, 2016

Dr. John

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

* Nile Rodgers Reflects on Working With Prince & David Bowie: 'Both Saw the World In Ways Unlike We See the World' (Billboard)
* Eating raccoon with Dr. John (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* Chuck Jones’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Records (CartoonResearch.com)
* Before & After With Snarky Puppy's Michael League - Lots of insight, on little sleep (Jazz Times)
* Giving a Great Jazz Storyteller His Due (The New Yorker)
* Buddy Bolden house in danger (CradleOfJazzTour.com)
* Stanton Moore: Keeping Time and Making Time (JazzEdMagazine.com)
* WFMT expands, rebrands Jazz Network (RobertFeder.com)
* 'The Jingle King' Tracks Decline Of Original Music In Advertising (NPR)
* Jazz and Classical—Musical, Cultural, Listening Differences (New Music Box)
* High Notes: This Year Was Terrible, but at Least Local Jazz Labels Are Thriving (Village Voice)
* Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer: In Search of Cosmic Rhythm (TheLogJournal.com)
* Mack Avenue Expands Roster with Graves, Childs & DeFrancesco (DownBeat)
* Jazz Musicians the Beat Poets and French Existentialists Loved (KCRW)
* Picking Up the Piedmont Blues (Oxford American)
* John Luther Adams on Translating Birdsong and Paying Attention to the World’s Immensity (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* The Doors Reflect on Earliest Concerts, Jim Morrison's Genius (Rolling Stone)
* How ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ Brought an Obscure, Avant-Garde Piece of Classical Music to Rikers Island (FlavorWire.com)