Jazz Beyond Jazz http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/ Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation en Copyright 2009 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:41:50 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Jazz at Lincoln Center ducats, Wynton-Willie dvd giveaways! Maceo Parker or the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra playing Mary Lou Williams, or autographed Wynton-Willie Nelson Play Ray Charles dvds. But in keeping with the inherent value of these prizes, I'm making the contest creative, not easy.]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/11/jazz_at_lincoln_center_ducats.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/11/jazz_at_lincoln_center_ducats.html main Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:41:50 -0500 US remains jazz central Fractale wraps up an eight-gig tour of the States at the Drom in the East Village, after stops in New Orleans, Cleveland and Chicago. From December 3 to 6 Spanish pianist Chano Domínguez & his Flamenco Quintet bring its commissioned "The Flamenco Side of Kind of Blue" to the Jazz Standard to assert that the Barcelona Jazz Festival (in which they premiere the work on November 12) has something to do with the Big Apple. Next February the Portland Jazz Festival explores the theme "Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved To A New Address?)." But incontrovertible evidence suggests that however far the sound has spread, those who matter know where jazz calls home.]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/11/us_remains_jazz_central.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/11/us_remains_jazz_central.html main Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:33:36 -0500 Henry Threadgill, seer beyond 'jazz' In my City Arts column: a new album and Roulette concert with commissioned work from a worldly-wise 65 yr-old NYC/East Village-based composer-bandleader who keeps looking at music -- Varese's and Wagner's, Scott Joplin's and Ornette Coleman's -- to find something new. I call Henry Threadgill a prophet in the wilderness, urgently trying to shake us from complacency. At De Roberti's classic Italian pastry shop for coffee yesterday, Threadgill claimed he's just helping American music born in the urban late 20th century to develop its full potential, and it's got a long ways to go.]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/11/henry_threadgill_seer_beyond_j.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/11/henry_threadgill_seer_beyond_j.html main Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:34:20 -0500 JazzTimes' robust recovery November issue of JazzTimes magazine is the first created (not just published) under the imprimatur of Madavor Media, LLC imprint, and the periodical looks very much the same as before its hiatus last spring. Editors Lee Mergener and Evan Haga remain, columnists Nat Hentoff and Nate Chinen are present, most if not all recent editorial contributors remain on the masthead and features -- drumming being the issue's loose theme -- are by regulars, though Fernando González, former editor of rival Jazziz, came onboard to write the story on Guggenheim Foundation and MacArthur fellow Miguel Zenón.]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazztimes_robust_recovery.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazztimes_robust_recovery.html main Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:51:51 -0500 Sweet Rhythm quietly ends run as Village jazz stage The 7th Ave. home in the '80s and early '90s of Gil Evans' last orchestra, David Murray's octets, Abdullah Ibrahim's bands, Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy and other avant-gutsy acts closed last night (Oct. 24) without notice or fanfare. Sweet Rhythm nee Sweet Basil was one of the coolest spots to listen, drink and hang out in Greenwich Village, a wood-paneled room with fine sound, sightlines, bookings and bartender, but it never recovered from what its most recent owner described as a post-9/11 decline in street traffic, competition from nearby clubs offering lesser music at no cover charge, and disinterest among the young in jazz. http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/sweet_rhythm_quietly_ends_run.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/sweet_rhythm_quietly_ends_run.html main Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:14:50 -0500 Soupy Sales, 1926-2009, friend to jazz Soupy in Sepia.jpg
photo courtesy of Craig Marin, www.Flexitoon.com -- more pix there
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/soupy_sales_friend_to_jazz.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/soupy_sales_friend_to_jazz.html main Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:05:09 -0500 Salsa dura and NYC jazz hot City Arts column cites Chris Washburne's SYOTOS band, Arturo O'Farrill and Bobby Sanabria as avatars of Latin American music's essential excitement, so well depicted by the 4-part PBS documentary "Latin Music USA" (viewable online). But let's not forget Eddie Palmieri is still in his prime (and coming to the Blue Note jazz club Dec. 9 - 13).

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]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/salsa_dura_and_nyc_jazz_hot.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/salsa_dura_and_nyc_jazz_hot.html main Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:23:35 -0500 Jazz Foundation knows how to party Jimmy Heath playing "Gingerbread Boy," Arturo O'Farrill's teen sons mastering Latin jazz, baritone saxist Hamiet Bluiett with Kahil El'Zabar on mbira. The Jazz Foundation of America kicked out the jams on Sunday night, and raked in donations.]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazz_foundation_knows_how_to_p.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazz_foundation_knows_how_to_p.html main Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:25:40 -0500 #jazzlives Twitter campaign update, week 7 is an active young audience for the music. Results roll in from far and wide, though solicitations for them have slowed. Musicians are encouraged to tell their audiences to tweet, to spread word of their excellence and ramp up the numbers. A few recent samples follow. . . ]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazzlives_twitter_campaign_upd.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazzlives_twitter_campaign_upd.html main Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:08:58 -0500 Miles Ornette Cecil goes Kindle Miles Ornette Cecil -- Jazz Beyond Jazz is now an e-book from Amazon for Kindle-reading and maybe other e-book formats, too (I'm checking see below). It's cheaper than the hardbound version and a long sample including epigrams, Greg Tate's preface and the start of my first chapter is free. Go through that link above and if you buy I get a $1 kickback as an Amazon Affiliate.

This edition can be optimized for the the larger-screen Kindle DX, though I'm not sure how useful that is. Now I'm psyched to get Future Jazz into an e-book form (I have both paper and hard-bound copies for sale; order an autographed copy, $1 0 and $15 respectively, by leaving a comment below). I'm also interested in if readers of Jazz Beyond Jazz the blog like e-books. Could the e-book, e-article and e-essay be the future of financially compensated music journalism? Opinions solicited -- let me know.

update: ebook also available in Mobipocket format.

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]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/miles_ornette_cecil_goes_kindl.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/miles_ornette_cecil_goes_kindl.html main Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:02:21 -0500 Future of music journalism: It's about the audience (?) Future of Music Coalition's three-day long "policy summit" became somewhat divided (at least from my perspective) over the course of a well-attended hour & three-quarters session. At one end of a spectrum of opinion were the old guard -- me, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune and Tom Moon, formerly of the Philadelphia Inquirer -- asserting that good music journalism puts the music in context, "illuminates, educates and entertains" its readers and reaches beyond its niche to satisfy those who are not devoted yo but may be curious about a given musical topic. At the other was Raymond Leon Roker of URB/URB.com and Todd Roberts, co-founder of the Daily Swarm, who suggested that success in music journalism comes from amplifying, echoing and reinforcing the interests of the largest attractable audience. I may be drawing this too reductively, but it felt like an argument: developing substantive content vs, ever-better marketing, without much interest in content, using the processes of social media.]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/future_of_music_journalism_its.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/future_of_music_journalism_its.html main Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:13:35 -0500 Everybody's talking about arts journalism last Friday's summit on new media affecting those who write, read and listen produced by the National Arts Journalism Program/USC Anneberg Center, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Future of Music Coalition session "Critical Condition: The Future of Music Journalism."

It comes as a climax of the FMC's Sunday-through-Tuesday "Policy Summit" on digital options and challenges for musicians, with an emphasis on intellectual property rights and compensation as well as new tools for music-making. A "high-quality, interactive webcast" of the FMC event is being produced by web.illish.us and you can get a free "virtual seat" from which to watch it here.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/everybodys_talking_about_arts.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/everybodys_talking_about_arts.html main Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:58:12 -0500 Last week in New York beyond jazz The season for creative music opened with several roars: Ornette Coleman triumphed at Jazz at Lincoln Center -- Postive Catastrophe at the New Languages Festival was an absolute delight -- Los Angeles trumpeter Bobby Bradford lead an ace quintet at the Festival of New Trumpets at the Jazz Standard -- and those are only the gigs I could make, I missed so many more.

Ornette_Coleman_Nick_Himmel_small.jpg
Ornette Quartet, photo by Nick Himmel, courtesy Jazz at Lincoln Center
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/last_week_in_new_york_beyond_j.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/last_week_in_new_york_beyond_j.html main Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:18:54 -0500 Jazz journalism and the NAJP's arts journalism summit The Jazz Journalists Association, of which I'm president, has hope to produce a nationwide conference on media transitions and how currently active professionals cope with them. Today's National Arts Journalism Program's summit raises many of the issues and even more questions that challenge my colleagues and I. So I'm going to do some live blogging here, posting a succession of comments while in the lecture hall of Columbia U's j-school with about a dozen other journalists, watching the summit taking place at the USC Annenberg Center in LA. Here we go, starting with my reaction to the first hour of the summit's content (the tech's working pretty well!)   http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazz_journalism_and_the_najps.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/10/jazz_journalism_and_the_najps.html main jazz journalists association national arts journalism program summit Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:49:23 -0500 City Arts, my jazz-in-the-City column Welcome to City Arts, which bucks a trend by evolving from being a monthly section in NYPress and other Manhattan neighborhood free papers to becoming New York's Review of Culture, a new twice-monthly stand-alone print edition and website. Beside my column, there are season previews of classical music, mustn't miss museums exhibits (Kandinsky! Blake! Monet! O'Keefe!), books, dance, theater, and lesser known film series. Welcome to the fray, brave young journal, and may you thrive.

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]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/09/city_arts_my_jazz-in-the-city.html http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2009/09/city_arts_my_jazz-in-the-city.html main Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:46:12 -0500