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Jazz Beyond Jazz

Howard Mandel's Urban Improvisation

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.

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Summertime, and the listening should be easy

My latest column in City Arts-New York is now online, with pick hits for free August concerts in NYC. I don’t suggest the season’s not right for serious,
substantial music, just that we would appreciate the surrounding
circumstances being comfortable and hassle-free. Here’s the opening graph, meant to set the tone and keep you reading — and notes about the Caramoor jazz fest in suburban Westchester.

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Howard Mandel

I'm a Chicago-born (and after 32 years in NYC, recently repatriated) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, consultant and nascent videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, consulting on media, publishing and jazz-related issues. I'm president of the Jazz Journalists Association, a non-profit membership organization devoted to using all media to disseminate news and views about all kinds of jazz.
My books are Future Jazz (Oxford U Press, 1999) and Miles Ornette Cecil - Jazz Beyond Jazz (Routledge, 2008). I was general editor of the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues (Flame Tree 2005/Billboard Books 2006). Of course I'm working on something new. . . Read More…

@JazzMandel

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