Dave Holland Announces New Album, Band, Internet

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Dave Holland: bassist, composer ... Internet pioneer? (Drew Goren)

New music from Dave Holland is always good news. But today's revelations are great news. Not only is the veteran bassist and composer announcing a new album, Pathways, with a previously unrecorded band, the Dave Holland Octet -- he's also launching a new daveholland.com Web site built with Topspin, a direct-to-fan music marketing and distribution service. In addition to the standard artist information -- a blog, concert itinerary, biographical and discographical notes -- his team also compiled many videos of previous shows, and created a new home for his publishing company (Lojac Music), which also sells his sheet music and bass solo transcriptions.

The Web site also now houses Holland's own Dare2 Records, which is trying something new with this release. If you pre-order the physical CD of Pathways from the site -- which also comes in a deluxe limited edition if you desire -- you'll get an immediate download of the whole album (MP3 or even CD-quality, if you like). And for this week only, you can also download an album's worth of Dave Holland Quintet live recordings, circa 2007, for $1; he'll be periodically rolling out more music from his own archives through the site.

So how's the music? Well, you can hear three tracks from the album with the embeddable widget below, after the jump.

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5:10 PM ET | 02- 8-2010 | permalink

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Gumbo, Joie De Vivre And The New Orleans Saints

by John Ellis

He was born in North Carolina, and is now based in New York City. But in between, saxophonist John Ellis lived in New Orleans for five years. And he still keeps One Foot In The Swamp, as he titled a 2005 album: he often takes the city as his muse in his own composing, and the rest of his current band, Double-Wide, is based in the Big Easy. After the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl last night, he was so happy that he offered to write us something to commemorate the occasion. --Ed.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates his team's Super Bowl victory. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

I am not a football fan. I haven't cared about the Super Bowl since I was 12 years old. But last night, when it all settled in, when I really grasped that the New Orleans Saints had won the Super Bowl, I cried.

It's a poetic story: a city nearly destroyed by a hurricane returns five years later to win the Super Bowl. It's appealing in a predictable Hollywood way. But this is an outsider's perspective -- a distant detachment kind of narrative, like watching a movie with a satisfying ending. For the people of New Orleans, it's much more than that. When I spoke to my friend on St. Charles Ave., as the party raged past him, he let out a huge cathartic sigh and said, simply: "We needed this."

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4:36 PM ET | 02- 8-2010 | permalink

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A Celebration Turned Sendoff For Johnny Dankworth, 82

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, circa 1974. (Central Press/Getty Images)

Hours before taking the stage as part of a star-studded gala concert, 82-year-old British jazz singer Cleo Laine was with her husband when he died in a London hospital. Before the event started, she let her fellow performers -- some of whom are beloved figures in British film and theater -- in on the news. But Laine insisted the show go on without a hitch; it was, after all, the 40th anniversary celebration of the venue she co-founded with her late husband. And it was only after the show was over, and Laine had performed with her son and daughter, that she broke the information to a shocked crowd. Saxophonist and British jazz icon Sir John Dankworth, better known as Johnny Dankworth, died on Saturday. He was 82.

Dankworth isn't terribly well-known to U.S. audiences, but he did tour with Duke Ellington, arrange for Ella Fitzgerald and perform with Charlie Parker. He led several groups, and became a respected film composer. Basically, he was Great Britain's first international jazz star, and because he was such a big deal overseas -- he was knighted, after all -- he left a trail of unusual obituaries behind him. But what composure from Dame Cleo Laine and family, and what a classy move, to go on with the show as Dankworth would have wanted it. An elegant farewell to someone who was, by all accounts, a great musician. [The Guardian: Show must go on: jazz concert ends with news of Dankworth death; The Daily Telegraph: Sir John Dankworth: 'this one is for Johnny, gone but not forgotten']

2:10 PM ET | 02- 8-2010 | permalink

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Around The Jazz Internet: Week In Review, Feb. 5, 2010

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

While the mid-Atlantic fills up with two feet of snow, some things that we didn't get around to blogging about this week:

--Peter Hum on beauty vs. "ugly beauty"
--WNYC visits Village Vanguard owner Lorraine Gordon at her apartment, with video
--John Hollenbeck and Kneebody each report from the circus that is the Grammy Awards
--Miguel Zenon plays from Esta Plena on WNYC's Soundcheck
--Chip Boaz on a subgenre that should be exploding, but isn't quite yet: Flamenco jazz
--Steve Wilson and Pete Malinverni meet Franz Josef Haydn and a string quartet: a review from Steve Smith
--Why is Miles Davis playing a tenor saxophone? JazzWax knows
--Not necessarily jazz, but PopMatters' The Best Music Scribing Awards 2009 is worth hours of your time
--Our friends in The Checkout, just because

And some things that we did:

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7:41 PM ET | 02- 5-2010 | permalink

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This Is Your Brain On Jazz

by Felix Contreras

"Doc, check out the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity on this one." (iStockPhoto)

Five year old Carsen Q. was riding in a car with her grandmother in California the other day. The car radio was tuned to a news talk station, so Carsen asked her Nana to change it. So it was changed to an oldies station. Then Carsen asked for a jazz station.

Why a jazz station, Nana asked.

"I like jazz. It makes my ears tickle."

True story -- Nana is a friend of mine. And believe it or not, there is a scientific study to back up that way cool bit of kindergarten cuteness.

Well, sort of. In 2008, scientists at Johns Hopkins University took a look at how jazz musicians' brains work while improvising: how and why jazz tickles them.

(Here's a link to the actual study. Man, I should have paid more attention back in high school.)

NPR's Susan Stamberg, who's partial to jazz singers, interviewed the researchers about their study for Weekend Edition.

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10:12 AM ET | 02- 5-2010 | permalink

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True Confessions Of An Ex-Jazz Lover

by Lara Pellegrinelli

Peggy Lee: "what Lara said." (Getty Images)

We're proud to introduce Lara Pellegrinelli to the roster of A Blog Supreme contributors. As a freelance journalist, Lara has been thinking about and reporting on jazz for some time: she earned her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology, with a concentration on jazz singing, and she's been a steady contributor to NPR. (A damn fine one, too.) From time to time, she'll be looking for inspiration in the New York jazz scene ... well, we'll let her explain in this introductory column. --Ed.

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I'm a New Yorker. And I've probably become a pretty snotty New Yorker at that. I mean, we're supposed to have everything here: the best restaurants, the leading trends in fashion, the tallest buildings. (And the highest rents.)

Don't forget the best jazz scene. No, that honor doesn't go to New Orleans, even though that city gave birth to the music. Then again, if you're reading this blog, I bet you already knew that.

Unfortunately, none of those things are really true about New York, though I'm glad it's at least possible to rent on the cheap in the way-outer boroughs. Well, sort of. As for the jazz scene, I find it far less troubling to think that New York might not have the greatest one on earth than the prospect that we do. And that this is it.

In the words of the immortal Peggy Lee, I keep asking myself: "Is that all there is?"

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1:39 PM ET | 02- 4-2010 | permalink

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Bad Plus Drummer Dave King Releases Solo Album

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

The Bad Plus Dave King. (John Christenson)

He plays both piano and drums on Indelicate, out now, and bandmate Ethan Iverson is mock-outraged: "I AM THE PIANO PLAYER IN THE BAD PLUS NOT DAVE," he protests. Iverson also does a track-by-track recap at Do The Math. As for us, check out "Arts High Boogie," streaming below. In my listening to the whole record, it's clear that dude doesn't conform to any "stupid drummer" stereotypes. (You know, "What do you call a guy who hangs around musicians?" "A drummer!" etc.) Any Bad Plus fans who might have thought Ethan and Reid Anderson were the real writers of the group, and Dave just the ridiculous banger of percussive objects, will be pleasantly surprised. His compositional sense is jagged and unconventional, but you can hear a certain logic behind it -- kind of like The Bad Plus itself, really. Also, Dave plays in like three other bands: here's his Web site, and here's something tasty he's doing in his hometown. [Do The Math: Indelicate]

"Arts High Boogie," from Dave King, Indelicate (Sunnyside). Dave King, drums/piano. Minneapolis, Minn.: released Feb. 2010.

Purchase: Amazon.com / Amazon MP3 / iTunes

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Related At NPR Music: The Bad Plus, recorded live at the Village Vanguard on New Year's Eve. The Bad Plus, recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival 2009.

1:19 PM ET | 02- 4-2010 | permalink

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George Wein Talks New York Jazz Festival

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

George Wein: "where Brooklyn at?" (Matthew Peyton/Getty Images)

The official press release went out last week, but in a new JazzTimes posting, concert impresario George Wein unleashed some personal thoughts about bringing back a jazz festival to New York in June. (This after financial difficulties grounded the festival last year.) There'll be the usual slate of big-time shows in Carnegie Hall and blowout outdoor events. But Wein is also working with "young producers who [are] totally enmeshed with jazz" to present good shows in their respective clubs and venues, including multiple venues in Harlem and in Brooklyn. Tickets for most shows will top out at $15 -- without a drink minimum -- to make "concerts available to the young fan." And he also promises "one of the most exciting free jazz concerts New York will ever see" in Central Park. In other words, because he's relying on so many trustworthy people, the lineup is going to be sweet, and it's going to be affordable too.

Ever since he resumed full command of a remarkably diverse Newport Jazz Festival last year, I've been digging this new-look George Wein. For a slow-moving octogenarian and Upper East Sider who had been written off by many as a fuddy-duddy, it seems like he's really renewed his commitment to check out what's hot in New York today. He heard so much about the Brooklyn scene that he made an effort to see it for himself, and even wedged his way through suffocating crowds at Winter Jazz Fest to scope out the vibe. (I done saw it.) Anyway, all this is happening Jun. 17-26, 2010. In other news, an online journalist from NPR is looking for a sublet in New York for the second half of June. [JazzTimes: The Return of a Jazz Festival to NYC]

Related At NPR Music: 2009 Newport Jazz Festival full archive.

8:04 PM ET | 02- 3-2010 | permalink

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Celebrate 30 Years Of Piano Jazz

by Lars Gotrich

In case you RSS readers haven't noticed, NPR Music got a spiffy redesign today. To quote a friend's tweet: "ooooh @nprmusic is looking so good! design and code so clean i could perform surgery in 'em!" (That's nerdspeak for, "That's a purty Web site.")

But today we also proudly launched 30 Years Of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, a fully interactive Web page that collects 30 of our favorite moments from the Peabody Award-winning NPR program. Click on any one of the pictures: you'll get a sleek pop-up with a 5-10 minute clip from that artist's appearance and, in most cases, a link to hear a full show. Click the "continuous play" option and let the clips go on auto-pilot as you take in jazz and conversation with Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Mary Lou Williams and others.

Go ahead, click on it. (Lars Gotrich, Alyson Hurt and Amy Schriefer / NPR)

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4:11 PM ET | 02- 3-2010 | permalink

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On Lionel Loueke And Globalization In Jazz

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

From down in Africa, though utterly unlike Toto: Lionel Loueke. (Jimmy Katz)

Lionel Loueke's new album, Mwaliko, is one of the records which NPR Music has selected for an Exclusive First Listen this week. You can hear the album in its entirety online at NPR.org/firstlisten, or directly here.

My notes about the record also appear on that page, where I wrote these lines:

His [Loueke's] is a dialect that speaks for the diversity and globalization that is 21st-century jazz ... its vocabulary owes as much to jazz as it does to the traditional music of West Africa, where he was born and lived for 21 years.

Globalization is one of those neologisms of recent vintage which get tossed around rather recklessly wherever international exchange happens. Jazz has been practiced across oceans almost since it was first recorded; nothing new there. But if anything has changed, it's the depth and frequency of cross-pollination in this age of global communication. And if anyone represents this trend, it's Lionel Loueke.

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3:36 PM ET | 02- 3-2010 | permalink

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