How To Throw A Meaningful Women In Jazz Event

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Because sometimes you're just craving worms, and you need to open up a new can.

Maria Schneider: Minnesota's finest. Photo Credit: Margot Schulman/Kennedy Center

A week and change ago, I had the privilege to attend the closing night of the Kennedy Center's 14th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival. I'll admit that I wasn't initially attracted to the show to explore the hidden gender constructions embedded within such an event, and consequently unpack them on the Internet. Rather, I was just following the maxim that one should always see Maria Schneider's jaw-dropping orchestra live if it is remotely within one's capacity to do so. (In other news: this Kool-Aid is delicious, and you should try some.) But hearing and seeing the words "Women In Jazz" at every turn throughout the evening (amid recent chatter around the jazz blogosphere), it proved difficult to ignore the programmatic intent behind the concert.

Assuming that it is an inherently good thing to promote female participation in jazz, a world which has historically shut women out of its dominant narratives and still features significantly more guys than gals, a festival like the Kennedy Center's invites the question: is this helpful? More precisely, does billing an event as "women in jazz" celebrate the against-the-grain accomplishments of women at the possible expense of reinforcing the achievement gap itself? Do Women In Jazz festivals constitute a sort of affirmative action, complete with all the thorny issues therein?

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6:33 PM ET | 05-29-2009 | permalink

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The Amazing Friday Link Dump, Vol. 2

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Ephemera, errata, and well-disguised erudition.

--On Charles Mingus' "Fables of Faubus": Marc Myers, whose JazzWax is one of the brilliant corners of the jazz Internet, has penned a concise and well-researched appreciation of Charles Mingus' rousing political statement, first recorded 50 years ago. I distinctly remember Mingus Ah Um being my first exposure to Charles Mingus, and liking it instantly. I also remember having my mind blown several years later upon learning that the song had censored lyrics (see: Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, on Candid); furthermore, learning that this was only the tip of the Mingus iceberg. Why the jazz canon seems to remember the sanitized version over than the recording done more the way the artist intended remains a mystery to me.

--Video: Wynton Marsalis Talks Basketball: There are so many things wrong with this feature that I don't know where to start. (That's not an anti-Wynton statement either; he does the best he can at comparing apples to orange juice.) I'll just say that at least one financially struggling organization approved the decision to install a basketball hoop in a Jazz at Lincoln Center practice room.

--Will Friedwald On Discography: Perhaps the nerdiest of all jazz enthusiasts are the discographers -- I say that having tried my hand at it myself before. But what they do -- as differentiated from "making a listing of all your albums," as the term "discography" is commonly understood -- is invaluable to historians and researchers. So I'm glad to link to any appreciation of the craft -- this one happens to come from a writer best known for his work with jazz singing. I also totally agree with Friedwald that JazzDiscography.com deserves a shout-out for having pioneered the form in the online universe: "there's an app for that," one might say.

--Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble: An AACM (relative) old-timer celebrates 30 years with his ensemble. It's not the deepest or most insightful profile ever, but it does contain a quotation which reminds me why I love the AACM: "Everything was avant-garde, but I wanted a band that was avant-garde, straight-ahead, funk, blues, gospel -- all aesthetics of African and African-American music. And I wanted to incorporate that it into a sound and a concept," Dawkins says. Amen.

--Dan Thai Jazz Bistro: As a Thai-American and a jazz fan, I hereby exercise a copyright claim on this North Carolina restaurant and/or jazz venue. Or at least would settle with being able to visit. (It has its own organic vegetable greenhouse!) Cheekily, the writer also found cause to mention the jazz fandom of a one HRM Bhumibol Adulyadej.

--Roundup: Jazz Critics And Grade Inflation Responses: Once again, Thriving On A Riff leads the charge in responding not once, but twice to my postulates about bad jazz reviews. And via Twitter (we're @blogsupreme, by the way), Lucas Gillan of AccuJazz.com internet radio sent over a few more archival opinions on the matter. Of course, since penning that piece, I've began to notice many more lukewarm or poor jazz reviews ... but does all that really constitute a proper traffic cop for the jazz community?

11:00 AM ET | 05-29-2009 | permalink

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A Latin Jazz Virtual Community

by Felix Contreras

One of my favorite sources for information about Latin Jazz is the Yahoo! Latin Jazz listserv.

It was created back in 1999, and has since grown to over 1,500 subscribers. I joined eight years ago, and I read the daily digest of posts as I would the morning paper. It has become an invaluable resource for journalism and just plain fun.

But the most valuable part of the group is the insider's perspective on the music. It counts an impressive list of subscribers: artists from around the globe, radio programmers, music historians, journalists and fans.

Just today, someone posted an announcement of the death of recording engineer Irv Greenbaum. Who was he? Timbalero Ralph Irrizary explains:

Irv was one of the engineers at La Tierra Sound Studio where I recorded such records with people like Pupi Legarretta, Ray Barretto, Adalberto Santiago and many more. With all the chaos in the booth always going on he always had this calming effect and never had a bad thing to say to anyone. He had the ability to make these very difficult splices on 2' tape with a razor blade that always came out perfect. If there was ever someone directly responsible for all of the magic created in the 70's that has now been named the "Fania era" it's definitely Irv Greenbaum. RIP Irv. My condolences to his wife and family.

A few other favorite features:

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5:30 PM ET | 05-28-2009 | permalink

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Listening, Party For Two: 'Sing, Sing, Sing'

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

A photo from Benny Goodman's January 1938 Carnegie Hall performance. Photo Credit: Metronome/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

My boss readily admits that she doesn't know a whole lot about jazz. But she lets me write all this nonsense on the Internet, so I'm not complaining. And at least she's willing to learn. So every week, she and I get together to listen to and Instant Message about a different great jazz song.

Today, as we approach Benny Goodman's 100th Birthday Anniversary, I pulled the definitive (live) version of "Sing, Sing, Sing," from the momentous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert recording. By way of prologue, I'll cite this bit from John McDonough's recent All Things Considered essay placing Goodman in historical context: "Goodman was a unique breed of American idol -- one of a tiny handful whose sudden fame became a permanent marker in American popular music. But the Swing Era, which he triggered more than 75 years ago, was about more than just Goodman."

"Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing)" from Benny Goodman, At Carnegie Hall 1938 -- Complete (2-CD reissue). Benny Goodman*, clarinet with Ziggy Elman, Chris Griffin, Harry James*, trumpets; Red Ballard, Vernon Brown, trombones; Hymie Schertzer, George Koenig, Art Rollini, Babe Russin*, reeds; Jess Stacy*, piano; Allan Reuss, guitar; Harry Goodman, bass; Gene Krupa, drums. Carnegie Hall, New York City: Jan. 16, 1938. [* indicates soloists]

Purchase: Amazon.com / Amazon MP3 / iTunes

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9:58 AM ET | 05-28-2009 | permalink

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Grade Inflation And The Jazz Critics

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Around thrice a year for the last several years, Tom Hull has written his Jazz Consumer Guide for the Village Voice, spotlighting recent new releases of note (plus the occasional dud). Read his blog, and you'll see that he workshops these columns constantly, taking public notes on each of the many, many jazz records he listens to. Today, the Voice prints his latest edition: Jazz Consumer Guide: Chasing Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, or Something Else Entirely

I'm not quite sure how the man has time to listen to so many jazz records on top of reviewing myriad books on global politics. But he does, and with open ears at that: his picks reflect a remarkably eclectic sensibility, where the mainstream players (Houston Person, Randy Sandke) swim freely among with the modern progressive cats (Kenny Garrett, Donny McCaslin) and the post-modern rearrangers (Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nik Bartsch, Mostly Other People Do The Killing). Seeing as how jazz criticism has historically been dominated by people pushing agendas -- e.g. the Down Beat writer who called John Coltrane "anti-jazz" in 1961 -- it's nice to see a professional listener with tastes across the spectrum.

But one thing has always intrigued me about Hull's columns: his grading scale.

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3:50 PM ET | 05-27-2009 | permalink

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Cover Art FAIL

Where Cannonball meets cannibal: cover art to The Fully Celebrated's new album. Courtesy of AUM Fidelity Records.

The album art and title of The Fully Celebrated's new Drunk on the Blood of the Holy Ones are great excuses to link to one of my favorite things about the jazz Internet: Crap Jazz Covers (fair warning: occasionally NSFW).

Other than my general approval, I'll withhold judgment on the album itself -- I occasionally recommend music I like, but I hope not to be seen as a critic, per se. A few different reviewers are willing to take up the slack though.

In what I presume to be an coincidental convergence, there's also this grotesque faux-historical cover.

10:00 AM ET | 05-27-2009 | permalink

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Reissue This Now: Derek Bailey's 'On The Edge'

by Lars Gotrich

What do Mozart, John Zorn and Gaelic psalm singers have to do with each other? Part one of a 1992 film explains:

OK, so it's an hour-long documentary on improvisation. But if you catch even the first few minutes, you'll be treated to this pearl from guitarist Derek Bailey:

In the lack of indigenous music, [the record store is] where [people] find their roots. And in music, whatever you're looking for -- whether it's authenticity, or originality, or transcendentalism, or traditionalism -- the best place to look is in a record store. But you won't find -- or you'll rarely find -- mention of improvisation. It's not a term which has become part of the record industry's promotional vocabulary.

In recent years, the negative stigma around "improvisation" has diminished, perhaps due in part to bands like Animal Collective, a polyglot of cosmic music, particularly flexing its improv roots in concert. Jazz folks have been on this tip since day one, but I'm sure Bailey would be happy to know that his statement becomes less and less the case as people discover music with an expansive approach.

The above quotation comes from On the Edge, a four-part U.K. Channel 4 TV series based on Bailey's book, Improvisation. It wasn't a how-to on improvisation, but a look at its history and cultural importance.

Why On the Edge deserves the reissue treatment, after the jump.

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2:51 PM ET | 05-26-2009 | permalink

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The Tuesday Link Dump

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

The post-Memorial Day edition.

--The Jazz Blog Competition Winners: Back in April, pianist Ethan Iverson (of The Bad Plus) posted a little contest on the band's blog, Do The Math (essential reading, if you didn't know). He noticed something that I have -- that there weren't enough people out there in the jazz blogosphere -- and offered $100 to the two best postings by new jazz bloggers. Now, the results of the competition have been announced, and there are some awfully bright entries: all the links are in the comments here. Incidentally -- and this is a story I always bring up whenever I mention Ethan Iverson, so bear with me -- when I interviewed Iverson in 2007 and asked him about Do The Math, he cracked me off something to this effect: "Yes, I am a jazz blogger. I'm lucky to be married to such a wonderful and beautiful woman, because I don't think I could say that and ever get a date again." No further comment [audible sobbing].

--The Jazz Festival Is Dead. I'm Not Crying: Is the title of a musing found on the PREX blog, in which the author takes an unsympathetic view to the loss of the JVC Jazz Festival New York this summer. George Wein's history of oversights notwithstanding, I can't say that I fully agree with the author: it's hard to argue with the fact that big festivals put butts in seats, making money for artists and raising the net profile of the art. In that light, Wein has done an awful lot of good for jazz at large. (Full disclosure: NPR and WBGO presented from JVC-Newport last year, and are planning to cover Wein's yet-unsponsored Newport festival this year.) I do think the author here has a few valid questions, though: does a poorly programmed summer jazz festival, especially one where prohibitively-priced performances are somewhat secondary to the outdoor picnicking, contribute to a public perception of jazz as "sofa art"? And if Festival Network doesn't pick up the pieces, would the music in fact be better served if smaller, community-oriented productions like Vision Festival swooped in? (One more tangent: anyone else notice that William Parker, one of the primaries behind the Vision Festival, is playing Newport this summer with Charles Gayle and Rashied Ali?)

--Jazz In Yokohama, Japan: A nifty little glimpse into the jazz club scene in the city south of Tokyo. It makes sense that Yokohama was historically a jazz capitol, even over the larger Tokyo: it's a port city which brought international traffic literally in boatloads, including American GIs. (Peter Hum documented that the port city of Shanghai still occupies similar jazz primacy in China, at least over Beijing.) And as BarBarBar owner Hiroshi Tsuruoka mentioned, the cultural exchange of port cities played a huge role in jazz history (cough, New Orleans, cough-cough New York City).

--1959 Was 50 Years Ago: And still the best year in jazz, says the Jazz24 blog. This point has not been lost on one doctoral student, who wrote his entire dissertation on 1959 jazz. Yes, measuring greatness within arbitrary time periods of 12 months remains an outstanding issue, as it is every December during Best Records Of The Year action, but it is hard to argue with that lineup of albums as evidence of something afoot in the cultural zeitgeist.

--Audience Development: Still Task #1: Willard Jenkins at The Independent Ear has an encouraging little feature where he excerpts concert write-ups from his college students, many of whom had never seen a jazz show before. Since it is his opinion that jazz's primary problem is the need to grow an audience -- one that is not lost on these ears -- he takes the rather positive reactions as a pretty good thing. Now, to make jazz into something which your average person might actually go see without a term paper hanging overhead ... As a side note, Jenkins has been killin' it lately on the Internets: the blog also has recent interviews with Michael Cuscuna (of Mosaic Records, among other archival and production work) and A.B. Spellman (of Four Lives In The Bebop Business fame), and jazz.com has his chats with jazz presenters in smaller-town jazz scenes. The latter idea, by the way, is something in the works for this publication -- Willard, if you're reading, I call dibs on Richmond, Va., you hear?

10:00 AM ET | 05-26-2009 | permalink

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Judging By The Cover: Brad Mehldau & Matt Chamberlain Go Grunge

by Michael Katzif

Brad Mehldau, in performance at Tokyo's Suntory Hall. Courtesy of the artist.

Anyone familiar with Brad Mehldau knows the pianist is tops when it comes to covering rock songs. Since he first tackled "Exit Music (For a Film)," Mehldau has reworked number of Radiohead songs, including a stunning 20-minute solo rendition of "Paranoid Android" on his Live In Tokyo album that would make even classical pianist Christopher O'Riley feel a bit unworthy. Throughout his catalog, Mehldau has also played tunes by Paul Simon, Oasis, Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens and even a stunning medley of Jobim's "Wave" and The Beatles' "Mother Nature's Son" on his incredibly underrated, Jon Brion-produced album Largo.

But last Friday, Mehldau took his love of covers to an inspired extreme. As part of SFJazz's spring season, the pianist performed a one-off concert with session drummer extraordinaire Matt Chamberlain in San Francisco. It was their first live performance together as a duo, and they came up with something special. After taking the stage, Mehldau said they would play "the music of Seattle," launching into Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

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2:30 PM ET | 05-22-2009 | permalink

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Video From The Village Vanguard

by Josh Jackson, WBGO

If you've been following along with our little multimedia experiment from the world's greatest jazz club, you've probably seen the live video stream we beam during the concert broadcast, no?

Consider it a typical jazz idea -- creativity thriving in a resource-starved environment. That makes what we're doing a totally MacGyver operation at this point. Basically, we strap a consumer-model camcorder onto an exposed plumbing pipe hanging from the Vanguard ceiling, point it toward the stage, and set it to NightShot. Peter Hum of the Ottawa Citizen described it lovingly as "Baghdad-bombing green." Shock and awe, baby!

We're clearly more interested in the audio (it is [ahem] "radio"). We plug David Tallacksen's lovely music mixes into the free streaming software, so at least it sounds great. It just won't win an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

So far, we've only archived one night from our Live at the Village Vanguard series: Edward Simon's Quartet featuring saxophonist Mark Turner. You can download songs from the performance here. But you can view the whole thing here:

Let us know if you'd like us to start archiving all of the shows. If we get enough folks to say YES, perhaps we can find some cash to buy server space to do this regularly. That, and a decent camcorder. Happy viewing.

12:30 PM ET | 05-22-2009 | permalink

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The Friday Link Dump

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

A periodic review of the jazz Internet, presented with a spot of commentary. Because what's the use of having a blog without a little cynical editorializing prescient editorial dialogue?

--The 2010 NEA Jazz Masters: The NEA made the announcement yesterday of who the honorees are. A wide-ranging selection from experimentalist pioneers (Muhal Richard Abrams, Yusef Lateef) to relatively slept-on dudes with distinct musical voices (Bill Holman, Bobby Hutcherson) to elegant fan favorites (Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, Annie Ross). And one for producer George Avakian too. As one of my colleagues wrote me, "Hey look! It's actually a good list this year!" I'm inclined to agree: for one, I'm happy to see a still-active AACM co-founder caking off a $25,000 grant and being recognized at Jazz at Lincoln Center, former epicenter of the Jazz Wars battlegrounds. Of course, the comment is, as always, "Why didn't these guys ever get anything at the height of their mastery?"

--Sun Ra Arrival Day: Speaking of NEA Jazz Masters, one of the very first three, a one Le Sony'r Ra, came onto the earth 95 years ago today. (Could someone who was alive in 1982 tell me how this happened, please?) Those in the Philadelphia area wishing to commemorate the occasion can check out the Pathways to Unknown Worlds exhibition at Penn's Institute of Contemporary Art; there's also a concert happening Sunday night in honor of Arkestra torchbearer Marshall Allen's 85th. (H/T Audio Gumbo)

--Frankie Manning's 95th: The late Lindy Hop pioneer would also have been turning 95. Much rejoicing in memoriam in New York with -- what else? -- a weekend-long dance party.

--The West Valley High School Jazz Band: Cute. No school or institutional support for a jazz band -- so enterprising students formed their own. Incidentally, if any of these guys go on to a career in music, it'll be good practice for the real world.

--The Beijing Ninegate Jazz Festival: Via the New York Times travel blog, of all places, mention of a rather large Chinese jazz festival. Anyone know anything about the scene in China? There was this NPR report about the golden age of jazz in the international city of Shanghai, but it would be curious to see reports on what the state of the art is there today. At very least, Ninegate has the curatorial and financial wherewithal to mount some sort of flagship event, unlike some imprudent agencies.

--In Conversation With Fred Hersch: I haven't engaged the fella's music as much as I probably ought to yet, but Holy Hell is this jazz.com interview good. There's the part where he reminisces about his career, and hanging at Bradley's, etc. &c. But the real meat is when he opens up about his battle back to the stage -- aren't many jazz musicians almost killed by AIDS in the prime of their careers. (Aren't many openly gay jazz musicians in general, but that's another post.) Anyway, it makes one want to see the film being referenced (Let Yourself Go: The Lives Of Fred Hersch) and spin his latest disc, currently being lauded around critics' circles. And! His trio plays NPR Music & WBGO's Live At The Village Vanguard concert series on Wed., Jul. 22. (Fred Hersch's Full NPR Artist Archive)

--Benny Goodman's Birthday: Ok, so it's actually next weekend that Benny Goodman would have been 100. But every year on Memorial Day weekend, WKCR in New York plays big band music at every opportunity in an unofficial salute to the man. This year, however, it's on: A 15-day festival of nothing but Benny Goodman music, from May 17 through June 1 at 3 p.m. (Full disclosure: It's my alma mater I'm talking about here, but is this not significant?) You'll have to navigate a rather dated (non-updated, even) Web site, but you can listen online if you're not within striking distance of 89.9 FM in New York.

8:20 AM ET | 05-22-2009 | permalink

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R.I.P. Ricardo "Papin" Abreu, Rumbero

by Felix Contreras

Cuba lost a great rumbero this week in the passing of Ricardo "Papin" Abreu.

The death of the 75-year-old drummer comes just one year after the band that he formed with his brothers (Luis, Alfredo and Jesus), Los Papines, celebrated their 45th anniversary by playing concerts throughout Cuba.

Their influence on jazz and Latin jazz musicians was celebrated when Los Papines were included in a tribute to legendary Cuban conga drummer Luciano "Chano" Pozo during the 1977 U.S./Cuba jazz exchange in Havana. They performed Pozo's most famous compositions "Manteca" and "Tin Tin Deo" with Pozo's former boss from the late 1940s: Dizzy Gillespie. The brothers were in fact from the same part of Havana as "Chano" Pozo.

According to their press bio, the Abreu brothers started as all budding drummers start: on pots, pans, spoons and table tops. But as you can see, they moved well beyond their rudimentary instruments.

I recently got an e-mail from timbalero Ramon Banda (formerly with Poncho Sanchez) noting Abreu's death. He wrote that he and his brother Tony were honored that Los Papines used one of their handmade chekeres for the performance noted above.

He adds that after a 1996 Papines performance in Santa Monica, he introduced the Abreu Brothers to bassist Al McKibbon, who was the anchor in Dizzy's band with Chano Pozo in the late 1940s.

The brothers were touched, to say the least.

Los Papines carried on after the death of brother Alfredo in 2001. There is no word on whether Ricardo's passing will mean the end of the legendary group. But there is a hopeful sign that they will continue: Jesus' daughter Yuliet Abreu Fernandez has been drumming and singing with the group.

6:00 PM ET | 05-21-2009 | permalink

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Esperanza Spalding And The White House House Band

by Felix Contreras

Esperanza Spalding played the White House on May 12, 2009 for the second time this year. Photo Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Last summer President Barack Obama famously revealed he had John Coltrane and Miles Davis on his iPod. So it seemed just a matter of time before a crisp ride cymbal pulsing in swing time would be heard within the White House.

This past Tuesday the Obamas hosted an evening of jazz and spoken word performances. Among invited performers were jazz musicians Esperanza Spalding (NPR Music archive) and pianist Eric Lewis.

Spalding should leave her bass in a closet there and start a House band (capital H intended). In addition to her participation in last Tuesday's White House Poetry Jam, she also performed in a tribute to Stevie Wonder back in February.

Jazz at the White House has an interesting history. According to a George Washington University Web site, the first jazz gig there was on Nov. 19, 1962 by the Paul Winter Jazz Sextet (for JFK). [UPDATE: According to Elise K. Kirk's Music at the White House, swing bands were invited to perform since Roosevelt's administration, but the closest one gets to what most would call jazz now is Paul Whiteman. --Ed.] If the list of performers is to be believed, the Republican administrations were just as progressive in their jazz tastes as the Democrats.

It's been just over 100 days and the Obamas have offered more jazz concerts than George H.W. Bush (who offered no jazz concerts in his four years in office). I think it's a safe bet to count on even more East Room jazz gigs before too long.

If you were scheduling White House jazz concerts, who would you put on stage?

12:30 PM ET | 05-21-2009 | permalink

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Bebo Valdes' Elegant Charm

by Felix Contreras

Bebo Valdes at his 90th birthday concert in Oct. 2008. Photo Credit: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

Pianist Bebo Valdes doesn't seem to know the meaning of retirement.

At 90 years of age he has a new album out, Juntos Para Siempre (Together Forever). It's a series of duets with his son, Cuban music icon Chucho Valdes. For 10 tracks, father and son "converse" over a shared family history that spans the entire history of 20th Century Cuban piano styles, with sprinkles of U.S. jazz.

"Perdido," from Bebo Valdes and Chucho Valdes, Juntos Para Siempre. Bebo Valdes, piano; Chucho Valdes, piano. Madrid, Spain: Jun. 26-27, 2007.

I had the great fortune of meeting don Bebo (as we Latins refer to someone of age and wisdom) in 2006, when I did a piece about him. I was nervous, as I was about to meet the living legend. But I was quickly put at ease by his interest in my cargo pants.

Continue reading "Bebo Valdes' Elegant Charm" »

8:00 AM ET | 05-21-2009 | permalink

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Elvis Has Left The Building

RE: Tonight's Allen Toussaint concert, which we and WBGO are streaming here and video Webcasting here, we just got this little gem in from one of last night's sets:

Toussaint had a place in his set list where he gets to do a little solo piano work. Last night that solo became a duet when he was joined unexpectedly by Elvis Costello, with whom he made a 2006 record called The River In Reverse. This here is their impromptu live version of "Ascension Day."

It's officially time to get excited about tonight's show. (And if you're seeing this after the fact, there'll be a full online archive at NPR.org/villagevanguard starting tomorrow.)

6:24 PM ET | 05-20-2009 | permalink

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Listening, Party For Two: 'Shoe Shine Boy'

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Lester Young. Photo Credit: Ronald Startup/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

My boss readily admits that she doesn't know a whole lot about jazz. But she lets me write all this nonsense on the Internet, so I'm not complaining. And at least she's willing to learn. So every Wednesday, she and I get together to listen to and Instant Message about a different great jazz song.

Today, as we celebrate the debut of A Blog Supreme, we pulled the spectacular studio debut of a man who would be 100 this year: Lester Young. (In light of our pseudonym Take Five feature, Pres' first recordings are especially appropriate -- the leader of the date, Count Basie, had already signed with Decca, so he cut these small group sessions for Columbia/Vocalion under the name "Jones-Smith, Inc. of Kansas City.") We chose the master take of "Shoe Shine Boy."

Personnel: Carl "Tatti" Smith, trumpet; Lester Young, tenor sax; Count Basie, piano; Walter Page, bass; Jo Jones, drums. Chicago: Nov. 9, 1936

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3:00 PM ET | 05-20-2009 | permalink

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Allen Toussaint: Live At The Village Vanguard

Allen Toussaint on Tuesday night. Photo Credit: Josh Jackson, WBGO

On this first day of the NPR Jazz Blog, we're going to try a little experiment. Thanks to WBGO, this concert is happening tonight. We're streaming it over the radio (for WBGO listeners), online (at NPR Music), and as a video feed. There'll also be a live chat, pre-game interviews and photo updates. The entire recording will be archived online. We do this every month: NPR.org/villagevanguard

If you scroll down just a bit, you can access the live video feed and the live chat windows. No registration or anything like that required. Concert starts at 9:00 p.m. ET -- check back in right before then. Again, all this and more is available here too: Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi Band: Live At The Village Vanguard

As a teaser for tonight, Josh Jackson, who produces this series, reports that the house was packed Tuesday night with journalists and jazz literati. They got to see an Elvis Costello-Allen Toussaint duet. Maybe more such serendipity is in the cards.

-----

UPDATE: The Wednesday night concert went over successfully. So all that you see above is in the past. We haven't yet figured out a way to archive the video feed, and the live chat module is now over. But you can access the archived discussion and, of course, the archived concert using all the links you see.

10:35 AM ET | 05-20-2009 | permalink

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On The Death Of Philip Stein

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Somewhat obscured among the wash of gloomy New York jazz news early this week is the passing of one Philip Stein. He was a small-time record producer and collector, and a long-time jazz fan; but as this Gray Lady obituary reads, he was also a serious visual artist responsible for 1) painting the oddly futurist mural at the back of the Village Vanguard 2) being Vanguard impresario Lorraine Gordon's brother. Quote:

On the back-wall mural at the Village Vanguard, the famous jazz club in Greenwich Village, a primordial man and woman burst from a kaleidoscopic background of brightly colored geometric forms. For more than 40 years musicians have gazed, perhaps with some puzzlement, at this visionary artwork, suggestive of birth, creative dynamism and human aspiration. Patrons seated on bar stools at the back of the club have come to think of the big, curved mural as a visual counterpart to the cascading notes drifting toward them from the stage.

Philip Stein, the artist who created the mural, and whose sister, Lorraine Gordon, runs the club, died at his home in Manhattan on April 27. Mr. Stein, a onetime assistant to the great Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, was 90. From Philip Stein, Muralist Who Adorned Village Vanguard Jazz Club, Dies at 90 [New York Times]

Perhaps those who have never sat at the back by the bar (or have never even peregrinated to the Vanguard) haven't noticed the mural. Even our ace photographer for the Live At The Village Vanguard concert series has barely documented the art on the wall opposite the stage in nearly 20 shows since this time last year. This partial shot featuring Sandro Tomasi, rehearsing for a Guillermo Klein hit, is all we have in house (there's a better photo in the article, though).

Trombonist Sandro Tomasi. Photo Credit: John Rogers

It's not just the loss of the artist that jazz fans should mourn, though.

Continue reading "On The Death Of Philip Stein" »

12:00 AM ET | 05-20-2009 | permalink

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Introducing ...

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

We could probably do a whole post about albums titled Introducing [Musician X]. Courtesy of Blue Note Records

Wait, so NPR is launching a jazz blog?

If you're like most of the people who read that sentence, you're probably thinking that you don't really need this Tylenol PM for your insomnia after all. We at A Blog Supreme are perfectly aware that our driving passion for jazz isn't exactly shared by everyone -- or even everyone who cares deeply about music. Which is OK, of course -- one oughtn't force anyone to like anything. But it's our goal here to create something equally compelling for both those who have but the slightest passing interest in anything-which-is-or-might-be-related-to-jazz, and for those wackos who are actually geeked by the mere idea of more Quality Jazz Internet (for which I raise my hand, sheepishly).

One of the stanchions supporting our little corner of bandwidth is that NPR Music and its partner stations already put out a lot of jazz content. Every week there's a new Take Five list, a new JazzSet concert, a new Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. Add to that frequent NPR interviews or profiles of prominent jazz musicians and a smattering of album or track reviews. Plus, we work with WBGO to broadcast/Webcast live from the Village Vanguard at least once a month -- and we're beginning to be able to offer podcast downloads of those shows too. And behind all this is a vast jazz archive (Jazz Profiles, anyone?) and a network of people who care deeply about jazz and want to see it thrive somewhere -- and why not here?

Basically, we've got plenty of jazz resources -- but it all gets sort-of thrown up there, whether on the air or on the Web. What we don't have is a voice, a way to get foster a discussion about the cool stories, interesting artists and underlying issues that for whatever reason don't make it out otherwise. Heck, we don't have much of an ongoing discussion either -- at least not in the way that blog technology has proven to be able to generate.

What we're after with A Blog Supreme is a new kind of jazz coverage, at least for NPR. Something more akin to the way people notice and talk about things on the Internet today; no less serious, but somewhat more casual. And one that we want you, the greater jazz community, to join in directly.

You'll see a whole bunch of stuff here: interviews, news, commentary, mp3s, special reports, features about new music, and a bunch of other awesome things we haven't thought up yet. At times, we may sound like our own horn-tooter; hopefully at others, we'll be our own whistle-blower. And behind all that, we hope you'll notice both our abiding reverence for this great born-in-America art form, and our postmodern critical amusement toward it. Because hell, we already have too much self-righteous seriousness about a music that started in brothels, was played for dance parties, and spawned such amusements as Kenneth Gorelick.

Less talk, more blog. Follow us (@blogsupreme) on Twitter, subscribe to the RSS or simply bookmark us. We'll be waiting for you to join the conversation.

12:00 AM ET | 05-20-2009 | permalink

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Ask Me Now: The FAQs

Or, Tomorrow Is The Frequently Asked Questions!

What is this?
A Blog Supreme is a running journal -- a Weblog, if you will -- about jazz music and culture, curated by NPR Music staff and its partner station allies. We like almost all kinds of jazz, except the bad kinds, and we like most everything about jazz, except when it stinks. And we aspire to write about this music we love in fun ways that make sense to both the casual listener and the life-long buff. Still curious? A longer-winded elaboration.

What is this "Internet" thing I keep hearing about?
I know, I know: even in 2009, the jazz blogosphere is still approaching critical mass. That's part of why we're here. NPR Music puts out great jazz content every week, but we're still looking for some unity to it all. We see the potential of this blog publishing format as a way of working through ideas in ways that many listeners and readers are already accustomed to today. In fact, we're counting on you to join in.

So I should comment, right?
Absolutely. This blog will go nowhere without your recommendations, opinions and other assorted nitpicking. We presume you'll even be the ones inspiring us. All you need is an NPR Community account -- register here if you haven't already. A measure of common-sense civility would help too. And keep an eye out for the site-wide terms of use.

What's with the name?
It's derived from the classic John Coltrane album A Love Supreme -- which is, to be clear, one that still inspires us on every listen. But it's also a play on words, because while we're "as serious as your life," to quote McCoy Tyner, we're also more casual at going about it than your average jazz discourse. Plus, it sort of sounds like a type of burrito you'd order at Taco Bell, and I don't know about you, but I find that hilarious.

So what kind of stuff will be on here?
Well, everything we can get, as frequently as we can. News, commentary, rough-cut audio interviews, IM chats, hyperlinks like whoa, music discovery and recommendations, analysis, streaming mp3s, embedded videos and sub-genres of journalism that don't exist yet. In other words, it's a catchall for the awesome parts of the jazz Internet. I'll try to keep the news bits free of any dogmas or other ideological plagues, or at least issue them out in the open. If mine surface in any way, I expect you to call me on it.

You keep alternating between singular first person and the royal "we." Who are you, really?
"I" am Patrick Jarenwattananon -- I'm the overall editor and glorified aficionado behind A Blog Supreme. I once ran the jazz programming at WKCR in New York, and eventually became an intern for NPR Music. Now I'm a not-intern for NPR Music. Um ... I also read the Internet a bunch?

"We" are NPR Music at large. That includes members of the team who are regular blog contributors, like Lars Gotrich and Mike Katzif, and key players from NPR's Arts Desk: editor Tom Cole and producer/reporter Felix Contreras. Folks like Josh Jackson of WBGO will pop in from time to time. And then there's the Boss Lady, who keeps us all in line.

Can we contact you directly, either singular or plural?
Sure thing: hit us up at blogsupreme [at] npr [dot] org. Follow us on Twitter: @blogsupreme. But the comments do work nicely too.

12:00 AM ET | 05-20-2009 | permalink

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