by Patrick Jarenwattananon

—Pat Metheny's Robot Army: Forgive the mischaracterization, although when you commission an ensemble of 21st century orchestrions (what?) to take on a "solo" tour with you ... anyway, guitarist Pat Metheny has done this very thing, and announced it on his Web site. The whole thing sounds like an odd steampunk idea of the future; rather than control his musical climate with synthesizers, Metheny is determined to make use of these large acoustic machines (is it fair to call these precisely engineered instruments ungainly?) in creating music around him. Peter Hum has more info. From what I can make of it, it's potentially really cool if it works, and probably a wee bit self-indulgent. Sort of like jazz blogging, actually.

—Pianist Denny Zeitlin, M.D., Interviewed: This week at JazzWax, Marc Myers is speaking with pianist and practicing psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin. The first part goes in on the psychological aspects of improvising. On why people don't really get into jazz today: "Ever since the advent of rock and roll, our Elvis-presley culture has been veering more and more toward instant gratification. There's no longer the sense that the listener has an implied responsibility to reach out and meet the music half way or put some energy into the experience." Part two, out today, goes into biographical history, and two more parts are on the way.

—Mats Gustafsson Likes To Curse: But in an adorable, Swedish sort of way. The prolific free-jazz saxophonist, of The Thing among many other bands, grants an interview with The Quietus in which he reveals a lot of viewpoints I personally find fascinating. Like how an out musician could be initially inspired by Little Richard, or how his music says "Nothing [period]" about Swedish culture or the Nordic regions at large, or the Swedish and Norwegian words for a——-e, or that he's just a dude who likes barbeque and soccer and hanging out. I especially think his comment that the "audience for this music is basically the same" everywhere around the world is telling, in some part because he qualified it with a characterization of "50-year-old men with beards, with German beers in their hands."

—Teddy Charles Profiled: Good to see the 81-year-old vibraphonist return to the scene, even if it's because it's not easy to pay the bills as a retired jazz musician. (Article here.) He recounts stories of when Max Roach stole his drums, and how he got into sailing. There's video, too. What this piece is missing, of course, is the news that saxophonist and composer Chris Byars has been collaborating with Charles for some time recently, and has been working on a suite called "Bop-ography," portraying Charles' life.

—Album Pricing: I Don't Get It Either: Mike Fabio of iamfaster likes a record that some of us like too: Bill Frisell's new Disfarmer. But he's baffled at some of the pricing differences among various vendors. Notably, that it's more expensive to buy direct from the label, without the retail middleman. Because they can sell in large quantities, the Amazons of the world can undercut the suggested retail price, and even the price at which the label offers its own product. Which hurts my brain, and makes we wonder how I possibly passed Principles of Economics.

—The Creep Of Christmas: Not like weird old uncle creepy, but encroachment of holiday music on the distinctly non-winter-holiday month of July. The folks at JazzTimes got their first Christmas promo CD recently, and I know they would know about the heavy burden of summer — they're up the road in Silver Spring, Md. Luckily, they like the music.