by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Where the jazz Christmas albums are coming in hot and fast ...

—Too Many Miles: Is the continued stardom of Miles Davis as the leading light in the jazz firmament a bad thing? Mike Doherty at the National Post writes:

The question arises: At what point does the constant paying of tribute turn into fixation? And furthermore, is there a danger that in looking back at the career of someone who was always looking forward, the jazz world is ignoring the innovation of a younger generation?

With the release of the complete Miles on Columbia box set, to the tune of nearly $300, one does wonder about the attention lavished on him, to the possible exclusion of musicians today or even just other important historical figures. But if the attention paid Miles keeps people listening to jazz in a trickle-down sort of way — does that matter? Someone say something.

—On The Clampdown On Cameras: On the heels of the London Jazz Festival, The Guardian's John Fordham writes that more jazz venues should allow amateur video recording. In this day and age, there's really nothing I don't agree with here. Maybe there should even be more professional TV recording too, as Sebastian Scotney asserts.

—Coming In Late On The DownBeat: Peter Hum points out that over half of the best albums, as picked by the DownBeat Readers Poll, are from 2008. This for an issue dated December 2009. And yes, I know this poll was conducted in August, and that good music is good music whenever, blah blah blah. It's just one of those things: When your subject's leading publication requires a four-month lead time, and has no viable Web presence, and leaves it to others to leak the results online ... Related: my complaints about the poll, from earlier this year. I did end up voting, by the way.

—L.A. Free Jazz In The '70s: Mark Weber delves into the history of free jazz in Los Angeles through its earliest self-released LPs. Great tidbits for anyone ever moved by a Horace Tapscott or John Carter/Bobby Bradford or Vinny Golia recording. It's rather amazing how much of the music remembered today from that era came about because of artists' DIY efforts — and how prescient those models remain for jazz musicians today.

—The Best Jazz Radio Station On Earth: Is WBGO, according to Esquire magazine's The Daily Endorsement blog. Also new on the WBGO blog: an interview with documentary filmmaker Hannah Rothschild, whose new project explores the relationship between her great-aunt, the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, and Thelonious Monk.