by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Where the music isn't the only Jazz struggling at the box office.

—The State Of Jazz In Newsweek: For some time, Seth Colter Walls has been doing us all a valuable service in writing intelligently about jazz (among other listening musics) in the mainstream media. His latest Newsweek column touches on everything from the complete Miles Davis 70-CD set to Terry Teachout's new Pops biography and highlights from this year in recorded jazz. It's a gift guide and a "the state of jazz now" gloss at once. But its central focus is this: "It's time, finally, to separate the question of 'Is today's jazz good?' from the question 'Is today's jazz popular?'" The music continues, somehow, and it's worth checking out as long as it's still around. Speaking of which ...

—More Top Ten Lists: More from the JJA contributors at Jazzhouse Diaries. Then Peter Hum, Jason Crane and RVAJazz. Tim Niland in three separate parts. More out-leaning lists from Chris Kelsey and Clifford Allen; a more straight-ahead list from Curt's Jazz Cafe. Jason Parker gives us Seattle's best (straight-ahead) jazz of 2009. Notes from the trickle that is Jazz.com. WUML has a Top 50 of the Decade essay. Finally, Josh Jackson gave us at NPR Music a list: 2009: The Year Of Living Improvisationally.

—The Fatha Who Keeps On Giving: The University of California-Berkeley was recently given a wonderful gift from the estate of Earl Hines. A fund will be put in place to help Berkeley's Young Musicians program, which gives free one-on-one music lessons to low-income students in the community. (Alumni include Josh Redman and Benny Green.) And Hines' personal papers and effects — including full charts for Hines' ensembles — will be donated to the Berkeley libraries, where they will be the centerpiece of a new Archive of African American Music. Fatha Hines lived in the Bay Area during the last three decades of his life, and lectured at the University. Merry secular Christmas, Berkeley.

—The Jazz Police, Literally: At a Larry Ochs Sax And Drumming Core concert in Spain, a jazz purist complained to the police that the music he was hearing wasn't jazz, but "contemporary music" — and he got local police to make an investigation and agree with him! He demanded his money back from the festival. Of course, he didn't get it. (Late again, but it's worth repeating for those who missed it.) Editorial commentary: ROTFL.

—Hope At The Nobels: The audacity of Esperanza Spalding to perform in front of President Barack Obama (again) at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. (Haha, get it? 'Cause "esperanza" means "hope"? Sigh.) Obama, as you know, gave a speech about just war. The world is complicated, people.