by Patrick Jarenwattananon

If you missed it, there were some pleasant surprises amid the predictably indecipherable choices in this year's jazz Grammy nominations. (My favorite comment, from the Facebook status of the Sunnyside Records publicist: "Watch out North Texas Lab Band!") Felix's additional thoughts here.

—Stan Getz's Last Hurrah: Anyone else remember People Time, that two-CD set on Verve (at least in the U.S.) of live duet performances by Stan Getz and Kenny Barron? You know, Stan Getz's (beautiful) last recordings? Universal Music France is now issuing the entirety of the live recordings from which that set was compiled — seven discs in all. Will Friedwald has the scoop in the Wall Street Journal.

—Jaki Byard Calls BS: This is a fantastic story about Jaki Byard being a total badass, courtesy of the Jazz24 blog. You need to read it.

—Brass Exodus: A Big Band Dissolves: Hey, wanna be depressed about humanity? Read the sad story of the demise of a D.C. jazz institution, the Thad Wilson Big Band. "The bottom line? Money f—-s up everything," Wilson says. With so much drama in the LBC, it's kind of hard to be Snoop D-O-double-G.

—I Cannot Tell A Lie: Ok, that's not true. But apparently, when (some) jazz musicians improvise, it shuts down the part of their brain responsible for a specific sort of lying called confabulation — untruths we make up about ourselves with no moral implications. Peter Hum summarizes the neuroscience with some YouTubage.

—Wynton Marsalis, Meet Annie Leibovitz: In Vogue magazine. Question: what's with the sitting woman?

—The Latin Jazz Corner Best Of 2009 Poll: Chip Boaz wants you to vote.

—Hamsters Playing Tiny Jazz Instruments, Now With Video: Turns out that link I put up Tuesday only featured the publicity glossies for The Clever Hamsters. The actual band, as seen in this British "advert" for drinking water, features saxophone, trumpet, harmonica and ... oboe. Close enough for jazz. Check out the outtakes too if you haven't yet filled your cute animal quotient for the day.