On Tuesday, the folks at YouTube graciously gave NPR Music a big chunk of its homepage to curate some recommended videos. Each of us in the office got the chance to nominate a few favorites; I made sure there were a few modern jazz performances up there, prioritizing clips which came from public radio and TV. Among my nominations were this burst of charisma from Esperanza Spalding on Austin City Limits:
And also, video from a WBGO studio session, produced by associate Blogger Supreme Josh Jackson, featuring Robert Glasper's trio (full session here):
But that's far from the only jazz I nominated, or would have liked to have seen. And I presume you have plenty of other suggestions too. Which jazz videos would you have nominated for the homepage of YouTube? (The clips needn't be on YouTube — just embeddable.) After the jump, six more I wouldn't have minded seeing:
Lately, WNYC in New York has been taping some of the many amazing musicians they have in the studio on the regular. Here's Stephan Crump's unique Rosetta Trio, with electric guitar, acoustic guitar and upright bass:
Regular readers here may intuit that I have a soft spot for saxophone trios; JD Allen's is one of my softer spots. Here, the band performs at J&R Music and Computer World in New York, as taped by WBGO:
You know, we at NPR Music also do these things called Tiny Desk Concerts. Heard of 'em? Here's Regina Carter with a trio reduction of music from her latest release, Reverse Thread:
American public broadcasters are getting much better at documenting music with Internet video, but I have to say, this independently recorded Guillermo Klein y Los Guachos performance of "El Espejo," sound distortion aside, is the performance which got me immediately hooked on the man's music.
I think everybody should see the Lindy Hop dance scene from Hellzapoppin', featuring musical accompaniment from Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart. Here 'tis:
Wouldn't the world be a better place with more Louis Armstrong in it? This version of "Dinah" is no rare find, but it's still magical.
Again, we ask: which jazz videos would you share on the homepage of YouTube?
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