\u003Ch2\u003EJazz in New York: Keeping the Flame Alive\u003C/h2\u003E
\u003Cp\u003EI may be prejudiced because he’s been my friend for 40 years, and my roommate for two of them, but I think Todd Barkan is one of the great keepers of the flame for jazz. He opened and ran the beloved Keystone Korner for ten years, and later built Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola from scratch into the venue it is today. Now a freelance club producer, Todd’s tireless efforts are the subject of this Wall Street Journal article by Pia Catton.\u003C/p\u003E
\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E-Michael Cuscuna\u003C/p\u003E
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\u003Ch2\u003ERudresh Mahanthappa: All Influences Considered\u003C/h2\u003E
\u003Cp\u003EDid you hear Rudresh Mahanthappa on NPR’s \u003Cem\u003EAll Things Considered \u003C/em\u003E last weekend? Mahanthappa compares sides and influences with the show’s host, Arun Rath, who seems to especially relish interviewing a musician he considers a rocking contemporary Indian-American kindred spirit. \u003C/p\u003E
\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E-Nick Moy\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E
\u003Cp\u003EPhoto: Jimmy Katz, courtesy of the artist\u003C/p\u003E
\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca class=\u0022content\u0022 href=\u0022http://www.npr.org/2013/05/12/182956820/balancing-influences-saxophonist-mahanthappa-blends-styles\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EListen…\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/p\u003E
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\u003Ch2\u003EJazz Experts Sound Off on “The Great Gatsby”\u003C/h2\u003E
\u003Cp\u003EThe line has been forming for people who have something to say about Baz Luhrmann’s new film \u003Cem\u003EThe Great Gatsby\u003C/em\u003E. Not surprisingly for a story based on the Jazz Age, the jazz world has been eager to find out how the film measures up. \u003Cem\u003EThe Atlantic\u003C/em\u003E asked jazz scholars to weigh in with their views of the film’s soundtrack, and its fidelity to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story and the age it depicts. Check out their reactions.\u003C/p\u003E
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Aretha Franklin Live At Fillmore West
Aretha Franklin’s version of “You’re All I Need To Get By” was hardly her biggest hit, but it was one of her greatest records, with an amazing Arif Mardin arrangement. Aretha plays a lot of Arif’s string arrangement on the Fender Rhodes. What a voice!
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View VideoLee Morgan Performance
This is a beautiful performance of Benny Golson’s “I Remember Clifford” by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Lee Morgan and Golson. This is probably from a November 1958 European tour.
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Blue Note and ArtistShare Form New Label to Promote Young Artists
Bruce Lundvall has been a lifelong champion of young and innovative artists, especially in jazz. As recording straight-ahead jazz became more and more economically difficult at Blue Note, which Bruce had headed until recently, he came up with a brilliant idea that has just come to fruition. Blue Note has partnered with ArtistShare, enabling the label to help record a lot of young artists who may not be profitable in the major label world. From JazzTimes.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Wayne Shorter Talks Saxophone and Saxophonists
This 1992 interview of Wayne Shorter by fellow saxophonist Mel Martin is wonderfully in-depth and revealing. Wayne talks about horns, meeting John Coltrane and Lester Young, joining Blakey and Miles and other early career highlights.
-Michael Cuscuna
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A Conversation with Charles Lloyd
Jeffrey Brown’s interview with Charles Lloyd on the occasion of his 75th birthday is only about six minutes long, but covers a lot of ground with some fascinating stories about his early Memphis years. Scroll down the post for a beautiful version of “You’ve Changed” by Charles and Jason Moran from their duet album, “Hagar’s Song.”
-Michael Cuscuna
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Celebrate the Birthday of Gil Evans: Born May 13, 1912
Gil Evans, arranger, composer and bandleader extraordinaire, would have been 101 years old this May 13.
Some ways to celebrate: New Yorkers can check out nearly a week’s worth of Gil’s music played live by Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project at the Jazz Standard. Or, pull out some of Gil’s music at home: if you’re lucky enough, maybe Mosaic’s out-of-print box set: Miles Davis/Gil Evans - The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings.
In his frontespiece for the notes for that set, Quincy Jones wrote:
“In a little less than three years time, beginning in May 1958 and completed by March 1960, the collaborative efforts of jazz giants Miles Davis (trumpet-flugelhorn soloist) and Gil Evans (arranger-composer-conductor) resulted in the making of three landmark recordings still unsurpassed in the history of jazz.
“These albums, Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain, are the masterpieces created by the reunion of two great masters.
“If ever pushed for a choice of desert island music, Miles and Gil, these albums would indubitably be my top three. This is as good as it gets. Timeless!”
Timeless to be sure. Happy birthday, Gil.
Photo of Gil Evans by William Claxton, via @jazzstagenet.
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Remembering Chet Baker, 25 Years Later
The 25th anniversary of Chet Baker’s fatal fall in Amsterdam has inspired a number of reminiscences.
This lengthy essay by Richard Williams on his thebluemoment blog is excellent. I remember Dexter Gordon telling me how impressed he was with Baker when they first met in Los Angeles in the early ‘50s. Dexter recalled, “Chet introduced himself and ask to sit in. I asked him what tune he’d like to play and he said on ‘Body And Soul’. I asked him what key he’d like, and looked at me blankly and said, ‘I don’t know. The first note is mmmmmmm.’ I realized this guy had no idea what I was talking about, but when he played, it was beautiful, so intuitive. An amazing musician.”
Here is a two-part blog that West Coast jazz expert Ted Gioia wrote five years ago, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Chet’s death. If you’ve never read Ted’s West Coast Jazz tome, it’s worth seeking out.
-Michael Cuscuna
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