Monk’s List
It shouldn’t be surprising that even great jazz musicians compile personal lists of things to do. So here’s Thelonious Monk’s list of things to do at a gig — notes for himself as well as for others— as transcribed by Steve Lacy. From Open Culture.
-Nick Moy
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Roscoe Mitchell: Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Roscoe Mitchell has a long and distinguished track record of musical accomplishment, but should come as no surprise that he’s looking up the track at what lies ahead. In this interview with Seth Colter Walls of emusic.com, Mitchell looks back on his work from two decades ago, and talks about how his latest composition emerges from that early work. From another, more amusing perspective, read about what Roscoe Mitchell and Michael Jordan have in common.
-Nick Moy
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Why Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” Now 100 Years Old, Fascinates Jazz Musicians
May 29 marked the centennial of the 1913 premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) — one of the unquestioned landmarks of modern music. (Listen to this NPR feature on the impact of Stravinsky’s premiere, both on the 1913 audience on Paris and on composers, dancers and audiences ever since.)
After a century, Stravinsky’s score still fascinates, invigorates and jars listeners. It’s no wonder that jazz musicians are strongly drawn to the rhythmic, tonal and harmonic invention of Stravinsky’s masterpiece. NPR’s Patrick Jarrenwattananon takes a closer look at the love that generations of jazz musicians, from Charlie Parker, Coltrane and Miles Davis to the Bad Plus, have harbored for Stravinsky’s music.
-Nick Moy
(Photo: Dancers in folkloric costume from The Rite of Spring in 1913. Keystone-France/Getty Images)
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Donald Byrd 101
This beginner’s guide to the music of Donald Byrd is incredibly comprehensive. It starts with the wonderful quintet he led with Pepper Adams, moves to his work with choral voices and then on to albums like “Fancy Free” that were clearly inspired by “In A Silent Way.” The ‘70s is represented by the funk/pop music that Donald made with the Mizell Brothers. Things end in the ‘90s with his work with Guru in hip hop group Jazzamatazz. An amazing and restless career.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Thelonious Monk, Through the Eyes of His Son T.S. Monk
This post in iRockJazz adopts the perspective that Thelonious Monk’s intellect was not confined to music, but permeated his entire way of life. That point of view runs throughout Paul Pennington’s interview with Monk’s son, T.S. Monk. Many of T.S. Monk’s recollections of Monk family life, even the seemingly common imperatives of father and family, appear filtered through that lens of Monk senior, and the parental experience that perhaps only he could impart.
-Nick Moy
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Sun Ra Calling
May 22 was what earthlings call a “birthday” of Sun Ra. In earth years, Sun Ra, or, as he was otherwise known, Herman Blount, would have been 99 years old in 2013. We found this image of Sun Ra’s business card circulating in cyberspace. We would consider it one of a kind — much like its owner.
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A Conversation with Rufus Reid
I once said that having Kenny Burrell in the studio is like having your best friend there. He is so kind, helpful and professional. The same could be said of Rufus Reid, with whom I was in the studio often during his years with Dexter Gordon. Rufus was the rock, the foundation in that group and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. This lengthy 1997 interview chronicles his career from his early Chicago days.
-Michael Cuscuna
(Photo by Daniel Sheehan, EyeShotJazz)
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Duke Ellington: Highlights of his Late Style
Observers of great musicians often point to a “late style” — a final burst of creativity as an artist nears the end of life. And so here, David Brent Johnson’s NPR feature offers five examples highlighting the late period of Duke Ellington, making the case that proximity to death — in this case, the loss of Billy Strayhorn — fueled Ellington’s last urgent outpouring of productivity. Infused, I’d say, with the distinctive genius that marked Ellington’s work throughout his remarkable career.
-Nick Moy
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Read MoreCannonball Adderley, Bill Evans and Philly Joe Jones: with Lenny Bruce
This is an amazing kinescope of a television show that I’ve never heard of before. Lenny Bruce introduces Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans and Philly Joe Jones, then talks about a painting that he photographed at the Museum Of Modern Art which is then shown in sections as the band improvises a very cool blues.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Thelonious Monk Live with Steve Lacy: a Rare Musical Moment
If you’ve never heard this Philadelphia radio broadcast of Thelonious Monk with Charlie Rouse, Steve Lacy, John Ore and Roy Haynes, by all means click on it now. It’s a great performance. Lacy adds a wonderful dimension to the group. Too bad that his association with Monk didn’t last longer.
-Michael Cuscuna
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