One week until Newport.
Charles Mingus, as remembered by Nat Hentoff. "Every once in a while, when I was at home, the phone would ring and I'd be jolted by music until he came on. 'What do you think of that?' he would ask. 'I just wrote it.'"
A 76-year-old boogie-woogie pianist is being honored by the city of Chicago. Howard Reich has the story.
Kassa Overall, drummer/beatmaker/rapper, gets a profile treatment from Nextbop. He's the sort of musician who can work with Geri Allen and Das Racist in the same week, and do it well.
Charlie Haden remembers Larance Marable. The late drummer was an associate of Haden but also appeared on many jazz records made in California in the '50s and beyond.
Saxophonist Phil Woods is the subject of a short profile in the New York Daily News. On his band: "We've been together since before Vaseline, man."
The CBC Music folks have posted a lot of jazz bits lately. Check out the survey of Canada's top 5 jazz clubs or the countdown to the "essential" Canadian jazz records.
Our friends at KMHD radio in Portland have stepped up their online game lately. On their blog, there's a report from the Vancouver Jazz Festival, a video-enhanced report from the hometown Cathedral Park Jazz Festival and an interview with trumpeter Eddie Henderson.
Two films in progress, via Kickstarter. A nearly 90-year-old trumpeter chases the dream of finally having his own big band. And late bassist Keter Betts is the subject of a documentary project.
Eric Essix, Alabama-based guitarist, gets a local paper profile. I don't know Essix's music but there's something about this story which feels like it could apply to thousands of other highly-competent, middle-class musicians — and that's why I thought it was interesting to share, really.
A big collection of big band music and recordings was acquired by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire recently.
I did this. I go "umm" a lot, apparently.
"Five Song Requests Jazz Bands Wish You Would Stop Making."
The David Sanborn Jazz Festival, ladies and gentlemen.
JazzWax posted a variety of features, including a compilation of Japanese bossa nova.
The Checkout sat down with Dafnis Prieto about his new Proverb Trio album.
Elsewhere at NPR Music:
On the John Coltrane home in Long Island and the efforts to preserve it.
A mix of New Orleans music for your ears.
Joe Jackson does his Duke Ellington Project material on World Cafe.
JazzSet features Charles Lloyd's Sangam from Newport 2011.
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz features the Studs Terkel episode.
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