Miles’ music always had soul, blues, funk, sweat, sex, intellect, abstraction, and hipness.
The world of contemporary jazz
Miles’ music always had soul, blues, funk, sweat, sex, intellect, abstraction, and hipness.
May 22, 1914, that’s when America and the world got ahold of one Herman Blount—at least that’s what his parents thought his name was. Sun Ra and America are the essential combination: Ra’s mythos is an utterly logical response to the insanity of being an African-American, building much of the greatness of a nation that …
The great Jackie McLean was born on this day in 1931. And when I mean great I mean just a motherfucker, in the way Miles meant it. I came relatively late to McLean. There was something about his playing that put me off for a time, he was saying something I didn’t understand and say …
Everybody’s hurting. In music, jazz musicians are really hurting because for the most part they make their money with live gigs and teaching, so yeah no work (and that work is wage-based, you do the work then you get paid, we’re a long way from when Duke Ellington could keep a band on salary and …
A new box set from Mosaic Records, looks primo, and ready to ship.
On May 1, Bandcamp is once again waiving their fees, so if you buy something 100% of the money goes to the artist (they’ll also be doing this at the beginning of June and July, if you want to gird your wallet). Pi Recordings has started to issue a series called This is Now: Love …
Duke wrote reams and reams of wonderful music, with the perverse effect that tunes like “In a Sentimental Mood” and “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” crowded out marvelous pieces like “Johnny Come Lately” and this, this exquisite performance of the exquisite “Passion Flower.” There’s little on the planet as sensuous as Johnny Hodges playing a ballad.
Duke Ellington, doing the quarantine streaming thing before there was such a thing.
