News and Events 2012/1/15

This article appears in Chapter 3 of Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion by Kevin Fellezs (Duke University Press, 2011). Vital Transformation: Fusion''s Discontents Ironically, fusion was, on the one hand, largely a concern for jazz participants and observers even though they largely denied its value or any valid connection to "real jazz." On the other hand, despite rock and funk critics and musicians'' interest in augmenting commercial success with the high cultural cachet jazz might bestow, the largely instrumental output of fusion bands remained outside the tastes of rock''s and funk''s mass audiences, which overwhelmingly favored vocal music. With the notable exception of successful crossover recordings such as m: Miles Davis''s Bitches Brew, m: Mahavishnu Orchestra''s The Inner Mounting Flame, and m: Herbie Hancock''s Head Hunters (with implications that will be considered more deeply below), rock and funk writers were far less interested in following this "ain''t jazz, ain''t rock" music, as their virtual silence during this period regarding m: Joni Mitchell attests. However, just to be clear, despite my spending considerable time in the text considering the relationship of these musicians to jazz discourse, their inclusion into a jazz history is not my primary concern. Indeed, as DeVeaux notes, "With the possible exception of those in the fusion camp (who are more often the targets of the debate than active participants in it), no one disputes the official version of the history. Its basic narrative shape and its value for a music that is routinely denied respect and institutional support are accepted virtually without question...

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Scenes, Songs and Solos: A Composition and Improvisation Workbook for the Creative Musician Steve Slagle Paperback; 139 pages ISBN: 97819361822882 Schaffner Press 2011 There''s no substitute for experience in the world of jazz, and saxophonist m: Steve Slagle has experience in spades. Slagle has been putting his horn to good use, working with the likes of bassist m: Charlie Haden, saxophonist m: Joe Lovano, pianist m: Carla Bley, the Mingus Big Band, and many others over the past thirty years, and he puts his wit, wisdom and hard-earned knowledge onto the pages of this book...

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Kim Novak''s ad in the Jan. 9 edition of Daily Variety, saying she felt "violated" by the use of music from "Vertigo" in "The Artist," generated dozens of stories and even more blogosphere entries, many focused on her incendiary rhetoric (especially her opening line, "I want to report a rape"). Mostly lost in the discussion was a bigger issue: When is the inclusion of pre-existing music appropriate in a new film? And how pervasive&#151and artistically questionable&#151is the whole temp-track process that led to the controversy...

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A similar negotiation can come into play in the arts programming of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, which seeks to fashion or illuminate connections between old and new styles, and between Austrian art and the work of other communities. Both notions figure into the Emancipation of Re:sonance, a concert series presented in conjunction with the Manhattan New Music Project in which contemporary artists are asked to provide fresh perspectives on works by canonical Austrian composers...

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On a cold day last winter, an ailing Bernard Greenhouse, wearing an elegant bathrobe and attached to oxygen, was wheeled into the living room of his Cape Cod home, which was festooned with paper cutouts of musical notes. Relatives and students, locals and caregivers had gathered to celebrate the 95th birthday of one of classical music''s most respected cellists, a founding member of the famed Beaux Arts Trio and a beloved teacher...

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THE way that Les Paul''s possessions wound up in a tiny local museum a few miles from his sprawling house makes sense in its own way, according to some who knew him. "Les had an idea of how to handle people, and what he liked was a small, intimate room," said Lou Pallo, a longtime member of the Les Paul Trio, the guitarist and inventor''s band. "He didn''t like it when people were so far away he couldn''t touch them...

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"Our Man in New Orleans." This album takes Hirt''s small Dixieland ensemble and punches it up with a big band comprised entirely of brass. The arrangements are short, without a lot of room for the group to stretch out. Still, they manage to play some real Dixieland and the arrangements are quite effective...

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Hard to wrap my mind around the fact that as of yesterday, Michael Brecker has been dead for five years, now. With over 900 recordings to his name, it''s damned near impossible to avoid that singular sax sound of his whether the music is funk, rock, mainstream jazz or fusion jazz. Moreover, I find that more and more of the current crop of sax players are drawing major elements of their style from Brecker, perhaps the most significant indication of his importance to jazz...

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Less than two months ago the great jazz drummer, composer and bandleader m: Paul Motian passed away at eighty years old, in what was arguably the most substantial loss in the jazz world of 2011. He left behind a legacy that''s been well documented on this site, so I won''t get into all that here. Instead, this space is devoted to addressing one last addition to that vast legacy during Motian''s lifetime...

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On a new episode of This Week in Music, Ian Rogers interviews Jeff Jampol, Manager and President of Jampol Artist Management. He''s the manager of legendary,A iconic long since left us artists like the estates of The Doors, Janis Joplin, Rick James and Peter Tosh...

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This week, our video spotlight shines on saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo, who will be in St. Louis for a duo performance on Sunday, January 22 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. In June of last year, Marsalis and Calderazzo released Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, a duo CD on the saxophonist''s Marsalis Music label. This tour essentially is a followup to that recording, which received favorable reviews such as this one from Jazz Times'' Jeff Tamarkin and this one from AllAboutJazz.com''s Mark F. Turner...

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Internet piracy is a serious problem, but the White House now says SOPA simply goes too far. "While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet," leaders from the Obama Administration officially responded Saturday morning on whitehouse.gov. "We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet...

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Recent NEA Jazz Master is among best drummers ever It was nice to see the recent National Endowment for the Arts annual Jazz Masters awards ceremony and concert broadcast online recently from the Jazz at Lincoln Center. All the honorees were fitting, and all&#151the ones present&#151eloquent. Particularly trumpeter Jimmy Owens speaking about the needs of aging musicians (and the lack of support from jazz club owners in that regard), and the good works of the Jazz Foundation of America...

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All About Jazz is celebrating Gene Krupa''s birthday today! Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit. Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909...Gene Krupa was easily one of the most colorful personalities of the big band era. Despite his outrageous stage persona, Krupa was a serious and disciplined musician whose vision changed the role of drummer forever and who helped standardize the jazz drum kit. Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago in 1909... more...

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Shazam Offers Its Own Player That Streams Music Lyrics Wall Street Journal One of the frequent problems for lovers of classical music and jazz is that Shazam isn't that strong in those areas, mainly due to identifying exactly which version of, say, Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A, you are listening to. "Classical and jazz are ... and more »

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