almost strictly links - Fall 2008 Vol. 1

Of interest, but not blogged during Fall 2008:

Howard Mandel on jazz festivals.

Vocalist and Shirley Jordan acolyte Theo Bleckmann on Fresh Air.

Damon Albarn's Honest Jons label and record shopping (a bad habit I share).

Nate Chinen on DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist in concert.

Alexander Gelfand writes in The Forward on the extremely talented clarinetist and neo-Klezmer musician Michael Winograd.

The new breed of New York music clubs.

Despite a poorly thought-out title and cover image, George Duke pumps out the jams on Dukey Treats.

Egon (of Stones Throw fame) compiles some excellent Ethiopian funk, Mexican funk and some incredibly fast flow.

This was one of my best music purchases of 2008. Thanks Joe T!

Steve Smith takes over the music editorship at Time Out New York with a bang.

An obsessive Louis Armstrong collector donates his massive collection of Satchmo memorabilia to Queens College.


Jazz goes mambo by NPR cultural reporter Felix Contreras, a talented percussionist himself.

The best music book I bought this year.

Another William Parker album. Another Kevin Whitehead Fresh Air review.

NPR correspondent Reese Erlich on Cuban musicians who have remained.

A typically great Sunday NY Times playlist by Nate Chinen.

William Claxton, a jazz photography iconoclast, passes on.

I disagree with Pitchfork on this one. A much-debated album for sure.

Jon Pareles' overture to CMJ 2008. Nate Chinen on Deerhoof's much-anticipated CMJ show w/ Experimental Dental School.

My boss' old boss passes - an old school music PR legend and author.

Philly's phavorite underground female artist finally gets the City Paper cover treatment, seven years late.

These four NY players get my vote for best new jazz group of 2008 besides Aaron Parks, Bad Touch. Ben Ratliff raves over them days after I saw them in Philadelphia. (Another auspicious debut as a leader came from Swedish trumpeter Matthias Eick, who along with Parks, Marcus Strickland, Anat Cohen, Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper, JazzTimes called a "new visionary"). Full disclosure: Aaron Parks is a client of mine - but he's just so bad ass. Seriously.

A remarkable week for Philadelphia live music. Still kicking myself for missing Dungen.

NY-based pianist Henry Hey creates quite the YouTube stir with his now famous Palin's Song(s).

Pittsburgh gets a rare visit from the excellent Dutch Willem Breuker Kollektief.

Keith Jarrett never misses a chance to make beautiful music and an ass of himself - all in a night's work.

R&B/funk god Leon Ware visits The Blue Note in NY promoting his new album on Stax.

This reminds me I really need to check out this new Bobby Previte record. I haven't seen NY critics go gaga like this over a gig by Previte in a long time.

New York-based music critic Steve Dollar has a newish blog with excellent articles called "House of Skronk." I've added it to the Compatriots section to the left.

An interesting piece on female MCs on Slate.

A great Sunday playlist by the Detroit Free Press classical and jazz critic Mark Stryker.

On Election Night, jazz journalist and ListenGood blogger Larry Blumenfeld goes out to see political music, rather than watching the television.

Ben Ratliff reviews critic and historian Ted Gioia's new book on delta blues. Gioia is the editor of Jazz.com.

NPR's Weekend Edition explores the impact of new technology on the art and business of making music today.

Mama Africa passes.

The Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ gets a facelift thanks, in part, to The Boss.

The new recording by the Matthew Herbert Big Band gets a few very different reviews.

This is just plain awesome. Thanks Wired Listening Post. Note the addition in Compatriots to the left.

RIP Tony Reedus.

More to come soon.