The Week in Jazz is your roundup of new and noteworthy stories from the jazz world. It’s a one-stop destination for the music news you need to know. Let’s take it from the top.
Jazz School: Education News
Europe Jazz Network Public Online Webinars on COVID-19 Crisis Online: During the months of May and June 2020, the Europe Jazz Network broadcast a series of public online webinars. These webinars dealt with various aspects of the COVID-19 crisis and its short and long-term effects on the creative music sector. They are still available to stream on their website and you can click here to check them out.
Note-Worthy
John Coltrane Giant Steps 60th Anniversary Edition Due Out September: Rhino is releasing a remastered 60th-Anniversary Deluxe Edition of John Coltrane‘s seminal 1960 album, Giant Steps, this September. The set boasts eight alternate takes, a booklet, never-before-seen photos and original liner notes as well as new liner notes by historian Ashley Kahn. In addition, Rhino will also release a Super Deluxe Edition, featuring 20 additional outtakes from the original sessions. Both sets will be available on vinyl and CD.
Pat Metheny’s ECM Catalog Now Available as High-Resolution Streaming and Download: Pat Metheny‘s ECM catalog is now available for the first time as high-resolution downloads and streaming. The eleven-album catalog spans his releases with ECM Records from 1976-1984. These include such classic LPs as Bright Size Life (1976), Offramp (1982) and 80/81 (1980). The albums are available on Qobuz, HDtracks, Acoustic Sounds, Prostudiomaster, Tidal, Apple and Amazon. Click here for more.
Marcus Roberts Shares Video for Mighty Writers Nonprofit: Pianist Marcus Roberts released a video to benefit Philadelphia nonprofit Mighty Writers, which teaches Inner City kids to read and write. In this video, originally posted on Literary Hub, he performs songs, talks about some of his favorite artists and discusses the importance of literacy to him as a blind man.
https://youtu.be/R__wtjMXn0s
Monumental Ode to the Little Rock Nine, Out on September 25: A studio version of No Tears Suite, a monumental ode to the Little Rock Nine, will be released on September 25 via Mahakala Music/Oxford America. The suite was penned by Little Rock musicians pianist Christopher Parker and vocalist Kelley Hurt. It premiered in 2017 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Little Rock desegregation crisis and is performed here in a studio version by Parker and Hurt with a stellar septet.
Watch New Makaya McCraven Documentary: A new documentary providing a behind-the-scenes look into the making of Makaya McCraven‘s 2018 Universal Beings is out now. You can watch it via the player below. In addition, on July 31, the Chicago-based drummer/producer shared an accompanying album named Universal Beings E&F Sides. The album presents 14 pieces of organic beat music cut from the original Universal Beings sessions, prepared and produced by McCraven as a soundtrack for the documentary.
Charlie Parker Vinyl Reissue Out Today: Verve/UMe releases today, August 7, the vinyl reissue of The Magnificent Charlie Parker, a collection of all of Parker’s singles for Clef Records, recorded in January and August 1951. The collection features many jazz greats, including Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans and more. This is just one of the initiatives celebrating the 100th anniversary of Parker’s birth and you can find out more HERE.
The Gig: Live Music & More
Birdland Announces New Concert Series: Birdland has announced the launch of a new concert series featuring a slew of exciting Broadway, jazz and cabaret performers. The series will be presented on the BroadwayWorld Event streaming platform, with new shows aired every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. Click here for tickets and more information.
New Release Cheat Sheet
Jesse Fischer, Resilience (Soul Cycle)
On Resilience, pianist/producer/composer Jesse Fischer explores the connection between groove-based modern jazz, the music of the African diaspora and Fischer’s own Jewish heritage. The album features seven instrumentals and two songs by Fischer, plus several special guests, including Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Becca Stevens and Grégoire Maret, among others.
Eddie Daniels feat. Dave Grusin and Bob James, Night Kisses: A Tribute to Ivan Lins (Resonance)
Clarinetist Eddie Daniels heads a new project celebrating the legacy of legendary Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins. Night Kisses reimagines some of the compositions from Lins’ acclaimed albums of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and also brings Daniels together with piano legends Dave Grusin and Bob James, along with a top-class trio and the GRAMMY-winning Harlem Quartet.
Immanuel Wilkins, Omega (Blue Note)
Having turned heads on Joel Ross’s KingMaker, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins debuts as a bandleader on Blue Note. Omega established him as a force to be reckoned with, reveling in the jazz tradition and drawing on the Black American experience as well as his profound Christianity. The album was produced by his mentor Jason Moran and features Wilkins’ quartet of Micah Thomas, Daryl Johns and Kweky Sumbry.
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