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News: Opinion

Are Low Music Sales Simply Due to Bad Music?

September 4, 2014

Guest post by Peter Getty. In 1991, Nielsen Soundscan started tracking album sales around the world. Back then, this data gave us valuable insight into current tastemakers, what genres were growing in cultural significance, and generally who the world was listening to. Lately, Soundscan’s reports are nothing more than a simple reminder that the music industry ...

News: Career

5 Tips for Musicians on Maintaining Great Relationships with the Music Press

September 4, 2014

By Jamie Ludwig from the SonicBids Blog. For an independent musician, scoring coverage in a media outlet may seem like the well-earned reward in a long cycle of pitching and waiting, good fortune, or a combination of both. But with the right mindset, it’s actually just the start of a potentially long-term professional connection. Some bands ...

News: Recording

Horace Parlan: 'Speakin' My Piece'

September 3, 2014

I first encountered Horace Parlan's unusual and dramatic piano style on Dexter Gordon's magnificent album Doin' Allright, recorded for Blue Note in May 1961. On the recording, Gordon and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard were out front, backed by Parlan, George Tucker on bass and Al Harewood on drums. What stood out for me was how Parlan operated ...

News: Opinion

Musicians: Give Up Your Fear and Create Music That Speaks to This Generation

September 3, 2014

By Prince Charles Alexander from the Sonicbids Blog. In 1979, I hated “Rapper’s Delight.” You could have shut down hip-hop right there for me and called that a novelty record. How dare they steal Nile Rodgers’ hard-earned intellectual property! Besides, I had just put out my first single and that record was taking up my airtime ...

News: Festival

Sheryl Bailey, Lena Seikaly to Headline Second Annual Mel Bay Jazz Festival

September 3, 2014

Guitarist Sheryl Bailey and singer Lena Seikaly will headline the second annual Mel Bay Jazz Festival, which will take place Thursday, September 25 through Saturday, September 27 at four different venues in and around De Soto, MO. The NYC-based Bailey is a Berklee School of Music graduate who has released eight albums as a leader, the ...

News: Recording

13 CD Discoveries of the Week

September 2, 2014

Apologies for the delay in hipping you to my favorite CDs. It has been tough keeping up with all the incoming discs and carving out time to audit and review. So I think I'll try an experiment—keeping reviews a little tighter. Here are 13 CDs that knocked me out that I think you'll enjoy: Freda Payne—Come ...

News: Music Industry

Al Belletto: 'Sounds and Songs'

September 1, 2014

In the 10-inch jazz LP era between 1952 and 1955, record companies were hungry for arrangers who could write for small groups. With the longer recording format, labels needed to fill out albums without breaking the bank on large bands. So they sought out arrangers who could make 5 to 10 instruments swing and sound twice ...

News: Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: 2014 Fall Jazz Preview, Part 1

August 30, 2014

This week, StLJN presents the first part of our video preview of the fall 2014 season of jazz and creative music in St. Louis. Today's installment covers the touring bands and musicians visiting during the month of September. First up is a clip featuring Roomful of Teeth, the Grammy winning new music vocal ensemble, performing Pulitzer ...

News: Festival

Jazz This Week: Gateway Jazz Festival, Moaje Jam Session, and More

August 30, 2014

As the dog days of August wind down and we look forward to the start of the fall presenting season, here's a look at some of the more noteworthy live jazz performances happening in and around St. Louis this Labor Day weekend. On Friday night, singer Ann Dueren's trio will provide the music for the annual ...

News: Recording

Peter Nero: 'Sunday in New York'

August 29, 2014

In the early 1960s, when virtually all feature films were shot in color, New York played a leading role. Fake city sets on studio lots were no longer suitable stand-ins for Gotham. Also unacceptable was shooting a few outdoor scenes in New York and staging the rest. If you were going to feature New York City ...