Jazz News
(aus dem Jazzinstitut Darmstadt)

14 - 27 January 2021 | Ausgabe 02/2021 (English)

We read the morning paper for you!                                      

Dear jazz friends,

The Jazzinstitut's JazzNews keeps you up-to-date with news of the jazz world, which we collect, summarize, and issue via e-mail about once a week. This service can also be accessed on our website (www.jazzinstitut.de), where it is updated on a daily basis.

If you need bibliographies of the musicians named in our JazzNews, please click on our website’s Jazz Index page. This is a bibliographical reference to jazz-related books, magazines, journals and other sources that you can access without charge. If you don't find the name(s) you’re looking for, feel free to e-mail us! We will send you Jazz Index digests of articles about musicians as they make the news.

Now, have fun reading about the jazz week that was!

... brief news ...

David Marchese talks to the actress and singer Cicely Tyson about different phases of her career, but also about relationship with Miles Davis (New York Times). --- Stefan Künzli (Luzerner Zeitung) and Harry Nutt (Frankfurter Rundschau) remember the career of the singer Caterina Valente on the occasion of her 90th birthday.

Francis Davis lists the winners of the 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll (NPR). --- Lara Pelegrinelli and a team of independent reporters take the opportunity to analyze the NPR poll data for the presence of women jazz musicians and reflect upon the status of female jazz artists in general (NPR).

Eli Countryman reports about a benefit for the Birdland jazz club in New York supported by Bill Clinton, Clive Davis, Leslie Odom Jr. and others (Variety). --- The film "Soul" collects positive reviews all over; now Lisa Abend reports about discussions concerning "stereotyping and prejudice in European-language voice-overs, even when [film has] main characters of color" (New York Times).

John Soltes talks to the pianist Arturo O'Farrill about his latest album, "Four Questions" which features academic Dr. Cornel West (Hollywood Soapbox).  --- The 89-year-old German trumpeter Dusko Goykovich receives the Berklee Master of Global Jazz Award, presented to him on 22 January during a livestream by Berklee president Roger Brown (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Berklee).

Peter Jaschke talks to the German trumpeter Johannes Stange about his decision to become an organic vegetables farmer after the pandemic canceled most last year's gigs (Mannheimer Morgen). --- Christian Laier talks to the German saxophonist Dirk Rumig about the way he deals with the effects of the crisis (Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung).

Kevin Canfield reports about the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has filed for bankruptcy (The Oklahoman). --- Will Coviello asks about the future of jazz festivals in New Orleans after the JazzFest announced it would move its date from spring to September (New Orleans Times-Picayune).

Eckhard Roelcke talks to the German drummer Moritz Baumgärtner about the hardships created for musicians by the pandemic and about his lack of understanding for political decisions that seem to not realize the danger of the current crisis for the arts (Deutschlandfunk Kultur). --- David A. Taylor reports about a documentary by the Turkish filmmaker Umran Safter about Ahmed and Nesuhi Ertegun who in the 1930s and 1940s hosted "Black jazz artists on special jazz evenings at the Turkish Embassy in Washington" (Washington Post Magazine).

Ethan Iverson listens into and discusses each track of some trio and quartet recordings by Keith Jarrett with Charlie Haden, Paul Motian and Dewey Redman between 1967 and 1976 (Do the Math). --- Anja Buchmann talks to the German saxophonist Luise Volkmann who happens to be the next recipient of the Jazzinstitut's Kathrin Preis award (Deutschlandfunk).

Susanne Schilp reports about a room at the city hall of Berlin-Schöneberg which will be renamed in honor of the late guitarist Coco Schumann (Berliner Woche). --- Alastair Steel reports about and prints excerpts from an interview with saxophonist Stan Getz recorded in 1987 which will be aired for the first time on 2 February (Planet Radio).

Obituaries

We learned of the passing of the trumpeter Luigi Cioci at the age of 78 (The Philadelphia Inquirer), the composer and arranger Sammy Nestico at the age of 96 (Naija Talk Zone), the Guyanese pianist Ebe Gilkes at the age of 90 (Nation News), the poet Q.R. Hand Jr. at the age of 83 (Mission Local), the pianist Junior Mance at the age of 92 (Down Beat, Washington Post, WBGO, New York Times), the French author Patrick Williams at the age of 73 (Le Monde), the promoter Gino Moratti at the age of 84 (Dignity Memorial), the South African trombonist and composer Jonas Gwangwa at the age of 83 (AlJazeera, The Guardian), the singer Janet Lawson at the age of 80, as well as the trombonist Bill Hanna at the age of 88 (Clture).

From the World of Jazz Research

Klaus Pehl is a German clarinetist specialized in historic jazz styles and ragtime. He was the founder and leader of the Ragtime Society Frankfurt  and played with numerous other Frankfurt-based ensembles. He is also a private researcher and has recently published his research on ragtime, a (German language) book titled "Ein Blick auf Ragtime. Populäre Musik zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts und unvergänglich liebenswürdig" on his own website and the website of the Ragtime Society.

Last Week at the Jazzinstitut

(New) books we read

Among the books on our desk the last couple of weeks were "A Treasury of Rhode Island Jazz & Swing Musicians", by Dennis Pratt & Tom Shaker; The Essential W. Royal Stokes Jazz, Blues, and Beyond Reader, by W. Royal Stokes, and Charlie Parker. The Complete Scores. Full Transcriptions from the Original Recordings, transcribed by Chris Romero (see the Jazzinstitut's book review page).

 

German Jazz Award

The German Jazz Award (Deutscher Jazzpreis) "is intended to highlight and support the diversity and creative power of the German jazz scene" (Deutscher Jazzpreis). The Jazzinstitut's Arndt Weidler is on the board of advisors for the award that comprises 31 categories and comes with both a trophy and associated prize money. Now the German government has advertised the "Projektleitung Jazzpreis" (project management Jazz Award) with an application deadline until 5 February 2021 (Stellenausschreibungen Bund).

 

Opening hours of the Jazzinstitut during the lockdown

The Jazzinstitut is closed to the public until 14 February 2021. However, we are available for research help or any other queries by phone, e-mail or video-call. If you would like to schedule a video call, please send an e-mail to make an appointment and give us an idea what you want to talk about. We will then reply with a link for a Webex video session for your meeting.

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