(aus dem Jazzinstitut Darmstadt)
27 January - 9 February 2022 | Ausgabe 03/2022 (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 ...

Samir H. Köck attends a celebration for the appointment of guitarist Karl Ratzer to honorary professor by the Austrian government. Köck looks at state honors that US musicians receive from their government such as invitations to the White House or state department tours, he looks at the situation in France where musicians are being made members of the legion of honor, or England where artists are being knighted or made OBEs, and he asks whether something similar might be possible in Austria, especially as the last three presidents were dedicated jazz fans (Die Presse). --- Matthew Guerrieri reflects on an interview excerpt from the journal Jazz Review from 1959 with pianist/composer James P. Johnson about fashion, coats, hats, suits, down to shoes, and jewelry, and asks what those fashion statements have to say about Johnson, jazz and the times, but also is curious as to how they made it into the printed interview taken by author Tom Davin who otherwise "wrote for New Masses, who marched on May Day, who refused to name names - thought it was worth talking about" (Do the Math).

Robin Lloyd talks to vocalist Kurt Elling about his latest album "Superblue" and his collaboration with guitarist Charlie Hunter, about covering music by Stevie Wonder, Freddie Hubbard, and Wayne Shorter, about the influence of vocalese artists like Jon Hendricks and Eddie Jefferson, about his radio play "The Big Blind", about a jazz mass he is going to record and other projects, as well as about how he takes care of his voice (KNKX). --- Jacob Arnold looks at 1920s clubs and cabarets on Chicago's South Side that "provided spaces for early jazz innovation as well as challenges to racial and gender norms" (Chicago Reader).

Dan DeLuca talks to bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma about his fascination with the life and activism of singer Paul Robeson and his recent tribute to Robeson, "Renaissance Man Reloaded" (The Philadelphia Inquirer). --- Hugh Morris talks to saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins about his latest album "The 7th Hand", about growing up and falling for jazz in Philadelphia, about the influence of the church on his music, about the influence of Kenny Garrett, Branford Marsalis, Marshall Allen and Jason Moran, about the chance of interdisciplinary work at Juilliard School of Music, as well as about seeing his music not so much as "spiritual jazz" than as "sacred music" (The Guardian). Sheldon Pearce (The New Yorker) and Giovanni Russonello (New York Times) listen to Immanuel Wilkins' latest album as well.

Dorothea Walchshäusl talks to classical violinist Daniel Hope about his latest album "America" that contains classical compositions influenced by jazz but also pieces by Duke Ellington and performances together with the Marcus Roberts Trio (Der Tagesspiegel). --- Richard Brody watches "Bix: Ain’t None of Them Play Like Him Yet”, a 1981 documentary about cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, and sees it as a critical portrait of the everyday life of 1920s musicians as well as of the "racialized jazz milieu, in which bands were segregated, although musicians fraternized and played together across racial lines" (The New Yorker).

Felix Adler takes photos of German pianist Michael Wollny visually answering questions about his musical approach and other things (Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin). --- Bill Beuttler talks to singer Cécile McLorin Salvant about her current multimedia project "Ogresse" premiered in 2018 which she is now turning into an animated film, about changing labels from Mack Avenue to Nonesuch, about influences from Disney movies to the Backstreet Boys, as well as about the inspiration to a number of her recent songs (The Boston Globe).

Andy Beta listens to a new collection of Ornette Coleman albums that tries to trace the changes of jazz in the 1960s (The Independent). --- Stefan Hochgesand talks to German singer Erik Leuthäuser about selling pornographic photos of himself online (Tip-Berlin). --- Christian Teetz talks to German singer Uschi Brüning about her career and remembering the late singer/actor Manfred Krug (Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland). --- Sal Cataldi talks to pianist Sam Pritchard who owned a bike messenger business in Manhattan which he then exchanged for a life as a street musician (New York Times). --- Bob Weber remembers singer Clarence (Big) Miller (The Globe and Mail). --- After attending some concerts with Duke Ellington repertoire, Mark Swed looks at the Duke's compositions for or including symphony orchestras and compares what he heard with Ellington recordings as well as with concerts he attended in person (Los Angeles Times). --- Roy Williams reports about a documentary about Sun Ra planned by European filmmakers Pablo Guarise and Guillaume Maupin (Alabama Newscenter).

Obituaries

We learned of the passing of Italian producer Paolo Piangiarelli (Philology Records) at age 81 (Italy24), percussionist Titos Matos at age 53 (New York Times), record store owner Jerry Weber at age 73 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), impresario Jim Harrison at age 88 (New York Amsterdam News), singer Tulivu Donna Cumberbatch at age 71 (New York Amsterdam News), guitarist William De Kuyper at age 68 (San Francisco Chronicle), pianist Mark Levine at age 83 (The Mercury News, WBGO), guitarist Jimmy Johnson at age 93 (Chicago Sun-Times), jazz historian Richard Hadlock at age 93 (San Francisco Chronicle), guitarist Joe Diorio at age 85 (Clarin, JazzWax), drummer Philip Paul at age 96 (The Enquirer), trumpeter Ronnie Waters at age 87 (Patriot-News), Philippine pianist Romy Posadas (Inquirer), composer George Crumb at age 92 (New York Times), businessman and philanthropist with a special love for Louis Armstrong Jerome Chazen at age 94 (WWD), guitarist and singer Syl Johnson at age 85 (Okay Player), Polish saxophonist Zbigniew Namyslowski at age 82 (Wyborcza), as well as critic Agustin Gurza at age 73 (Los Angeles Times).

From the World of Jazz Research

Musicians Rights Symposium
Renee Dubaich reports about a Musicians Rights Symposium organized by the University of Pittsburgh's Jazz Studies program discussing both pianist Erroll Garner's fight for musicians' rights and more recent media concerns (Pittnews).

Radio Jazz Research conference
The German jazz study group Radio Jazz Research plans its 41st conference in Siegburg, Germany, subject "Improvisieren! Prepare to be unprepared" with papers by Alessandro Bertinetto, Daniel Martin Feige, Andy Hamilton and Michael Rüsenberg. The conference is open to all; the fee of 90 Euro includes a good night sleep at the conference venue. To learn more or to register, visit: Radio Jazz Research.

Jazz Then & Now
The seventh Rhythm Changes Conference, Jazz Then & Now, will take place at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 25 to 28 August 2022. Sub-themes include: Jazz in pandemic times; Environment and sustainability; Decolonisation; Jazz Now?; Jazz Then, and Now. More information: Rhythm Changes.

Last Week at the Jazzinstitut

Emil Mangelsdorff
We attended Emil Mangelsdorff's funeral at Hauptfriedhof Frankfurt. The city's mayor and the head of the culture department spoke as well as several close friends; Thilo Wagner played during the funeral service; Thomas Siffling, Tony Lakatos and Wilson de Oliveira accompanied the coffin on its last path (Frankfurter Rundschau, see also Jazz Frankfurt).

Current opening hours of the Jazzinstitut
The Jazzinstitut is open to the public by appointment. Research slots will be given out with exact time slots for one visitor at a time. We ask our visitors to be either fully vaccinated,  recovered or officially tested (3G regulation). At the same time we continue our offer for research help 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.