(aus dem Jazzinstitut Darmstadt)
24 November – 7 December 2022 | Ausgabe 21/2022 (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 ...

Nou Dadoun tells the story of a string quartet Charles Mingus wrote for poet, writer and art critic Frank O'Hara and how it met with mixed response at a concert at New York's Philharmonic Hall (Vancouver Jazz). --- Marc Myers pays tribute to the art of guitarist Freddie Green (who happens to be the namesake for one of the Jazzinstitut's office dogs) (JazzWax).

Mauretta Heinzelmann tells the story of the North German Radio (NDR) jazz department founded 70 years ago (NDR). For the anniversary the station has put together a number of broadcasts highlighting some special concerts, projects and people connected with NDR Jazz (NDR). --- Phil Freeman talks to trumpeter Jeremy Pelt about the difference of working for/with a label and producing one's own albums, about producing other peoples' music, about the post-Covid concert situation at the moment, especially in Europe, as well as about his experience of working with bassist Ron Carter (Stereogum).

Lewis Porter continues his closer look at John Coltrane's "Impressions" focusing on the bridge of the composition (Playback with Lewis Porter), and finding more possible inspirations for Coltrane's interpretation with Erroll Garner (Playback with Lewis Porter). Porter also continues to look at the improvisations skills of Billie Holiday (Playback with Lewis Porter). And he promises to discuss every film clip with Charlie Parker in it, starting with a couple of seconds from the Metronome Award Show from February 1949 (Playback with Lewis Porter). --- Ulrich Stock travels with the Sun Ra Arkestra from Berlin to Hamburg  when suddenly the clouds break open, the ensuing hole showing the outline of a spaceship ("I took a picture, otherwise nobody would believe it!"). He remembers the man himself, Sun Ra, focuses on his impact on Afrofuturism, finds that the band's fans become younger and younger while Marshall Allen, the current leader, continues to front the band at age 98 (although he didn't make it to Germany for health reasons). He is fascinated by the Arkestra's instant groove, and remembers his visit, earlier this year, to Hartmut Geerken's Sun Ra Archive at the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt (Die Zeit).

Vinnie Sperrazza listens to drummer Phillip Wilson who, he claims, "connects straight-ahead jazz, the AACM, Motown, Stax, Woodstock, and more" (Chronicles). Sperrazza also listens to a 1959 solo by drummer Pete LaRoca with Jackie McLean (Chronicles). --- Czech saxophonist and flutist Jiří Stivín  turns 80 and celebrates with a concert in tribute to St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians (Radio Prague).

Noah Washington talks to saxophonist Joe Jennings about his long experience as a musician and teacher in the Atlanta area, about hearing Charlie Parker on the radio and the influence of New Orleans clarinetist and educator Alvin Ba[p]tiste, as well as about the need to practice in order to get anywhere in music (The Atlanta Voice). --- Jakob Guttenbacher answers a kid's question about why a jam session is called a "jam" session (die tageszeitung).

Dan DeLuca visits Solar Myth, a new kind of jazz club in the former indie rock venue Boots & Saddle in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer). --- John Shand talks to saxophonist Kamasi Washington about the need to be true and honest in order to reach people, about hearing and learning "in layers" which makes him mix colors in his music, about the influence of the Los Angeles music scene on his artistic development, as well as about the patience it needs to accept that one cannot control when creativity hits one (Sydney Morning Herald).

Ted Gioia writes about the collector and private blues researcher Mack McCormick who never published any of his research during his lifetime, about how he met him in 2005, about McCormick's secretiveness with information – for every piece of information he gave out, it seemed, he raised ten more questions –, about then unreleased books about Robert Johnson and Texas blues, about his, Gioia's attempts to secure McCormick's archive for posterity, and about his worries that even though McCormick's archive is now heading to the Smithsonian, just saving the paper without McCormick's expertise knowledge might not be enough (The Honest Broker). --- Steve Provizer listens to Ahmad Jamal's  new release, "Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse, 1963-64 and 1965-66" (Arts Fuse). Richard Brody listens to the album as well (The New Yorker).

John Edward Hasse celebrates Cole Porter's "Night and Day" that premiered 90 years ago in the Broadway show "Gay Divorce" (Wall Street Journal). --- Nicky Schrire talks to Australian saxophonist and composer Jenna Cave (London Jazz News) and South African vocalist Nomfundo Xaluva (London Jazz News) about balancing motherhood and their respective jazz careers in the 18^th and 19^th installments of her series "Mothers in Jazz" (previous installments of the series can be found on London Jazz News).

Wibke Bergemann talks to German pianist Andrej Hermlin about his love for swing music and how that does relate to the present time, about trying to sound authentic and make sure that Benny Goodman is not forgotten, about the coldness of a more modern big band sound, about online concerts he gave during the pandemic from his house which used to be owned by his father, author Stephan Hermlin, about family memories of the 1930s when his parents and grandparents had to flee from Nazi Germany, about formal suits which he wears on and off stage, as well as about not feeling nostalgia as much as authenticity in being, living and playing what he likes (Prinzip Apfelbaum). --- German trombonist Günter Christmann turns 80 and Wolfgang Sandner celebrates him as an important voice of German free jazz and a link between music and dance (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

It's that time of the year again, we guess, and Giovanni Russonello picks his best jazz albums of 2022. His selection includes tracks by Cécile McLorin Salvant, Immanuel Wilkins, Fred Moten/Brandon López/Gerald Cleaver, Anteloper, David Virelles, Samara Joy, Moor Mother, Angelica Sanchez, Makaya McCraven, and Samora Pinderhughes (New York Times). --- Thomas Wolff talks to German vibraphonist Christopher Dell about one of the main tasks for musicians being "not to be dumbed down by the circumstance", about how the critical discourse of his hometown Darmstadt (he lives in Berlin today) shaped his musical aesthetic, about his other field of expertise, urban design, and what it could learn from jazz ("nothing"), about how everybody at any given time produces the space we live in and how musicians participate in the production of space ("musical space") as well, as well as about what makes a good improvisational artist: "that you're able to ask: What's actually going on?" (Darmstädter Echo). Christopher Dell, by the way, will be awarded the Hessischer Jazz Preis (Hesse Jazz Award) this Saturday. George E. Lewis will give the laudation speech (Hessisches Jazzpodium).

Harrison Jacobs reports about a posthumous installation of the late Milford Graves' works at Art Basel Miami Beach curated by the percussionist's granddaughter (Art News). --- Robin Lloyd talks to Seattle singer Jacqueline Tabor about having had to accept that what she likes to do is sing the blues, about a recent Koko Taylor tribute, as well as about wanting to travel more and get involved in theater (KNKX).

Chris Searle talks to British trumpeter Henry Lowther about his musical background, about his influences over the years, as well as about his latest album "Never Never Land" (Morning Star Online). --- Larry Blumenfeld reads a new biography of saxophonist Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy (Wall Street Journal).

Angela Barbuti talks to saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom about the time she decided to become a professional musician, about how she coped with the pandemic situation of the past couple of years that resulted in a "remote duet" project which she developed together with audio engineer and producer Ulrike Schwarz, as well as about a commission she got from the NASA Arts Program and an asteroid named after her (Our Town). --- Lee Rood talks to 95-year-old saxophonist Julius Brooks who performed with Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, James Brown  and many others (Des Moines Register).

Obituaries

We learned of the passing of pianist David Ornette Cherry at age 64 (Oregon Arts Watch), Cuban singer Pablo Milanés at age 79 (El Pais), singer Louise Tobin at age 104 (Washington Post, New York Times), saxophonist Joel Press at age 92 (Jazz Lives), New Orleans grand marshal Darreil Johnson at age 81 (New Orleans Times-Picayune), German journalist Gerhard Hopfe at age 89, drummer Peter Turre at age 65 (New Orleans Times-Picayune), saxophonist Andrew Speight at age 58 (The Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle), arranger Paris Rutherford at age 88 (Dallas Morning News), as well as German jazz promoter Heinz Huber at age 79 (Passauer Neue Presse).

From the World of Jazz Research

Destination Unknown: The Future of Jazz

The next Darmstadt Jazzforum conference is taking shape. Its date: 28-30 September 2023. Its title is inspired by Hartmut Geerken's Sun Ra Archive housed at the Jazzinstitut: "Destination Unknown. The Future of Jazz". 

Our Call for Papers can be found on our website (Destination Unknown) together with a corresponding blog that outlines some of our own thoughts on the subject.

Current entries: (1) The devil you (don't) know; (2) Soothsaying; (3) If you have visions; (4) infinite vastness; (5) just go ahead ... (women in jazz)

Paper suggestions can be in either German or English. If you want to be part of the conference as an active or passive participant, let us know. If you have any ideas for a paper or a panel, write to us. If you want to know what happened at the Jazzforum conferences over the years, browse the website of our publisher (Wolke Verlag, Jazz).

International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz, Third Conference

The International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ) will host its Third Conference, February 23–25, 2023, at the JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music, Vienna. A call for papers focuses the following areas: 'research of' vs 'research with'; demonstrating ‘rigor’ in improvised music; knowledge exchange via improvised music practice; value/application of knowledge to the wider research community. More information: Artistic Jazz Research.

Populäre Musik und ihre Geschichte

The Lippmann+Rau-Musikarchiv in Eisenach, Germany will stage a conference about "popular music and its history", specifically focusing on the impact of public and private collections and researchers on the knowledge about popular music of all kind in the 20^th century. The conference (27-28 January 2023) will be in German and feature presentations and roundtables on a variety of subjects. The complete program that also includes two concerts is online (Lippmann+Rau-Musikarchiv).

The Art of Counterpoint

New York's Zürcher Gallery currently shows an exhibition presenting "8 musicians making art", namely: Marion Brown, Bill Dixon, Douglas R. Ewart, Ted Joans, Oliver Lake, Matana Roberts, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Wadada Leo Smith. The digital copy of the catalog is available on the gallery's website (Zürcher Gallery).

Robert Levin on Cecil Taylor

We were alerted to the website of author Robert Levin that contains examples from his many years of jazz and cultural criticism, especially enjoying his fascinating memories of Cecil Taylor over the years (Robert Levin).

Last Week at the Jazzinstitut

(New) books we read

Among the books on our desk the last couple of weeks was "Carolina Shout! The Carolina Jazz Connection", by Larry Reni Thomas (see the Jazzinstitut's book review page).

Changes at the Jazzinstitut

Doris Schröder had been at the Jazzinstitut since 1995. As an art historian one of her focuses as on caring for and preserving our visual collection, photos, posters, videos and the like. She started curating traveling exhibitions of which "Jazz Changes", a history of jazz through 100 years, became successful with German festivals and venues, and "Deutscher Jazz / German Jazz" curated for the Goethe-Institut traveled the most, basically through all five continents.

In the early 2000s Doris started the Jazzgalerie, taking up half of the top floor of the historic Kavaliershaus we are occupying, plus the baroque staircase plus exhibition walls in the concert space underneath the Jazzinstitut, as an art space for both local and international artists. All of the 50 plus exhibitions she curated had a jazz connection, highlighted the inspiration the music had given to painters, sculptors and other visual artists or the documentary value of photographs. Her work resulted in a number of published catalogues; she also regularly contributed to our Jazzforum conference – last with a Niklaus Troxler exhibition for our "Roots | Heimat: Diversity in Jazz" Jazzforum in 2021. She did all of this besides being a knowledgeable adviser to many of our visitors or digital users, and a warm, open and supporting colleague and friend. On 30 November 2022 Doris retired from the Jazzinstitut, any all we can do is thank her for her wonderful service over 27 years.

At the same time we are happy to announce that Marie Härtling took over on 1 December 2022. Marie has studied musicology, ethnology and music education and has had previous contacts with the Jazzinstitut through an internship in 2016 and supporting us at the "Jazz@100" Jazzforum conference in 2017. Apart from filling the big shoes that Doris left, Marie will focus on projects in audience development and community care. Welcome to the team, Marie! (Darmstädter Echo)

Jazzstudie 2022

The Jazzinstitut was again involved in the "Jazzstudie 2022", a survey of living and working conditions of German musicians, and a follow-up study to the "Jazzstudie 2016". The new study specifically focused on aspects such as income and social security, on the effects of the pandemic, as well as on the need for a functioning pension plan for musicians. While many results of the study may be not unique to jazz, others, such as experiences of discrimination and intersectional disadvantages, point to possible need for political action which especially the Deutsche Jazzunion, the organization that commissioned the new study, will pursue in the near future.

The complete study can be downloaded here (Jazzstudie). On the bottom of that page you will also find a link to the previous Jazzstudie 2016. The Jazzstudie was presented in an online press conference last Thursday (JazzThing).

Manfred Magin posters at the Jazzinstitut

In late November the Mannheim-based graphic designer Manfred Magin visited the Jazzinstitut to hand over original posters for a legendary concert series in the small town of Hemsbach where the local electrician Manfred 'Herres' Hörr befriended US-American jazz stars and organized concerts with, among others, Art Farmer, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, Benny Golson, Nat Adderley, Leo Wright, and Chet Baker. Magin's posters document this series of concerts from between 1980 and 1992. They were printed in small editions and have a distinctive visual language that always puts the artists in the foreground and creates maximum visibility despite the use of only one additional color. Doris Schröder accepted the generous gift of 23 posters for the collection of the Jazzinstitut.

Jazzverband Hessen

We have been involved in an informal interest group for jazz in Hesse, the German federal state we are based in. Now, some of the participants have decided to make that group official by forming the Jazzverband Hessen as an association aiming at networking, exchanging information, developing visions for an even more vivid jazz scene within the state of Hesse. The foundation meeting is set for Saturday, 10 December 2022, 3pm, at (rather, near) Musikhochschule Frankfurt. Should you live and/or work within that region, you can still register here (Jazzverband Registrierung), or you just drop by (Gründungssitzung Jazzverband Hessen). The Jazzinstitut will be there, as will be musicians, initiatives, and others active in the field of jazz, and many will remain through the evening when vibraphonist / composer / urban design theorist Christopher Dell will receive the Hesse Jazz Award (Hessisches Jazzpodium).

The New Jazz Listener

Singer and radio host Changamiré visited the Jazzinstitut recently. Now we will visit her back for "The New Jazz Listener", a show broadcast weekly on the Clubhouse app (New Jazz Listener). On 11 December 2022, 4:00-5:30 PM EST, the show's hosts Changamiré, Marvin Anani and Drewsean Williams welcome singer Lily Dahab, pianist Bene Apperdannier, both based in Berlin, and the Jazzinstitut's Wolfram Knauer for one and a half hours of music and talk. Each guest will select two numbers and talk about why she or he are fascinated by it. The show aims at generating new jazz listeners or make listeners curious about directions they had not been aware of. Tune in, if you like!

Website trouble

In our last JazzNews we told you about some website trouble that made us review all of the subpages on our website which by now seems to be fully functional again. The Wegweiser Jazz, however, our online database listing clubs, venues, festivals, labels, musicians and much more, is still only partially accessible. Our technicians work on the problem and we are hopeful that all will be solved by mid-December. We'll keep you posted!

Current opening hours of the Jazzinstitut

The Jazzinstitut is open to the public by appointment. We also offer 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.