Friday, March 16, 2018

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* "Rubberband," a "lost" Miles Davis recording made after the trumpeter's mid-'80s switch of record labels from Columbia to Warner Brothers and then shelved, will be released as a vinyl EP (pictured) for Record Store Day 2018.

* On a related note, Paste magazine has posted online some tracks featuring Davis' band recorded live in 1970 at NYC's Fillmore East, just before the release of the trumpeter's landmark album Bitches Brew.

* And while we're on the subject of Miles Davis, Pitchfork's ongoing series of retrospective album reviews this week found a lot to like about his album Get Up With It, a compilation of tracks from various early '70s sessions released in 1974, just before Davis' infamous six-year hiatus from performing.

* Speaking of Record Store Day, pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields performs on a special RSD release from Sound Prints, the band co-led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Joe Lovano. The limited-edition, green vinyl 45 RPM record on Douglas' Greenleaf Music label features Lovano’s new original tune “On Pebble Street” and an alternate take of "Scandal," a Douglas composition that's the title track of the band's forthcoming album.

* Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor, The Dark Room, saxophonist Kendrick Smith, and Thurman's in Shaw all were mentioned this week in an article about St. Louis by the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler" columnist Lucas Peterson.

* Applications for program grants from the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis are due on Friday, April 20.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn recently sat down with journalist/author Cal Fussman for an episode of Fussman's new podcast "Big Questions." The interview goes online soon at https://www.calfussmanpodcast.com/.

* Singer Denise Thimes was interviewed on the latest episode of the "Chicago Jazz" podcast from  ChicagoJazz.com.

* Jazz St. Louis is now accepting applications for their 2018-19 JazzU program for middle school and high school student musicians, with auditions set for Monday, June 4 through Thursday, June 7. Applications are due by Friday, April 27.

* Trumpeter and former East St. Louisan Russell Gunn's residency this week at Columbia College Chicago is the subject of an article in DownBeat.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has posted to SoundCloud more than 30 tracks of audio from last weekend's gigs at Jazz at the Bistro.

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