November Links

• Via One Working Musician, Nas mashed up with the Jason Parker Quintet. Be sure to also check out Jason's 100 CDs Project. I'll be reviewing his new album in this space soon.
• Also to be reviewed soon, Robin Kelley's exhaustive new Thelonious Monk biography. I would review it sooner, but I'm taking my time with the book and enjoying it. In the meantime, Kelley was a guest on NPR's On Point last month.
• WTF: Louis Armstrong Sings Pharoah Sanders, via D:O. Also at D:O this week, a special guest post from Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus, on Paul Bley.
• Someone discovers jazz from an unlikely source. Whatever it takes, right?
• On The Jazz Session, Jason Crane asks Sonny Rollins if jazz is still relevant. Sonny answers the question better than I could ever hope to.
• Chris Albertson recounts a lunch interview with Miles Davis in 1971.
• More 1971 Miles:

Pardon the dust.

I'm switching templates today, so if things look a little off, it's because I haven't finished yet.


UPDATE: I'm mostly done. The label cloud may get a few tweaks, and I can't seem to get my Amazon widget working, but this is pretty much it. Complaints or suggestions in the comments.

You see, basketball is like jazz...

h/t: The Great Barstoolio

Update: From Jason Crane:

Fascinating talk with basketball writer Nathaniel Friedman from @freedarko about the "jazz=basketball" meme. On The Jazz Session soon. #jazz

I bet this'll be good.

Friday Album Cover: Reid Miles meets RZA and Raekwon

Designer Robert Newman has reimagined a number of Wu-Tang Clan album covers as Blue Note covers. Check it out. Well done, Robert!


h/t: Jack Shafer's twitter

Programming Note

Tonight PBS will reair last week's Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize American Humor ceremony, awarded to Bill Cosby. While Cosby received the prize for his contributions to comedy, he will also be acknowledged as a longtime advocate for jazz, with musicians Wynton Marsalis and Jimmy Heath appearing at the ceremony. Cosby has hosted the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles every year since 1979, and has appeared on a number of jazz albums, including Charles Mingus And Friends In Concert, a favorite of mine.

Below, Cosby ruminates on Lester Bowie and Louis Armstrong on the set of The Cosby Show.