It's the holidays again. You may want to buy some books and music for your friends. On to the links...- Patrick Jarenwattananon reflects on seeing Sonny Rollins for the first time. Also at A Blog Supreme, Felix Contreras offers a suggestion for the White House's hold music.
- Dave Brubeck was awarded with the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month in Washington. President Obama recounted how his first experience with jazz came when he attended a Brubeck concert in Hawaii as a ten-year-old in 1971. Peter Hum has a recap, and you can watch a video of Obama's remarks here.
- Chris Kelsey offers some words of wisdom on buying a new saxophone.
- Possibly coming soon: a Fela Kuti biopic.
- Tim McCarver: More than a subpar baseball analyst. You can buy his album here
, it's a perfect gift for the baseball fan who kind of annoys you.
- Doug Ramsey was interviewed on NPR to discuss the musical contributions of Vince Guaraldi to the famous A Charlie Brown Christmas. I'm not a huge fan of Christmas music, but I will always make an exception for Guaraldi's soundtrack
. Christmas Time Is Here is a great ballad, and Skating is one of my all-time favorite melodies. Guaraldi's renditions of Greensleeves and O Tannenbaum are also sublime.
