21 February 2018
... what else ...
The German saxophonist Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky has been awarded the German Record Critics' award for the album "Letzter Rabatz!" ( Schallplattenkritik). --- Esther Brenner reports about musicians demanding their fee from last year's festival in Saarbrücken, Germany, after the artistic director had embezzled the money ( Saarbrücker Zeitung ). --- Paddy Harper reports about accusations of corruption against ANC leader Mike Mabuyakhulu over R28-million in provincial government funding that was spent on a jazz festival in Durban, South Africa, which never happened ( Mail and Guardian). Bheki Mbanjwa reports about another defendant in the festival scandal, the Durban businessman Mabheleni Ntuli ( IOL). --- Larry Blumenfeld reports about a new album by the singer Alicia Hall Moran ( The Village Voice). --- Howard Reich watches "Body and Soul. An American Bridge", a documentary about the way in which African Americans and Jews interrelated through jazz ( Chicago Tribune). --- Samuel Jones attends a concert by Darcy James Argue's Secret Society with a political program, yet presented by a "completely white 18-person outfit" with only one female musician ( Columbia Spectator). --- Cassandra Day talks to the pianist Terry Woolard ( The Middletown Press). --- Bastian Küllenberg talks to the bassist Nick Blacka of the British band GoGo Penguin ( Intro). --- Shalina Dasgupta talks to the Canadian saxophonist Jonathan Kay ( Media India). --- Jasminka Hubert hears and talks to the pianist Joe Haider ( Zürcher Unterländer ). --- Nils Neuhaus reports about the current state of the discussion about a "House of Jazz", the idea by German trumpeter Till Brönner ( Berliner Morgenpost). --- Howard Reich reports about Lauren Deutsch who will step down from her post as executive director for the Chicago Jazz Institute after 22 years ( Chicago Tribune). --- Christine Sexton reports about a hacker scam which nearly cost the Jazz Centre UK 10,000 Pounds ( Echo News). --- Thomas Stridde reports about the German jazz promoter Thomas Eckardt who received an award for his commitment to jazz ( Ostthüringer Zeitung ). --- Jill Radsken talks to pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Esperanza Spalding and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington about the importance of the late pianist Geri Allen who will be commemorated at a tribute at Harvard University ( Harvard Gazette). --- Mary Carole McCauley reports about the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore hiring three musicians with local ties to strengthen the school's jazz program ( Baltimore Sun). --- Rose-Marie Gropp sees the exhibition "Boom for Real" about the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in Frankfurt, Germany ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ). --- Sam Meredith reports about the guitar brand Gibson being on the brink of bankruptcy ( CNBC). --- Dan Polletta talks to the saxophonist Sonny Rollins about an undisclosed gift to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music to establish the Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble Fund ( IdeaStream).
Obituaries
We learned of the passing of the singer Wesla Whitfield at the age of 70 ( New York Times), the singer Vic Damone at the age of 89 ( New York Times), the blues radio host "Sunshine" Sonny Payne at the age of 92 ( Helena World), the Chilean jazz promoter Pepe Hosiasson at the age of 86 ( El Club de Jazz ), the historian Lerone Bennett Jr. at the age of 89 ( New York Times), the German saxophonist Uwe Werner at the age of 62 ( Rems-Zeitung), the French violinist Didier Lockwood at the age of 62 ( The Straits Times, Libération, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung), as well as the trumpeter Mason Prince at the age of 92 ( Omaha World-Herald).
Last Week at the Jazzinstitut
Two major concerts took place at the Jazzinstitut's concert space during the last two weeks: Tobias Hoffmann's trio exploring the sound possibilities in a broad repertoire between "Blues, Ballads and Britney", and Charlotte Greve's Lisbeth Quartett playing two sets of intense melodies and intimate communication among the four band members, all of whom gave an insight into their musical approach during the conversation between sets of this JazzTalk concert. We look forward to hearing the Cuban pianist Ramón Valle with his trio this Thursday, organized by the Beyond Blue Connection ( Konzerte im Jazzinstitut).
The Jazzinstitut is part of a regular meeting of the heads of scientific and cultural institutions in the city of Darmstadt which met Monday at ESA / ESOC, the European equivalent of NASA, based in Darmstadt (and, yes, we got a tour by Paolo Ferri, head of interplanetary mission operations). 37 of these institutions just signed a memorandum strengthening the infrastructure for science and culture in our city ( Memorandum).
Johannes Breckner read and reviewed Wolfram Knauer's new book on Duke Ellington. He calls it an "amazing biography" which "opens the ears of the readers for details and processes in the music" and puts Ellington's oeuvre into the "context of black American cultural history" ( Darmstädter Echo).
We read ... Dan Vernhettes' "Commemoration of the Centenary of the arrival of the African-American military bands in France during World War I" (Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray 2017, Jazz’edit), Guillaume Belhomme's "Jazz en 150 Figures" (Paris 2017, Editions du Layeur), and Benjamin Bierman's "Listening to Jazz" (New York 2016, Oxford University Press). The review of these and other books can be found on the book review page of our website.
