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  Jazztodon artist of the week: Art Pepper! From @aaj : Alto Saxophonist Art Pepper, a native of Gardena California, played in the overtly emotional manner that came to define the West Coast style. His solo approach was always passionate, from early recordings made with Stan Kenton's orchestra during his years with the band (1943 and 1946-52) and in jam sessions on LA’s Central Avenue. Records and club work with Shorty Rogers and his Giants beginning in 1951 provided more room for his s...

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  Was Joanne Bracken the only female member of the Jazz Messengers? #jazz #joannebrackeen #artblakeyandthejazzmessengers

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  Jazztodon artist of the week: Sax Appeal! From Wiki: Sax Appeal is a UK-based jazz band led by Derek Nash, originally formed in Manchester in 1979. The band's line-up comprises five saxophones (Nash, Mornington Lockett, Scott Garland, Gary Plumley, Matt Wates, and Bob Mckay) with a rhythm section. Most of the pieces are original, usually composed by Nash, with some by his father, Pat Nash, and all arranging is by Nash. As well as its core members, the band has had guest appearances by...

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  I miss Michel Pettruciani. Every record of his was a banger. His improvisations and his swing are just amazing. #jazz

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  Here’s my tribute to Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” on its 300th anniversary this month. It’s more relevant than ever, it still has something to say to us, and it still hits hard. https://artsfuse.org/336110/book-appreciation-gullivers-travels-at-300-small-men-tech-bro-delusions/

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  Hear Lost Recording of Pink Floyd Playing with Jazz Violinist Stéphane Grappelli on “Wish You Were Here” https://www.openculture.com/2014/04/pink-floyds-wish-you-were-here-with-stephane-grappelli.html https://toot.community/@openculture/117498279187415798

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  “What’s with the gold? … He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” -Barack Obama

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  Jazztodon artist of the week: Jimmy Smith! From @aaj : Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA. Smith was influenced by both gospel and blues. He first achieved prominence in the 1950s where his recordings became popular on jukeboxes before there were commonly used terms to describe his unique musical flavor. In the sixties and seventies he helped create the jazz style known as 'funk' or 'soul jazz'. There had been earlier limited use of the elect...

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  The president says the Nobel Peace Prize committee is an enemy of civilization. “The Nobel peace prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilization,” Trump went on.

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  Jazztodon artist of the week: Charles Mingus! Born to mixed-race parents in Nogales, Ariz., Mingus grew up in Los Angeles. In a 1962 interview, Mingus notes he was light-skinned; he didn't fit in with the Black, white or Mexican kids at school. He played the trombone, then the cello, but switched to bass when he was 16 because, at the time, it was impossible for a Black man to find work playing classical music. Mingus drew on traditions that ranged from ragtime to the avant-garde, and his...

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  Jazztodon artist of the week: Scott Joplin! From @aaj@jazztodon.com : Scott Joplin personified ragtime; he was its chief champion, the figure most closely associated with its composition. It was Joplin's short, hard-driving melodies- -and the syncopated backbone he furnished them—that helped define the musical parameters of ragtime, a style that gave voice to the African American experience during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In a move not uncommon for young blacks at the time,...