Jeff Alessandrelli February 11, 2021
With the Covid-19 pandemic, there have obviously been dozens of books that haven’t received the shine they might have under normal circumstances. One in particular that I’ve enjoyed is Jaydn DeWald’s essay collection
Sheets of Sound, out via the UK press Broken Sleep. Discussing the author’s background as a skateboarder, as a jazz musician, as a reader, teacher and writer,
Sheets of Sound lovingly meanders across 239 pages. DeWald writes how “[i]n jazz, the listener is a voyeur, not an addressee. I believe the same is true for a lot of writing–for a lot of my favorite writing, anyway: the reader does not
KMUW | Wichita Public Radio kmuw.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kmuw.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Monday, February 1
Night Train marks International Day of Black Women in the Arts with a special show devoted to women in jazz. We’ll hear selections from harpists Alice Coltrane, Brandee Younger and Dorothy Ashby, singer and pianist Shirley Horn, saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, pianist Mary Lou Williams, singer Ernestine Anderson, and singer, animator and 2020 ‘Genius Grant’ recipient Cecile McLorin Salvant in hour one, and a special featuring Nina Simone in hour two of the show.
Tuesday, February 2
Night Train marks birthdays of saxophonists Stan Getz and Sonny Stitt, highlights music from Dr. Michael White for the February Crescent City feature, and showcases live sets from singers Somi and Ella Fitzgerald. In hour two it’s a special focusing on artists who kept the bebop flame alive in the ‘60s, including birthday artist Sonny Stitt.
Andrew Gilbert January 25, 2021Updated: January 26, 2021, 7:35 am
Wynton Marsalis kicks off Sonoma’s online series with “The Democracy! Suite.” Photo: Erika Goldring , Getty Images 2019
Pulitzer Prize-winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has long championed jazz as an art form that embodies democratic ideals, and during an interview with The Chronicle in the midst of Inauguration Day festivities, he often evoked some of the same soaring tropes that poet Amanda Gorman threaded through “The Hill We Climb.”
“We’re not trying to describe chaos,” he said when asked about “The Democracy! Suite’s” subtly calibrated arrangements and inviting melodic lines. “We’re trying to acknowledge it and provide antidotes. I believe art is ultimately optimistic. It’s always more satisfying to go up than down.”