THE MUSIC NERD'S STOCKING 2014

Hey there, kids. The Beast has just posted our last articles for 2014 over at Los Angeles magazine's blog: #17 in our music series The United Sounds of Los Angeles and our annual gift-guide roundup of 2014's Best "Little" Music Books. Below are some more suggestions to supplement those. Happy Holidays and see you in the New Year.

OTHER NOTABLE "LITTLE" BOOKS OF 2014:
The Essential Ellen Willis (Minnesota UP), ed. by Nona Willis Aronowitz
Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter (Oxford UP) by Richard Barrios 

Where the Streets Have 2 Names: U2 and the Dublin Music Scene, 1978-83 (Liberties Press) by
     Patrick Brocklebank & Sinead Moloney

Mad Music: Charles Ives, the Nostalgic Rebel (ForeEdge) by Stephen Budiansky

Metal Cats (powerHOUSE) by Alexandra Crockett
Acadian Driftwood: The Roots of Acadian and Cajun Music (Fox Music Books) by Paul-Emile    
    Corneau
The Flatlanders: Now It's Now Again (Texas UP) by John T. Davis
Miles Davis / 1973 (Vigliano) by Stephen Davis
The Smell of Death (Rare Bird) by Bruce Duff
King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records (Illinois UP: Reprint) by Jon Hartley Fox
Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot (Riverhead Trade) by Masha Gessen
Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984 (PM Press) by Ian Glasper
True Love Scars (Neumu Press) by Michael Goldberg
Strange Days: The Adventures of a Grumpy Rock 'n' Roll Journalist in Los Angeles (Outpost) by 
    Dean Goodman
Bathed in Lightning: John McLaughlin,the 60s and the Emerald Beyond (Jawbone Press) by Colin     Harper
Rednecks, Queers, and Country Music (California UP) by Nadine Hubbs
Elvis Has Left the Building: The Death of the King and the Birth of Punk Rock (Overlook) by
    Dylan Jones
Is It My Body? Selected Texts (Sternberg) by Kim Gordon, ed. by Branden W. Joseph
Austin City Limits: A History (Oxford UP) by Tracy E.W. Laird
The Battle of the Five Spot: Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field (Wolsak & Wynn:  
    Reprint) by David Lee
The Greatest Albums You'll Never Hear: Unreleased Records by the World's Greatest Artists 
    (Caseli) by Bruno MacDonald
Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop and Rap (Plexus) ed. by Evelyn McDonnell &
    Ann Powers
Staging the Blues: From Tent Shows to Tourism (Duke UP) by Paige A. McGinley
Pilgrimage to Dollywood: A Country Music Road Trip through Tennessee (Chicago UP) by Helen
    Morales
Los Angeles's Central Avenue Jazz (Arcadia Publishing) by Sean J. O'Connell
Punk USA: The Rise and Downfall of Lookout! Records (Microcosm) by Kevin Prested
NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990 (Bazillion Points) by Tony Rettman
Frank: The True Story That Inspired the Movie (Riverhead) by Jon Ronson
Heroes: David Bowie and Berlin (Reaktion) by Tobias Ruther
Remixology: Tracing the Dub Diaspora (Reaktion) by Paul Sullivan
Haunted Rock & Roll: Ghostly Tales of Musical Legends (Llewellyn Publications) by Matthew R.
    Swain
Dance Floor Democracy: The Social Geography of Memory at the Hollywood Canteen (Duke UP)
    by Sherrie Tucker
A Different View: A Memoir - The Story of the the Father of Modern Bass Playing (BT Music) by       Bertram Turetzky
Confidence, or the Appearance of Confidence: Best of The Believer Music Interviews  
    (McSweeney's), ed. by Vendela Vita & Ross Simonini
The Auntie Em's Cookbook: A Musician's Guide to Breakfast and Brunch (Prospect) by Teresa C.
    Wahl
Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap (Oxford UP) by Elijah       Wald
Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music (Wesleyan: Reprint)       by Robert Walser
The Black Horn: The Story of Classical French Hornist Robert Lee Watt (Rowman & Littlefield)       by Robert Lee Watt
Top 40 Democracy: The Rival Mainstreams of American Music (Chicago UP) by Eric Weisbard
Huey "Piano" Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues (Louisiana State UP) by John Wirt
No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens 
    (DiWulf) by Amy Yates Wuelfing & Steven DiLodovico

Passing Though The Nickel Whilst Fishbonin'

The Beast has just published a new installment of our series The United Sounds of Los Angeles, whereupon we wax nostalgic about one of our fave L.A. bands: Fishbone.

JUST ANNOUNCED! This Sunday (Oct. 26) at 7:30pm,  Filmforum will be presenting the L.A. premiere of Alina Skrzeszewska's documentary Songs From The Nickel. The Nickel is an area of downtown L.A. (centered around Fifth Avenue, hence its nickname) that houses a lot of transient hotels; indeed, the importance of The Nickel to L.A. music history involves free-jazz godfather Ornette Coleman. In the early 1950s, Coleman lived for a brief period at The Morris Hotel on Fifth Street and Ruth Avenue, which housed many rank-and-file black entertainers, from dancers to showgirls to musicians. Sammy Davis Jr. and the Will Mastin Trio had stayed at the Morris in the mid-1940s; Davis used to dance on the corner for extra change, laying his hat on the sidewalk or entertain sick comrades at their bedside.Despite its dodgy location near L.A.'s Skid Row — "Everywhere I looked were the dregs of Los Angeles," Davis remembered, "as if every pimp and dope peddler in town had moved onto Fifth Street." In fact, the father of Fishbone guitarist Rocky George (as well journalist/essayist Lynell George), was a policeman who used to walk a beat on the Nickel back in the 1950s.



JUST ANNOUNCED! MOCA will present a special screening of Larry Clark's iconic film Passing Through on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 12:00 noon. This is a rare opportunity to see this film made in 1977. Horace Tapscott, Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq & Jesse Sharps appear in the film. Go here to read the Beast's 2008 preview of the film here.

Bobby Bradford Reconvenes the Mo'tet [UPDATED]

Fresh off his 80th Birthday and a showcase concert at the Angel City Jazz Festival last week, composer/bandleader/educator Bobby Bradford will reassemble an extended octet version of his band The Mo'tet exactly one month from today, on Sunday, November 2, 2014 at the Mayme Clayton Library in Culver City. The lineup: BB (cornet), Chuck Manning (reeds), Michael-Pierre Vlatkovich (trombone), Don Preston (keyboards), Ken Rosser (guitar), Roberto Miguel Miranda (bass) and Christopher Garcia (percussion). As an added treat, saxophonist Vinny Golia will join the band for the second set, which will highlight compositions from Bradford's longtime collaborator, clarinetist John Carter.

The concert is from 2-5pm, preceded at 1pm by a brief interview with Mr. Bradford by the Beast's pal (and repository of bad jokes), music writer Jeffrey Winston. Admission is $20 and seating is limited. You can purchase tickets here.

Mr. Carter and Mr. Bradford, L.A., 4/22/78

[photo courtesy of Mark Weber]

JUST ANNOUNCED: Fuasi Abdul-Khaliq is back for one engagement before returning to Europe for an extended tour. On Sat., Oct. 11, He will be performing at Roscoe’s Seabird Jazz Lounge (730 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA, 562-522-8488) with Acknowledgement, a group that was founded in the summer of 1975 by himself and 6 other members of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. Of the original members who are still with us and will be performing on this night are Ishmael Hunter, who is the current organizer of this group as well as trumpeter Steven Smith and saxophonist Michael Sessions. It promises to be a very musical and enjoyable evening bringing back some of the original founding members of this musical coalition after being separated as an entity for almost 40 years. The event will be complemented with pianist Bobby Pierce on piano and bassist Jeff Littleton. First set starts at 9pm.

SON OF JUST ANNOUNCED: Ken Moore of Howling Monk is starting a series of six 4th Sunday afternoon concerts called "The Jazz State of Mind" at Fais Do Do. Reedman Bennie Maupin ("and Friends") will be the first featured show on Sunday, October 26 at 3pm. Doors Open at 2pm.

Oh yes, how could we forget? The Beast has published a few more lil' ditties over at Los Angeles Magazine. Check out the newest entries in our ongoing series The United Sounds of Los Angeles: #11 & #12, #13 and #14. There's also a new documentary on Arhoolie Records and its founder Chris Strachwitz that we reviewed here.

"If I Was Blogtrollin', Would You Blogtroll Too?"

First off, HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY TO MR. BOBBY BRADFORD!
Wondering Sound's Kevin Whitehead Has a profile of the L.A. free jazz master here. The Beast also heard that the maestro will be playing a concert at Culver City's Mayme Clayton Library in November. Reportedly, Bobby has an awesome band, including the keyboardist for the original lineup of his Mo'tet, ex-Mother of Invention Don Preston.

The Beast has two new articles up on the Los Angeles Magazine site, one about The Go-Go's and one about the late Charlie Haden, who just passed away on July 11. If this isn't a testimony to the diversity of L.A. music, we don't know what is.


Here are some more Haden-related remembrances, plus some other interesting stuff from around the Web:

"Live In the Present": Charlie Haden Remembered

(NPR)

When Charlie Haden Met the Minutemen

(Dangerous Minds)

R.I.P. Charlie Haden

(MetalJazz)

Liberation Chorus: 41 Artists Remember Charlie Haden

(Do the Math)

Charlie Haden Spoke For Beauty

(Portside)

Charlie Haden's Emancipated American Music

(The Daily Beast)

Goodbye, Charlie

(Gary Fukushima)

How Charlie Haden Revolutionized Jazz

(Slate)

Don Cheadle On Playing Miles Davis in New Biopic

(DownBeat)

WATCH: Trailer for Jazz Doc Last Stop on the 4 Train

(URB)

The 10 Biggest Classic Rock Douchebags
(West Coast Sound)

The Screwgun Story: An Interview with Tim Berne

(Search & Restore)

ARCHIVES: Bad Brains Live at CBGB 1982 (Full Show)
(YouTube)

What's Worth More, the Song or the Recording?

(American Songwriter)

Disavowing Jacko and The Pixies

(Tiny Mix Tapes)

LISTEN: The Charles Lloyd Interview

(The Jake Feinberg Show)

Q&A: Amanda Petrusich on Falling in Love with the World's Rarest Records

(Chicago Reader)

How Streaming Music Kills Jazz and Classical
(Salon)

The 101 Strangest Records on Spotify
(The Guardian)

Our Own Private Saturns: The History of "Futuristic" Music

(Pitchfork Media)

LISTEN: Jimmy Giuffre and Eric Dolphy -- Rediscovered Jazz Innovators

(NY Times)

Charlie Parker & The Wildest Party in L.A. History
(L.A. Weekly)

WATCH: Guitarist Plays Along with Sobbing Japanese Politician

(Digg)

Freak Scene: 2014's Weird World of Underground Rap

(SPIN)

Alive Inside: Are iPods the Best Medicine for Dementia?

(Salon)

Inside D.C.'s Culture of Military Bands

(Washington Post)

The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s

(FactMag)

WATCH: Birds on a Wire Inspire Composer
(YouTube)

L.A. Avant-Electro Label Dublab Turns 15

(Billboard)

Branford Marsailis on His Unlikely Collaboration with the Grateful Dead

(Rolling Stone)

Sun Ra: 10 Essential Tracks

(Pitchfork Media)

Julian Lage Gives Nels Cline A Kick in the Ass

(Straight)

LISTEN: Talking Heads' Earliest Known Recordings

(Open Culture)

The Secret Weapon: Mr. Bungle Bassist Trevor Dunn

(Something Else!)

Piss, Porn, Shit, Sex & Sewing: On Tour with Xiu Xiu

(The Quietus)

Diehards: Erin Feinburg Photographs Rabid Music Fans

(Behold)

Ambient Music's Alternate Realities

(Electric Fling)

LISTEN: The tUnE-yArDs In Concert

(NPR's Tiny Desk)

Solsticin' [UPDATED]

REST IN TEMPO, 1928-2014

Hey there kitty-kats, it's been awhile! Still working on IT and finished the first chapter. In the meantime, we just posted a new installment of out "Ultimate L.A. Record Collection" series over at Los Angeles magazine. Some more random nuggets:

ITEM! The new lineup for the 2014 Angel City Jazz Festival has been announced, and probably the biggest coup is the appearance of free-jazz hellion Anthony Braxton. Braxton also just celebrated a birthday, and our friend and colleague Anthony Miller -- with whom the Beast collaborated on a memorable "joint post" -- has written a brief but potent appreciation of the controversial saxophonist.

ITEM! Saturday, June 21st is Make Music Los Angeles day (co-organized by our blog bud Leroy "The Jazzcat" Downs). There are 150 FREE concerts around the city celebrating the Summer Solstice and quite a few jazz acts on the bill, including Carl Burnett, Randall Willis, Dwight Trible, James Leary, Hamilton Price, Rose Gales, Jacques Lesure and 87-year-old Central Avenue sax legend Cecil "Big Jay" McNeely.

ITEM! The Nels Cline Singers have a new video out from their most recent album Macroscope:

ITEM! After its successful Horace Tapscott tribute back in March, the Mayme Clayton Library will be staging the second of its jazz-salon series next month. The featured performer will be guitarist and head of UCLA's Jazz Studies program Kenny Burrell. Better get on those tickets, as the last salon was sold out!

ITEM! Since he flew in from Europe especially to play the Tapscott tribute (and blew The Beast and our friend away with his complex and virtuosic solos), pianist Bobby West had decided to stick around his hometown for a few gigs. You can catch the cat they once called "Little Ramsey" in two places next weekend: June 27th at H.O.M.E. and June 29th at Fais Do-Do. As you can see in the below video, this man is not to be missed!



ITEM! Leimert Park's World Stage is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, and part of the festivities involve a concert honoring one of its founders, the late, mercurial timekeeper "Smilin' Billy" Higgins. Check out the killer lineup:

ITEM! Our blog bud Sean O'Connell has finally published his first book on Los Angeles' Central Avenue Jazz scene. On Sunday, June 29, O'Connell will be hosting a book-release party at Little Tokyo's Blue Whale jazz club. The Daniel Rosenboom Quintet will finish out the evening with a set.

ITEM! David Lee's long out-of-print book The Battle of the Five Spot: Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field has just been reissued by Wolsak & Wynn Publishers with a cool new cover.



ITEM! Could there be a resurgence of jazz-related movies? Adding to Sundance faves Low Down (with John Hawkes and Elle Fanning) and Whiplash (with J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller), actor Don Cheadle should be given some serious respect for his consistent and very vocal one-man crusade to star, co-write and make his directorial debut on Miles Ahead, the Miles Davis biopic he's been working on for years. (He's been a good example of how to master social media in order to generate press, interest, and funding in jazz-related projects.) His IndieGoGo campaign, launched just two weeks ago, has already made $147,671 towards a $325,000 goal. Check out various short videos Cheadle has made to help promote his effort here.

ITEM! The Society for the Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound has announced its first concert of the summer at its Kings Road environs. This Saturday, June 28, iconoclastic cellist Charles Curtis will perform the L.A. premieres of Occam 5 by electronic music pioneer Éliane Radigue and Glacier by sound artist Alvin Lucier. (Back in the day, Curtis participated in bands such as King Missile, Dogbowl, Bongwater and experimental noise overlords Borbetomagus.) You can buy tickets here.

REST IN TEMPO, 1925-2014

USOLA #6 & 7

The Beast has posted the latest two entries in our United Sounds of Los Angeles series over at Los Angeles magazine. Read #6 here and #7 here.

USOLA #5

The Beast has a new installment of our series The United Sounds of Los Angeles over at the Los Angeles Magazine site; you can check it out here.

In the print edition of the May issue, our blog bud Sean J. O'Connell profiles South L.A. saxophonist Kamasi Washington and his new record.

In Square (Flat) Circle

Over at the Los Angeles Magazine site, the Beast has two new entries in our United Sounds of Los Angeles series. Check out Part 3 here and Part 4 here. We also haven't done some blogtrollin' in awhile, so here's a smattering of interesting links:

Creating Space for Creative Music at L.A.'s Blue Whale

(Lubricity)

Where You Stand at a Show and What It Says About You

(Pitchfork Media)

LISTEN: When Jazz Went to College

(Indiana Public Radio)

Frankie Knuckles For Newcomers

(Slate)

The Mysterious Record Company That Launched Frankie Knuckles

(Wax Poetics)

WATCH: Miles Davis Discusses Prince
(YouTube)
 

New Photos of John Coltrane Surface 50 Years After They Were Shot

(Smithsonian)

Read Dr. Dre's Hilarious Letter To His Girlfriend

(Bullett Media)

How The First Crimean War Helped Create Rock & Roll

(Salon)

 

Jazz Name Food Puns 

(Fail Better) 

 

WATCH: One-Woman Band Covers Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box"

(Twisted Sifter) 

 

17 Annoying Things That Make Your Bandmates Secretly Hate You

(RedDog Music)

 

Building Strength: Asian-American Hip Hop in L.A.

(KCET)

 

PHOTO GALLERY: Peter Erksine's Candid Photos of Jaco Pastorius

(JazzTimes)

 

How Brains See Music As Language

(The Atlantic)

 

LISTEN: Mulgrew Miller on Piano Jazz

(NPR)

 

Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon: Classic Rock Conspiracy Theories

(Dangerous Minds)

 

Hardcore Metal Musicians Pose With Their Cats

(Bored Panda)

 

Famous Album Cover Art Imagined From A Different Perspective

(Stereogum)

 

The 100 Best Albums of the 1990s

(FactMag)

 

LISTEN: Robert Glasper and Jason Moran Play Live

(WBGO)

 

Do Recordings Kill Music?

(The New Yorker)

 

Herbie Hancock on Buddhism and Creativity

(The Jazzcat)

 

WATCH: Composer James Mtume Calls Out Critic Stanley Crouch

(YouTube)

Bits 'N' Bobs [UPDATED]

Stan Gilbert & Carl Burnett

Los Angeles, 2008

[photo by Warren Berman]

 

ITEM! With a career that has spanned from the Latin Jazz renaissance of the late 1950s to the Hip Hop renaissance of the late 1990s, drummer Carl Burnett (a.k.a. Karim Saleh) is an indelible part of Los Angeles music royalty. (In the late-1980s, Burnett opened the performance space ARTWORKS 4, which joined musicians from Leimert Park's jazz and hip-hop communities and was the inspiration for Billy Higgins and Kamau Daaood opening The World Stage.) Friday, Mr. Burnett will reunite with bassist Stan Gilbert, his partner in crime from the days of working the rhythm section with Cal Tjader and Gene Harris' The Three Sounds, for "Reviving An American Art Form," a monthlong residency at Leimert Park's Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center. Together with their frequent collaborator, pianist Karen Hernandez, they will play three dates -- March 7, 14 & 28 -- as the Jazz West Trio. All shows are at 8:00 PM and opening night cover is $10. The emcee will be scholar/poet Dr. Derrick Gilbert (a.k.a., "D-Knowledge") and each show will feature vocalists from the World Stage Vocal Workshop, overseen by pianist Howlett Smith.

ITEM! On March 17 at 7:30pm, Mr. Burnett will also take part in a tribute to the late saxophonist George Harper, who recently passed away at age 71. Also at the Barbara Morrison PAC, the concert's all-star line-up will include Jacques Lesure, James Leary, Rickey Woodard, Nolan Shaheed, George Bohannon, John Beasley, Dwight Trible, Justo Almario, Karen Evans, Roy McCurdy, Theo Saunders, Phil Ranelin, Dee Dee McNeil, Cornel Fauler, Richard Grant, Charles Owens, Donald Dean and many more. The suggested donation is $20, which given the talent present is quite the bargain.

ITEM! Starting March 13, the L.A. Philharmonic is bringing back its mammoth Minimalist Jukebox festival, a citywide, multivenue effort that will last until early May. An oh, the goodies that will be available! Try the much-ballyhooed Kraftwerk 3D Concerts, the Philip Glass Ensemble performing Music in Twelve Parts, and Maximum Minimalism, with L.A. Phil Creative Chair John Adams conducting the Calder Quartet in selections from Steve Reich, Missy Mazzoli and Julius Eastman, among others.



ITEM! Two days before the Minimalist Jukebox, SXSW will premiere Adam Kahan's new documentary about Rahsaan Roland Kirk, entitled The Case of the Three-Sided Dream. Coming down the pike, according to the Beast's confidential sources, is The Sound of Redemption, a documentary about troubled L.A. postbop saxophonist Frank Morgan. Interviews are currently being filmed.

ITEM! On Saturday, March 8th, the jazz/improvised music scene in Long Beach will get its own mini-showcase. Titled Excursions: A Sight & Sound Festival, the daylong event is curated by guitarist Scott Heustis and trumpeter Dave Williams. The lineup includes some of the Beast's old Cryptogramophone pals, including The Mentones (led by contrabassist Steuart Liebig) and guitarist G.E. Stinson and keyboardist David Witham squaring off with live painter Norton Wisdom.

ITEM! On March 14, modern chamber ensemble The Kronos Quartet will celebrate is 40th Anniversary at UCLA's Royce Hall. The program will include two premieres: Philip Glass' Orion: China, with special guest, pipa virtuoso Wu Man; and Views from Here to the Heavens (for Scott Fraser), an original composition by our pal Nels Cline, who will be in attendance with his '59 Fender Jazzmaster.

ITEM! Oh yes! How could we forget? The Beast just wrote an article for the L.A. Weekly about plans to transport the art of 35 African-American artists from Southern California to the vaunted international stage of the 2015 Venice Biennalle. The multmedia program, curated by former California African American Museum head curator jill moniz, will including films, poetry and performances from three generations of L.A. jazz musicians that ranging from veterans of Horace Tapscott's Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra to high schoolers currently under the tutoring wand of Leimert Park community organizer Fernando Pullum.

ITEM! We also have Part 2 of our series The United Sounds of L.A. over at Los Angeles magazine.

[photo by Nanette Gonzales]

Two New Music Series, Yo!

Over at Los Angeles magazine, the Beast has just started a new music series called The United Sounds of Los Angeles, in which we offer up 100 must-have L.A.-centric albums from the indispensable to the willfully obscure. All genres will be represented! So get that "Like" button primed and feel free to Tweet/Comment/Repost to your heart's content. Thank you in advance!

A music series of a different stripe has just been announced for the Mayme Clayton Library in Culver City. Following the passing last year of journalist Mimi Melnick, whose Double M Jazz Salon was a vital connective tissue amongst L.A.'s far-flung jazz communities for nearly two decades, the Clayton has decided to continue Mimi's salons. And their starting this new series on April 6 with a corker of a show: A Celebration of the Music of Horace Tapscott. (There's a bit of poetic justice here: Tapscott was an early supporter of Ms. Clayton's efforts to found the Western States Black Research Center, which evolved into the current Clayton Library.) The killer band is made up of Tapscott friends and acolytes: Bassist Roberto Miguel Miranda, drummer Fritz Wise, saxophonists Michael Session and Tracy Caldwell and poet Kamau Daa'ood. There's even a real coup afoot: the great pianist Bobby West is flying in from Europe JUST FOR THIS SHOW. There is no excuse to miss this -- especially if a cat like Mr. West can cross the Atlantic to pay his respects on what would have been his mentor's 80th birthday. You can buy your tickets here. And if you can't make it? GET THE WORD OUT ANYWAY!