Magazine-themed prn from the ‘Jam Session’ pics in the Google/Life set Gjon Mili did for Esquire: (NB that little group in the bottom left hand corner are from Vogue magazine.) Mili of course made Jumpin’ the Blues, and also this freekin great clip of rockstars:
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more Esquire talk
Billie Holiday at the Met in 1944 as part of the Esquire All Stars concert (by GJon Mili from the Life series). Other Esquire posts (mostly for my own remembering): magazines, jazz, masculinity, mess jam session photography pop culture, jazz and ethnicity it’s not a dj!
magazines, jazz, masculinity, mess
This is another in-progress bit of writing in response to things I’ve been reading lately. I’ve found some nicely critical engagments with jazz and jazz study, and am suddenly wishing I was in the US. This isn’t the most coherent of posts, partly because I lost part of it with an inadvertent page refresh. Shit.Continue reading “magazines, jazz, masculinity, mess”
Metronome All Stars, 1946
My favourite part of the new Coleman Hawkins Mosaic set is the little collection of 1946 recordings by the Metronome All Star Band. This particular session features Charlie Shavers, Lawrence Brown, Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins, Harry Carney, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Bob Ahern, Eddie Safranksi, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, June Christy and Sy Oliver (arranging), recordingContinue reading “Metronome All Stars, 1946”
(Try To) Write About Jazz
(Photo of Amiri Baraka by Pat A. Robinson, stoled from here). Long time no post. I’ve been busy with a few different projects lately, most of them impeded by vast quantities of randomly-generated anxiety. I’m bossing some DJs for MLX11, I’m bossing some DJs locally, I’m sorting some solo dance practices, I’m looking at venues,Continue reading “(Try To) Write About Jazz”
new orleans jazz?
I’m interested in the way dancers and DJs use the term ‘New Orleans’ when they’re talking about music. Different dancers use the term in different ways. There, are, for example, a number of dancers who’ve moved to New Orleans itself, and use the term ‘New Orleans music’ (or NOLA music or whatever) to refer toContinue reading “new orleans jazz?”
digital resources… mostly
This post is really just to track a range of online sources I’ve used today. I’m really interested in the relationship between different tools, and between online and face to face tools. I want to frame this post/discussion by pointing out that swing DJs are interested in music primarily as dancers and as DJs forContinue reading “digital resources… mostly”
lists and canons in jazz
An interesting discussion has cropped up on SwingDJs called “30 Good Hot Records” from LIFE. This is what I’m about to post in response. I love lists of iconic or ‘good’ songs/books/films/texts. I love them because though they are presented as definitive, they are always[ more effective as a provocation than a definitive answer toContinue reading “lists and canons in jazz”
it’s not a dj!
Continuing with talk about jam sessions, magazines and jazz in the 40s… Dust4Eyes asked me if I’d seen the pic of the ‘DJ’ in the GJon Mili Life series. I hadn’t. I’ve just been looking at them again, and came across this one: This isn’t actually a DJ, but someone recording the session. For aContinue reading “it’s not a dj!”
pop culture, jazz and ethnicity.
NB: I’ve done some edits on this post for the shocking grammar/mistypes. Apologies. In the 1930s and 40s – most particularly the 40s – jazz was mainstream music. It was popular. Though it had been discussed in a range of specialist magazines and periodicals (including Down Beat and Metronome) for years, the mid-40s saw mainstreamContinue reading “pop culture, jazz and ethnicity.”