Sometimes things don’t work out as planned. As you might have noticed, we did not publish an issue on January 15. Instead, we are presenting a combined January/February issue with bonus Retro and CD Reviews. A combination of delayed publication dates, technical issues and over-scheduling meant that a January 15 issue would have been rather skimpy, and not terribly interesting. By delaying this issue, I was able to add articles which could not have been completed by mid-January. Our next issue should publish on March 15, and I plan to include the same expanded coverage then. Thanks for your patience!
This month’s Book Review spotlights Ted Gioia’s new history, “Love Songs: The Hidden History“. Since Gioia is one of the premier historians of American music, you might expect a history of the modern love song, but instead Gioia traces the form back to the 23rd century BC. It’s a fascinating book that may well stir up controversies in musicology. We have a pair of Retro Reviews this month: Mosaic’s 7-CD collection of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s Atlantic Studio Recordings from 1956-1964, and a wonderful new double CD of Red Garland at San Francisco’s Keystone Korner from December 1977. Our instrumental CD reviews focus on three pianists who salute their idols and mentors, while our vocal CD reviews showcase two fine singers with fresh approaches to repertoire. Our Sidetracks column also functions as a CD review as we introduce you to an exceptional bassist and vocalist, Katie Thiroux.
Jazz History Online’s Facebook page continues to gain members. If you are not yet one of our nearly 1350 fans, please go to www.facebook.com/JazzHistoryOnline and like us! To be sure you get our Facebook messages, hover over the “liked” button on our Facebook page, and click the top two selections (“Get Notifications” and “Following”). If you’d like a monthly e-mail update of new articles (no, we won’t sell your addresses to anyone else), or would like to communicate with me, please write to [email protected]
Best,
Thomas Cunniffe