New this week
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We lost two major figures in American music history this week. The great saxophonist Sonny Rollins, at 95, and MC Rob Base, at just 59. The coincidence is an opportunity to recognize two of the country’s most important art forms at a time when its reputation for making the world a better place is in…
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People come to ambient music from a variety of directions. Many reach a stage in their life when they look to entertainment for a sense of calm and tranquility. Others gravitate to it as a progression of their interest in beat-oriented electronic music. A third group embraces it like they do all genres — it’s…
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Drummer Charles Downs was a mainstay of the New York City free jazz scene in the 1970s, mainly as a member of Ensemble Muntu with saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc. In those days, he went by Rashid Bakr — a tribute to fellow drummer Rashid Ali who performed with Sonny Rollins and both John and Alice Coltrane. In…
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Up top in the notes that accompany the glorious debut by Chicago duo Potliquor is a reference to Hakim Bey’s temporary autonomous zone concept. Bey — born Peter Lamborn Wilson — defined it as a space in which formal control structures are prevented. Bey, who passed in 2022, was a U.S. anarchist author, philosopher and poet.…
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The inclusion of electronics in contemporary jazz music is still sufficiently unorthodox that new releases in the sub-sub-genre have to be approached with a bit of caution. Are they there solely for decorative purposes? Are they added post-production? It’s still a rare thing to see an electronic musician contribution to a jazz record in a…
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Dr. Ayman Fanous works out of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix, where he is a professor and chair of the psychiatry department. Fanous’ field is psychiatric genomics research, specifically genetic risk factors for psychiatric illness. In the ample spare time afforded by that career choice, Fanous has earned a reputation as…
