Jordannah Elizabeth is marking the 10-year anniversary of the first notable jazz piece she ever wrote, a tribute to Alice Coltrane’s “Transfiguration.” From there she was able to mark the first reissue of Alice’s Turiyasangitananda, on David Byrne’s label Luaka Bop — and interview her eldest daughter Michelle for LA Weekly.
Patrick Hinely wrote a centenary remembrance of bassist Eugene Wright for Cadence magazine. An exhibition of Hinely’s work in Lexington, Virginia’s Nelson Gallery during May included images of Freddie Green, Steve Swallow, Hal Russell’s NRG Ensemble, and Keith Jarrett, as well as his portrait of Kurt Vonnegut. Hinely is currently working on an extended piece about percussionist, composer, and bandleader David Earle Johnson, and hopes all who knew him will share recollections, observations, and/or anecdotes via mailto:mphinely@embarqmail.com.
Ellen Johnson published the 2-part article “The Vocal Music of Charles Mingus” at AllAboutJazz. Johnson contributed original lyrics and her voice to the song “In the Grove of the Jacarandas” on the current Luiz Millan release Brazilian Match (JSR).
David Keller returned to jazz after retiring as an archivist in 2020, writing liner notes for Roberto Miranda and Horace Tapscott cds on DarkTreeRecords as well as for Tapscott’s forthcoming Nimbus West Records “Dissent or Descent.” He’s currently working with Washington State University Press on a new edition of The Blue Note: Seattle’s Black Music Musicians’ Union.
SAD NEWS: Ralph Lampkin, Jr., died on Saturday, June 24, at age 66. Owner of LMG, Ralph had been working on the PR campaign for the current single “Almost,” from Amanda McBroom and Ann Hampton Callaway, and coordinating the Play MPE campaigns for “Almost”, the current single “I Miss You (sax version)” from saxophonist Danny Lerman, and TC the 3rd’s cd The Music as well as with Joanie Pallatto on her just released album Accidental Melody on Southport Records.
Howard Mandel moderated an audience conversation with percussionist Vladimir Tarasov, who he’d first met in the 1980s, at Shul Vilna (Boston) following his solo performance celebrating the 700th anniversary of the founding of the Lithuanian capitol. For DownBeat, he reviewed albums by Rudy Royston, Brian McCarthy and Edmar Casteñada, and interviewed 96-year-old-guitarist George Freeman in his home for a profile in the October edition.
Scott Thompson PR is proud to present Funkwrench Blues’ Soundtrack for a Film Without Pictures, fronted by bassist/composer Frank Swart and featuring Gary Bartz, Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Warren Wolf, Idris Ackamoor, and Mike Clark. Thompson also is working Bill O’Connell’s latest Live in Montauk and Emmett Goods’ Another Level. New clients include vocalists Monika Ryan’s Playfully and Vanessa Thomas’s Life is Like a Song.
Michael J. West wrote an obituary of George Winston for NPR music, wrote about vocalist Alison Crockett in his Swing Beat column for Washington City Paper, previewed the David Murray Quartet at Blues Alley for the Washington Post, and began his new position as reviews editor for DownBeat magazine.
