Simon Adams

Cecil McBee: Mutima Bassist Cecil McBee racked up numerous dates as an in-demand sideman to everyone from Chico Freeman and Andrew Hill to Pharoah Sanders and Elvin Jones, but only recorded eight albums as leader, of which Mutima – “heart” in Swahili, or possibly “unseen forces” – was his debut, initially released in 1974. As […]

Richard Andersson: Monk & More Thelonious Monk remains the wondrous gift that keeps on giving – I’ve been to countless Monk-themed gigs and listened to scores of new Monk-influenced records in the past few years, and all have been worthwhile. This new set – five strong Monk tunes joined by pieces from Lennie Tristano, Lee […]

Elina Duni, Rob Luft: Reaching For The Moon Albanian-born singer Elina Duni is now on her sixth ECM recording, her third with British guitarist Rob Luft, this time just as a duo. As before, she draws on a wide variety of languages and genres, covering such songs as a traditional piece from Kosovo, a Persian […]

This was supposed to be the most spectacular FIFA men's World Cup in history. There are more national teams (48), more host countries (three) and more matches (104) than ever before.

PERTH, Australia, June 11 (IPS) - This planet's biggest sporting event—the FIFA Men's World Cup—will soon kick off. Millions of people around the world will sit up, bleary eyed, watching matches at unreasonable hours and inventing feeble excuses for why we won't be at work in the morning. More than one billion are expected to watch the finale on TV in mid-July. That's a bigger audience than any Olympic sporting event and more than the number of people who have viewed Squid Game on Netflix.

This was supposed to be the most spectacular FIFA men's World Cup in history. Read this article for free:

Note the title of this book: this set of 10 academic essays is an active rethinking of how we regard Miles Davis today, how we approach his work now, how we deal with his preeminent position in modern jazz, and how we approach him as an enduring icon of fashion and style. It is not a rethought history, it is not a historical review of his canon, and it most certainly is not a retrospective biography. Throughout, what matters here is Miles himself, and how he fits within the larger framework of modernism and mass culture. Crucially, it does not peddle the idea that it is “the music itself” that matters, rather than the person. For as the first chapter makes very clear, Miles's persistent violence against women needs urgent addressing, especially during the current debates about masculinity and the #MeToo movement.

Sam Braysher & Linus Eppinger: A Sinner Kissed An Angel London-based alto saxophonist Sam Braysher is now on his fourth album, this time fronting an international quartet featuring his long-standing musical friend and colleague, the German-born, Amsterdam-based, guitarist Linus Eppinger alongside a rhythm section of American-born, French-resident Darryl Hall on bass and the veteran Dutch […]