New 8Tracks mix by MilesOfTrane

Check out my new #8tracks mix with two by John Coltrane plus world, rock, called "eclectic and whirl" at ♫ http://8tracks.com/mixes/33005

Ravi Coltrane

Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane: A Benefit For JazzReach

new 8Tracks mix: Carlos

No jazz except one Coltrane, and actually some fusion.Free, easy to listen, not easy listening.

Cheap Ride Over

I've bought my share of 10 cent downloads from the so-called legal download sites. But no more. I admit being slow to realize there was a legal and ethical issue because they claim to be lawful. And at a fraction of the price one pays at truly legal sites, like Amazon or iTunes, it was too easy to just go along and pick the low hanging fruit. Some claim they are legal, but the argument that all these downloads are legal for a someone living in the US or most other countries is very thin, and it is unquestionably in my opinion unethical. Here's the story in case you don't know.

A small handful of countries, most famously Russia, have compulsory licensing laws that allow anyone to sell copyrighted materials, without the copyright owner's consent, so long as they pay or offer a certain royalty. The laws allow a Russian, for example, to own the thus-sold work in Russia. But international copyright treaties and conventions do not recognize the legitimacy of this practice outside the jurisdiction in question. So an American who downloads from one of these sites thereby holds copyrighted materials that US law and international law do not recognize as properly licensed. The same holds true in most other countries.

The RIAA and music licensing organizations will not accept the offer of royalties from the companies that sell these downloads. There's different ways to look at it but in my opinion this is a valid approach because the copyright owner has not consented to the sale, and accepting a small fraction of a fair price is not only insulting, it undermines the ethical and legal argument that the downloads are illegitimate.

Why do we care? Some say 'screw the record companies.' Let's assume for a moment it really is only rich music moguls that get shafted. Does that make it right to steal their property? Intellectual property like a copyright is property, and anyone who thinks it is ethically different to steal intellectual property as opposed to tangible property simply does not have sufficient intellect to understand the concept. But even this morally bankrupt argument holds no water because the sale of copyrighted music feeds the families of many hardworking people employed by record companies and others in the distribution chain and entertainment industries. True, many in the physical media business are being put out of work by legal and illegal downloads, but a legal business model that supplants an older system has always been the result of emerging technologies. I mourn the loss of record stores, but there's much more at risk because even if you only care about your own interests, illegal downloads are killing the music. Those who think it was hypocritical of the Beatles to make millions writing and playing songs like "All You Need is Love" still have the option of being edified by their music. If they were getting robbed of the proceeds from all their hard work and talent then "Meet the Beatles" might have been their last album. How many potential works we will lose because artists are getting deprived of their lawful income and have to go into other lines of work will never be known.

As much as it hurts the pocketbook, please pay a legal and ethical price. I know it is hard because I am in the process of identifying and deleting a big part of my mp3 collection. If money is a problem then listen to the radio or explore sites like 8tracks that are properly licensed and pay royalties accordingly. In fact, 8tracks is a great place to listen to full length tunes in mixes put together by anyone with mp3 files to upload -- and you can easily buy songs you like there with easy links to Amazon, a sale for which this sites makes nothing. My few mixes are found here. (I've made a total of 40 cents off Amazon sales in two months for sales originating on this blog, a practice I wish I could promote more fully, but there's no potential money for me off 8Tracks, and that's fine with me). Save the music.

Observed

I only just noticed this piece on Coltrane, recommended. Note the sad tale of the recording of "Sweet Sioux.”
I haven't yet checked out Cannonball/Coltrane Quintet Project, but I will.
Are we in the year of the 50th anniversary of the greatest year in jazz? The online article is too brief to list all the supporting evidence, thus also a case for newspapers.
A note on Niama.
You tell me.
I'm going to follow AUSCULATED SIXFOLD for a while.

20 Nations, 13 States

My analytics data show the blog has been viewed now in 20 nations (listed in the order of frequency): US, UK, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Hong Kong, Netherlands, France, Austria, Argentina, Turkey, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, and Portugal. After the US, France spent the most time on the site per visit: Merci beaucoup!

The US penetration has been into 13 jurisdictions: Alabama, Georgia, New York, California, New Jersey, Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, Indiana, Maryland, Florida, Nevada, and DC. Don't worry about privacy because I don't have and would not want data on individual visitors -- unless of course you want to be identified in a comment.

Thanks to everyone who has visited.

Time out for "Time Out"

50 years since this classic was born.

Why ask which is the best Coltrane?

"What's Trane's best album?" is probably the most asked question on Internet forums devoted to his music. But this often turns into a debate of whether "A Love Supreme" is or isn't the best, and if not which one surpasses it? So in my mind the consensus, even if nothing close to unanimous, is always going to be that it's "A Love Supreme." It wins by a clear plurality and maybe by a majority. It gets my vote (although I may love his solo on Miles Davis' Flamenco Sketches on "Kind of Blue" as best single performance....but then all the solos on A Love Supreme are so compelling... and so the debate devolves in like manner in all such questions that include ALS.

So a more interesting question might be "Excluding ALS, which is his best album?" Today I would answer "Sun Ship." Tomorrow maybe something else.

"First" Coltrane LP issued in 1979? Not really

This is a note that continues the chronology of the John Coltrane original issue discography, the last one coming a while ago. The next recordings on which he appears are actually private tapes which were never released. On November 17 and December 3, 1950, Dizzy Gillespie Sextet, with Trane on tenor, were recorded playing live at Club Silhouette in Chicago, quite likely surreptitiously.

On January 6, 1951, a slightly different Gillespie Sextet with Coltrane still on tenor and Milt Jackson sitting in on vibraphone, was recorded as part of a radio broadcast. The first three of these tunes, including "Night in Tunisia" were never released until the 1979 LP called "Trane's First Ride" (Oberon 5100), pictured.

Still filler

Note on Rashied Ali and a new re-issue of John Coltrane's "Meditations" -- with no reason to buy it if you already have a previous issue.
Coltrane Radio on LastFM

Listen for free to MilesOfTrane latest mix on 8Tracks called Jazz and Its Roots-- early material with Kid O, King O, Blind Lemon, Jelly Roll, Leadbelly, Benny Goodman, more.

Who knew?

"Eat a Peach" -- Coltrane influence. Play 'Dreams' while reading.

Interview with Chad Taylor, author of "The Church of John Coltrane" -- probably not what you think but better brush up on your French.

Fresh jazz voices

Aaron Parks
Joshua Redman -- see post below
Steve Kuhn Trio w/Joe Lovano play Coltrane
Pharoh Sanders, not new but always fresh. Same for Ornette.
High school going old school.
John Coltrane himself, see New Moodswings.