Mike Janssen

Some quickly dashed-off thoughts about Studs Terkel’s Giants of Jazz, which I finished last night and just reviewed on Goodreads.

This is the first book of Terkel’s I’ve read, as well as his first book. It’s a model of clear and effective writing and a loving and reverent portrayal of 13 great jazz musicians. (I admit I skipped the chapter about Woody Herman, since I’ve never listened to much of his stuff.) The writing level would probably suit a middle-schooler just fine, but that’s no insult. In fact, the simplicity of the writing and the relative absence of complicated musicology … Continue Reading

Playlist for Overnight Jazz with Mike Janssen on 89.3 FM WPFW, 3–5 a.m., Oct. 13, 2009

1. “Zombie” — Fela Kuti, The Best Best Of
2. “Fogo Fogo” — Chopteeth, Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band
3. “No Agreement — Part 2” — Fela Kuti, The Best Best Of
4. “No Discrimination” — Tony Allen, No Accomodation for Lagos — No Discrimination
5. “World War IV” — Antibalas, Various Ouelele
6. “Rings” — Nomo, Ghost Rock
7. “Live from Tigre Lounge” — Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics, Inspiration Information 3
8. “Hasabé” — Tèshomè Meteku, Ethiopiques Vol. 1: Golden Years of Modern Ethiopian Music, 1969–1975
9. “Security Lock” — Glows … Continue Reading

Playlist for Overnight Jazz with Mike Janssen on 89.3 FM WPFW, 3-5 a.m., Oct. 6, 2009

1. “Bee Vamp” — Eric Dolphy, Live at the Five Spot Vol. 1
2. “Conversation #4” — Connie Crothers and Bill Payne, Conversations
3. “Strata (For Max Beckmann)” — Vandermark 5, Elements of Style
4. “Blunt Instrument” — Naked City, Torture Garden
5. “The Lagoons” — The Muffins, Air Fiction
6. “Interplanetary Music” — Sun Ra, We Travel the Spaceways
7. “Panis Et Circenses (Bread and Circuses)”
8. “Ave Lucifer” — Os Mutantes, Everything Is Possible! The Best of Os Mutantes
9. “Misterio … Continue Reading

Obviously I’m moving my blog over to WordPress. It’ll probably be a few days before I have things looking better and get my old blog’s posts into here, so hang tight. Visualize a sweet “Under Construction” GIF circa Web 0.1.