Out of Nowhere: The Musical Life of Warne Marsh
by Marcus M. Cornelius
Aurora Nova Publishing
P.O. Box 437, Mawson, ACT 2607, Australia
Distributed in the U.S. by Cadence Publishing and in Europe by NewThink!
305 pages. Paper.
Reviewed by George Ziskind

"The world has gone mad today and good’s bad today . . ."

Jazz for the youngest hep cats
By Carole Boston Weatherford

Some expectant parents pipe Beethoven to babies in the womb. And despite conflicting research, the state of Florida requires day care centers to play classical music. If Mozart produces math whizzes, might Monk and Miles also stimulate young minds?

Ryan Cohan: Real World

Jo Belle: Sessions...with friends

Before her marriage and move to Las Vegas, Jo Belle was Chicago's loved diva among the jingle, jazz and Andy's crowd. She sounds great in any and every musical situation, has the necessary charm, soul, perfect intonation and can sell the lyrics of the song.

Joel Spencer/Kelly Sill Quartet: The Brighter Side Featuring Chris Potter and Garry Dial

Drummer Joel Spencer and bassist Kelly Sill captured the Chicago jazz audience in the '70s through their work with John Campbell and Ed Peterson. Since then they have become one of the Chicago rhythm sections of choice among visiting stars—they have played with nearly everyone in the business!

School Days: In Our Times

While their first opus maintained some ties with the eponymous Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd group, In Our Times finds the band severing them and bringing some changes. The quartet is now a quintet with Kjell Nordeson—a member of the AALY Trio—joining the crew. Recorded live in a club in Norway , the music feels rawer and more reckless, especially in Ken Vandermark’s case. There is definitely a bigger stress on improvisation but the musicians forgo self-indulgence to stay concise and focused.

Von Freeman and Frank Catalano: You Talkin' to Me?

If you close your eyes and imagine the clinking of glasses and the clamor of the audience in the background, this CD might easily transport you to any one of many memorable nights at Chicago's New Apartment Lounge, where for years, tenor great Von Freeman has been conducting his legendary open-door jam sessions. And yet, this set of swaggering blues, time-worn standards and session-worthy originals were recorded in a relatively staid setting at Chicago's Riverside Studios in August of 1999.

Steve Million: Truth Is

It was a blustery January night at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago when Jeff Newell's New Trad Octet took the stage, and it wasn't long before a thoroughly warming chorus of New Orleans-inflected horns began to soothe a restless audience still jittery from the cold. Amid the fading brass, the first few chords of Steve Million's piano emerged like sunlight through the clouds and effectively captured the moment. The room fell quiet. There were smiles and nods and all ears seemed tuned in as his brief but eloquent statement unfolded.

Nicole Mitchell:/Black Earth Ensemble: Vision Quest

The Black Earth Ensemble is a work-in-progress, a constantly evolving project flautist Niki Mitchell started a couple years ago with a core group composed of bassist Darius Savage and violinist Savoir Faire who is also featured on the viola. As such, it is also a project which brings the next generation of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) to the forefront.

FAKEBOOK: Improvisations on a Journey back to Jazz
By Richard Terrill
Limelight Editions, 255 pages (paper), $15
Reviewed by Don Rose