How and when to use facilitation effectively

How and when to use facilitation effectively
This is a simple introduction to the important skill of facilitating groups to achieve their tasks most effectively.

From Antibes to a New York Penthouse with Mingus

From Antibes to a New York Penthouse with Mingus
The year 1960 saw Mingus record five great albums, three released in 1960, one in 1961 and one in 1980. The 1961 release was the result of his collaboration with conductor and musicologist Gunther Schuller and entitled Pre-Bird Mingus. The album released in 1980 was the live set at the Antibes Jazz Festival.

The famous 1959 Mingus albums

The famous 1959 Mingus albums
These are albums which show a musician reaching a pinnacle of creativity, and the wonder is that they are not the final words in this particular musician's career - Mingus went on to make many more superlative albums. Somehow, though, these two are albums that fans and other musicians turn to again and again, they are both treasuries of great music that one can learn from and a great deal of fun to listen to.

Massey Hall to Pithecanthropus

Massey Hall to Pithecanthropus
These three albums represent bassist Charles Mingus growing as both bass player and band leader. On the first album he becomes leader almost by default as the two who were meant to lead the outfit which has come to be known as "The Quintet", Charlie Parker and Bud Powell, were not able to function properly as leaders due to various personal issues. Mingus took over the role and did his best to protect the interests of all the musicians involved.

What is Jazz? Ain't no other music like it!

What is Jazz? Ain't no other music like it!
According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Revised Edition 2006) jazz is "a type of music of Black American origin characterised by improvisation, syncopation, and a regular rhythm, and typically played on brass and woodwind instruments" and the origin of the word itself is given as "early 20th Century: of unknown origin."
The music commonly referred to as "jazz" has a range and diversity, a richness and beauty, that is totally belied by such a bland definition.
At the same time, I do understand the difficulty faced by the writers of the esteemed dictionary - how on earth does one encompass within a few words, in the form of a lasting definition, a musical tradition and experience that encompasses the sounds of Jelly Roll Morton and Cecil Taylor, Bix Beiderbecke and Don Cherry, Coleman Hawkins and Ornette Coleman, Sidney Bechet and Steve Lacy, Johnny St Cyr and Pat Metheny, and countless others at the various extremes and points in between that constitute the territory of jazz?

The beginning of something new - a portrait in jazz

The beginning of something new - a portrait in jazz
Evans went into a studio on 28 December 1959 under the direction of producer Orrin Keepnews, with young bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian to lay down 11 tracks of a new way for a jazz piano trio to play and sound.

Duke Ellington's Anatomy of a Murder soundtrack music

Duke Ellington's Anatomy of a Murder soundtrack music
One of Duke Ellington's greatest albums, one often overlooked by both the critics and the fans, is the album of music he composed and played for Otto Preminger's court-room feature Anatomy of a Murder