Jeffrey Siegel's extraordinary jazz site, Straight No Chaser, has a podcast on a recent book about Impulse Records.
I’ve been engrossed in reading Ashley Kahn’s history of Impulse Records, The House That Trane Built for the past few days. There is a Four CD set that goes with the book (thanks for the Chanukah present, Nancy!) and assists greatly in matching Kahn’s descriptive prose to the sometimes wild sounds of the label’s avant-garde recordings.
The book sounds very interesting; the CD collection less so. I am not much interested in anthologies, as I would rather have the original recordings as the artists themselves put them together. Recently I acquired the Miles Davis Quintet recordings Cookin, and Workin'. Both of them are essential pieces in a good jazz library.
But an anthology provided for free is something I can't resist. Siegel offers a number of cuts from the above mentioned collection, punctuated by reading from the book. As I loaded the dishwasher tonight I listened to the podcast. Rapture would be the word. If you like jazz or are curious about jazz, check out Siegel's podcast. You can download it for free, and listen to it on your computer or on your MP3 player.
I am sure that record company executives are worried about this free distribution of music. They shouldn't be. People who listen to the podcasts and don't buy the music weren't going to buy it anyway. I, on the other hand, have been spending all the money I make writing for the Aberdeen American News buying music I first heard on Straight No Chaser, or my other favorite podcast In the Groove: Jazz and Beyond.
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