things to listen to

This year’s ASA was a lovely mix of old friends and new ones I very much look forward to corresponding and working with for years to come. I learned a lot. But it is always cool water when, at an academic conference, you meet someone and immediately start talking about something other than the topic of the day. Music, of course, is an easy topic to turn to, but never has anyone done what my new friend did for me at 2AM: pull out a sheet of paper and make me a list, insistently pressing it into my palm. Here it is: Matthew Shipp, Roy Hargrover, William Parker, Ken Vandermark 5, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Madlib Remix of Blue Note, Sam Rivers, Steve Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra & Sex Mob,  Mary Lou Williams, Alex Von Schlippenbach, Bill Frisell, and Djam Leelii.