Wes Phillips

I just learned that William Gottlieb died last night. Like every jazz fan, many of my images of the jazz greats come directly from his photography. Billie Holiday with her head back, eyes closed; Django Reinhardt, cigarette a-dangle, fretting a run; a skinny Frank Sinatra looking beyond the microphone . . .all are indelible Gottlieb images. You'll probably see lots of obituaries in the next few days, but a visit to the Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress might be the best place to remember him.

"These syllables might be nonsensical, but they are telling and resonant."

Stephen Brown argues that Sid Vicious and Mozart shared the quality of primitivism, by which he means the winnowing away of unnecessary complications. I see his point with Sid, but in Mozart's case, I see it as the essence of the refining fire. Still, a good read and well-argued, even though, IMHO, wrong.

Yet they've been largely ignored by the industry. I don't expect it to change either. My take is that women are buying more e-gear now because a lot of the tech has become mature—for example, you can buy a five megapixel camera for a reasonable price this year. But watch how the industry tries to court the female consumer. You'll see brighter colors and "simpler interfaces" billed as woman-friendly. Sheesh, most women want what I want: a good product at a good price. Instead, they get vanity mirrors.

Fred Kaplan's new Stereophile blog, Jazz Messenger is now up and running.

Speaking of great jazz websites, Rod from Loughborough has a dandy 'un in wordsandmusic. It's just what the title says: thoughtful words on music Rod likes, linked to examples, deep references, and videos.

Addicting website featuring Don Ellis' stunning photographs and words (sometimes) and layout (mostly) that "clarifies" the statement.