Announcement: The Elements of Jazz Facebook Page is Now Available!

Happy 2011 to everyone!

One of the things that I felt would facilitate communication between us would be the creation of a Facebook Page for Elements of Jazz.

Hopefully, it will make us feel more like a community.

Plus, I am the GRAMMY.com Community Blogger for Jazz! The FB page will be used to capture the build-up to and my attendance of GRAMMY Week events in February 2011.  I'll be live-blogging, taking pictures, chatting with folks and giving you an insiders' look to what the GRAMMYs are all about - come join the fun. :)

The website isn't going anywhere, okay? :)

^DM

Ellis Marsalis "An Open Letter to Thelonious" - 1st Traditional Jazz Album Released in iTunes "LP" Format

(New York, NY) – Nu Jazz Entertainment, a long time producer of high quality audio and video content in the genre of jazz, announces the January 2011 release of the critically acclaimed album, "An Open Letter to Thelonious" by Ellis Marsalis, a 2011 NEA Jazz Master inductee. This is the first traditional Jazz release in the new iTunes “LP” format with bonus audio, bonus high-definition videos, bonus photos, bonus liner notes and  bonus literary content.

Click to read more ...

The GRAMMYs and MusicIsLifeisMusic.com

Have you heard about the GRAMMYs new Android/iPhone app? 

Screenshot from my MILIM account"Music is Life is Music is a digital platform that connects music to the milestones of life. By using the MusicMapper app to tag songs and stories to physical locations, we're able to express how music transports us back to special times and places in a way never before possible. And by displaying these tags through the microsite, we can experience each other's musical journey in a uniquely intimate way. Providing an innovative glimpse at how Music Is Life Is Music."

If you don't have an Android or iPhone (like myself), you can still have fun mapping out your music experiences right on the website. There is also the ablility to either post your  to your FB wall or send it as a tweet to Twitter.

Try it out! Let me know how it works for you, especially if you are accessing it via your Android or iPhone. I'd love to hear your feedback.

~~~

Donna M’s Unconventional Top 5 Albums for 2010

Motéma Music asked me for a "Top 5" list of 2010 Jazz albums a couple of weeks ago. The following five albums got the most repeated play in my mp3 player for 2010. I figure that’s as legitimate a reason to qualify for a “Top 5” list as anything else I’ve read this year. :)

They are listed in alphabetical order by last name or group name.

 Edo Castro

 “Sacred Graffiti” [Passion Star Records]

I didn’t know much about Edo Castro before I got this album.  I have since concluded that he is a phenomenal bassist that created a fully-textured, multi-layered album called “Sacred Graffiti”.  Listening to this 16 track album takes me through a “Day in The Life” kind of experience, much like King Britt’s “When the Funk Hits the Fan” did back in the late ‘90s.

Click to read more ...