Anthony Dean-Harris

I can't think of much I have to say for tonight's episode. How was your Miles Davis Day? It was last Wednesday if you can't remember. Oh, and you may want to check out the stuff over at Nextbop . After some snags this last week, we've had a whirlwind past couple of days. There's a bunch of talk going on about how we should approach booking shows, with or without opening acts and for how much pay. It got pretty messy but also pretty fun. Check it out. Otherwise, here's The Line-Up for tonight. Lizz Wright - A Taste of Honey Just another friendly reminder to catch Lizz Wright at the Carver this coming June 12th. Russell Gunn - Footprints Aaron Prado has returned to KRTU San Antonio for the summer. This is the man who crafted the sound of the station and we're all pleased as punch to have him back. Last week, I heard him play some Russell Gunn and I really liked it so I made sure to play him this week. Finding out Gunn did some Miles work fit into this we...

Yet another show put together for you to enjoy. This one was mostly a "Retro combs through the KRTU library" episodem I hope you enjoy. Joe Lovano & Hank Jones - Six and Four With Hank Jones' passing this past week, I knew I wanted to play something of this tonight. Nextbop posted an interview he did with us and mentioned working with Joe Lovano on a couple of projects so I knew just what to look for. J Dilla - Oblighetto Imagine my surprise to look through the categories and see a J Dilla track. Seeing his name meant mandatory airplay. Brad Mehldau - Dropjes Recently, JD asked me to record a quick promo and asked me if I had any song in mind to play in the background. While I was thinking, JJ chimed in and said, "Something from Brad Mehldau!" Theses people know me too well. Weather Report - Teen Town I've been seriously craving some Weather Report lately. Dafnis Prieto - Taking the Soul for a Walk The computer picked this. I don't mind. ...

Tonight's episode of The Line-Up is the typical grab bag of stuff from the KRTU library, stuff that came to mind, and a couple of new things I've been playing a lot that you can also hear over at Nextbop . I swear, the more I work on that site, the more Nextbop and The Line-Up seem to go hand in hand. Gerald Clayton - Love All Around Clayton is quickly becoming one of my favorite musicians, plus I think his dreads are awesome . Ahmad Jamal - The Blooming Flower I must be honest. The computer picked this one, but the computer usually doesn't lead me astray. Lizz Wright - Afro Blue Wright is peforming at the Carver Community Cultural Center next month . That's something for which San Antonians can wait on pins and needles. I'll likely have more to say about that in the coming weeks but getting the word and her talent out now isn't a bad idea. Sound Directions - On the Hill I try not to go too long on the show without playing some Madlib. Avishai Cohen -...

I had a couple of posts up on Nextbop yesterday. One short, one long, both amusing. At least I hope you'll find them amusing, but I don't want to speak for you, dear reader. That would be presumptuous. Here's a snippet of my weekly column on how jazz is similar to other niche genres today, entitled The Every Genre . The philosophy of Nextbop isn’t just about promoting jazz to jazz lovers. It’s not even mainly focused on such a vision. Nextbop is about appealing to everyone. It’s about promoting jazz to the world. It’s about showing the indie rock crowd, the punk rock crowd, the hip hop crowd, the R&B crowd, the bluegrass crowd, and so many other scenes that this kind of music is great and it’s not so far off from what you’re used to hearing. We shan’t limit ourselves to just one ideology for the sake of appeasing one crowd when the whole world can appreciate this music for its complexities. And there's also a short news piece I posted about The Colbert Report ...

This week is a combination of perfect songs showing up in the library at the proper time, a certain degree of reconciliations with what I do and do not own, and good old fashioned references to stuff from next week. Just your standard episode of The Line-Up. Esbjörn Svensson Trio - In My Garage Sometimes I just like to not go too long on this show without playing E.S.T. No real reason why this is here; Svennson came to mind so I put this here at the top of the hour. Leon Thomas - China Doll KRTU has a bump that uses this song. Sometimes the bump plays and I think it's a rather nice song but I never knew the song's name. The library chose to play this song so I gave it a listen and lo and behold, it was the song from the bump. Plus, this is Leon Thomas, who I really only know as the guy who's singing in Pharoah Sanders' "The Creator Has a Master Plan." If you don't notice that, you will by the time you get to the moaning. Christian Scott - Jenacide ...

The massive kerfuffle that is Arizona’s recent immigration law is making me think a lot about stand-up comedian Rene Hicks’ joke that Mexicans are just black people with straight hair. They share much of our culture and take much of the pressure off black people when it comes to white power hatred. While there may have been many who are decrying the loss of black leadership outside of the president lately and our massive upheaval in this new social order, there are many who are breathing a sigh of relief that legislation so absolutely discriminatory isn’t blowing our direction. I’m just not noticing the utter outrage that one should expect from the discrimination of an entire people that’s sure to spread throughout other border states. At least not outside of Charles Barkley before this last Spurs/Suns game, and since when was Barkley a voice of reason for anyone ? Why isn’t there some sense of solidarity between blacks and Latinos in America right now? Why have we not heard from ou...

We may not be right in drawing our lines in the sand as it relates to the overall jazz industry and press. Our stances, while periodically bombastic, may not be helpful to the discourse, and certainly not helpful to the newcomers to whom we’re trying to appeal. Perhaps the Marsalis campers (ahem, traditionalists) are the barometer for modern jazz enthusiasts to measure their craft. As it is every Thursday, I have a new post up at Nextbop and it's getting some pretty good response. I'm sort of shocked folks like it this much. Head on over there and see what folks are seriously digging.

I recently wrote a pair of articles on Esperanza Spalding for African-American Reflections . To do so, my publisher and the folks at the Carver Community Cultural Center arranged for me to interview Ms. Spalding over the phone. I recorded the interview, finished the pieces, and was quite happy with the work I did, but there was just so much material, I figured I'd post the interview altogether at Nextbop. You should give it a listen.