Bandcamp articles

Bird is the Worm is my home.  ‘Natch.  But I got around the internet a tiny bit in 2018, too.

It was another rewarding year writing about music for The Bandcamp Daily.  I’m really appreciative of the opportunity that the music retailer offers me to spread the word about this music on a much larger platform than my modest digs here at Bird is the Worm.  The core of my work for BCD is my monthly recommendations column, featuring the best of jazz and improvised music for any given month.  You can check out the archives in case the Best of 2018 list left you with any cash in your checking account.

I’ve always kind of struggled with the interview format, but after turning the corner a bit and finally figuring some stuff out, I’ve begun revisiting the idea of conducting more interviews.  We’ll see how it goes.  I really enjoyed my interview of Sarathy Korwar, who talked about culture tokenism in music, perspectives of influence, and his excellent 2018 release My East Is Your West.  I also spoke with Steven Lugerner about his 2018 release An Eight Out Of Nine.  In fact, it was two interviews and it covered a massive amount of territory.  The interview column that was ultimately published only touched upon a small portion of the interview.  However, in the coming weeks, I’ll be posting other sections of the interview on Bird is the Worm, as we run down Lugerner’s impressive and diverse discography.

Another development with The Bandcamp Daily was that I’ve begun writing about albums that are decidedly non-jazz or, in some instances, fall under the nascent post-jazz category.  Of the latter tag, check out my write-up of New Hymn to Freedom by the Szun Waves trio.  In the non-jazz arena, I wrote about the gorgeous Touch Dissolves, a solo cello project from Aaron Martin.  I am addicted to that album, and it’s rare that a day goes by and I haven’t listened to at least a little bit of it.

I continue to sporadically post on the hidden little forum, Emusers, which began as an alternative to the increasingly volatile eMusic forum (RIP).  There’s just a handful of us there, often talking about all kinds of music or pop culture.  My handle over there is Jonahpwll, which some of you old-school readers of mine will recognize from my original posts on the eMusic forum, and even my first alias for the Jazz Picks column.  While I am universally regarded as a jazz god on that forum (no matter what any other member posts might other indicate, I am something of a music deity in their eyes), I consider my First-Episode-of-Netflix-Originals posts to be my proudest moments on the site.  Feel free to drop in and chat.

I have also begun dropping in on Reddit’s r/jazz forum.  My handle is birdistheworm.  I make the occasional post.  I’m not sure how much longer I intend to keep returning.  The big takeaway so far is that there is no question, no matter how obscure or nuanced, where Snarky Puppy and BADBADNOTGOOD are not considered valid answers.  Once you discover that inalienable truth, the magic bleeds out of the Reddit experience pretty quick.  Also, after years on the AllAboutJazz forum (RIP), both as member and moderator, my hardcore music forum participation may have reached its natural expiration.

Much to my surprise, I haven’t deleted my Facebook page yet.  I find the site barely tolerable (in many contexts), and one day may finally get around to deleting the damn thing.  Twitter, on the other hand, as reprehensible as it may be in some regards, is still a much friendlier experience, and I continue to actively post on my account (@BirdIsTheWorm).  I am freaking hilarious, plus cat pics.

You should totally follow me.