The Story of Jazz Guitar, on All About Jazz

Short but good, with some excellent videos embedded. Here's the ToC with links:

1. The Beginnings: Blind Lemon Jefferson
2. Eddie Lang / Eddie Durham / Lonnie Johnson
3. Django Reinhardt / Charlie Christian / Tiny Grimes
4. Herb Ellis / Barney Kessel / Charlie Byrd
5. Wes Montgomery / Kenny Burrell / Joe Pass / Jim Hall
6. George Benson
7. John McLaughlin / John Scofield / Mike Stern

Ben Ratliff's Top Ten Jazz Albums Since 2002

Andrew Hill: "Time Lines"
Gonzalo Rubalcaba: "Avatar"
Jason Moran: "Modernistic"
Guillermo Klein: "Filtros"
Maria Schneider: "Cerulean Skies"
Wayne Shorter Quartet: "Beyond the Sound Barrier"
Rudresh Mahanthappa: "Kinsmen"
Ravi Coltrane: "In Flux"
Miguel Zenón: "Jibaro"
Branford Marsalis: "Braggtown"

Link to article on nyt.com (subscription likely to be required).

Link to Ratliff's book, The New York Times Essential Library: Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings.

Kurt Rosenwinkel Live at the Village Vanguard -

Downloads gratis, thanks to Kurt and NPR:

Link

p.s. almost 2 1/2 hours of fantastic music at 192 kbps or higher

A Beautiful Untitled Chord Improvisation by Kurt Rosenwinkel

Mr. Rhythm

Film: Let Yourself Go - The Lives of Fred Hersch

The New Yorker Fred Hersch is one of the best pianists and composers of contemporary Jazz. His musical work is remarkable, and so is his way of life.

Hersch, now 53 years old, has been HIV positive for twenty years. His disease progressed to AIDS only a few years ago. He was one of the first Jazz musicians who 1994 publicly came out as gay and HIV-positive.

Openly and well-humoured, he speaks on this DVD about his life, his career with all its ups and downs and about his music - the vital force that empowers him to live with his illness.

Filmmaker Katja Duregger has followed Fred Hersch over a period of two years. She shot much of the material by herself, which enabled her to produce a very intimate and moving portrait of this exceptional musician.

Continue reading ...

AllMusic’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2008

The first ten:




Azymuth - Butterfly




Brian Blade Fellowship - Season of Changes




Anthony Braxton - Beyond Quantum




James Carter - Present Tense






Francisco Mora Catlett - Outerzone




Gerald Cleaver - Gerald Cleaver’s Detroit




Bill Dixon/Exploding Star Orchestra - Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra




Dave Douglas & Keystone - Moonshine





Lisle Ellis - Sucker Punch Requiem




Kenny Garrett - Sketches of MD