Ted Gioia wrote a great obituary to jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, who died on Sunday aged 92: "Other musicians have changed the sound of jazz in various ways. But Ahmad Jamal actually transformed time and space. He opened up an alternative universe of sound, freer and less constrained than what we had heard before. The rules of improvised music were different after he appeared on the scene... Ahmad Jamal sat down at the piano, and just floated over the beat."

Folk music legend Joan Baez met two members of the Tennesee Three on a flight from Nashville to Newark on Sunday, and reacted upon her activist impulse. Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were recently expelled from the Tennessee legislature over their participation in a gun control protest, This week both have officially been reinstated to their old seats. On Sunday, when the plane landed in Newark, Baez sang two songs with Jones, the traditional freedom songs 'We Shall Overcome' and 'Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round'.

Paul Simon has announced his new album 'Seven Psalms', out May 19, which came to him in a dream, Variety reports. On January 15th, 2018, Simon says he had a dream that said "You're working on a thing called 'Seven Psalms'", he wrote it down, without knowing what it meant. Gradually, he would wake up a few times a week at 3.30, and words would come (his debut album in Simon & Garfunkel, was of course titled 'Wednesday Mornin, 3 A.M.'). The album is a 33-minute, seven-movement collection intended to be heard as one continuous piece. Simon shares a video about the album, a trailer for an upcoming documentary about the album’s creation.

"Each chapter is filled to the brim with insights, new information, and powerful writing. McCormick clearly had high literary aspirations at this juncture in his life. I suspect that he was trying to capture something similar to Truman Capote’s 'In Cold Blood', the most celebrated ‘true crime’ book of the era. McCormick presents himself in these pages as a musical detective on the trail of the most elusive guitarist in history, and successfully conveys all the uncertainty and suspense of his investigation" - music writer Ted Gioia presents 'Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey', a book about the famous delta blues guitarist written by his friend Mack McCormick. The published book is the early version of the manuscript. The later version argued that Mississippi guitarist named Robert Johnson—admired all over the world today—didn’t actually make those famous blues recordings or anything really. Gioia explains.

"This is all about music discovery—and I’m excited to tell you about a few favorite artists you might not encounter elsewhere" - music writer Ted Gioia announces his list of 30 most intriguing new musicians. "It’s a cranky and deeply personal list", Gioia warns. Some of chosen ones are Hania Rani, singer-songwriter from Gdansk; Madison McFerrin, a pianist from a family of musicians; Sam Gendel - a versatile multi-instrumentalist.

AI developer Robert Nickson has recorded a track AI has produced replicating Kanye West's voice in order to diss the rapper. Nickson recorded a verse and had a trained AI model of Kanye replace his vocals. The results are quite impressive, or frightening, depending on how you take it.

Martin and Eve Hibbert, a father and daughter who suffered disabilities from the May 2017 terror attack outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, are suing conspiracy theorist Richard D Hall for defamation and harassment, BBC reports. Hall has promoted the theory that the Manchester Arena bombing, which left 22 people dead, that the attack never happened and reportedly admitted to spying on the victims. Hibbert and his daughter Eve, who was 14 at the time, were standing about 5 meters from the bomb when it exploded, per the report, and both required wheelchairs after the blast. The lawsuit is the first of its kind to be filed in the U.K. against a conspiracy theorist.

Indie powerhouse Dead Oceans is about to release 'Rat Saw God', Wednesday’s new album, their fourth in as many years, and fifth in general. The LP was announced with a thunderous teaser-track 'Bull Believer', an eight-minute powerhouse. Friday is the day.

Music streaming giant Spotify is shutting down its live audio app, Spotify Live, two years after launching it and after coming to the conclusion that "it no longer makes sense as a standalone app.” The company plans to continue with some aspects of live audio, mainly “listening parties”. Some of the app’s shows will continue as non-live programs on the main Spotify app.

A great show by CBC News about the future of music and the effect technology has on it. CBC News Explore’s BIG MUSIC looks at how Spotify, Ticketmaster, LiveNation, and Tik Tok are changing the very nature of music. It goes way back to the very beginning of recorded music and ownership of music, to the current moment of non-ownership. Great stuff!

Coachella’s all six stages will be streamed live online across both weekends in April for the first time. The live YouTube stream promises performances from Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, Calvin Harris, Rosalía, Gorillaz, Burna Boy, Becky G, Wet Leg, Benee, Willow, Bjork, The Comet is Coming, Murder Capital, Yves Tumor, Kaytranada, Boygenius, Weyes Blood, and many more. Coachella’s weekend one livestream will launch on Friday, April 14th at 4:00 p.m. PT, with weekend two following on Friday, April 21st at the same time.

The acclaimed Japanese musician and synth-pop pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto has died at 71, per a statement from his management team. Sakamoto was, next to Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, co-founder of foundational synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, and their 1978 debut album, with singles 'Computer Game' and 'Firecracker', was a sensation in Japan. They also were influential in the development of hip-hop, sampled by countless in the genre. The trio developed their sound and broke new synthesizer ground with their albums, from 'Solid State Survivor' in 1979 through 'Service' in 1983, after which they would break up but leave behind an undeniable impact on the world of electronic music and beyond. As a solo artist, Sakamoto composed scores for movies, including an Oscar-awarded score for 'The Last Emperor', an anthem for the Japan Football Association, and the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Simon Reynolds makes a strong case for Sakamoto being one of the key figures in the creation of techno, whereas Alexis Petridis argues the composer has paved the way for electropop and hip-hop.

Seymour Stein, the legendary New York music executive who signed Madonna, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, The Ramones and co-founded Sire Records, has died at the age of 80, Billboard reports. Stein set up Sire in 1966 and became a key figure in the punk, new wave and pop scenes, also introducing UK acts like The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Depeche Mode, Seal, The Cure and Madness to the US. Stein got into the music industry at the age of just 13 in the 1950s working in the industry paper Billboard, only to become one of the most successful talent spotters in the business - his other signings included Ice-T, The Pretenders, KD Lang and Richard Hell & the Voidoids.

Avantgarde electronic producer Katie Gately released her new album 'Fawn / Brute' today, including the stand-out track 'Tame'. It builds on the fantastic and dark foundations of her sound, adding the cynical touch of the saxophone. It's big-sounding, and theatrical, yet easy to absorb.

Melbourne punk band Private Function are releasing the world’s ever urine-filled vinyl, Kill Your Stereo reports. Their third album ‘370HSSV 0773H’ is out today on Still On Top Records, with 50 copies on vinyl will be “a liquid disc full of our piss”.  Each member of the band donated their urine. Afterwards, the process of pressing the vinyl involved finding a “bacterial solution to kill the piss, otherwise it expands and could break open the records". All 50 copies of the “gold” version of ‘370HSSV 0773H’ have been sold out, and are expected to reach purchasers in “a month or so”.

Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound has released a deeply eclectic selection of music over the last 20 years, including ambient, jazz, disco, noise, drone and dub. The names on SST go from "smalltown" to internationally renowned - Norwegian dark ambient master Deathprod, Todd Rundgren made a collaborative record with Norwegian producers Emil Nikolaisen and Lindstrøm, Sonic Youth, Neneh Cherry, Kelly Lee Owens... Their incoming compilation 'Remix Anthology Vol. 1​-​4 2002​-​2022' - deliberately sidesteps some of their most popular releases to focus on the breadth and depth of their output, Bandcamp Daily points out.

Keith Reid, who wrote the lyrics for 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' and about 100 subsequent songs by the British prog rock band Procol Harum, died March 23 at a hospital in London, at the age of 76, Guardian reports. 'A Whiter Shade of Pale,' Procol Harum’s first song and its greatest popular success by far, was issued in May 1967, at the beginning of what would later be remembered as the 'Summer of Love'. The group’s albums were much admired for their mixture of classical and blues elements, including songs such as Homburg', and 'Conquistador'. Reid, as a lyricist, was in an unusual position in the band as a full-time non-performing member.

Nadya Tolokonnikova of the artist-activist collective Pussy Riot has been added to the Russian Interior Ministry’s database, which claimed Tolokonnikova faced criminal charges. However, in a somewhat Kafkian manner, the Moscow authority didn't specify what those charges are. Tolokonnikova believes the charges relate to her art, the AP reports. Tolokonnikova reportedly lives in the U.S., but she is still a Russian citizen and did not seek refugee status.

Iconic French electronic music producer Laurent Garnier has shared his new song 'Tales from the Real World', featuring vocals of late Suicide co-founder Alan Vega. It will be released on his new full-length, '33 Tours Et Puis S'en Vont', his “most dancefloor-focused yet.” The album is coming out May 25. Garnier announced he will be taking a step back from the heavy touring.

Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, an Ethiopian nun who became known for her captivating piano compositions, has passed away in Jerusalem, where she’d lived in a monastery since 1984. She was 99 years old, Fana Broadcasting reports. As a young girl, she studied music in Switzerland and Egypt. Despite being unable to continue her formal music education, she composed, drawing from the church canon as well as popular Western genres such as the blues and ragtime to create her own singular style — a light, airy sound that was nevertheless capable of conveying intense emotion. She began releasing her first music officially in 1967, always donating the proceeds to charity.

Ugandan MPs have approved an anti-LGBTQ+ bill which recommends heavy sentences – including the death penalty – for acts of homosexuality in a country where it is already illegal, Guardian reports. The underground electronic music scene in the capital Kampala has flourished in the past decade, becoming a safe space for members of the east and central African LGBTQ+ community. The London paper talked to several Ugandans from the capital affected by the incoming law change.

Spotify's much-hyped AI “DJ” is now available in the US, serving up recommendations in six distinct ways, Medium reports. It's these:

1. Based on recent listening

2. From your past - not sure yet how they quantify the past

3. Recommended for you - based on recommendations coming from controversial technologies like “discovery mode”

4. Throwbacks - focused on catalog music

5. Editors’ picks - recommendations currently highlighted by Spotify’s artist and marketing teams

6. Trending music - a brand new mode that appears to cater to gen-z style records that are growing in popularity on Tiktok and Reels

Apple’s new app for classical music, Apple Music Classical, is now available for download for everyone, but you need an Apple Music subscription (it is not available in select countries at launch). There are more than 5 million tracks available on the app right now, as well over 50+ million data points with data attributes of 20,000+ composers, 115,000+ unique works, and 350,000+ movements. App’s specialized search engine helps you comb through the archive, Apple announced.

hundreds of tech, science, and academic leaders – have signed an open letter simply titled “Pause Giant AI Experiments”, calling on all AI labs around the world “to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4”. In their open letter signatories write: “AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity". Those who’ve signed the letter include Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX, Twitter, and Tesla, also the co-founder of OpenAI, creators of GPT-4), the co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, Evan Sharp, the co-founder of Pinterest, three team members at Alphabet/Google‘s experimental AI hub, DeepMind: Victoria Krakovna (DeepMind, Research Scientist, co-founder of Future of Life Institute); Zachary Kenton, (DeepMind, Senior Research Scientist); and Ramana Kumar, DeepMind, Research Scientist.

South Korean label Kakao Entertainment has launched a new four-member virtual K-Pop girl group called MAVE in January. The members Siu, Zena, Tyra, and Marty are presented as human-like avatars with natural-looking movements and facial expressions. They speak Korean, English, French and Bahasa, although they are not able to respond to prompts and only rely on scripts prepared by humans. MAVE's debut single 'Pandora' was released just two months ago and has also already generated over 20 million streams on Spotify alone, Reuters reports. The music video for the track has already racked up more than 20 million views on YouTube and they also have over 172,000 subscribers on the platform.

Impressive numbers shared by MBW about the vast amount of songs being released on streaming services each day, and especially in the last three years. An average of 98,500 separate music files are distributed daily to streaming services (based on the numbers for the period of September 1 – October 18, 2022). However, just 4% or 3,940 tracks of those 98,500 average daily track uploads were distributed by the three majors, whereas the rest of 96% or 94,500 tracks were distributed by independent labels and, mainly, by self-releasing/DIY artists via platforms like DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, and UnitedMasters. Another astonishing piece of data shared by Luminate - 91 million tracks of the 196 million audio and video music tracks on digital services today were released in 2020, 2021, or 2022, meaning in the pandemic or post-pandemic era.

100% renewable power, veggie food, upcycling workshop, outlawed single-use plastics, organic food, wooden stages, recycling stations, biodegradable crockery, electric fleets, low-impact solar-powered lighting, chemical-free compost loos, water-saving vacuum toilets, mobile solar-power stations, waste-separation points, and many more eco-friendly schemes are featured in sustainable festivals in the EU and the UK. Guardian selects 10 prominent ones, Pohoda, Isle of Wight, and Terraforma among others.

"Whatever the environment, dance is about joy. No one dances and feels rubbish after – unless, maybe, you’ve slipped over onto your arse. But go to any club night worth its merit and you’ll be confronted with people from all walks of life. And that is the dancefloor at its most powerful" - The Face presents Emma Warren's new book, 'Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor'. It "places direct emphasis on movement. It’s not all about clubs; it’s about dancing as a primal need." The author writer “there’s evidence that shows when people move in synchrony together, they rate each other more highly, after swinging their arms about together in the same way. That obviously has an effect on relationships between people who experience the world differently.”

Beyoncé’s collaboration with Adidas on her fashionable athletic clothing brand Ivy Park is coming to an end, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The superstar and the German shoe and clothing giant have mutually agreed to part ways, though no specific reason for the termination was mentioned. Earlier this year, reports emerged on weak sales for Ivy Park. THR reports how Beyoncé is "excitedly looking to reclaim her brand, chart her own path and maintain creative freedom".

Virginia Tech's women’s basketball team has a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, which means that they get to play their games at home. The NCAA has been trying to make the tournament games more of a neutral environment, so they’ve banned Virgian Tech's team from playing their song - 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica, the USA Today reports. Well, that didn't stop fans from singing the song.