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Tom of Finland wasn't as obsessed with testosterone

Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

"I'm really try to get away from this kind of 'musical communication' sort of dialogue. I really don’t want that." @orenambarchi.bsky.social Cooked out today: andybeta.substack.com/p/oren-ambar...

andybeta.substack.com

Oren Ambarchi

The Australian guitarist on the solo album as a construct, getting away from predictability, and his perverse Pat Metheny fandom.

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Reading Chuck Klosterman does approximate the symptoms of CTE

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Apparently there's also an entire other album's worth of unreleased John Coltrane-Johnny Hartman material still in the vaults. Could go for more silkiness like this: youtu.be/sgbLtG8PBv4?...

youtu.be

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman : Lush Life

YouTube video by Mr Kleeg

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Coltrane 100 listening rolls on. Love peak Classic Quartet but also love these dates where the band is starting to pull apart at the seams. Really hoped that these centennial reissues would finally get to albums like this one: youtu.be/7jmAC8mOwJU?...

youtu.be

John Coltrane - Living Space

YouTube video by Praguedive

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Next up on Coltrane 100 listening, this early masterpiece that established the Classic Quartet template, even though Jimmy Garrison was not yet in the fold: youtu.be/9Zyr0IDaRXQ?...

youtu.be

Equinox

YouTube video by John Coltrane - Topic

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Phonic Underground @phonicunderground.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Happy 100th John Coltrane

A jukebox single of John Coltrane’s “Ascension”

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If you're in Michigan, I'm on public radio today talking about Alice Coltrane/ Cosmic Music/ Spiritual jazz in the 3 o'clock hour.

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

“Coltrane actually raised this music from the secular to an area of serious, religious world music. It was like being in church.” Glad to be part of @darkforcesswing.bsky.social deep dive into how John Coltrane oddly gets left out of spiritual jazz discussions: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/a...

nytimes.com

‘Spiritual Jazz’ Has Turned Cozy. John Coltrane Demanded More.

The term has lately become synonymous with sonic serenity (and chic merch). But the saxophone great challenged listeners with radical honesty.

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Looking forward to seeing Italian maestro Gigi Masin at a church in Brooklyn tonight: andybeta.substack.com/p/in-the-fri...

andybeta.substack.com

In the Fried Archives: Gigi Masin

From 2017, a chat with the Italian ambient maestro

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Here for Kelela on Fiery Furnaces: "I can’t explain it. It’s just so *white*. This is a time when white people were doing white shit, remember that? [Stops music.] They tore." pitchfork.com/story/the-mu...

pitchfork.com

Kelela on the Music That Made Her

The singer’s taste is just as eclectic as her own work

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Madlib: “It’s electric and acoustic, traditional and non-traditional — that’s what I’m all about.” On Woody Shaw's first two albums, finally back in print: andybeta.substack.com/p/twofer-tue...

andybeta.substack.com

Twofer Tuesday #18

“Now there’s a great trumpet player.”

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Reposted by Andy Beta

Wewantsounds @wewantsounds.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

OUT 23 OCT 2026 BRIGITTE FONTAINE COMME A LA RADIO SPECIAL EDITION (1970) Brigitte Fontaine’s 1970 masterpiece returns with a 2nd LP of rare bonuses, 24-page booklet. with contributions by Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social , and Wadada Leo Smith and more Order 2LP/CD/Dig tinyurl.com/29dkrtcj

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

In China, their "American Pizza" features hot dogs stuffed in the crust 🇺🇸

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Going to be chatting with the awesome DJ Tana Yonas on KCRW this afternoon. Tune in!

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Tonight! In conversation with Moor Mother, Radha Botofasina, and Alice Coltrane's longtime recording engineer Baker Bigsby at the legendary Philosophical Research Society: www.eventbrite.com/e/cosmic-mus...

eventbrite.com

COSMIC MUSIC: ALICE COLTRANE Book Event + ETERNITY'S PILLAR rare screening

An evening celebrating Andy Beta's book COSMIC MUSIC: THE LIFE, ART, AND TRANSCENDENCE OF ALICE COLTRANE with conversation and screening

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Reposted by Andy Beta

Toppermost @toppermost.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

New book choice Tony Thompson (author of The Doors On Track) reviews “Cosmic Music” by @andybeta.bsky.social -the life of Alice Coltrane "Curiosity will be rewarded. Longtime fans will swoon over the detail. Highly recommended." @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social Full review at: www.toppermost.co.uk

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Cali pals, a bunch of LA sessions this week at Blue Note LA, PRS, LAPL, Lore, Harp Center LA. Come through for cosmic music

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

"There are areas where you want to stay respectful to the depth of what other people have done. The white guy playing the sitar is…you never really want to be that guy." A chat with infinite guitar god/ secret 'world music' architect, Michael Brook: andybeta.substack.com/p/michael-br... @4ad.com

andybeta.substack.com

Michael Brook

On building the infinite guitar, the yin-yang of Jon Hassell, Cobalt Blue sinking like a stone, and unwittingly becoming the architect for "world music"

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Reposted by Andy Beta

Harper’s Magazine @harpers.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

“Reading about Detroit in these years, there is almost too much to take in, too rich a seam of history, anecdote, testimony. So many names, talents, geniuses, giants.” Ian Penman reviews Cosmic Music, Andy Beta’s new biography of Alice Coltrane.

buff.ly

All She Dreamed, by Ian Penman

Alice Coltrane’s dark night of the soul

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Pt 2 with Steve Tibbetts, on solitary meditation retreats and the crazy lists that result, fighting ICE in his hometown, and what a badass Chöying Drolma really is: andybeta.substack.com/p/steve-tibb...

andybeta.substack.com

Steve Tibbetts Pt. 2

On meditation, children, his collaboration with singing nun Chöying Drolma, and fighting ICE in the streets of Minneapolis

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

"It seems that people –especially guitarists– are anxious to adopt a line of spirituality without thinking it through. It’s always the guitarists." First part of a chat about music, faith, and being in the world with one of my heroes, Steve Tibbetts: andybeta.substack.com/p/steve-tibb...

andybeta.substack.com

Steve Tibbetts Pt. 1

On science as faith, seven-year album cycles, seeing the Northern Lights during his first ECM session, and the "accumulation of everything."

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Ro Khanna @rokhanna.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

What happened to me in the West Bank was an outrage. But it is nothing compared to what Palestinians face every day. It is time to share their stories that American politics have silenced and ignored. This is our first video about Palestinians we met.

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Soooo many fond childhood memories of the dark, rickety, cramped HPB off Broadway in SA. Was sad to see it closed on my last trip, but glad to know they are going strong.

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Part 1 of an archival interview with the late Jon Hassell, trumpeter/ visionary/ Fourth World explorer: andybeta.substack.com/p/in-the-fri...

andybeta.substack.com

In the Fried Archives: Jon Hassell Pt. 1

From 2017, a chat with the trumpeter/ composer/ Fourth World visionary

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Charles Tyler! Marion Brown! The Visitors! McCoy! Woody! + more ❤️‍🔥: andybeta.substack.com/p/best-jazz-...

andybeta.substack.com

Best Jazz Reissues of 2026 First Half

A quick round-up of some fiery new favorites and crucial reappraisals

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Blue Note famously didn't do "vocal jazz" but when they did, it was one-part church gospel, one-part acid trip wooziness: theshfl.com/collection/B...

theshfl.com

Blue Note’s Take on Vocal Jazz

Read Andy Beta on Blue Note’s Take on Vocal Jazz

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

One oppressively humid summer day back in '06, I saw James Blood Ulmer play a solo acoustic show at Brooklyn Metrotech. I mostly knew his jazz, free-funk stuff, but this was an incredible set of lowkey blues drawn from his Birthright album. Rest in Power

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Some Thursday thoughts from the Sunday Review of Filles de Kilimanjaro: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...

open.substack.com

Filles de Kilimanjaro

Some stray notes on this week's Pitchfork Sunday Review

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

The late Richard Long's lone remaining soundsystem:

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

A tribute to the late Steve Barrow and how he transported a TX teen to the Bizarro World that is JA dub reggae

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Reposted by Andy Beta

Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 03/06/2026

Happy Ode To Billie Joe Day to all who celebrate, which should be everyone. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaRa...

youtube.com

Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry (BBC Live 1968)

YouTube video by BarnstoneworthTown

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Just learned that Areski Belkacem has left us. His work with Brigitte Fontaine is magical stuff: youtu.be/sRrkSp77WM4?...

youtu.be

Brigitte Fontaine - Lettre à Monsieur le chef de gare de La Tour Carol

YouTube video by fida le rebbec

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

"In Filles, there’s summation, destruction, decay, creation, and new possibilities all within. It brings together Davis and Evans for one last collaboration, and also offers one final glimpse of the Second Great Quintet before Miles went electric." Happy 100th Miles: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

pitchfork.com

Miles Davis: Filles de Kilimanjaro

Read Andy Beta’s review of the album.

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

“Why did I do it?” Rollins said to Hilton Als in 2016 about recording Freedom Suite in 1958. “Because I was trying to get black consciousness into people.” open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...

open.substack.com

Freedom from the Known

Sonny Rollins and the quest for black consciousness that led to Freedom Suite

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Alex Zucker @alexzucker.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

The Sonny Rollins Bridge Project seeks to rename NYC’s Williamsburg Bridge to commemorate Rollins’ musical sabbatical there from 1959-1961. SIGN OUR PETITION sonnyrollinsbridge.net/our-quest/

sonnyrollinsbridge.net

Our Quest – Sonny Rollins Bridge Project

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Erik Steinskog @eriksteinskog.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Currently reading: Cosmic Music: The Life, Art and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane by Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

An imaginary playlist for The Lot, plus loads of new music from Olof Dreijer, Croz Boyce, Marc Leclair, Ibrahim Alfa Jnr., Hans Reichel, and more: andybeta.substack.com/p/the-lot-fo...

andybeta.substack.com

The Lot for May

Ripe Fruits Mid-Journey in Fern Valley

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Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Really lovely write-up of Cosmic Music on this list:

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