Mark Lomanno

A busy day today! First a lunch time talk for UM's Center for Global Black Studies, then hopping a flight to Guelph for tomorrow's celebration of my new volume, The Improviser's Classroom. Feeling grateful & a bit in awe of what's unfolding. ✨🙏

Concert Preview…Jason Moran plays Ellington! Before he performs a concert of Ellington’s music with the Frost Jazz Orchestra this week in Miami, pianist Jason Moran talks with TRoS.

My interview with @jasonmoran.bsky.social before his Miami show this Friday. rhythmofstudy.com/2025/03/17/p...

jmih.org/event/jazz-a...

On my way to NYC for a long (birthday) working weekend: on this event Thursday night at the Jazz Museum in Harlem with Andromeda Turre. Then a seminar on oral history at the Columbia Center for Jazz Studies. I'll catch a few concerts, fit in some book interviews, & visit to my favorite record store.

Fred!

Inspired & inspiring work! 🙏

Many artists, labels, & PR outlets aren't on BlueSky yet. But there are albums from @intlanthem.bsky.social @bluenoterecords.bsky.social & many others featured.

The Month in Review…November 2024 A list of noteworthy records released this month.

Clearing some of my writing backlog with this review article covering some albums released last month.

rhythmofstudy.com/2024/12/06/t...

The Month in Review…December 2024 A list of noteworthy records released this month.

New reviews posted - December releases & holiday music.

rhythmofstudy.com/2024/12/19/t...

These growing piles of books are a sure sign of semester's end: grad student advising, book proposal work, rec letter writing, Spring syllabus planning. Not pictured: all the digital file submissions to be graded. Definitely grateful for all this hustle & also in need of rest.

Energy self-sufficiency as aspirational autonomy. Hoping to return to las Islas this summer! 💙🤍💛

🙏

Could you add me please?

In case you're wondering, here's page 90. I don't see anything egregious but 🤷🏻

Cover page of the book Hard Bop with a handwritten note that reads "page 90 - bad description of music"

Grabbed my used copy of this book off the shelf when Steve Lehman mentioned that he liked it in our interview last week. The previous owner had other thoughts.

"The Improviser's Classroom champions activist pedagogies and the public work essential for creating communities bound together by reciprocal care and equity."

tupress.temple.edu/books/the-im...

front cover of the edited volume The Improviser's Classroom from Temple University Press.

Back cover of The Improviser's Classroom with endorsement, list of contributors, editors' bios, and publication information.

Shared with immense gratitude for all those involved: The Improviser's Classroom: Pedagogies for Cocreative Worldmaking, coming early 2025 from @templeunivpress.bsky.social

Here, here!

My only hope for these lists is to turn people on to music they may not have heard. Eschewing any pretense of authority or completeness helps to ameliorate my self-doubt (in this regard).

I usually post mine after the New Year because end-of-semester grading is so time-consuming. But also excellent for catching up on any albums I missed earlier in the year.

Congratulations!

Isn't it amazing what sticks with us?! I learned how to measure the amount of a liquid at the bottom of its curved surface line in 7th grade. I have thought of that teacher (by name!) who taught me that just about every time I've had to repeat that task in the last 30 years.

I carry so many of those interactions with me still: realizing that I have become some of what they envisioned for me gives me resolve to continue growing into what I still hope to become.

Amazing. One of my greatest joys in life is sharing moments like this with former teachers. A joyful practice of gratitude across spacetime.

Close-up of a mural showing a character dressed in a space suit holding a paint roller.

Two artworks: in the foreground a large sculpture of a little girl with steam punk goggles; in the background a painting of Basquiat.

Four paintings of black-and-white figurines

Wall with a printed quote: "we create magic in places often overlooked."

A picture of several outdoor murals.

A close-up of a mural showing two monster musicians

A collage featuring the text "why not now"

My first visit to Wynwood, a district that celebrates the power of street artists to continually remake our worlds through their imagination, creativity, & artistry.

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Atlas Obscura Wild Life, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, Every Living Thing, Alien Earths, Becoming Earth, and Deep Water

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Frostbite, The Inner Clock, How to Kill an Asteroid, The Great River, The Last Fire Season, and Hoof Beats

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are The Serviceberry, Not the End of the World, Nature's Ghosts, Meet the Neighbors, The Light Eaters, and Our Moon

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Turning to Stone, The Weight of Nature, What If We Get It Right?, Waves in An Impossible Sea, The Tree Collectors, and Why We Remember

I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own!

Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚

Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!

A needed change!

Neither were on my radar. I'll look for them.

Any surprises?