hairylarry

kgpl jwplayer embed

There is an issue with jplayer and https especially when you are playing music hosted on another domain.

Because of this my KGPL widgets are not working on write.as. I assume they are not working on other https sites too.

Matt is the programmer at write.as and he walked me through some of the issues I have been having embedding on write.as.

Then I did some more research and hacked around on some Internet Archive widgets and got the above embed to work.

This is what I wrote to Matt about what I found.

---

I still have a ways to go to actually update my program but I have found this to be true.

jplayer supports playing media hosted on another server as long as everything is http. This doesn't work with https.

In fact not playing media hosted on another server appears to be one of the security enhancements implemented with https.

jwplayer is the media player used at archive.org to power their widgets. These work fine under https. Of course they are running the media player and hosting the media at archive.org.

This is why the archive.org widgets work under write.as while my KGPL widgets don't.

I can use the archive.org media player in my code to play media hosted on archive.org. Then it will play on write.as and I assume other https sites as well.

This is my solution to the problem. This is not a general solution to this problem. In fact, in general, if you are playing media hosted on another website with a javascript player you will have problems with https. So my solution is very specific to archive.org and is only possible because they encourage third party use of their media.

Here is a link to code hosted on KGPL.

http://kgpl.org/embed6.htm

Here is a link to that code embedded in an iframe and playing on write.as.

https://write.as/hairylarry/jplayer

I really wouldn't have known where to start on this without your help.

Thanks

21st Century Jazz in 1974

“Universal Beings” by Makaya McCraven was one of bandcamp's top ten jazz albums for 2018. Here's “Holy Lands” from that CD.

https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/track/holy-lands-feat-brandee-younger.

Sun Ra had an album, “Crystal Spears”, rejected by his label in 1973.

Here's “Eternal Sphynx” recorded for that album and now available on bandcamp.

https://sunramusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-eternal-sphynx

From the liner notes.

Why was Crystal Spears rejected? A year or two after Ra’s signing, reigning ABC management was swept out and new execs rolled in. It’s quite probable that the new execs didn’t comprehend what was happening on these recordings. For the uninitiated, this was not jazz as they knew it, but unbridled cacophony. But is it? Sun Ra always had a method to his madness—and a madness to his method. ... Track two, “The Eternal Sphynx,” is probably the most commercial sounding work.

These two songs share aural, intellectual, and cosmic space. It is a tribute to Sun Ra that his music can be seen as 45 years ahead of it's time. And it's a tribute to Makaya McCraven that he can popularize today sounds that still demand an open mind and full attention.

Happy New Year

My how time flies. Seems like just last week it was Christmas.

Jazz Listening

One of the things I've been working on since I went back to school is listening to contemporary jazz performers and composers. When I was in the Jazz Choir we had assigned listening every week. We got to pick the music but we had to log it and discuss it. This practice encourages active listening where you focus and concentrate on what you are hearing as opposed to having music on in the background while you go about your day.

Both active and background listening are legitimate but the more active listening you do the harder it is to listen and not focus. The background music has a tendency to invade your mind space and then you move right into active listening and you're not getting anything else done.

Like right now I had to tab over to my mplayer window because the music grabbed me. It's Charlie Hunter playing “There Used To Be A Nightclub There” at The Loving Cup and it has some great guitar in it. So then the next thing you know I've cued up some Charlie Hunter and you see what I mean.

Over break I have compiled quite a list for jazz listening. I've listened to enough of each of these picks to know I want to spend more time with them and I've still got a few weeks left to do just that. So far I've spent the most time with Kenny Werner but there's so much great music here by a wide variety of artists that I'm sure you can find some you like.

Some of this music comes from the library's Fregal service, free and legal downloads with your library card. Some from the Live Music Archive and some from bandcamp. Or you can try to find it on Spotify. When you're listening to this years releases it can be challenging locating them.

So here's the list

jazz listening ========= Created Sunday 30 December 2018

The first three items link to collections of music.

bandcamp daily – The Best Jazz Albums of 2018 https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/12/18/the-best-bandcamp-jazz-albums-of-2018/

Internet archive uploads by stevphen – lots of European jazz and free jazz https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22stevphen%22

KBFR's Van – Interviews and live recordings https://archive.org/search.php?query=venue%3A%22KBFR%27s+Van%22

Of Abstract Dreams by Sun Ra & His Arkestra https://sunramusic.bandcamp.com/album/of-abstract-dreams

Redtime Live at House of Blues on 1996-11-07 https://archive.org/details/rt1996-11-07

Keyon Harrold – Introducing Keyon Harrold

Keyon Harrold – The Mugician

Gilad Hekselman – Ask For Chaos

Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/universal-beings

Thumbscrew – Convallaria https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/convallaria

Brian Blade – Body And Shadow

Kenny Werner – Naked In The Cosmos

Kenny Werner – A Delicate Balance

Ben Wendel – What We Bring

Live in Healdsburg by Anat Cohen & Fred Hersch https://anzic.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-healdsburg

Rhapsody by Bobby Previte https://bobbyprevite.bandcamp.com/album/rhapsody

NauMay by Juan Ibarra Quinteto https://juanibarra.bandcamp.com/releases

The Other Side of Time by Quin Kirchner https://quinkirchner.bandcamp.com/album/the-other-side-of-time

Have fun!

Phantasmagorical

I wrote this song and made the video a few years ago. I just posted it on the PeerTube on Mastodon.host. Enjoy!

Watch Phantasmagorical Video

Almost The End

I can't believe it's almost the end of the year. It seems like just yesterday it was Christmas.

Amanda Avigdale

I found this jazz composer and pianist on the Internet archive. Stunning work.

https://archive.org/details/JazzPiano

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

KASU Jazz For The Holidays

The KASU Jazz For The Holidays show has been posted. A photo gallery is on Delta Boogie and the audio recordings are at the Live Music Archive.

Delta Boogie Photo Gallery http://deltaboogie.com/jazzfortheholidays2018-12-01

Live Music Archive https://archive.org/details/gg2018-12-01

And here's a player.

Music from this show will be aired on Something Blue, Saturday, December, 22 at 10:00 PM CT and on Arkansas Roots on Christmas Day between noon and 1:00 PM. KASU broadcasts at 91.9 FM and streams at kasu.org.

KGPL Upgrade

I worked on my KGPL software to make it easier to add entire concerts from the Live Music Archive by using their JSON API. Starting with LMAJazz I've added many new concerts.

http://kgpl.org/lmajazz

Half Halfling by Larry Heyl

My Mother, the midget Fell for a halfling bard Who sang her sweet love songs beneath the pine trees in his yard.

They married in April Which makes me a Winter's child Quite mild for a human As halfling, quite wild.

So yes I'm half halfling From bald head to hairy toes I hunt through the forest Where wild mushrooms grow.

Will I seek adventure Or farm in the shire? Sing for my lady love While I pluck the lyre.