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☆ What’s the Greatest Jazz Record? Here’s a Clue: Miles Davis.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Peter Keepnews | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

3 SHADES OF BLUE: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool, by James KaplanMiles Davis was one of the biggest stars in jazz as well as one of the most innovative and influential musicians. John Coltrane was both a saxophone virtuoso and a fearless explorer whose lifelong musical and spiritual quest attracted a passionate following — and later, as that quest went beyond the boundaries of jazz as many people understood the word, heated criticism. Bill Evans redefined the concept of the piano trio and rewrote the rules of jazz harmony. Well, we may not need it, but we have it. And if “3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool” is neither an essential addition to the jazz literature nor quite the sweeping statement its subtitle promises, it’s certainly a compelling read.

Persons: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, James Kaplan Miles Davis, Davis, Coltrane, Evans, Ashley Kahn’s, Eric Nisenson’s “, Richard Williams’s “, Miles Davis’s, it’s, James Kaplan, — Organizations: Modern Music

☆ ChatGPT is losing its mind and no one seems to know why
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Users started to wonder if the OpenAI's chatbot was malfunctioning after it spouted "Spanglish." download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Muchas gracias for your understanding, y I’ll ensure we’re being as crystal clear como l’eau from now on,” ChatGPT wrote. chatgpt is apparently going off the rails right now and no one can explain why pic.twitter.com/0XSSsTfLzP — sean mcguire (@seanw_m) February 21, 2024Another user asked ChatGPT about the difference between mattresses in different Asian countries. Its status dashboard first noted it was “investigating reports of unexpected responses from ChatGPT” on February 20.

Persons: —, OpenAI’s, Sean McGuire, ”, ” ChatGPT, Bill Evans, 0XSSsTfLzP — sean mcguire, ChatGPT, hasn’t, ” OpenAI, ChatGPT ”, It's, OpenAI, Gary Marcus, — Gary Marcus, @GaryMarcus, Marcus Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business Locations: GPT

BOSTON (AP) — With back-to-back Super Bowl victories for the hometown Chiefs, Kansas City football fans gathered for another championship parade and a second celebratory pep rally in a row. Not because the Chiefs, with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes still just 28 years old, can’t win another NFL title. “They have to think twice about having these parades,” said former Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans, who in 38 years with the department worked 12 championship parades and the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The event included a parade down Grand Boulevard, followed by a rally in front of Union Station. But that's a difficult proposition for large, open venues like where the Kansas City rally was held, or the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon course.

Persons: Patrick Mahomes, can’t, “, ”, Bill Evans, Stacey Graves, –, Quinton Lucas, Patrick's, ” Evans, Ed Davis, Evans, there’s, ” Davis, Davis, “ Everybody's, “ Everyone’s Organizations: BOSTON, hometown Chiefs, Kansas City, Chiefs, NFL, Boston Police, Marathon, San Francisco 49ers, Super, Nuggets, NBA, Texas Rangers, Bowl, Arrowhead, U.S, Secret, Louisiana, Boston Marathon, Paris Olympic, Boston, Boston Red Sox, Police, Boston College Locations: Kansas City, Denver, St, America, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Kansas

☆ One health-insurance startup is bucking the industrywide funding slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-04 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThe insurance startup Devoted Health managed to raise another $175 million last week despite the venture-capital downturn. Devoted has raised more than $2 billion in funding to date. Funding raised by Devoted and other health-insurance startups isn't included in these figures. New funding follows rapid growthDevoted said the Series E funding round came after a year of fast growth. The round was led by a syndicate that included The Space Between, Highbury Holdings, GIC, Stardust Equity, Maverick Ventures, and Fearless Ventures, Devoted said.

Persons: —, Bill Evans, megadeals, Oscar, Andreessen Horowitz, Catalyst Organizations: Service, Business, Rock Health Capital, Rock Health, Bright, Clover Health, Oscar Health, Highbury Holdings, Stardust Equity, Maverick Ventures, Fearless Ventures, Socium Ventures, Emerson, Prime Capital Partners, GreatPoint Ventures Locations: Waltham , Massachusetts

☆ Analysis: Tony Bennett sang in a key that Jason Aldean’s song can’t reach
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( John Blake | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

White jazz artists were antiracists before the term was inventedMany of the tributes to Bennett mentioned his disdain for bigotry. Many White jazz artists were antiracists, long before the word was invented. Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s musical mentor, recorded with and relentlessly championed Black jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. He hired a Black jazz bassist, Eugene Wright, and refused to play in segregated venues. There are countless photos of a beaming Bennett hanging out with Black jazz artists.

Persons: Tony Bennett, Ed Sullivan’s, Bennett, ”, Duke Ellington, “, ’ ” Bennett, there’s, Jason Aldean, Aldean, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Rick Diamond, Bennett —, ” Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Bennett’s, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck, Eugene Wright, Benny Goodman, Jim Crow, Ellington, Louis Armstrong, don’t, It’s, that’s, Lionel Hampton, Goodman, Michael Ochs, Amy Winehouse, Winehouse, fidgety, “ We’ll, “ You’re, ” Winehouse, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Bennett’s unflappability, Bennett wasn’t, Brubeck, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Evans, Mark Allan, Greg Thomas, ” Thomas, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas, Wynton Marsalis, Bennett –, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, –, Thomas, John Blake Organizations: CNN, Toronto Star, MLK, Atlanta Civic Center, US Army, Carnegie Hall, Michael Ochs Archives, Jazz, Studios Locations: New York, Tennessee, America, Atlanta, Nazi, African, British, Turkey, Japan, London, Aldean, American, Europe, United States

☆ Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

US singer Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) performs on stage during an invitation only concert at the newly opened Encore Boston Harbor Casino in Everett, Massachusetts on August 8, 2019. "No country has given the world such great music," Bennett said in a 2015 interview with Downbeat Magazine. The evening's performance resulted in the album, "Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged," which won two Grammys, including album of the year. Bennett would win Grammys for his tributes to female vocalists ("Here's to the Ladies"), Billie Holiday ("Tony Bennett on Holiday"), and Duke Ellington ("Bennett Sings Ellington — Hot & Cool"). He also won two Emmy Awards — for "Tony Bennett Live By Request: A Valentine Special" (1996) and "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" (2007).

Persons: Tony Bennett, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, Bennett, Antonia Benedetto, Frank Sinatra, Lady Gaga, Sylvia Weiner, Bennett didn't, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Sinatra, Sinatra's, Cheek, Gaga, Carrie Underwood, Amy Winehouse, Winehouse, Oscar, Amy, Porter, George Gershwin, George Cory, Douglass Cross, Ralph Sharon, Ralph, Danny, David Letterman, Fred Astaire, Elvis Costello, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, — Bennett, Louis Armstrong, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Long, Susan Crow Benedetto, Anthony, Anna, James Infirmary, Bel, Miriam Spier, you'll, it's Bing Crosby, Art Tatum, Lester Young, Stan Getz, Joe Bari, Rosemary Clooney, Arthur Godfrey's, Pearl Bailey, Bob Hope, Mitch Miller, Hank Williams, Miller, Chuck Wayne, Chico Hamilton, Art Blakey, Count Basie, Harry Belafonte's, Martin Luther King Jr, Selma, Bennett's, Johnny Mandel's Oscar, Clive Davis, Tony, Bill Evans, Patricia Beech, Sandra Grant, Susan, Johanna, Antonia, Dae, —, Benedetto — Organizations: Associated Press, American, MTV, Ellington, New, Frank Sinatra School of, Arts, Armed Forces Network, Armed Forces Radio, American Theater, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Greenwich Village, Paramount Theater, Sinatra, Columbia Records, Count Basie Orchestra, Army, Civil Rights Movement, Carnegie Hall, Columbia, IRS, Kennedy, National Endowment, Arts Jazz, Smithsonian Museum of American Locations: Everett , Massachusetts, Francisco, New York, San Francisco, Little Rock , Arkansas, Astoria, New York City, Queens, Italian, Germany, Greenwich, Montgomery, Los Angeles

☆ Australia's central bank will likely have to hike interest rates further, economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAustralia's central bank will likely have to hike interest rates further, economist saysBill Evans of Westpac says there's a "high level" of job vacancies and it'll be difficult to bring down the unemployment rate.

Persons: Bill Evans Organizations: Westpac

☆ Australian businesses, consumers at risk of sharp slowdown ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"There is a growing risk that the RBA's attempts to maintain an even keel 'run aground,'" said NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster. The survey, however, pointed to persistent price pressures, with the measure of labour costs and purchase costs accelerating, in a concern for the RBA. NAB on Tuesday raised its call on peak rates in the current cycle, adding two more quarter-point hikes to 4.6%. Markets are now pricing the risk of two more hikes, and see rates staying elevated for the remainder of the year. CONSUMERS UNDER THE PUMPData from Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) also points to the strains consumers are feeling as high living costs and surging mortgage rates erode spending power.

Persons: Alan Oster, Bill Evans, Belinda Allen, Stella Qiu, Kim Coghill, Jamie Freed Organizations: NAB, RBA Westpac, SYDNEY, National Australia Bank, Reserve Bank of Australia, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Melbourne Institute, CBA, Thomson

☆ Australian consumer mood bleak in May after surprise rate hike, budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, May 16 (Reuters) - A measure of Australian consumer sentiment fell in May after a surprise hike in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and a "mildly disappointing" federal budget clouded the outlook for family finances and the economy. But Evans expects the RBA to leave rates on hold in June as it awaits more data on inflation and the economy. Some consumers may have had "unrealistic expectations" going into the budget with many expecting more support, Evans said. Higher living costs meant consumers were holding off on buying a major household item, with the index dipping 0.4%. Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia pauses rate hikes to assess tightening impact, Q1 inflation in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Wrapping up its April policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) did warn that "some further tightening of monetary policy may well be needed" to ensure that inflation returns to target. Markets had been wagering on a pause, while analysts were split on whether the bank would hike again given the still high level of inflation. Three-year bond futures were up 9 ticks to 97.14, with futures now also leaning towards a pause in May, implying hikes are essentially over. "The Board recognises that monetary policy operates with a lag and that the full effect of this substantial increase in interest rates is yet to be felt." Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac, said there isn't sufficient evidence for the bank to change its terminal rate forecast of 3.85%, after Tuesday's pause.

☆ Australia consumer mood stuck in the doldrums in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, March 14 (Reuters) - Australian consumer sentiment stayed stuck at historically depressed levels in March amid concerns over inflation and interest rates, a survey showed on Tuesday, with the appetite for buying big-ticket items especially weak. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment was unchanged in March, following a dive of 6.9% the month before. "Index reads below 80 are rare, back-to-back reads even rarer," noted Westpac chief economist Bill Evans. "Both the COVID shock and the Global Financial Crisis saw only one month of sentiment at these levels." The index of the economic outlook for the next 12 months dropped 2.3%, though the outlook for the next five years did bounce 5.6%.

☆ Australia consumer mood brightens for second month in a row
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A measure of Australian consumer sentiment rose in January for the second straight month, as a break in a painful cycle of interest rate rises likely provided temporary relief for borrowers. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment released on Tuesday rose 5.0% in January, the largest monthly gain since April 2021 and building on a gain of 3.0% in December. "If so, we should be cautious about reading the January sentiment rise as part of a continuing trend." The index of the economic outlook for the next 12 months jumped 10.2%, and the outlook for the next five years climbed 2.9%. A separate survey from ANZ also showed a small rise just last week, although the bank cautioned that spending data has turned weak in the first week of 2023.

☆ Australia's central bank says hikes could slow at some point
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pedestrians walk past the main entrance to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) head office in central Sydney, Australia, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File PhotoSYDNEY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Australia's central bank is set on raising interest rates again as it battles to contain red-hot inflation, but sees a case for slowing the pace of hikes as rates approached more normal levels. Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) September Board meeting out on Tuesday reiterated that policy was not on a pre-set path and would be balanced to try and keep the economy on an even keel. RBA Governor Philip Lowe has flagged the chance of a slowdown in hikes at some point, but also underlined the importance in a very tight labour market of keeping inflation expectations anchored. He also looks for quarter-point hikes in November, December and February taking rates to a peak of 3.6%.

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