As you can see from the prior post this evening, I was busy earlier listening to the outstanding Maria Schneider Orchestra in the Eastman Theater. Nonetheless, it's Friday and time to Take Five ... links that is (OK, technically it is Saturday, but it's still night, so I'm going to take some liberties):

• In honor of Maria Schneider, who really put them on the map, check out ArtistShare, a site that has been allowing fans to show appreciation for their favorite artists by funding their recording projects in exchange for access to the creative process. Maybe buy Schneider's album Sky Blue.
• A number of social networking sites for jazz artists have started to sprout around the Internet, including Jazz Musician Space: The Social Hang For Jazz Artists, where they can network, promote their music, and establish a web presence. They say fans are welcome as well.
• Jonesin for some notes on hard bop? The Jazz Note SDP blog may just fit the bill. It is devoted mostly to that body of music produced between the early 1950s and the mid-1960s. The writer, Ken Blanchard places Miles at the center of it.
• Mark Myers has two posts over at JazzWax, where he sets out "10 Jazz Genius Moments" (actually it's 10 each, adding up to 20), which are:

  ...mere moments in jazz recordings that blow me away. Some of these thrilling phrases and passages were planned out ahead of time by recording artists or arrangers. Others were improvised and turned out brilliantly. In either case, these subtle touches are the reasons why particular songs stand out for me and hit their target.

• Veteran (and recently laid off) Village Voice writer Nat Hentoff mused recently on the role jazz played in hastening the Civil Rights movement. Our new President has Coltrane on his iPod ... just think about that for a minute ...

So take five and explore. Let me know what you think in the comments ....There will be five more next week.