Andy Beta
@andybeta.bsky.social
Author of Cosmic Music: The Life, Art, and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane (Spring 2026) Pre-order it here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-beta/cosmic-music/9780306836169/
Nineteen years ago today, Alice Coltrane/ Swamini Turiyasangitananda left this world. Yet her music continues to resonate and grow: andybeta.substack.com/p/cosmic-mus...
Cosmic Music: The Life, Art, and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane
Swamini left us nineteen years ago, yet her legacy continues to grow
andybeta.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Nineteen years ago today, Alice Coltrane/ Swamini Turiyasangitananda left this world. Yet her music continues to resonate and grow: andybeta.substack.com/p/cosmic-mus...
Reposted by Andy Beta
A reminder of some of the new books we’ve announced we’ll be publishing in the first few months of 2026. Still more to come (keep an eye out), as well as some of our existing favourites moving into paperback, so there’s plenty to look forward to…
January 9, 2026 at 1:45 PM
A reminder of some of the new books we’ve announced we’ll be publishing in the first few months of 2026. Still more to come (keep an eye out), as well as some of our existing favourites moving into paperback, so there’s plenty to look forward to…
"I don’t really see a great deal of difference between my recent work and my ‘80s stuff. Some 30-40 years on I’m obviously a different person, but the musical preoccupations remain much the same.” Robert Haigh on his @unseenworlds.com trilogy of sublime piano music: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
Robert Haigh
A conversation with the minimalist composer/ hardcore DnB pioneer on crafting ideal piano music for the bleakest part of winter
open.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:17 PM
"I don’t really see a great deal of difference between my recent work and my ‘80s stuff. Some 30-40 years on I’m obviously a different person, but the musical preoccupations remain much the same.” Robert Haigh on his @unseenworlds.com trilogy of sublime piano music: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
"Hopefully what I’m doing is inspiring people and healing some people. You know maybe they are healed by what they hear."
A conversation with Amina Claudine Myers and the album that imparted some solace in 2025:
open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
A conversation with Amina Claudine Myers and the album that imparted some solace in 2025:
open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
Amina Claudine Myers
An interview with the AACM alumni on playing in the church, having the Holy Spirit enter the room, performing a play without dialogue, and going to the source.
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:40 PM
"Hopefully what I’m doing is inspiring people and healing some people. You know maybe they are healed by what they hear."
A conversation with Amina Claudine Myers and the album that imparted some solace in 2025:
open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
A conversation with Amina Claudine Myers and the album that imparted some solace in 2025:
open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
A total legend. Got to chat with Toni a few years back when working on a story about Bruce Conner and she had tales for days:
Had a great time talking to TONI BASIL - who's done everything worked with everyone: Elvis, the Rat Pack, Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Tina Turner, Talking Heads, Devo, the Lockers - and had a hit of her own of course - she's been places!
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
The magical life of Toni Basil: how she taught Elvis, enchanted Bowie - and had a smash hit with ‘Mickey’
The woman Quentin Tarantino called ‘the goddess of go-go’ is one of the most connected and accomplished in Hollywood. At 82, she recalls working with Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra, David By...
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:23 PM
A total legend. Got to chat with Toni a few years back when working on a story about Bruce Conner and she had tales for days:
Wowowow, the only known footage of The Blue Notes (at Ronnie Scott's) in The Real McGregor, capturing how the exiled Apartheid SA band energized the London jazz scene: youtu.be/TC0CoqSDV8U?...
The Real McGregor (2025 Restoration)
YouTube video by Ogun Records
youtu.be
December 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Wowowow, the only known footage of The Blue Notes (at Ronnie Scott's) in The Real McGregor, capturing how the exiled Apartheid SA band energized the London jazz scene: youtu.be/TC0CoqSDV8U?...
Beyond that imaginary Lot Radio set, a few more #BandcampFriday recommendations for the fiends...
December 5, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Beyond that imaginary Lot Radio set, a few more #BandcampFriday recommendations for the fiends...
Due to the holiday, my last set of the year for The Lot Radio didn't happen, so I posted an imaginary iteration of it for the Stack: andybeta.substack.com/p/the-lot-fo...
I will now use it as a roadmap for the last Bandcamp Friday of 2025...
I will now use it as a roadmap for the last Bandcamp Friday of 2025...
The Lot for November (an imaginary set)
Thin Air of The Night Before That Was a Dream
andybeta.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Due to the holiday, my last set of the year for The Lot Radio didn't happen, so I posted an imaginary iteration of it for the Stack: andybeta.substack.com/p/the-lot-fo...
I will now use it as a roadmap for the last Bandcamp Friday of 2025...
I will now use it as a roadmap for the last Bandcamp Friday of 2025...
Reposted by Andy Beta
Announcing a very long-overdue definitive biography of a music and spiritual visionary…
COSMIC MUSIC: The Life, Art and Transcendence of ALICE COLTRANE by @andybeta.bsky.social
Coming 19 March 2026: geni.us/CosmicMusic
COSMIC MUSIC: The Life, Art and Transcendence of ALICE COLTRANE by @andybeta.bsky.social
Coming 19 March 2026: geni.us/CosmicMusic
December 1, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Announcing a very long-overdue definitive biography of a music and spiritual visionary…
COSMIC MUSIC: The Life, Art and Transcendence of ALICE COLTRANE by @andybeta.bsky.social
Coming 19 March 2026: geni.us/CosmicMusic
COSMIC MUSIC: The Life, Art and Transcendence of ALICE COLTRANE by @andybeta.bsky.social
Coming 19 March 2026: geni.us/CosmicMusic
Reposted by Andy Beta
WFMU's legendary DJ Jeff Sarge has announced that the last episode of his Reggae Schoolroom radio show on WFMU will be this Sunday, November 30th. Join Jeff to show your appreciation for this outstanding 41-year run!
November 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
WFMU's legendary DJ Jeff Sarge has announced that the last episode of his Reggae Schoolroom radio show on WFMU will be this Sunday, November 30th. Join Jeff to show your appreciation for this outstanding 41-year run!
Since I just received an email that "We Are the World” Returns for Its 40th Anniversary," a rough guide to the "real" sound of Africa in the 1980s, full of ancient instruments in dialogue with DX-7s, multi-track studios, and boogieing drum machines: theshfl.com/guide/80s-Af...
1980s African Music
Read Andy Beta on 1980s African Music
theshfl.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Since I just received an email that "We Are the World” Returns for Its 40th Anniversary," a rough guide to the "real" sound of Africa in the 1980s, full of ancient instruments in dialogue with DX-7s, multi-track studios, and boogieing drum machines: theshfl.com/guide/80s-Af...
A movie that takes place where you are from.
November 24, 2025 at 5:22 PM
A movie that takes place where you are from.
Sway
Name your fav song by The Rolling Stones.
November 22, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Sway
Revisiting a verrry early interview conducted with Chicago electroacoustic composer Olivia Block back in 2001: andybeta.substack.com/p/in-the-fri...
In the Fried Archives: Olivia Block
From 2001, one of my first artist interviews with Chicago-based sound artist Olivia Block on Texas band life, bat caves, compositional methods, and her karaoke go-tos.
andybeta.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Revisiting a verrry early interview conducted with Chicago electroacoustic composer Olivia Block back in 2001: andybeta.substack.com/p/in-the-fri...
Fear is a Man's Best Friend: On childhood terrors, homemade masks, cat hair ghosts, losing your kid in public, and things you just do when you're bored: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
Fear is a Man's Best Friend
Childhood terrors and homemade masks, cat hair ghosts, and things you just do when you're bored
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Fear is a Man's Best Friend: On childhood terrors, homemade masks, cat hair ghosts, losing your kid in public, and things you just do when you're bored: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
Reposted by Andy Beta
A biography of Alice Coltrane, by Andy Beta? Yes please. (Coming from Hachette in March.)
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-...
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-...
November 13, 2025 at 11:57 PM
A biography of Alice Coltrane, by Andy Beta? Yes please. (Coming from Hachette in March.)
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-...
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andy-...
"How can this be any good? We didn't pay anything for it." Nice lookback at this outlaw classic: www.dontrocktheinbox.com/james-talley...
James Talley On 50 Years of 'Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love'
The veteran singer-songwriter talks with DRTI about his timeless debut, and the half-century since.
www.dontrocktheinbox.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
"How can this be any good? We didn't pay anything for it." Nice lookback at this outlaw classic: www.dontrocktheinbox.com/james-talley...
Two Chicago jazz albums (over 30 years apart) that make time warp around you: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
Twofer Tuesday #14
Two albums from Chicago that transcend the confines of jazz and suspend time
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Two Chicago jazz albums (over 30 years apart) that make time warp around you: open.substack.com/pub/andybeta...
And your apartment listing
People who are leaving NYC, please post pix of your U-Hauls!
November 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
And your apartment listing
"When I would speak of those morbid things/When I would speak of those sordid men/When I would speak of this storm/You didn’t listen/You don’t want to believe/But that’s so normal." In the depths of Brazil's fascist regime, Lô Borges (with Milton) provided some hope. RIP to a master:
November 3, 2025 at 7:24 PM
"When I would speak of those morbid things/When I would speak of those sordid men/When I would speak of this storm/You didn’t listen/You don’t want to believe/But that’s so normal." In the depths of Brazil's fascist regime, Lô Borges (with Milton) provided some hope. RIP to a master:
In May of 2024, I received an email that Jack DeJohnette would speak with me for the Alice Coltrane book. So thoughtful and direct: "The music wasn't complicated. It wasn't difficult. It was a vibe, you know? Melodies, spiritual feeling, [an] expansive look at being, playing that music."
October 27, 2025 at 3:37 PM
In May of 2024, I received an email that Jack DeJohnette would speak with me for the Alice Coltrane book. So thoughtful and direct: "The music wasn't complicated. It wasn't difficult. It was a vibe, you know? Melodies, spiritual feeling, [an] expansive look at being, playing that music."
Reposted by Andy Beta
Most people at Frost Bank Center didn’t realize it, but Gregg Popovich was in the building Sunday, and he’d given his blessing to a banner, raised sans ceremony.
How the Spurs planned the perfect Pop tribute:
www.expressnews.com/sports/artic...
How the Spurs planned the perfect Pop tribute:
www.expressnews.com/sports/artic...
How the Spurs planned the perfect tribute to Gregg Popovich
an empty Frost Bank Center, hours before any players or crowds arrived on Sunday, the Spurs hung a simple piece of fabric alongside the jersey numbers of seven legends Popovich had coached.
www.expressnews.com
October 26, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Most people at Frost Bank Center didn’t realize it, but Gregg Popovich was in the building Sunday, and he’d given his blessing to a banner, raised sans ceremony.
How the Spurs planned the perfect Pop tribute:
www.expressnews.com/sports/artic...
How the Spurs planned the perfect Pop tribute:
www.expressnews.com/sports/artic...
Reposted by Andy Beta
Fly on, Jack DeJohnette. 💐🕊️🤲🏾
photo (by me) backstage at Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Nov 2, 2019
photo (by me) backstage at Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Nov 2, 2019
October 27, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Fly on, Jack DeJohnette. 💐🕊️🤲🏾
photo (by me) backstage at Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Nov 2, 2019
photo (by me) backstage at Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Nov 2, 2019
Jack DeJohnette doubling as DX-7 wizard: youtu.be/OiilVpyKAY0?...
Jack DeJohnette : Zebra (1985) - 04 Kpledzo (High Quality)
YouTube video by VegTheatre
youtu.be
October 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Jack DeJohnette doubling as DX-7 wizard: youtu.be/OiilVpyKAY0?...