Clarence “Gatemouth“ Brown Dies, 81 Feature StoryClarence “Gatemouth“ Brown Dies, 81
12-Sep-2005
Written by: Jaimie E. Gusman
Brown, a music icon, died in Texas this past weekend from lung cancer and the destruction of a sentimental place, New Orleans.
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, 81, died in Texas this weekend, according to his keyboard player. The Grammy Award-winning singer and guitarist was suffering from lung cancer and was also heavily affected by the devastation which occurred in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.
Brown won a blues Grammy in 1982 for his album "Alright Again!" and was a revolutionary electric guitar player who helped make the instrument an important part of popular American music.
His 60-year-long career included being the drummer for blues legend T-Bone Walker and a friend of Lightnin' Hopkins. He managed to avoid the label of "bluesman" by playing a range of styles such as blues, big band, Cajun, country, jazz, and rhythm-and-blues.
New Orleans musician Joe Krown, who played beside Brown for 15 years, said he died on Saturday after evacuating to his brother's home in Orange, Texas just before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29. Krown said that Brown was diagnosed with cancer last year and was not doing well to begin with, and news that Katrina had destroyed New Orleans and his Slidell community, left him even weaker.
"It was just devastating. There was nothing to go back to," said Krown. "He lost the will to live." Brown was born in 1924 in Vinton, Louisiana, and raised in nearby Orange.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
New Orleans Musicians Ask if Their Scene Will Survive - New York Times
New Orleans Musicians Ask if Their Scene Will Survive - New York TimesSeptember 8, 2005
New Orleans Musicians Ask if Their Scene Will Survive
By BEN RATLIFF
New Orleans is a jazz town, but also a funk town, a brass-band town, a hip-hop town and a jam-band town. It has international jazz musicians and hip-hop superstars, but also a true, subsistence-level street culture. Much of its music is tied to geography and neighborhoods, and crowds.
All that was incontrovertibly true until a week ago Monday. Now the future for brass bands and Mardi Gras Indians, to cite two examples, looks particularly bleak if their neighborhoods are destroyed by flooding, and bleaker still with the prospect of no new tourists coming to town soon to infuse their traditions with new money. Although the full extent of damage is still unknown, there is little doubt that it has been severe - to families, to instruments, to historical records, to clubs, to costumes. "Who knows if there exists a Mardi Gras Indian costume anymore in New Orleans?" wondered Don Marshall, director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Foundation.
"A lot of the great musicians came right out of the Treme neighborhood and the Lower Ninth Ward," said the trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, temporarily speaking in the past tense, by phone from Houston yesterday. Mr. Ruffins, one of the most popular jazz musicians in New Orleans, made his name there partly through his regular Thursday-night gig over the last 12 years at Vaughan's, a bar in the Bywater neighborhood, where red beans and rice were served at midnight. Now Vaughn's may be destroyed, and so may his new house, which is not too far from the bar.
On Saturday evening Mr. Ruffins flew back to New Orleans from a gig in San Diego, having heard the first of the dire storm warnings. He stopped at a lumberyard to buy wood planks, boarded up 25 windows on his house, then went bar-hopping and joked with his friends that where they were standing might be under water the next day.
The next morning he fled to Baton Rouge with his family, and now he is in Houston, about to settle into apartments, along with more than 30 relatives. He is being offered plenty of work in Houston, and is already thinking ahead to what he calls "the new New Orleans."
"I think the city is going to wind up being a smaller area," he said. "They'll have to build some super levees.
"I think this will never happen again once they get finished," Mr. Ruffins added. "We're going to get those musicians back, the brass bands, the jazz funerals, everything."
Brass bands function through the year - not only through the annual Jazzfest, where many outsiders see them, and jazz funerals, but at the approximately 55 social aid and pleasure clubs, each of which holds a parade once a year. It is an intensely local culture, and has been thriving in recent years. Brass-band music, funky and hard-hitting, can easily be transformed from the neighborhood social to a club gig; brass bands like Rebirth, Dirty Dozen and the Soul Rebels have done well by touring as commercial entities. Members of Stooges Brass Band have ended up in Atlanta, and of Li'l Rascals in Houston; there could be a significant brass-band diaspora before musicians find a way to get home to New Orleans. (Rebirth's Web site, www.rebirthbrassband.com, has been keeping a count of brass-band musicians who have been heard from.)
The Mardi Gras Indian tradition is more fragile. Monk Boudreaux is chief of the Golden Eagles, one of the 40 or so secretive Mardi Gras tribes, who are known not just for their flamboyant feathered costumes but for their competitive parades through neighborhoods at Mardi Gras time. (Mardi Gras Indians are not American Indians but New Orleanians from the city's working-class black neighborhoods.) Mr. Boudreaux, now safe with his daughter in Mesquite, Tex., stayed put through the storm at his house in the Uptown neighborhood; when he left last week, he said, the water was waist-high. He chuckled when asked if the Mardi Gras Indian tradition could survive in exile. "I don't know of any other Mardi Gras outside of New Orleans," he said.
These days a city is often considered a jazz town to the extent that its resident musicians have international careers. The bulk of New Orleans jazz musicians have shown a knack for staying local. (Twenty or so in the last two decades, including several Marsalises, are obvious exceptions.)
But as everyone knows, jazz is crucial to New Orleans, and New Orleans was crucial in combining jazz's constituent parts, its Spanish, French, Caribbean and West African influences. The fact that so many musicians are related to one or another of the city's great music families - Lastie, Brunious, Neville, Jordan, Marsalis - still gives much of the music scene a built-in sense of nobility. "Whereas New York has a jazz industry," said Quint Davis, director of Jazzfest, "New Orleans has a jazz culture." (Speaking of Jazzfest, Mr. Davis was not ready to discuss whether there will be a festival next April. "First I'm dealing with the lives and subsistence of the people who produce it," he said.)
And most jazz in New Orleans has a directness about it. "Everyone isn't searching for the hottest, newest lick," said Maurice Brown, a young trumpeter from Chicago who had been rising through the ranks of the New Orleans jazz scene for the last four years before the storm took his house and car. "People are trying to stay true to the melody."
Gregory Davis, the trumpeter and vocalist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of the city's most successful groups, said the typical New Orleans musician was vulnerable because of how he lives and works. (Mr. Davis's house is in the Gentilly neighborhood; he spoke last week from his brother's home in Dallas.)
"A lot of these guys who are playing out there in the clubs are not home owners," he said. "They're going to be at the mercy of the owners of those properties. For some of them, playing in the clubs was the only means of earning any money. If those musicians come back and don't have an affordable home, that's a big blow."
Louis Edwards, a New Orleans novelist and an associate producer of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, said, "No other city is so equipped to deal with this." A French Quarter resident, Mr. Edwards was taking refuge last week at his mother's house in Lake Charles, La.
"Think of the jazz funeral," he said. "In New Orleans we respond to the concept of following tragedy with joy. That's a powerful philosophy to have as the underpinning of your culture."
In the meantime, Mr. Boudreaux, chief of the Golden Eagles, has a feeling his own Mardi Gras Indian costume is intact. He was careful to put it in a dry place before he left home. "I just need to get home and get that Indian suit from on top of that closet," he said.
New Orleans Musicians Ask if Their Scene Will Survive
By BEN RATLIFF
New Orleans is a jazz town, but also a funk town, a brass-band town, a hip-hop town and a jam-band town. It has international jazz musicians and hip-hop superstars, but also a true, subsistence-level street culture. Much of its music is tied to geography and neighborhoods, and crowds.
All that was incontrovertibly true until a week ago Monday. Now the future for brass bands and Mardi Gras Indians, to cite two examples, looks particularly bleak if their neighborhoods are destroyed by flooding, and bleaker still with the prospect of no new tourists coming to town soon to infuse their traditions with new money. Although the full extent of damage is still unknown, there is little doubt that it has been severe - to families, to instruments, to historical records, to clubs, to costumes. "Who knows if there exists a Mardi Gras Indian costume anymore in New Orleans?" wondered Don Marshall, director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Foundation.
"A lot of the great musicians came right out of the Treme neighborhood and the Lower Ninth Ward," said the trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, temporarily speaking in the past tense, by phone from Houston yesterday. Mr. Ruffins, one of the most popular jazz musicians in New Orleans, made his name there partly through his regular Thursday-night gig over the last 12 years at Vaughan's, a bar in the Bywater neighborhood, where red beans and rice were served at midnight. Now Vaughn's may be destroyed, and so may his new house, which is not too far from the bar.
On Saturday evening Mr. Ruffins flew back to New Orleans from a gig in San Diego, having heard the first of the dire storm warnings. He stopped at a lumberyard to buy wood planks, boarded up 25 windows on his house, then went bar-hopping and joked with his friends that where they were standing might be under water the next day.
The next morning he fled to Baton Rouge with his family, and now he is in Houston, about to settle into apartments, along with more than 30 relatives. He is being offered plenty of work in Houston, and is already thinking ahead to what he calls "the new New Orleans."
"I think the city is going to wind up being a smaller area," he said. "They'll have to build some super levees.
"I think this will never happen again once they get finished," Mr. Ruffins added. "We're going to get those musicians back, the brass bands, the jazz funerals, everything."
Brass bands function through the year - not only through the annual Jazzfest, where many outsiders see them, and jazz funerals, but at the approximately 55 social aid and pleasure clubs, each of which holds a parade once a year. It is an intensely local culture, and has been thriving in recent years. Brass-band music, funky and hard-hitting, can easily be transformed from the neighborhood social to a club gig; brass bands like Rebirth, Dirty Dozen and the Soul Rebels have done well by touring as commercial entities. Members of Stooges Brass Band have ended up in Atlanta, and of Li'l Rascals in Houston; there could be a significant brass-band diaspora before musicians find a way to get home to New Orleans. (Rebirth's Web site, www.rebirthbrassband.com, has been keeping a count of brass-band musicians who have been heard from.)
The Mardi Gras Indian tradition is more fragile. Monk Boudreaux is chief of the Golden Eagles, one of the 40 or so secretive Mardi Gras tribes, who are known not just for their flamboyant feathered costumes but for their competitive parades through neighborhoods at Mardi Gras time. (Mardi Gras Indians are not American Indians but New Orleanians from the city's working-class black neighborhoods.) Mr. Boudreaux, now safe with his daughter in Mesquite, Tex., stayed put through the storm at his house in the Uptown neighborhood; when he left last week, he said, the water was waist-high. He chuckled when asked if the Mardi Gras Indian tradition could survive in exile. "I don't know of any other Mardi Gras outside of New Orleans," he said.
These days a city is often considered a jazz town to the extent that its resident musicians have international careers. The bulk of New Orleans jazz musicians have shown a knack for staying local. (Twenty or so in the last two decades, including several Marsalises, are obvious exceptions.)
But as everyone knows, jazz is crucial to New Orleans, and New Orleans was crucial in combining jazz's constituent parts, its Spanish, French, Caribbean and West African influences. The fact that so many musicians are related to one or another of the city's great music families - Lastie, Brunious, Neville, Jordan, Marsalis - still gives much of the music scene a built-in sense of nobility. "Whereas New York has a jazz industry," said Quint Davis, director of Jazzfest, "New Orleans has a jazz culture." (Speaking of Jazzfest, Mr. Davis was not ready to discuss whether there will be a festival next April. "First I'm dealing with the lives and subsistence of the people who produce it," he said.)
And most jazz in New Orleans has a directness about it. "Everyone isn't searching for the hottest, newest lick," said Maurice Brown, a young trumpeter from Chicago who had been rising through the ranks of the New Orleans jazz scene for the last four years before the storm took his house and car. "People are trying to stay true to the melody."
Gregory Davis, the trumpeter and vocalist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of the city's most successful groups, said the typical New Orleans musician was vulnerable because of how he lives and works. (Mr. Davis's house is in the Gentilly neighborhood; he spoke last week from his brother's home in Dallas.)
"A lot of these guys who are playing out there in the clubs are not home owners," he said. "They're going to be at the mercy of the owners of those properties. For some of them, playing in the clubs was the only means of earning any money. If those musicians come back and don't have an affordable home, that's a big blow."
Louis Edwards, a New Orleans novelist and an associate producer of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, said, "No other city is so equipped to deal with this." A French Quarter resident, Mr. Edwards was taking refuge last week at his mother's house in Lake Charles, La.
"Think of the jazz funeral," he said. "In New Orleans we respond to the concept of following tragedy with joy. That's a powerful philosophy to have as the underpinning of your culture."
In the meantime, Mr. Boudreaux, chief of the Golden Eagles, has a feeling his own Mardi Gras Indian costume is intact. He was careful to put it in a dry place before he left home. "I just need to get home and get that Indian suit from on top of that closet," he said.
Washington DC Jazz On The Mall October 1st 2005
Events InfoJAZZ ON THE MALL: FREE
WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET, featuring
Brian Blade, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez;
WALLACE RONEY SEXTET;
THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND;
CHUCK BROWN; JERRY GONZALEZ &
THE FORT APACHE BAND; SUNNY SUMTER THE NATIONAL MALL * 12:00-8:00PM
SYLVAN AMPHITHEATRE
FREE
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ SHOWCASE:
ANTOINE RONEY & AFRICAN DRUMMERS BOHEMIAN CAVERNS * 8:30/10:30PM
LARRY CORYELL TRIO BLUES ALLEY * 8:00/10:00PM
CELEBRATING THE U STREET LEGACY U STREET CORRIDOR
Jazz groups performing in clubs along the historic U Street Corridor**
WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET, featuring
Brian Blade, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez;
WALLACE RONEY SEXTET;
THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND;
CHUCK BROWN; JERRY GONZALEZ &
THE FORT APACHE BAND; SUNNY SUMTER THE NATIONAL MALL * 12:00-8:00PM
SYLVAN AMPHITHEATRE
FREE
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ SHOWCASE:
ANTOINE RONEY & AFRICAN DRUMMERS BOHEMIAN CAVERNS * 8:30/10:30PM
LARRY CORYELL TRIO BLUES ALLEY * 8:00/10:00PM
CELEBRATING THE U STREET LEGACY U STREET CORRIDOR
Jazz groups performing in clubs along the historic U Street Corridor**
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts the Higher ground Hurricane Relief Concert :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News D
Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts the Higher ground Hurricane Relief Concert :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts the Higher ground Hurricane Relief Concert
Posted by: editoron Tuesday, September 06, 2005 - 08:19 AM
Jazz News Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts the
Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert
Benefit for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina
The evening will feature New Orleans native son, Wynton Marsalis and many special celebrity guest artists and speakers.
September 17, 2005, 7pm
Frederick P. Rose Hall
Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Broadway at 60th Street
Rose Theater
Tickets go on sale September 8, 2005
Tickets are available at:
Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office
Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor
www.jalc.org
Center Charge: 212-721-6500
Posted by: editoron Tuesday, September 06, 2005 - 08:19 AM
Jazz News Jazz at Lincoln Center Hosts the
Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert
Benefit for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina
The evening will feature New Orleans native son, Wynton Marsalis and many special celebrity guest artists and speakers.
September 17, 2005, 7pm
Frederick P. Rose Hall
Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Broadway at 60th Street
Rose Theater
Tickets go on sale September 8, 2005
Tickets are available at:
Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office
Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor
www.jalc.org
Center Charge: 212-721-6500
Dave Holland Conducts Fall Residency with Steve Nelson :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily
Dave Holland Conducts Fall Residency with Steve Nelson :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily Dave Holland Conducts Fall Residency with Steve Nelson
Posted by: editoron Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 08:25 AM
Jazz News Jazz Bassist Dave Holland Returns to NEC for Residency, September 20 -22
Performs in Concert September 21 with Vibraphonist Steve Nelson, Coaches Student Performance September 22
Presents Free Masterclasses September 20 and 21
Jazz bassist Dave Holland, Visiting Artist-in-Residence, returns to New England Conservatory September 20 for a fall residency that includes concerts and masterclasses. He will be joined by vibraphonist Steve Nelson in one performance and one class, both on Wednesday the 21st. He will coach students who perform his music in concert, on Thursday the 22nd.
The bassist, bandleader and composer, who was a full-time member of the NEC faculty from 1987 to 1990 and was awarded an honorary degree in 2003, renewed his relationship with the Conservatory last year. As Visiting Artist-in-Residence, he will conduct two residencies each year, one in the fall semester and one in the spring. Vibraphonist Steve Nelson, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Rutgers University, is a member of the Dave Holland Quintet and has recorded three discs as leader of his own band.
Both masterclasses and concerts are free and open to the public. The schedule follows:
Dave Holland Residency, September 20—22, 2005
September 20, 2005
1 p.m. NEC’s St. Botolph Hall: Masterclass with Dave Holland
September 21, 2005
1 p.m. NEC’s Brown Hall: Masterclass with Dave Holland and vibraphonist Steve Nelson
8 p.m. NEC’s Jordan Hall: Concert with Dave Holland and vibraphonist Steve Nelson
September 22, 2005
8 p.m. NEC’s Brown Hall: Concert with NEC jazz students, playing music of Dave Holland
For more information, call the NEC Concert Line at (617) 585-1122 or visit NEC on the web at www.newenglandconservatory.edu/concerts
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of “From the Top,” a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by more than two hundred stations throughout the United States.
Posted by: editoron Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 08:25 AM
Jazz News Jazz Bassist Dave Holland Returns to NEC for Residency, September 20 -22
Performs in Concert September 21 with Vibraphonist Steve Nelson, Coaches Student Performance September 22
Presents Free Masterclasses September 20 and 21
Jazz bassist Dave Holland, Visiting Artist-in-Residence, returns to New England Conservatory September 20 for a fall residency that includes concerts and masterclasses. He will be joined by vibraphonist Steve Nelson in one performance and one class, both on Wednesday the 21st. He will coach students who perform his music in concert, on Thursday the 22nd.
The bassist, bandleader and composer, who was a full-time member of the NEC faculty from 1987 to 1990 and was awarded an honorary degree in 2003, renewed his relationship with the Conservatory last year. As Visiting Artist-in-Residence, he will conduct two residencies each year, one in the fall semester and one in the spring. Vibraphonist Steve Nelson, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Rutgers University, is a member of the Dave Holland Quintet and has recorded three discs as leader of his own band.
Both masterclasses and concerts are free and open to the public. The schedule follows:
Dave Holland Residency, September 20—22, 2005
September 20, 2005
1 p.m. NEC’s St. Botolph Hall: Masterclass with Dave Holland
September 21, 2005
1 p.m. NEC’s Brown Hall: Masterclass with Dave Holland and vibraphonist Steve Nelson
8 p.m. NEC’s Jordan Hall: Concert with Dave Holland and vibraphonist Steve Nelson
September 22, 2005
8 p.m. NEC’s Brown Hall: Concert with NEC jazz students, playing music of Dave Holland
For more information, call the NEC Concert Line at (617) 585-1122 or visit NEC on the web at www.newenglandconservatory.edu/concerts
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of “From the Top,” a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by more than two hundred stations throughout the United States.
Jammates Launches Jazz Jukebox Featuring GA Jazz Artists :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily
Jammates Launches Jazz Jukebox Featuring GA Jazz Artists :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily Press Releases: Jammates Launches Jazz Jukebox Featuring GA Jazz Artists
Posted by: eJazzNews Readeron Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 12:43 PM
Jazz News Atlanta / LaGrange Georgia 9-7-2005… Jammates LLC turns up its online jazz jukebox. This complimentary feature area on the jammates.com website profiles participating Georgia jazz artists wanting to extend their music and brand to an expanded audience. The jukebox offers a full-length track by and artist profile for each participating jazz musician or group. From anywhere in the world, jazz fans now have the opportunity to quickly listen to and learn about music offerings from Georgia's fine crop of jazz artists.
"We have a good start", comments Coe Cloud, Jammates partner and director of promotional services. "But, it's only a beginning. We need more participation to really provide value for the fans. The Jammates Jukebox V1.0 features a nice cross section of jazz genres – vocal, straight-ahead, latin, fusion, smooth jazz - even dixieland. We believe there are hundreds, not dozens, of Georgia artists who deserve to have presence; and over time, we hope to identify and program as many as practical." Paul Hammock, Jammates partner and director of production, adds "We have a number of submissions in the pipeline for review. Plus, with our upcoming recording schedule, we'll certainly be bringing more compelling music to the market."
"Independent artists don't have the time to do it all – play, market and merchandise." says Jammates managing partner, Pat Patten. "We're in the production and promotion business. It's the least we can do to offer up a little bit of exposure to the artists we know and serve. We encourage all Georgia jazz musicians to continue submitting their material for review and inclusion". Jazz fans and interested musicians can listen to some terrific tracks as well as learn more about the submission requirements on the "artists" page of the Company's website. http://www.jammates.com/artists.html
Jammates LLC is a Georgia-based music production and promotion company focused primarily on the southeastern jazz music market. More information is available on the Company's website: http://www.jammates.com
Posted by: eJazzNews Readeron Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 12:43 PM
Jazz News Atlanta / LaGrange Georgia 9-7-2005… Jammates LLC turns up its online jazz jukebox. This complimentary feature area on the jammates.com website profiles participating Georgia jazz artists wanting to extend their music and brand to an expanded audience. The jukebox offers a full-length track by and artist profile for each participating jazz musician or group. From anywhere in the world, jazz fans now have the opportunity to quickly listen to and learn about music offerings from Georgia's fine crop of jazz artists.
"We have a good start", comments Coe Cloud, Jammates partner and director of promotional services. "But, it's only a beginning. We need more participation to really provide value for the fans. The Jammates Jukebox V1.0 features a nice cross section of jazz genres – vocal, straight-ahead, latin, fusion, smooth jazz - even dixieland. We believe there are hundreds, not dozens, of Georgia artists who deserve to have presence; and over time, we hope to identify and program as many as practical." Paul Hammock, Jammates partner and director of production, adds "We have a number of submissions in the pipeline for review. Plus, with our upcoming recording schedule, we'll certainly be bringing more compelling music to the market."
"Independent artists don't have the time to do it all – play, market and merchandise." says Jammates managing partner, Pat Patten. "We're in the production and promotion business. It's the least we can do to offer up a little bit of exposure to the artists we know and serve. We encourage all Georgia jazz musicians to continue submitting their material for review and inclusion". Jazz fans and interested musicians can listen to some terrific tracks as well as learn more about the submission requirements on the "artists" page of the Company's website. http://www.jammates.com/artists.html
Jammates LLC is a Georgia-based music production and promotion company focused primarily on the southeastern jazz music market. More information is available on the Company's website: http://www.jammates.com
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Katrina's Effect On Jazz Musicians
I just spoke with Ernest Gregory of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He informed me that among others Wynton's Marsalis's parents home, Herlin Riley's home, Michael White's home and Vicor Goines parents home were destroyed by hurricane Katrina.
John H. Armwood
New Orleans Sings The Blues - Forbes.com
New Orleans Sings The Blues - Forbes.comNew Orleans Sings The Blues
Tom Van Riper, 09.02.05, 6:00 PM ET
It takes a lot to get a real jazzman out of New Orleans.
Early Monday, Alan Toussaint was still at his piano as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the city, with no intention of getting up.
"I had planned on staying. I've been through many storms before," says the renowned jazz and r&b musician, whose home near the New Orleans fairground now sits partially submerged in water.
The bulk of the industry that has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars to New Orleans is driven by locals, some of whom don't know where they'll sleep tonight, let alone work, according to Hank O' Neill of Chiaroscuro Records, a New York-based jazz label.
"Most [musicians] who play New Orleans live there. It's not a place where people go to play," says O'Neill.
John Anello of Cexton Records adds, "The business will be altered for a long time due to the interruption of regular gigs, like weddings and parties. And, of course, the casinos and convention businesses employ several musicians."
Toussaint was lucky. He finally decided to check into the nearby Astor Hotel just before the storm arrived. He avoided harm, but his house, filled with all the tools of his long-time trade, didn't.
"I'm sure my place is flooded, and that all my equipment is ruined," Toussaint says. Helpless to get back and check his house right away, he made his way to Baton Rouge, La. From there, he caught a flight to Houston, where a connecting flight took him to New York. That's where he'll bunk in with friends for the foreseeable future--though he's already intently looking ahead to going home.
"I'll continue my writing from here for at least a couple of weeks," says Toussaint, who, at 67, has curtailed his performance schedule in favor of writing and producing music. "When I get the signal that it's OK to go back, I'll pick up the rubbish and start fresh."
Toussaint and the others whose livelihoods are on hold are eyeing one gig in particular that does draw its share of outsiders andis considered the most important to go on as scheduled. That would be the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a ten-day extravaganza filled with world-class performing talent in jazz, blues and gospel.
Drawing upward of 300,000 music lovers from all over the world, the event has filled every hotel room in the city each spring since 1970, pumping millions into the local economy.
Organizers are hopeful the city will be ready for it by April 2006, but they can't be sure.
"The next few months will be critical in determining whether we can put it on," says George Wein, who runs Festival Productions, the show's organizer. "It will depend on how operable New Orleans is, and how much the city's image changes."
For now, Festival Productions will set up an office in Memphis and move ahead as if the show will go on. Indeed, officials of the production company say Baton Rouge is a possible alternative--which would keep it in Louisiana, at least.
The company also organizes the Essence Music Festival, billed as a tribute to African-American women, which is now in its 12th year. Held each year in the Superdome, the event helps fill local hotel rooms during Fourth of July week, which is otherwise the dullest and stickiest time of the year.
While physical conditions make each show's future uncertain, Wein isn't worried about being left holding the bag if he cancels after the musicians have committed, confident they won't ask for their money if there's a reasonable notice period.
"When you've been doing this as long as we have, there's a trust," he says, before adding that if the shows can go on, it just might be the best one yet. "In a way it will be easier, because everyone will be anxious to come to New Orleans next year."
Tom Van Riper, 09.02.05, 6:00 PM ET
It takes a lot to get a real jazzman out of New Orleans.
Early Monday, Alan Toussaint was still at his piano as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the city, with no intention of getting up.
"I had planned on staying. I've been through many storms before," says the renowned jazz and r&b musician, whose home near the New Orleans fairground now sits partially submerged in water.
The bulk of the industry that has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars to New Orleans is driven by locals, some of whom don't know where they'll sleep tonight, let alone work, according to Hank O' Neill of Chiaroscuro Records, a New York-based jazz label.
"Most [musicians] who play New Orleans live there. It's not a place where people go to play," says O'Neill.
John Anello of Cexton Records adds, "The business will be altered for a long time due to the interruption of regular gigs, like weddings and parties. And, of course, the casinos and convention businesses employ several musicians."
Toussaint was lucky. He finally decided to check into the nearby Astor Hotel just before the storm arrived. He avoided harm, but his house, filled with all the tools of his long-time trade, didn't.
"I'm sure my place is flooded, and that all my equipment is ruined," Toussaint says. Helpless to get back and check his house right away, he made his way to Baton Rouge, La. From there, he caught a flight to Houston, where a connecting flight took him to New York. That's where he'll bunk in with friends for the foreseeable future--though he's already intently looking ahead to going home.
"I'll continue my writing from here for at least a couple of weeks," says Toussaint, who, at 67, has curtailed his performance schedule in favor of writing and producing music. "When I get the signal that it's OK to go back, I'll pick up the rubbish and start fresh."
Toussaint and the others whose livelihoods are on hold are eyeing one gig in particular that does draw its share of outsiders andis considered the most important to go on as scheduled. That would be the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a ten-day extravaganza filled with world-class performing talent in jazz, blues and gospel.
Drawing upward of 300,000 music lovers from all over the world, the event has filled every hotel room in the city each spring since 1970, pumping millions into the local economy.
Organizers are hopeful the city will be ready for it by April 2006, but they can't be sure.
"The next few months will be critical in determining whether we can put it on," says George Wein, who runs Festival Productions, the show's organizer. "It will depend on how operable New Orleans is, and how much the city's image changes."
For now, Festival Productions will set up an office in Memphis and move ahead as if the show will go on. Indeed, officials of the production company say Baton Rouge is a possible alternative--which would keep it in Louisiana, at least.
The company also organizes the Essence Music Festival, billed as a tribute to African-American women, which is now in its 12th year. Held each year in the Superdome, the event helps fill local hotel rooms during Fourth of July week, which is otherwise the dullest and stickiest time of the year.
While physical conditions make each show's future uncertain, Wein isn't worried about being left holding the bag if he cancels after the musicians have committed, confident they won't ask for their money if there's a reasonable notice period.
"When you've been doing this as long as we have, there's a trust," he says, before adding that if the shows can go on, it just might be the best one yet. "In a way it will be easier, because everyone will be anxious to come to New Orleans next year."
Hurricane Relief - Jazz at Lincoln Center :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily
Hurricane Relief - Jazz at Lincoln Center :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily Hurricane Relief - Jazz at Lincoln Center
Posted by: eJazzNews Readeron Friday, September 02, 2005 - 03:26 PM
Jazz News JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCES
HIGHER GROUND HURRICANE RELIEF BENEFIT CONCERT -
WYNTON MARSALIS, BILL COSBY, PETER CINCOTTI, ELVIS COSTELLO, PAQUITO D’RIVERA, ABBEY LINCOLN, DIANA KRALL, JON HENDRICKS AND MORE TBA!
SEPTEMBER 17 at 7pm
ROSE THEATER, FREDERICK P. ROSE HALL, NEW YORK CITY
BROADCAST ON NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, XM SATELLITE RADIO,
WBGO JAZZ 88.3 FM, AND OTHER BROADCAST PARTNERS TBA
CD will be produced and released by Blue Note Records with all profits going to relief funds
New York, NY (September 2, 2005) Jazz at Lincoln Center today announced plans to produce the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert on Saturday, September 17 at 7pm at Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall on Broadway at 60th Street in New York City. The concert will seek to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Bill Cosby will host the concert and Wynton Marsalis Peter Cincotti, Elvis Costello, Paquito D’Rivera, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Jon Hendricks and more tba.
Posted by: eJazzNews Readeron Friday, September 02, 2005 - 03:26 PM
Jazz News JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCES
HIGHER GROUND HURRICANE RELIEF BENEFIT CONCERT -
WYNTON MARSALIS, BILL COSBY, PETER CINCOTTI, ELVIS COSTELLO, PAQUITO D’RIVERA, ABBEY LINCOLN, DIANA KRALL, JON HENDRICKS AND MORE TBA!
SEPTEMBER 17 at 7pm
ROSE THEATER, FREDERICK P. ROSE HALL, NEW YORK CITY
BROADCAST ON NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, XM SATELLITE RADIO,
WBGO JAZZ 88.3 FM, AND OTHER BROADCAST PARTNERS TBA
CD will be produced and released by Blue Note Records with all profits going to relief funds
New York, NY (September 2, 2005) Jazz at Lincoln Center today announced plans to produce the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert on Saturday, September 17 at 7pm at Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall on Broadway at 60th Street in New York City. The concert will seek to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Bill Cosby will host the concert and Wynton Marsalis Peter Cincotti, Elvis Costello, Paquito D’Rivera, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Jon Hendricks and more tba.
The Weekly Online!
The Weekly Online!Help-A-Jazz Musician Campaign
ATLANTA (Sep. 1) - The Southeastern Organization for Jazz Arts (SOJA), The Atlantajazz group, the WRFG 89.3 FM Jazz Music Department & WBCX 89.1 FM seeks to provide aide to displaced Jazz musicians from New Orleans.
This is not a fund raiser nor are we collecting money!
As a result of the tragedy in New Orleans, we are seeking concerned people in Atlanta and the surrounding areas who are willing to open their hearts and home to take in a Jazz musician (and, in some cases, their families) providing them with beds, baths, and meals.
These unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina have no where to go and no where to work during this disastrous time. We are also seeking to find employment for these musicians during their time in the Atlanta area so that they will be able to support themselves and their families.
If you are interested in helping, please contact:
Phil Clore or Scott Fugate at:
help-a-jazzmusician@hotmail.com
WRFG Jazz Music Department
wrfgjazz@hotmail.com
Southeastern Organization for Jazz Arts
soja_ga@hotmail.com
ATLANTA (Sep. 1) - The Southeastern Organization for Jazz Arts (SOJA), The Atlantajazz group, the WRFG 89.3 FM Jazz Music Department & WBCX 89.1 FM seeks to provide aide to displaced Jazz musicians from New Orleans.
This is not a fund raiser nor are we collecting money!
As a result of the tragedy in New Orleans, we are seeking concerned people in Atlanta and the surrounding areas who are willing to open their hearts and home to take in a Jazz musician (and, in some cases, their families) providing them with beds, baths, and meals.
These unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina have no where to go and no where to work during this disastrous time. We are also seeking to find employment for these musicians during their time in the Atlanta area so that they will be able to support themselves and their families.
If you are interested in helping, please contact:
Phil Clore or Scott Fugate at:
help-a-jazzmusician@hotmail.com
WRFG Jazz Music Department
wrfgjazz@hotmail.com
Southeastern Organization for Jazz Arts
soja_ga@hotmail.com
TVNow Entertainment: A Little Daily News
TVNow Entertainment: A Little Daily NewsWynton Marsalis: Folks watching the Friday night benefit concert on NBC saw the master musician in prime form, blowing jazz licks on his horn with enough soul to energize the entire planet. He was in a zone. Let's hope BET lets him bring that horn to the network studio next Friday, September 9, when he joins a huge list of entertainers to help BET with its telethon to raise much needed aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Scheduled to begin at 7:30pm, the event will feature many entertainers who will make personal appeals for help. Some of the major players listed as participants include Alicia Keys, Master P, Usher, Diddy, Jay Z, Chris Rock, Stevie Wonder, Brandy, Erykah Badu and many more. Telethon viewers will be encouraged to call designated toll-free phone numbers to make financial pledges to the Red Cross relief efforts.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
The Village Voice > His Own Worst Critic Sonny Rollins's best album in nearly three decades is the healing force of the universe
His Own Worst Critic
Sonny Rollins's best album in nearly three decades is the healing force of the universe
by Francis Davis
August 29th, 2005 5:31 PM
Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert
Milestone
John Updike still hasn't solicited my advice (start work on Rabbit Has Arisen pronto), but during a phoner in 1992 Sonny Rollins asked if I could recommend a good young drummer. I immediately suggested Reggie Nicholson—whom Rollins said he'd coincidentally just hired, strictly on a trial basis, on somebody else's recommendation. Nicholson "supplied color and audible snap even on ballads and followed Sonny unerringly through a dozen or so choruses of 'Long Ago and Far Away,' " I reported in the Voice, following Nicholson's debut with Rollins in Philadelphia. "It looks like Rollins has finally found himself a drummer." I should have paid closer attention to Rollins's mood backstage after the gig. "Wow, the set really turned a corner during your fours with the drums on the Jerome Kern song," I gushed. "Well, something happened then," he replied—and like a fool, I assumed he was agreeing with me. Maybe my rooting interest clouded my judgment, or maybe all Rollins wanted by that point was a compliant timekeeper, not someone who returned his jabs like Max Roach in the '50s. Nicholson finished the tour, then never heard from Rollins again.
It's become a commonplace of jazz criticism to note that Rollins's studio recordings since the 1970s have barely hinted at the rapture he can induce in concert on any given night. Yet I can't count the number of times I've seen him bring an audience to its feet only to sense great displeasure in his performance from his own body language—these are nights a seasoned Rollins watcher knows there won't be an encore no matter the sincerity of our demand. Rollins may be his own worst critic in more ways than one, which is why many of us didn't dare hope for too much when it was announced earlier this year that he was auditioning concert tapes he'd recorded himself, along with those sent to him by a private collector, and had chosen a 2001 Boston show as his first live release since 1986's G-Man. Without a Song, recorded less than a week after 9-11, finally shipped yesterday, and—forget G-Man —it's Rollins's mightiest effort since Don't Stop the Carnival almost 25 years ago.
No, it isn't the Sonny Rollins album we've been dreaming of for decades, and I don't need him or anybody else to tell me why. Complaining that trombonist Clifton Anderson and pianist Stephen Scott aren't in Rollins's league hardly seems fair, because who is? Anderson has developed a burly, ingratiating presence, and Scott skips along nimbly in octaves on "Where or When" and the title track, even if I could do without his Jarrett-like singing along. The problem is the string-of-solos format: When Rollins goes first, everything else is anticlimactic, and when he goes last, as is more often the case, the wait seems forever—you wish he'd give trombone and piano their own features and grab the spotlight. Why have Bob Cranshaw play electric bass if all you ask him to do is walk? The constant buzz is a distraction, and an upright would blend more handsomely with the wood in Rollins's cello-like lower register.
Adding Kimati Dinizulu's hand percussion to Perry Wilson's traps doesn't intensify the groove: With both of them going at it, the rhythm section just sounds busy. And Rollins's opening head arrangements of four standards, including "Why Was I Born?" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" (routines, bands used to call them), are superfluous time killers. Better he should just come out blowing—we'd recognize the tunes from his spontaneous embellishments.
Why am I so wild about Without a Song, then? First, no recording since his RCAs in the '60s has more faithfully captured Rollins's sound—on "Global Warming," the program's requisite calypso, his tenor saxophone is a steel drum and its spreading low notes shake your insides. Then, too, even though our national unity after 9-11 now seems a quaint memory, along with that sense of being more sinned against than sinning, maybe I'm responding to the emotionalism of the occasion, just as Rollins and the Boston audience did. In Downbeat a few months after the attacks, a fellow critic I won't embarrass by naming speculated, "while it's still too early too tell what the long-term effect on cultural expression will be . . . there's hope that substance will win out over fluff, that relevance will count for more than entertainment for its own sake, that emotion will triumph over self-serving technique, that art will trump commercialism." Trust Downbeat to wonder if a national tragedy will be good for jazz. Rollins, who lives in Woodstock but was in his penthouse pied- six blocks away from the towers when the planes hit, and who had to be guided downstairs by rescue workers the following day, after the building lost power, wasn't making any promises. "Maybe music can help," he says at one point. "I don't know. But we have to try something."
Rollins's quotes from other songs can be a tip-off to his frame of mind, and the ones that jump out here—"This Is My Lucky Day," "The Farmer in the Dell," and "Oh! Susanna" not once but twice—are ebullient. The last five minutes of "Global Warming"—all Sonny, with Anderson and the rhythm section vamping—are pure bliss, and so are Rollins's games of catch-up on "Why Was I Born?" and "Without a Song," whose melodies he stutters into abstraction, holding the beat in abeyance, before resolving the tension with legato outpourings on the turnarounds. Virtuosity on this level is always thrilling, but when the need arises, it can also be a balm.
Without a Song is reportedly the last album Rollins owes Milestone, his label since 1972, under the terms of his current contract. Concord Jazz now owns Fantasy, Milestone's parent label, and if Rollins no longer feels any loyalty and decides to leave, Blue Note and Verve figure to be right there waiting. A major would spring novel ideas on him, and this wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. A tussle with Ornette Coleman, Lee Konitz, or David S. Ware and Matthew Shipp? An album of Billie Holiday songs with Bill Charlap? A Stephen Foster project? Taping all of his concerts and choosing the best material for release, forgoing the studio altogether? I've got plenty of ideas. Including this hot young drummer I know.
CHICK COREA'S HISTORIC "RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily
CHICK COREA'S HISTORIC "RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily CHICK COREA'S HISTORIC "RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK"
Posted by: editoron Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 04:03 PM
CD Releases 10-DVD Box Set Celebrates Career of Legendary Jazz Pianist and Composer
"CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" is set to be released on DVD for $99.99 (MSRP) on September 20 by Image Entertainment. This elegantly packaged 10 volume premium box set captures the sweep of Corea's illustrious, limit-stretching four decade career as he brings together world-renowned artists from his groundbreaking past and present ensembles in a musical reunion of unprecedented proportions. This monumental live concert package, shot in stunning 24p High Definition TV and Digital Surround Sound, was produced during the recording of the Grammy-winning double album, "Rendezvous In New York" (Stretch/Concord Records and Universal International), over three consecutive weeks at New York's famed Blue Note jazz club.
The project was directed by David Niles and produced by Ideal Entertainment in association with Colossalvision and Chick Corea Productions. States producer Jon Shapiro, "Our firm specializes in mainstream music and motion picture productions so a project like this was a challenge given the extraordinary artistry and the intimate club environment, yet an incredible honor to be working with Chick and so many talented musicians. From a marketing standpoint, the box set offers something for every jazz enthusiast or music fan and will be solidly positioned at retail for the holidays. It will make a great gift."
"CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" captures the prolific pianist and composer in concert for 21 consecutive nights with an impressive roster of musicians familiar to jazz fans worldwide. Offering an unprecedented musical retrospective of classic and contemporary jazz, mixing duos and trios, quartets and ensembles, Corea reunites nine different bands he's led beginning with his first trio of 39 years ago! Career retrospectives are often the province of jazz festivals such as Montreal, JVC NY and Monterey, and performing art center subscription series such as JALC, SF Jazz and Ravinia. But those are usually condensed snapshots; while a consecutive three-week run in a jazz club is more than ambitious, it's virtually groundbreaking and has never been done by an artist of Corea's stature. The box set contains each of the nine bands' performances on an individual DVD with remarks by Corea, and includ! es a bonus DVD, "RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK - The Movie", narrated by Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independence Day) which also includes footage of Chick and his fellow band members off stage for rare, intimate reflections on musical partners and creative collaborations.
"CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" features duets with long-time collaborators:
o Gary Burton
o Bobby McFerrin
o Gonzalo Rubalcaba
..and trios featuring:
o Chick Corea Akoustic Band (with John Patitucci and Dave Weckl)
o "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" Trio (with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes)
o Remembering Bud Powell Band (with Terence Blanchard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes)
..as well as ensemble performances by:
o Chick Corea & Origin (with Avishai Cohen, Jeff Ballard, Steve Wilson, Steve Davis, and Tim Garland)
o Chick Corea New Trio (with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard)
o Three Quartets Band (with Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd, and Eddie Gomez).
Chick Corea has performed on over 100 albums during the course of his career, with 45 Grammy nominations and 12 Grammy Awards, including Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK", of which Billboard Magazine said, "...each (of Corea's collaborations) provides another window into the pianist's boundless ingenuity." Jazz Review hails "Rendezvous In New York" as "one of the most exceptional shows one could hope to see... proof on all fronts that Chick is the ever-evolving genius, whose fire continues to burn".
For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to:
www.image-entertainment.com
Posted by: editoron Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 04:03 PM
CD Releases 10-DVD Box Set Celebrates Career of Legendary Jazz Pianist and Composer
"CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" is set to be released on DVD for $99.99 (MSRP) on September 20 by Image Entertainment. This elegantly packaged 10 volume premium box set captures the sweep of Corea's illustrious, limit-stretching four decade career as he brings together world-renowned artists from his groundbreaking past and present ensembles in a musical reunion of unprecedented proportions. This monumental live concert package, shot in stunning 24p High Definition TV and Digital Surround Sound, was produced during the recording of the Grammy-winning double album, "Rendezvous In New York" (Stretch/Concord Records and Universal International), over three consecutive weeks at New York's famed Blue Note jazz club.
The project was directed by David Niles and produced by Ideal Entertainment in association with Colossalvision and Chick Corea Productions. States producer Jon Shapiro, "Our firm specializes in mainstream music and motion picture productions so a project like this was a challenge given the extraordinary artistry and the intimate club environment, yet an incredible honor to be working with Chick and so many talented musicians. From a marketing standpoint, the box set offers something for every jazz enthusiast or music fan and will be solidly positioned at retail for the holidays. It will make a great gift."
"CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" captures the prolific pianist and composer in concert for 21 consecutive nights with an impressive roster of musicians familiar to jazz fans worldwide. Offering an unprecedented musical retrospective of classic and contemporary jazz, mixing duos and trios, quartets and ensembles, Corea reunites nine different bands he's led beginning with his first trio of 39 years ago! Career retrospectives are often the province of jazz festivals such as Montreal, JVC NY and Monterey, and performing art center subscription series such as JALC, SF Jazz and Ravinia. But those are usually condensed snapshots; while a consecutive three-week run in a jazz club is more than ambitious, it's virtually groundbreaking and has never been done by an artist of Corea's stature. The box set contains each of the nine bands' performances on an individual DVD with remarks by Corea, and includ! es a bonus DVD, "RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK - The Movie", narrated by Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independence Day) which also includes footage of Chick and his fellow band members off stage for rare, intimate reflections on musical partners and creative collaborations.
"CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK" features duets with long-time collaborators:
o Gary Burton
o Bobby McFerrin
o Gonzalo Rubalcaba
..and trios featuring:
o Chick Corea Akoustic Band (with John Patitucci and Dave Weckl)
o "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" Trio (with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes)
o Remembering Bud Powell Band (with Terence Blanchard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes)
..as well as ensemble performances by:
o Chick Corea & Origin (with Avishai Cohen, Jeff Ballard, Steve Wilson, Steve Davis, and Tim Garland)
o Chick Corea New Trio (with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard)
o Three Quartets Band (with Michael Brecker, Steve Gadd, and Eddie Gomez).
Chick Corea has performed on over 100 albums during the course of his career, with 45 Grammy nominations and 12 Grammy Awards, including Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "CHICK COREA: RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK", of which Billboard Magazine said, "...each (of Corea's collaborations) provides another window into the pianist's boundless ingenuity." Jazz Review hails "Rendezvous In New York" as "one of the most exceptional shows one could hope to see... proof on all fronts that Chick is the ever-evolving genius, whose fire continues to burn".
For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to:
www.image-entertainment.com
Diana Krall Awarded Order of Canada :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily
Diana Krall Awarded Order of Canada :: eJazzNews.com : The Number One Jazz News Resource On The Net :: Jazz News Daily Diana Krall has beened named an Officer of the Order of Canada. And Ranee Lee has been named a Member of the Order of
Canada.
Other notables;
Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, Member Of the Order of Canada
Comedian Steve Smith, Member of the Order of Canada
ABC World News anchor Peter Jennings Member of the Order of Canada
(posthumously)
The award was established in 1967 to recognize outstanding achievement and
service. It is Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement and has three
levels - Campanion, Officer and Member.
0 Reads
Canada.
Other notables;
Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, Member Of the Order of Canada
Comedian Steve Smith, Member of the Order of Canada
ABC World News anchor Peter Jennings Member of the Order of Canada
(posthumously)
The award was established in 1967 to recognize outstanding achievement and
service. It is Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement and has three
levels - Campanion, Officer and Member.
0 Reads
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