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Interview: Discovr's Dave McKinney on the Limits of Music App Popularity, and What Happens to Your Data
Source:
We All Make Music
Yesterday, we posted the beginnings of an interview we conducted with Dave McKinney, the multi-talented founder of Jammbox and the creator of Discovr, a highly touted music discovery application available on the iPhone and the iPad. Today, we present its conclusion, which includes a conversation about the state of the digital music market, and what his company does with its users data. Your previous responses offers a tidy segue into the last topic I wanted to touch on. You've had ...
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Marcus Shelby: Musician/Composer/Bandleader on a Mission
Source:
The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
Bassist-composer Marcus Shelby is most definitely a man on a mission, and a man more intent on engaging serious subjects in his music than dazzling his audience with aimless instrumental technique. For his previous release his orchestra navigated his original score in tribute to the great emancipator Harriet Tubman. His latest effort is Soul of the Movement, subtitled Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Porto Fino label. This time out the Bay Area-based Marcus Shelby Orchestra explores ...
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Interview: Discovr's Dave McKinney on Replacing Curation with Data Analysis
Source:
We All Make Music
The welcome screen for Discovr, the first app released by Dave McKinney's company, Jammbox. The process of looking for new music has always been at least partially visual. Whether it's an interesting album cover at a record store, or a cool band photo on a blog, visual cues help us organize and process audio signals. But that's only part of the reason why Discovr, a music discovery app created by Jammbox, is so interesting. Discovr is the top-selling music appin ...
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Something Else! Featured Artist: Chicago
Source:
Something Else!
Fans of their initial music could be forgiven for barely recognizing Chicago by the 1980s, as fussy power ballads eventually flushed out the band's signature horn sound. A group that had built its reputation on organic experimentation, a kind of prog-fusion that earned heavy rotation on a then-new FM radio format, never returned to the album-length suites that once defined it. Well, we have. Often. Travel back now, to those thrilling days of roman numerals and Terry Kath. Oh, and ...
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Something Else! Interview: Gregg Rolie, Founding Member of Santana and Journey
Source:
Something Else!
By Nick DeRiso Gregg Rolie, a 1998 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, has learned a lot about himself since taking fame's exit ramp to start a family almost 30 years ago. He's put into perspective the work done as a founding member of Santana, a stint that saw Rolie co-produce the group's first four albums beginning in 1969. The bluesy B-3 stylist then added to an overstuffed resume that already included an appearance at Woodstock, leaving with ...
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Ella Fitzgerald and Irving Berlin
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
I will say from the outset that this post is an exercise in futility. But here goes: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book is my favorite entry in Fitzgerald's eight- album songbook series recorded between 1956 and 1964. It's an absurd claim, I know, since each of her tribute albums are like different flavors in the most exquisite box of chocolates. Who's to argue that the caramel with nuts is better than the raspberry cream? But the Berlin ...
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Bobby Matos (Part 6)
Source:
The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
Artists spend the lives in the creative realm of the world, overflowing with new and exciting musical ideas. In fact, they rarely spend a day in search of new ideas or possibilities. The only issue becomes reconciling their abundance of creative energy with a world that doesn't see the same possibilities. The reality of this clash can be enough to send an artist spiraling out of their creative world. The truly visionary artist that applies their creative energy to a ...
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Latin Jazz Conversations: Bobby Matos (Part 5)
Source:
The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
One of the most exiting parts of being a seasoned professional is the ability to touch other people's artistic statements and make a difference. During an artist's younger days, their main focus lies upon their own personal development as a musician. While they reach their peers, their collaborations generally don't make overarching impacts. More experienced professionals have a more selfless way of sharing their abilities with their colleagues, leaving their mark upon the music without stealing the spotlight. Their influence ...
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