Book / Magazine News

Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits

Source: Michael Ricci
May 22, 2009

Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits by Barney Hoskyns The enigmatic singer-songwriter emerges as a fascinating, if frustrating, subject to tackle.

Self-mythologizing is as much a part of rock as the 15-minute guitar solo. Tom Waits knows the drill: He's been messing with our heads for a full generation. Like Bob Dylan, he has proven a canny master of disguise, creating an impenetrable wall to keep his life from a discerning public.

But more like ...

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Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong

Source: All About Jazz
May 13, 2009

Authors: By Steven Brower, foreword by Hilton Als Imprint: Abrams Books ISBN: 0-8109-9528-X EAN: 9780810995284 Trim Size: 9 1/2 x 10 1/2 Pages Count: 256 Cover: Hardcover

About the book

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong is a biography in the form of an art book. It tells the story of Armstrong's life through his writings, scrapbooks, and artworks, many of ...

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Blues Capitalist W. C. Handy

Source: Michael Ricci
May 11, 2009

If Beale Street could talk, it would say, Who the hell is the guy depicted in that big statue by the entrance to the park?

W. C. Handy, once so famous as the Father of the Blues that he was memorialized with a bronze monument in Memphis, is not nearly as well known today to people who are not either music scholars or copyright lawyers. It has been 35 years since James Baldwin paid tribute to Handy by employing a ...

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Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' at 50

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2009

The album, recorded with virtually no rehearsal and consisting of primarily first takes, altered jazz forever.

It was both a radical stylistic experiment and an album parents could put on after dinner without waking the kids. It's a manifesto, a meeting of musical minds, and it's moved millions of copies to remain the bestselling jazz record of all time. Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, released in August 1959, featured what might be the finest group in jazz history; it virtually ...

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Hugh Hefner the Bunny Man

Source: Michael Ricci
May 9, 2009

I've been in this room in the Playboy Mansion before. As I recall, the painting on the wall was a topless portrait of his wife, Kimberley, mother of his two teenage sons, from whom he is now separated. Now it's just Hefner, painted in Tudor robes, in the style of Holbein.

In person, he wears his singular uniform of pajamas and slippers. The girls cavorting outside have changed, but he has not. At 83, he is part of the 20th ...

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The "New" Relix Media Group

Source: JamBase
May 5, 2009

RELIX MEDIA GROUP ACQUIRES RELIX MAGAZINE, RELIX.COM AND JAMBANDS.COM HISTORIC MUSIC MAGAZINE TO RELAUNCH WITH JUNE ISSUE

Relix Media Group, LLC announced today that it has acquired Relix magazine, Relix.com, and Jambands.com from previous owner Zenbu Media. Relix Media Group is a newly formed team of private investors led by music and film entrepreneur Peter Shapiro and former Zenbu Media employees. Shapiro will become Publisher of the iconic music title and longtime Editor-in-Chief Josh Baron will remain in ...

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Jazz Journal Swings Back into Action

Source: All About Jazz
April 30, 2009

Britain's longest-running jazz magazine is relaunched under new editorship London, 30 April 2009: After weeks of rumour, the future of Jazz Journal, one of the world's most popular and enduring jazz magazines, has been assured. Following a 30-year stint at the helm and the sudden death of his wife Janet, who had been acting as managing editor for several years, Eddie Cook has passed the baton to former deputy editor Mark Gilbert while remaining on hand as editorial consultant. Eddie ...

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AllAboutJazz-New York May 2009 Issue Now Available!

Source: All About Jazz
April 25, 2009

By now baseball season is in full swing, if you pardon the pun. And it is taking place in two brand new stadiums. Now don’t forget that you as taxpayers helped finance these sporting cathedrals. No one asked you and good luck getting tickets to any of the games. For those that believe in karma, a big drain of this precious commodity has occurred. In order to restore some balance to the universe, support an activity that takes place far ...

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