Music Industry News

Holiday Weekend Extra: What Jazz Is

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
July 6, 2009

Asked to define jazz, Louis Armstrong replied, “If you have to ask what it is, you'll never know." That's one answer. Here's another, provided by Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Hank Jones, Rufus Reid and Mickey Roker at Gillespie's 70th birthday concert on October, 21, 1987. The composition is Gillespie's blues “Wheatleigh Hall." In the preamble, Gillespie and Rollins praise one another, then Willis Conover introduces the performance. If you have full-screen capability on your computer, please do yourself a favor ...

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When the Artist and Fan Relationship Goes Bad

Source: HypeBot
July 6, 2009

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3 Search Warrants Executed in Michael Jackson Investigation

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2009

LAPD detectives have executed at least three search warrants in their attempt to determine whether prescription medication played a role in Michael Jackson's death.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the Times that the warrants were part of an effort to reconstruct the performer's medical history, a task made difficult by the number of physicians who treated Jackson over the years.

At least five physicians who prescribed medication to him are under investigation, sources have told The Times. The searches ...

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OCMA's Quiet Sale of 18 Paintings Raises Eyebrows of Suspicion

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2009

Silver and Gold by Granville Redmond is a classic of California Impressionism, an expert says. Another puts its worth at $1 million. The painting was one of 18 that were collectively sold for $963,000.

The sale of the California Impressionist paintings to a private collector is seen as a snub to some in art circles.

The Orange County Museum of Art was tooling along, a sporty little contender in the contemporary art world, its reputation sparkling from the good reviews ...

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Lloyd's of London --AEG Overdose Clause?

Source: All About Jazz
July 4, 2009

A spokesperson for Lloyd's of London tells us she's never heard of a case where her company has insured someone for a drug overdose.

AEG, the company that was promoting Jackson's London concerts, claimed yesterday the policy it took out from Lloyd's did not cover death from natural causes but did cover overdoses.

Louise Shield -- the head of communications for Lloyd's of London -- tells us such a policy is “odd" and that she's never heard the company insuring ...

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Cheb Mami Algerian Singer Sentenced to Jail in France

Source: Michael Ricci
July 3, 2009

A French court on Friday sentenced the Algerian singer Cheb Mami, above, to five years in jail for abducting a former lover and trying to force her to have an abortion

Cheb Mami, 42, whose real name is Mohammed Khelifati, is one of the biggest stars of rai music, an Algerian pop style, and has recorded with Sting.

Prosecutors at the court in Bobigny, near Paris, said he was one of a group of men who in 2005 abducted, drugged ...

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Michael Jackson Transformed Neverland Ranch Much as He Did Music

Source: Michael Ricci
July 3, 2009

The architecture on his Santa Barbara County property reflects his androgynous, perpetually childlike model of superstardom -- and his unique if disjointed take on the celebrity compound.

It was while I was bumpily making my way across a rope bridge in a quiet corner of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch on Thursday morning -- next to an elaborate treehouse crowned with a ship's wheel, and overlooking a bronze sculpture of smiling children -- that I finally figured out what the late ...

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Jazzwax Mindblowers (Vol. 6)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 3, 2009

quarter I gather the best quotes from interviews I conducted over the last three months and place them in a single post. I call this feature “JazzWax Mindblowers," because the quotes I choose contain revelations or shed light on a period of music or recording session. I do this in case you missed the interviews and to ensure that all of the best quotes are in one place for your future reference. (To see the other posts in this series, ...

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