Music Industry News

An "Understated" Report from NARM

Source: HypeBot
June 12, 2009

Guest Post from Scott Cave of Red Velvet: The tone at this year's NARM conference is understated when compared to last year's 50th anniversary gathering, yet another indicator of the depressed economy. While decreased sponsorship dollars may have put a damper on the amenities and glitz of the event, the quality of the content and opportunity to establish new relationships remains as valuable as ever. At the half-way marker for the conference, I've already generated a ...

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Jazz Attuned to the Pace of a Calm, Steady Heartbeat

Source: Michael Ricci
June 11, 2009

The South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim harbors no fondness for disruption. A calm, steady heartbeat nourishes his music, fulfilling a meditative urge. When he works in a solo setting — as on “Senzo,” a gorgeously recorded album released last year on Sunnyside — the result is usually a flowing experience, proceeding without pause from beginning to end. Mr. Ibrahim did his part to transport that aesthetic to Jazz Standard on Tuesday, in his first of three evenings of solo ...

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Jazz This Week: Peter Bra Tzmann, St. Louis Stompers, Linda Presgrave, "Simply Sinatra," Adaron "Pops" Jackson, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
June 11, 2009

Whether you like your jazz to be old-school, modern or free-form, there's something for you this weekend somewhere around the St. Louis area. Here's a brief look at the local jazz and creative music highlights for the next several days:Tonight, the St. Louis Stompers will perform traditional New Orleans-style jazz in a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden.Tomorrow night, the summer Jazz at Holmes series gets underway with a free ...

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Notes from the Net: Miles on Myspace; Zorn Bio Analyzed; the Wages of Swing; Plus News, Reviews and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
June 9, 2009

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:* In keeping with this feature's tradition of starting with a Miles Davis-related item or two, it seems there's now a page for the trumpeter on MySpace. This in itself is no big deal - lots of celebs, dead ...

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Keyboard Legend Larry Vuckovich Defends San Francisco Jazz History

Source: All About Jazz
June 9, 2009

Glad to read someone of Larry Vuckovich's stature speak up about the San Francisco jazz-club scene back in the day. In a letter to the editor in the San Francisco Chronicle, the great jazz legend recalls a time when many of the most respected musicians in the world came through town. Although I'd heard about the old clubs, many had closed before my time-- but places like the Jazz Workshop, Basin Street West, and the Keystone Corner were still around ...

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Pitchfork Fest: Full '09 Lineup

Source: JamBase
June 7, 2009

SOME SERIOUS WINDY CITY SWEETNESS!

Doug Martsch - Built To Spill by Scott Galbraith The 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival, to be held July 17 - 19 at Chicago's Union Park, continues to congeal nicely, including adding Antlers to the bill! Here's the complete festival lineup:

Friday - “Write the Night: Set Lists by Request"

Built to Spill The Jesus Lizard Yo La Tengo Tortoise

Saturday

The National Beirut DOOM

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For TV Band, Jet Lag is Part of the Job

Source: Michael Ricci
June 7, 2009

The drummer Max Weinberg, leads the eight-member house band on The Tonight Show With Conan OBrien.

When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Izod Center in the New Jersey Meadowlands on May 21, there was one musician conspicuously absent: Max Weinberg, the groups drummer for more than three decades.

As Mr. Springsteen tore into his opening number, Badlands, Mr. Weinberg was on another stage 3,000 miles away, pounding his drum kit through a dress rehearsal of ...

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A&M/Octone's James Diener is Making the Music Business... A Business Again

Source: Michael Ricci
June 7, 2009

James Diener is almost certainly the only head of a music label who's reading for pleasure the worlds hundred best books. Right now, hes slogging through Theodore Dreisers Sister Carrie, a novel that's a century and a universe removed from his world.

But Diener's reality as CEO and president of A&M/Octone Records is far from whatever passes for normal in todays music business. For one thing, A&M/Octone is small. Two pizzas could feed its New York-based staff. Nine years after ...

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