Music Industry News

'King of Swing' Benny Goodman Would Be 100

Source: All About Jazz
May 22, 2009

For decades Benny Goodman and his clarinet popped up just about everywhere, and when they did, just about everyone knew it. Goodman, who would have turned 100 on May 30, defined for most people the swing era that dominated popular American music for much of the 1930s and 1940s. From Carnegie Hall and New York's exclusive clubs to his backing up Jack Teagarden in 1933 on “Texas Tea Party," he was as versatile and prolific as he was famous. “Goodman ...

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Self-Defense Claimed in Rapper Dolla's Killing

Source: Michael Ricci
May 22, 2009

Aubrey Louis Berry appeared in court Wednesday in the killing of Dolla, the stage name of Roderick Anthony Burton II.

After an earlier dispute at an Atlanta strip club, the accused felt threatened in a random encounter in L.A., his defense attorney says.

The attorney for an Atlanta man accused of killing rapper Dolla earlier this week said his client opened fire after feeling threatened by the rapper and his entourage during a chance encounter at the Beverly Center.

Aubrey ...

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Xenovibes III - Xing Paths Available in Stores 26th May '09 & XV Guest Blogs!

Source: All About Jazz
May 22, 2009

XENOVIBES III - XING PATHS AVAILABLE IN STORES 26th MAY 2009

For a limited time only the first pressing can be bought for $13.98 at the Xenovibes store. SRP$16.98. What do you get when you mix synthesizers, theremins, traditional folk instruments and electronic drums with a multitalented, multicultural, classically trained keyboardist (with a degree in electronic music) and a NY jazz drummer? Xenovibes! ~ Mike Levine, Executive Editor, Electronic Musician Magazine.

Xing Paths Press Release 
Xenovibes diehards will ...

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Bruce Cockburn: Water into Wine

Source: JamBase
May 21, 2009

By: Dennis Cook

These fragile bodies of touch and taste This vibrant skin, this hair like lace Spirits open to the thrust of grace Never a breath you can afford to waste

Bruce Cockburn There is a sense of the world split open in the work of Bruce Cockburn, like a ripe fig pulled apart by strong hands, the innards tasted hungrily and ...

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Rifftides Encore: Jazz Dispute

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
May 21, 2009

A couple of years ago - maybe it was three - I linked Rifftides readers to a video so clever that it's worth bringing to you again. Now that the staff has mastered the art of embedding, this time you see it right here on our screen; no linking required. When it finishes, you will see links to other creations by the same performer, who, for a reason perhaps known only to him, calls himself “Weeping Prophet." Thanks to reader ...

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A Long Road Back, but Not a Lonely One

Source: Michael Ricci
May 18, 2009

With his wife’s help, Terence Conley walked slowly toward a piano on a recent Thursday at the Jazz Foundation of America headquarters in Manhattan. “Play something nice,” Judith Conley told her husband as she eased him onto a piano stool. Mr. Conley, 51, steadied his fingers above the keys, smiled across the room in the direction of his three children and began playing “Ruby, My Dear.” “I’m glad he chose that tune,” his wife whispered. “It’s one of the hardest ...

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Two for the Show Media Celebrates Another Year Serving the Jazz World

Source: Two for the Show Media
May 18, 2009

2009 marks another year in the books for the Jazz publicity firm Two for the Show Media. The agency based out of New York welcomed in the New Year with two grammy nominations (Peter Erskine & Arturo O’Farrill) and one Grammy win for Best Latin Jazz CD for “Song for Chico” (Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra) - Over the past three years Two for the Show Media has worked the campaigns of such jazz notables as Ellis Marsalis, ...

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The Piano's Status in U.S. Living Rooms is Declining

Source: Michael Ricci
May 16, 2009

They were once a symbol of success and a love of music.

Giovanni Lovatelli and his family lucked into a long-term loan of a 1948 baby grand piano when a friend moved to New York years ago. Five-year-old Giacomo began taking lessons, practicing diligently for a year or so.

“We had to keep pushing a little bit," Lovatelli said, adding that he promised a basketball hoop if his son persevered through his teacher's recital. Giacomo got the hoop but soon ...

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