Music Industry News

Devotional and Experimental Jazz with a Norwegian Accent

Source: Michael Ricci
April 13, 2009

Avant-garde jazz has almost always had its sacramental side. There’s a reason for the devotion that some listeners bring to the mid-1960s music of John Coltrane, or to the output of his fellow saxophonist Albert Ayler. The spirituality in these performances wasn’t subtext or suggestion; it radiated out from a fervent core. Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, an astute Norwegian bassist, has experience with the fiery side of free improvisation: he’s among the most prolific figures on the European experimental scene. His ...

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Life-Time Recording Agreement Reached Between Grammy Winning Jazz Pianist Hal Galper and Origin Records

Source: All About Jazz
April 11, 2009

In an unprecedented move virtually unheard of in the recording business, Origin Records CEO John Bishop has announced an exclusive agreement to release all future recordings by veteran pianist Hal Galper.

Says Galper, “I warned John Bishop that my mother is 96 and still going strong, and I have her genes. That being the case, now being 70 years old, knock on wood, I could release another 25 albums. This agreement gives me the rare opportunity to plan my recordings ...

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Jeff Coffin Officially Joins Dave Matthews Band

Source: JamBase
April 11, 2009

Jeff Coffin Officially Joins Dave Matthews Band

[Jeff Coffin's] boldness, intensity, and verve set him apart from other saxophonists. - JazzTimes

Jeff Coffin Jeff Coffin, saxophonist/composer, and three time GRAMMY Award winner with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, will begin touring as a touring member of Dave Matthews Band on April 14 with their NYC appearance at Madison Square Garden. Coffin was originally tapped in July 2008 while LeRoi Moore, the band's original saxophonist, recovered from injuries sustained in an ...

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Young Women Have Their Own Take On Empowerment

Source: Michael Ricci
April 11, 2009

I sat on a panel at the West Hollywood Women's Leadership Conference last month, featuring pioneers and activists. Its title -- “The F Word: Reflections of Feminism and the Portrayal of Women in the Media" -- made our mission clear.

So we panelists came armed with stories, symbols and statistics that reflected our struggle for equality:

The pain of being locked out of show business jobs “because we already have one female writer." The two-year battle to produce a segment ...

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Jazz Aspen: Abb, DBTS, Um

Source: JamBase
April 9, 2009

JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS PRESENTS 2009 Summer Lineup The Allman Brothers, Drive-By Truckers, Umphrey's McGee Black Eyed Peas, Smokey Robinson, Al Jarreau and many more

JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS JUNE FESTIVAL JUNE 18-27, 2009

New in 2009, the JAS June Festival has been expanded to a ten day event which will include three nights of headline concerts from world-class jazz musicians at the Benedict Music Tent(June 18-20), weekly paid and free performances from JAS Academy Bands and a ...

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Phil Spector Jury Again Interrupted by Illness

Source: Michael Ricci
April 9, 2009

For a second time, deliberations in Phil Spectors murder retrial have been interrupted by juror illness.

The panel, which began weighing evidence March 26, went home at midday today after a juror became sick. Because of court holidays and a prior instance where a juror was ill, the panel has deliberated only about 27 hours over seven days.

Spector, 69, faces second-degree murder charges in the fatal shooting six years ago of Lana Clarkson, a 40-year-old actress. The jurors are ...

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Blockbuster Warns That It Might Go Under

Source: PC Magazine
April 8, 2009

Blockbuster Inc, the largest store-based U.S. movie rental chain, said the risk that it may not complete a deal to amend its credit facilities raises “substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern, according to a securities filing on Monday. Blockbuster Chief Executive Office Jim Keyes warned investors last month that the company's financial statements and auditors' report likely would include reference to going concern risks until the loan amendments were completed. The company reached an agreement ...

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Spector's Long Legal Battles May Be Sapping His Fortune

Source: Michael Ricci
April 8, 2009

The producer collects royalties from dozens of pop hits. But expenses from two criminal trials appear to be depleting his fortune. He's also facing a wrongful-death suit by Lana Clarkson's mother.

When Phil Spector was booked for murder in 2003, he was a jet-setting millionaire who stayed in luxury hotel suites, left $450 tips on $13 bar bills and paid cash for a 30-room mansion. Six years later, with the case against him in the hands of a jury for ...

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