Music Industry News

Help Save S.F. Music Venues

Source: JamBase
April 19, 2009

Help Save S.F. Local Music Venues

As you may have heard, San Francisco music venues Cafe du Nord, Bottom of the Hill, Great American Music Hall and Slim's are currently embroiled in a ridiculous legal battle with the Alcohol and Beverage Control - front page news on SF Gate on April 11.

Those venues could be forced to close, owners say, if the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, better known as ABC, continues to impose rules that club attorneys ...

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Paul Williams to Lead ASCAP

Source: All About Jazz
April 18, 2009

Multihyphenate Paul Williams has been elected chairman and prexy of the songwriters rights org ASCAP.

Williams will succeed Marilyn Bergman, who announced her resignation as after 15 years at the helm of ASCAP earlier this month. Williams, who has been an ASCAP board member for the past eight years and vice chairman for two years, was elected Thursday ayem at the ASCAP board of directors meeting in Nashville.

Williams' canon includes such indelible pop hits as “We've Only Just Begun," ...

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David Amram on Blossom Dearie

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 17, 2009

In 1955, jazz French hornist and composer David Amram was in Paris playing and recording with saxophonist Bobby Jaspar. Jaspar was married to singer Blossom Dearie at the time. When Dearie died in February, I e-mailed David for his recollections. But for some reason David's response never arrived.

While catching up with David the other day, I asked if he had ever received my note. He said he did and that he had replied immediately. Puzzled, David went into his ...

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David Buck Wheat Early Living Legend of Jazz in San Francisco

Source: All About Jazz
April 17, 2009

David Wheat played guitar with many of the big bands in the 1950's and performed with the Playboy Jazz All Stars in 1959. He recorded with Chet Baker Trio on “Embraceable You", “My Funny Valentine" and “There's a Lull in My Life" in 1957.

Baker's soft moody vocals (no trumpet) were accompanied by only David on nylon string acoustical guitar with bassist Ross Savakus.

With lyricist Bill Loughborough, David wrote the jazz classic, “Better Than Anything", going on to write ...

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Ray Brown Defined the Modern Jazz Rhythm Section

Source: All About Jazz
April 16, 2009

Grammy Award-winning double-bassist Ray Brown was a leader in defining the modern jazz rhythm section -- in addition to being a first-rate soloist.

His unique dynamic and innate sense of swing graced performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson and countless others.

Raymond Matthews Brown was born October 13, 1926, in Pittsburgh, PA -- birthplace to many jazz greats. His musical education began with piano lessons, but when he discovered how many pianists there were in his ...

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A Look Inside the Renovated Concert Hall at Lincoln Center

Source: Michael Ricci
April 16, 2009

With giddiness and glee, musicians tested the acoustics of the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall on Tuesday, less than a month before it reopens after a $159 million, 22-month upgrade, a major milestone in Lincoln Centers $1.2 billion remaking.

The musicians, acoustical experts and Lincoln Center officials in attendance all proclaimed the hall much more present, alive and reverberant than the old Tully, which had been widely faulted for its dry sound. That was the initial impression, but a highly ...

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How Working Musicians Try to Make Themselves Recession-Proof

Source: All About Jazz
April 15, 2009

The bitter reality of a tough economy is a been-there, done-that obstacle to most working musicians. Making a living out of playing music has never been an easy road, and hunger (both literal and figurative) is a big part of the job description.

People who play music are better able to handle whatever the economy throws at them because theyre always on a tight budget, says Katie Tuten, co-owner of the Hideout, a North Side club that books hundreds of ...

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American Apparel Slams Woody Allen's Sex Life

Source: Michael Ricci
April 15, 2009

A clothing company known for its racy ads is fighting a $10 million lawsuit brought by Woody Allen, arguing that it can't have damaged his reputation by using his image because the film director has already ruined it himself.

The 73-year-old Allen started the fight against American Apparel Inc. when he sued the company last year for using his image on the company's billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site.

Allen, who does not endorse products ...

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