Music Industry News

How Song, Dance and Movies Bailed Us out of the Depression

Source: Michael Ricci
April 1, 2009

Popular culture provided the optimism and energy that helped the country get moving. We may need that again.

Many were surprised that the final stimulus legislation signed by President Obama preserved a $50-million increase in arts funding that had been the subject of a heated battle in Congress. Though it amounted to only a tiny fraction of the measure's total cost, it had become the target of conservatives, many of whom consider the arts frivolous, elitist and, frankly, left-wing. They ...

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Jimi Hendrix Childhood Home Torn Down

Source: All About Jazz
April 1, 2009

Despite an eight-year, $100,000-plus effort by a Seattle real-estate investor, the house where Jimi Hendrix lived as a child in Seattle is gone.

A home where Jimi Hendrix lived was moved to Hi-Land Mobile Manor in Renton by its owner, Pete Sikov. Sikov complied with an order to tear down the house. It's gone, by order of the city of Renton.

The demolition crew has been working at a fast pace, and the tiny, 900-square-foot house where Jimi Hendrix lived ...

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Jazz Planners Find Success in Change

Source: Michael Ricci
March 31, 2009

Marty Ashby is guiding MCG Jazz the way smart jazz club owners run their places. Give people good material, and they show up. There. It's easy. His work and that of Janis Burley Wilson at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust show that route to success is not hard to understand. Ashby, this year, gave the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild program some twists in its 22-year-old program. The executive producer of MCG Jazz provided some music that was a little edgy for some ...

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Liza Lee Singer and Songwriter Signs with Art of Life Records

Source: Michael Ricci
March 31, 2009

Art of Life Records is signing its newest artist, American vocalist and songwriter Liza Lee.

Lee has been described as “An important and inimitable voice of the 21st Century.” Art of Life will re-release her sophomore album Anima on the Art of Life Label in 2009. The album combines Lee’s vocals in duo and ensemble settings.

Liza has assembled a remarkable group of musicians for the album, some of which include Bruce Barth, David Cook, Art Hirahara, Michael Kanan (Piano), ...

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Eiffel Tower Gets a Makeover at 120

Source: Michael Ricci
March 31, 2009

120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower

The iconic Eiffel Tower celebrated its 120th anniversary Tuesday. It was inaugurated at the World's Fair in Paris in 1889 and, until 1929, was the tallest building in the world. It remains the tallest building in the city.

World famous now, the Eiffel Tower was a breath-taking novelty in March 31, 1889, when it was the centerpiece of the World's Fair in Paris. Engineer Gustave Eiffel constructed the Eiffel Tower to be the entrance ...

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USSR Craftsman Instrumental to Guitarists

Source: Michael Ricci
March 30, 2009

One of Fender's elite guitar makers is a self-taught immigrant from the former USSR who counts pop music greats among his fans.

Within the confines of his Corona work space, guitar designer Yuriy Shishkov had transformed a plank of blond ash wood into the body of a new Fender Telecaster. Seated at his bench, where he spends hours every day creating one-of-a-kind hand-crafted instruments, he studied the nascent creation. Holes had been cut for where tone-control knobs, a five-positioning pickup ...

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Jazz St. Louis Offering 2-for-1 Deal on Tickets for Eddie Jefferson Tribute

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 28, 2009

Via a local email list, Jazz St. Louis is offering two tickets for the price of one for a performance of “The Genius of Eddie Jefferson" next week at Jazz at the Bistro. The tribute to the late jazz singer Jefferson (pictured), who is credited as one of the inventors of vocalese, will feature pianist Eric Reed and singers Carla Cook and Allan Harris, and runs next from Wednesday, April 1 through Saturday, April 4 at the Bistro.Tickets ...

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The Dead: Charity Ticket Auction

Source: JamBase
March 27, 2009

From PawtucketTimes.com.

The Dead Auctions Front-row Tickets for Charity

By JOHN ROGERS Associated Press Writer

The Dead It was time, says The Dead's Bob Weir, to give charitable causes a boost while directing a kick to the hindquarters of ticket scalpers.

So he and his bandmates announced Tuesday they have held back some of the best seats for their forthcoming spring tour, and are putting them up for bid in an online auction.

Want to sit in the ...

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