Music Industry News

Bernard/Medeski/Hess/Moore | 03.20 | SF

Source: JamBase
March 27, 2009

Continue Reading...

Debut of Ron Jackson as Composer at Prolific Arts Music

Source: All About Jazz
March 27, 2009

Continue Reading...

Chamber Music America Accepting Applications For

Source: All About Jazz
March 27, 2009

Chamber Music America, celebrating its 32nd year as the national service organization for the ensemble music profession, announces its spring grant opportunity for U.S. jazz ensembles, 2009 NEW JAZZ WORKS: Commissioning and Ensemble Development.

The New Jazz Works program is made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Since 2000, Chamber Music Americas New Works programs have provided support to professional U.S. ensembles for the creation and performance of new works in the jazz idiom. To date, New Works has ...

Continue Reading...

Artie Shaw's Last Dance Band

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 26, 2009

By mid-1945, Artie Shaw was facing two creative crises. With the sudden proliferation of small record labels, RCA began pressuring the bandleader for Frenesi-sized hits. Then Roy Eldridge, the band's jazz trumpeter, wanted out. Frustrated in his role as a mere section player, Eldridge sought more solo time and found Shaw's band tedious and stifling. Even Shaw could read the writing on the wall: the band he had assembled in the fall of 1944 was likely reaching its peak and ...

Continue Reading...

Jazz Aficionado Riffs in Kitchen, Too

Source: All About Jazz
March 26, 2009

When it comes to trading licks, Jazz St. Louis bossman Gene Dobbs Bradford thinks that cooking and music make a powerful duo. “When you cook a meal, it's like a performance," he says, “a one-time experience, very finite. Done right, it has a certain shape and phrasing." The spirit often moves Bradford to make a bang-up Sunday supper. On summer Sundays, he starts the grill about 4:30 a.m., gets the heat low and even, then puts ribs, brisket or a ...

Continue Reading...

Gene Bertoncini: The Architecture of Jazz

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
March 26, 2009

Old pal Tim Ryan called my attention to an interview Judith Schlesinger, our leading combination jazz writer/psychotheraprist, did with guitarist Gene Bertoncini nearly a year ago. The interview ran on the All About Jazz web site, and I missed it last April. Maybe you missed it, too. It is fascinating for its insights into Bertoncini's musical thinking, his quick wit and his interchanges with Dr. Schlesinger. Verbatim transcribed interviews are far from my favorite form of journalism, but when they ...

Continue Reading...

Heralded Digital Music Chief at EMI out After Only 11 Months

Source: Michael Ricci
March 25, 2009

EMI Music said its head of digital music, Douglas Merrill, was leaving the company he joined less than a year ago, and his business unit would be integrated into the label's operations.

The former Google chief information officer's decision to join EMI in April was heralded as a major coup for the music label. In interviews, Merrill talked excitedly about the company's embrace of digital technology and its transformation to a services company that could profit from small bands, as ...

Continue Reading...

Notes from the Net: When Lester Met Fela; Eric Person in Iowa; Boney James Tops Billboard Chart; and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 24, 2009

Here's our weekly compilation of news 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:* It's something of a tradition here to start this recurring feature with something Miles Davis-related, and this week there's just one such link, to a podcast tribute to Davis and Kind of Blue, hosted by Errington Thompson.* However, ...

Continue Reading...