Music Industry News

Other Matters: Cultural Diplomacy

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
March 18, 2009

I have written here from time to time about the harm the United States has done itself by failing in recent years to practice the cultural diplomacy that did it so much good for decades following World War II. After the Berlin Wall fell and European communist totalitarianism followed, the Clinton administration dismantled the United States Information Agency. The USIA's functions, we were told, would be taken on by the State Department, but State has done little with them during ...

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Is Jazz Coming Back to Downtown St. Louis?

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 18, 2009

Though many jazz clubs have come and gone in downtown St. Louis over the decades, in recent years it's been tough to find live jazz in the figurative shadow of the Gateway Arch.In the nearly four years I've been writing StLJN, jazz bookings at the Adams Mark Hotel's lounges and restaurants, once a staple there, first dwindled, and then were eliminated when the riverfront property was sold and re-flagged as a Hyatt Regency. Elsewhere downtown, BB's Jazz, Blues ...

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Charlie Parker: Stella by Starlight

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 18, 2009

Pairing Charlie Parker with strings began as an accident but quickly became an artistic stroke of genius. By combining bebop and mood music, producer Norman Granz stumbled upon a jazz-classical format that he would use successfully dozens of times throughout his career. For Parker, recording with strings and woodwinds between 1947 and 1954 legitimized his bebop vision. In fact, the alto saxophonist so enjoyed the orchestral sound that he performed live during this period frequently with a scaled-back string-and-woodwind ensemble. ...

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Gene Stout: It Has Been a Long and Winding -- And Totally Wonderful -- Road

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene
March 18, 2009

From the final article by Gene Stout, Seattle PI Music Critic: My time on the music beat — from 1983 to the present — has been a wild ride, with hundreds of interviews with some pretty famous people and hundreds of concert reviews. It has been an honor to write about music in a city that has helped launch the careers of Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, The Sonics, Ventures, Wailers, Heart, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam ...

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Help Your Fellow Musicians and Yourself - Tax Debt Assistance

Source: All About Jazz
March 17, 2009

Attn: Fellow Musicians

Thirty eight million people have tax problems this year--that's one out of every four people. You can help them and yourself.

We can: Get bank levies released Payroll tax minimized Wage Garnishment Stopped Tax Debt Eliminated By simply referring your friends in need you can earn a 20% referral fee.

Ask me how. A lot of our fellow musicians need this help.

Keep the music playing.

Best, Margaret White [email protected] ...

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50 Ways to Improve Your Life: Listen to Kind of Blue

Source: All About Jazz
March 17, 2009

Listen to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis

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Philadelphia Orchestra Cancels 2009 European Festivals

Source: All About Jazz
March 15, 2009

The “Philly Sound" (Of Silence): Philadelphia Orchestra Cancels 2009 European Festivals Tour Due To Lack Of Sponsors & Weak Dollar.

The ghost of Eugene Ormandy is very, very angry:

Unable to find sponsorship, the Philadelphia Orchestra has canceled its 2009 European festivals tour.

Such a cancellation is highly unusual, and this one is doubly painful. The concerts in Lucerne, Paris, at the London Proms and the Edinburgh Festival starting in August would have brought the orchestra incalculable artistic credibility with ...

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Philadelphia Orchestra Cuts Staff 20 Percent

Source: Michael Ricci
March 15, 2009

The sour notes of job losses are being heard at the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The orchestra let 12 staff members go Wednesday. Six positions will go unfilled, reducing administrative staff 20 percent.

The job cuts save about $900,000 a year, only a start on filling a more-than-$2 million potential deficit.

An orchestra endowment drive recently raised $130 million. But executive director Frank Slattery Jr. says market conditions have shrunk the nest egg by more than 30 percent.

The orchestra is conducting ...

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