Music Industry News

Weekend Extra: Why Fight?

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 25, 2009

By tradition and general agreement in the reviewing trade, it is considered unprofessional and tacky to write about a recording to which one has contributed liner notes. Therefore, I have not written about Rebecca Kilgore's and Dave Frishberg's Why Fight The Feeling?, a collection of songs by Frank Loesser. However, I have no qualms about alerting you to the welcome fact that Carol Sloane has switched on her blog after a month of reticence. She posts a number of items, ...

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Numero Group Label/Vinyl

Source: JamBase
January 24, 2009

THE NUMERO GROUP ANNOUNCES NEW LABEL SERIES AND VINYL ONLY IMPRINT

In addition to their critically acclaimed Eccentric Soul, Cult Cargo and Wayfaring Strangers series, the Numero Group is set to launch Local Customs - a series of releases highlighting the lost sounds of mid-America from the 60s and 70s. Under the Numero Group, the Numerophon vinyl-only imprint joins the family (in good company with sister imprint, Asterisk) with its debut release this spring.

LOCAL CUSTOMS SERIES

If Harry Smith's ...

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Billie Holiday: Lady in Satin

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 24, 2009

I've always had mixed feelings about Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin. I love the February 1958 recording, but I have to be in a certain mood to hear it. Billie is in the twilight of her career, and while her voice isn't quite as shattered as it would be on her final studio recording in March 1959, her voice is already frayed and fragile. While Ray Ellis' arrangements are lushly embracing, I've found them a bit too rich and syrupy ...

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Catching up with Jean Kittrell

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

Decatur Herald-Review columnist Bob Fallstrom has a piece this week in which he catches up with traditional jazz pianist and singer Jean Kittrell, who retired from music last summer after being diagnosed with colon cancer.The good news is that Ms. Kittrell, a longtime St. Louis favorite who was also a regular at the Central Illinois Jazz Festival in Decatur and many other jazz fests around the country, is recuperating after surgery for her illness and seems in good ...

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PCAMI* Welcomes Gaea Schell

Source: Paul Collins Artist Management International
January 23, 2009

PCAMI* is pleased to announce the addition of Gaea Schell to our prolific musical family. Gaea is from Alberta, Canada and began playing piano at the age of five. Initially interested in the classical harp, Gaeas interests turned to jazz piano after being inspired by such legends as Charlie Parker, Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson among others. After graduating from the jazz program at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Gaea moved to Los Angeles and quickly became absorbed in the ...

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Artie Shaw: Hop, Skip and Jump

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 23, 2009

Speaking of Alec Wilder (yesterday's post), the composer may have had an inadvertent influence on Artie Shaw's decision to start his Gramercy Five combo in 1940. Forming small jazz groups within big bands was nothing new. Benny Goodman, Bob Crosby and Tommy Dorsey had created them in the 1930s. What was different about Shaw's first sextet was the use of the harpsichord instead of the piano. A year earlier, Wilder had recorded with a harpsichord in his pseudo-jazz octet, and ...

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Rogue Brewery Produces Limited Edition Jazz Guy Ale Bottles

Source: All About Jazz
January 22, 2009

Rogue Nation is Jazzed up! PORTLAND, OR – World class jazz calls for world class beer. So for the fourth year, Rogue Ales has produced a limited edition Jazz Guy Ale bottle for the Portland Jazz Festival. The Portland Jazz Festival has been named one of the top five jazz festivals by Jazz journalist Magazine and Jazz Guy ale is a six-time World Champion amber ale. The festival will bring top national and international acts to venues throughout Portland during ...

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Tipitina's 31st Anniversary | NOLA

Source: JamBase
January 22, 2009

Words & Images by: Jeffrey Dupuis

Tipitina's 31st Anniversary Midnite Disturbers, 504 Brass Band, Johnny Sketch, Good Enough for Good Times Ivan Neville & Friends, Billy Iuso and Restless Natives, Groovesect, PBS 01.14 - 01.17 :: New Orleans, LA

Fess Founded in 1977 as a neighborhood juke joint, Tipitina's recently celebrated its 31st anniversary. Founded by fourteen young music fans (The Fabulous Fo'teen) as a place for Professor Longhair to play in his later ...

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