Music Industry News

Correspondence: When Mike and Joe Dug Herb

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
December 7, 2008

In response to last month's post Herb Geller At 80, Rifftides reader Mike Baughan sent the following account of hearing Geller under fortuitous circumstances.

On a 'post-divorce-find myself-solo vacation' to Norway in 2002, I was fortunate enough to attend some events of the Oslo Jazz Festival. Saw the Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius perform a lively set. At the show's conclusion they invited those interested to meet at The Oslo Grand Hotel for a jam session. Traveling alone, I ...

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Joe Satriani Sues Coldplay for Plagiarism

Source: Billboard Magazine
December 6, 2008

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Other Places: Blumenfeld on Shorter

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
December 6, 2008

Wayne Shorter turned seventy-five in August and played a delayed celebratory concert this week in Carnegie Hall. He was with his working rhythm section of pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. The remarkable Imani Winds also played a set with Shorter. I wasn't there, worse luck, but fellow artsjournal.com blogger Larry Blumenfeld was. He filed a moving report on his Listen Good. Excerpts:

It's as if Shorter has simply liberated each song from its ...

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O.J. Simpson Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison

Source: Michael Ricci
December 5, 2008

Despite a tearful plea for leniency from O.J. Simpson, a Las Vegas judge today sentenced him to 16 years in prison for the kidnapping and robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.

Simpson would be eligible for parole in nine years under the sentence handed down by Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass. His sentence came after he apologized to Glass for his conduct. “In no way did I mean to hurt anybody, to steal anything from anybody," the former ...

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Split Lip Rayfield: Fast, Rough and Loud

Source: JamBase
December 5, 2008

By: Sarah Hagerman

Split Lip Rayfield by Ryan Hendrix It's one of those November nights in Austin where the chill catches you off guard, but inside the Continental Club the heat has forced us to stuff our jackets into all available nooks and crannies. It's a dense crowd to tussle through to the bar and the bottles and empty glasses are piling up near the front of the stage, and, glancing around at the crowd, ...

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New Oslo Opera House is Really a Stealth Skate Park

Source: All About Jazz
December 5, 2008

Tricked Out The new Oslo Opera House is much more than a temple to the vocal arts. It's a palace of thrash, with as many gnarly facets as the best skate parks.

For years, architects have gone to great lengths to protect their buildings from marauding skaters. But as aesthetic trends move toward folded planes that transition seamlessly from wall to ceiling and back to wall, designers have been looking to their former adversaries for a lesson in ...

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Oakland's Fox Theater

Source: JamBase
December 4, 2008

Oakland To Open New Fox Theater

Fox Theater - Oakland, CA After closing its doors forty-three years ago, the Fox Theater is scheduled to reopen in February, 2009 with a run of performances from entertainment's top acts. The $75mm multi-use renovation project will feature a state-of-the-art theater with flexible capacity from 1,500 to 2,800.

The theater's wrap around building will be the permanent home for the Oakland School for the Arts, a tuition-free charter school dedicated to artistic and academic ...

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Bill Nershi: Salmon and Cheese, Unplugged

Source: JamBase
December 4, 2008

The String Cheese Incident did as much as any band out there to break fiddle and mandolin into the jam band scene, but as their following grew, the desire to break new musical ground led them toward an increasingly electrified sound. When the band dissolved last year, guitarist-singer Bill Nershi initiated the breakup, citing concerns about the move toward electronica that the music was taking. He's said that he often felt unsure about his role when a song moved toward ...

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