Music Industry News

WSP Tunes for Tots

Source: JamBase
September 16, 2008

WIDESPREAD PANIC ANNOUNCES TUNES FOR TOTS 2008 Tabernacle, Atlanta GA October 19

Widespread Panic Over the past three years, Tunes for Tots has raised over $375,000 for Georgia Public School music programs. With the proceeds from 2007's event, Rothschild Middle School not only received instruments for their orchestra but also a 27 station music computer lab with the latest version of Music Maker Finale on them. Musical instrument equipment is very expensive and many more schools are under-funded ...

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Public Service: Locating Wayne Escoffery's Missing Horn

Source: All About Jazz
September 15, 2008

A request from musician Wayne Escoffery:

Hi all, I hope you are all well. I unfortunately am not feeling so hot. On Thursday Sept. 11, 2008 myself (jazz saxophonist Wayne Escoffery) and my wife (singer Carolyn Leonhart) jumped out of a white Lincoln livery cab in mid-town while carrying our two month old son (Vaughn) and accidentally left my saxophone in the trunk. I very much want it back and am offering a big reward. The saxophone is my prime ...

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Banging on a Drum as a Way of Life

Source: Michael Ricci
September 14, 2008

THERE are those who say you can’t re-create the past. Then there are those who attend Richard Reiter’s drum circles.

Percussive Richard Reiter, 61, of Cedar Grove, has been hoisting his collection of 60 djembe and other African drums to locations across New Jersey since 2000. The participants vary, too: when he is not drumming in one of his regular spots, including the Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck or Rest Stop Rejuvenate in Rockaway, ...

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Dana Gioia Announces His Future Plans

Source: All About Jazz
September 14, 2008

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia announced today that he will leave his position at the head of the Arts Endowment in January 2009. He will return to writing, his primary occupation prior to leading the Arts Endowment. He will also join the Aspen Institute on a half-time basis as the first Director of the Harman/Eisner (H/E) Program in the Arts. Dana Gioia began his term in February 2003, becoming the NEA's ninth chairman. In December 2006 he ...

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Other Places: Benny Golson at Length

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 13, 2008

On Jazz Wax, Marc Myers's marathon interview with tenor saxophonist, arranger and composer Benny Golson (pictured) started running on September 8 and winds up today. If you are put off by transcribed verbatim interviews, never fear. Myers edits with care, provides appropriate web links and illustrates his pieces lavishly, sometimes to a fault (Golson says -- tongue in cheek, I hope-- “As the future crouches beneath my window waiting unashamedly to reveal itself..." and Myers shows you a dreamscape of ...

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Other Matters: Chipping Away at the Voa

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 13, 2008

With esteem for the United States at a low ebb around the world, the government continues to dismantle the Voice Of America, for more than half a century one of the nation's most effective creators of good will abroad. The Washington Post reports on the latest VOA service to be stilled by the Bush administration:

NEW DELHI -- At the height of the Cold War, as India leaned resolutely toward the Soviet Union, one direct line of communication ...

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Geri Allen Joins Two for the Show Media's Artist Roster

Source: Two for the Show Media
September 12, 2008

Two for the Show Media is proud to announce the addition of Jazz Pianist/Composer Geri Allen to their current artist roster. GERI ALLEN- Pianist/Composer/Arranger Geri Allen is an African-American Jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Her abilities are many. She is both leader and collaborator. An artist grounded in tradition yet always poised on the cutting edge. She has given concerts internationally and her acclaim is worldwide. With all of this, she is also a deeply devoted mother. Allen inhabits all ...

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Vintners: Amazon to Start Selling U.S. Wine Next Month

Source: PC Magazine
September 12, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com, the largest global online retailer, plans to start selling U.S.-produced wine on its website within the United States by early October, wine industry insiders said on Wednesday. Napa Valley Vintners, a nonprofit group representing 315 vintners in the famous California wine-producing region, has already begun to set up workshops for wineries interested in selling through the retail giant, said Terry Hall, communications director for the group. “They have been working for a while on this ...

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