Music Industry News

Breaking Bread Together: The Spirit of Thanksgiving in Song

Source: All About Jazz
November 16, 2007

How do spirituals fit into a life filled with jazz? For a generation of jazzmen, they were their first introduction to a love of music. From childhood days in church to grandparents singing favorites on long-ago Sunday mornings, this sacred music inspired their work as jazzmen. Legends of American music--trumpeters Clark Terry and “Sweets" Edison, and bass-baritone William Warfield--perform with the band and share family stories, both heartfelt and humorous, about what the music has meant to them. In this ...

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Quartet Has Ambitious Plans for Blue Wisp in Cincinnati

Source: All About Jazz
November 16, 2007

It would seem the future of jazz in Cincinnati, as embodied by the legendary Blue Wisp Jazz Club, is in good hands now that a dedicated group of jazz lovers - who happen to be successful businessmen - has purchased the club. The four partners took over operations two weeks ago after submitting the top bid in a blind auction. The club had to be sold to cover the medical debts of the estate of Marjean Wisby, the longtime Blue ...

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Maria Schneider Reimagines the Big Band

Source: All About Jazz
November 16, 2007

From simple start, a sophisticated style A small-town childhood in southwest Minnesota, complete with figure-skating lessons and swoops across the vast emptiness of the plains in a six-seater aircraft piloted by a dad who works in the crop business, isn't exactly a classic antecedent of a career in jazz. more stories like this But there's nothing conventional about the career of composer Maria Schneider, whose one-of-a-kind reimagining of a big band, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, has blazed daring new trails ...

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Boston Modern Orchestra Project Launches Record Label BMOP Sound

Source: AMT Public Relations
November 15, 2007

"BMOP is emerging as the national leader among orchestras of its ilk." --Boston Globe Roslindale, MA--The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the nation's leading orchestra dedicated exclusively to performing, commissioning, and recording new music, announces the prospective launch of its own CD label, BMOP Sound. With its debut scheduled for January 2008, BMOP Sound will become the nation's foremost label devoted exclusively to new music recordings, many of which have been commissioned by BMOP. Additional BMOP Sound recordings will be ...

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Steve Wilson's "Tortola" is Chosen as HLSCC President's Official Song

Source: Seth Cohen PR
November 15, 2007

"Consistent, Incisive Rhythmic Dexterity..." Dr. Michael E. O'Neal, President of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, has honored Steve Wilson by choosing the saxophonist's song “Tortola" as the “official song of his Presidency." “Tortola", from Wilson's Soulful Song CD (MaxJazz,) was written after his second trip to the island in 2002. Dr. Michael O'Neal, who was then Vice-President of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, chose this tune as the “Song of his Presidency" when he was ...

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24th International Blues Challenge Jan 31 - Feb 2, 2008 in Memphis

Source: All About Jazz
November 14, 2007

The Blues Foundation presents the 24th International Blues Challenge (IBC) January 31 through February 2, 2008 in Memphis, TN. The world's largest gathering of Blues acts represents an international competition by The Blues Foundation and its affiliated organizations to provide a career springboard for the winning Blues band and Blues solo/duo artists.

Due to the exponential growth in the event's attendance over the last 5 years, changes have been made to accommodate fans. Sell out crowds for the final competitions ...

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Farmington Hills, MI Firefighter Doubles as a Jazz Musician

Source: All About Jazz
November 12, 2007

Doctor, lawyer, police officer, firefighter -- each was a dream career for Stan Barnes as a child. But a choice was made for him, he says, when he had to help save his two younger brothers from a blaze in his mom's Detroit home at the tender age of 14. The experience defined his life, he says, and a firefighter he became. “It was a big tragedy for our family," says Barnes, 43, of the fire he survived as a ...

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After Neighbors Complain, Judge Tells Saxophonist to Get Quiet or Get Gone

Source: All About Jazz
November 10, 2007

Thirty years ago Manhattan Plaza opened its doors in Hell's Kitchen as an affordable, rent-subsidized haven for artists like respected saxophonist David Schnitter. But Schnitter now may be on the verge of eviction, he says, thanks to neighbors who no longer embrace the vibrant spirit of the midtown apartment complex. Schnitter, 59, has been ordered by an administrative law judge to put a sock in his horn. After noise complaints, he is banned from practicing in his 20th-floor apartment. If ...

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