Jazz News

Legends Festival in South Carolina to Honor Natives and Other Jazz Greats

Source: Michael Ricci
May 17, 2010

By Larry Reni Thomas

South Carolina is the native state and former home of several distinguished jazz musicians, including the most well-known, John Birks “Dizzy" Gillespie, the trumpeter, composer, bandleader and co-creator of bebop, who was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. There are several others, like the high note trumpet master, Cat Anderson, a former member of the famed Jenkins Orphanage Band of Charleston, who was a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra; and Charleston native, guitarist/composer, ((Freddie Green}}, who was ...

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Roseanna Vitro at the Deer Head Inn on May 21st

Source: All About Jazz
May 17, 2010

The famous Deer Head Inn in the small village of Delaware Water Gap is a hot jazz venue located in the serene and beautiful Pocono Mountains. Unpretentious, great food, and lovely rooms. Live jazz Thursday through Sunday. Check the Deerhead Inn's web site for current acts and for information about our jazz weekend packages.

Coming Soon

Friday, May 21, 7 to 11 pm, music charge $5 Bill Goodwin's “Bop Stew" with Special Guest Roseanna Vitro “The ...

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"Fever" Singer Peggy Lee is Hot Again

Source: All About Jazz
May 17, 2010

Perhaps best known for her smooth, sultry 1958 cover of the rhythm-and-blues hit “Fever," Peggy Lee has returned to the “Billboard" Top 200 album chart hit for the first time since 1970. Lee died in 2002. Music buyers still have the fever for Peggy Lee.

Perhaps best known for her smooth, sultry 1958 cover of the rhythm-and-blues hit “Fever," the late pop-jazz singer, songwriter and actress has returned to the “Billboard" Top 200 album chart hit for the first time ...

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Rejections and Careers Are Getting Shorter

Source: All About Jazz
May 17, 2010

Biz discovers it's a cold, cruel twitterverse. To save you time, here's a summary of this column: Tweets are in, manners are out.

Let me elaborate for those readers with pre-Twitter patience: In Hollywood, the process of rejection is becoming colder and more abrupt. And rejection is what most communications are all about. Talk to veterans of the scene, and the trend runs something like this: A few years ago if you wanted to cancel a ...

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Hugh Masekela Amid Cup Fervor, Revisiting Pain of Apartheid

Source: Michael Ricci
May 17, 2010

My introduction to Hugh Masekela came in 1968. Amid great turbulence, assassinations and riots, Masekela's hit single “Grazing in the Grass" became the breezy anthem of a hot summer.

Masekela, we learned, was the South African-born trumpet player who had come to the United States in 1960 to escape the tyranny of apartheid. Far beyond the pop appeal of Grazing, Masekelas larger body of music reflected the agony, conflict and exploitation South Africa dealt with. Our paths finally crossed last ...

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Sergio Mendes' "Bom Tempo" and Album Remix out June 1

Source: Michael Ricci
May 17, 2010

The new release date for Sergio Mendes' upcoming album Bom Tempo has now been set for June 1st via Concord Records, which will simultaneously release Sergio's remix disc Bom Tempo Brasil . Produced by Sergio himself, Bom Tempo expands Mendes' use of color, texture and street-derived energy, highlighting his mastery of authentic Brazilian rhythms and composition. The companion remix album Bom Tempo Brasil features dance mixes of new and classic Mendes tracks from producers including Paul Oakenfold, Cutmore, Moto Blanco, ...

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Jazz Pianist Hank Jones Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
May 17, 2010

The legendary pianist Hank Jones, 91, an eloquent and lyrical soloist and accompanist to every major name in jazz since the 1940s, died May 16 in New York City. Mr. Jones was known for his light touch and his embrace of bebop's fast pace and complex phrasing. He played “as though he were plucking the piano's strings instead of striking its keys, and his gracefully restrained single-note style are a reformulation of their aesthetic in modern jazz.," wrote David Rosenthal ...

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Craig Kauffman Artist Captured the Ethos of Los Angeles

Source: Michael Ricci
May 17, 2010

His bubble-like plastic wall pieces reflected Southern California's sunshine and car culture. He made his mark early, as part of the original stable of artists at Ferus Gallery, an avant-garde showcase on La Cienega Boulevard. Artist Craig Kauffman, a sparkplug of Los Angeles' art scene in the late 1950s and early '60s who captured national attention with bubble-like plastic wall pieces that reflect Southern California's sunshine and car culture, died Sunday at his home in the Philippines. He was 78. ...

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