Jazz News

Beatles 'Party' on Bigscreen

Source: All About Jazz
May 10, 2010

Richard DiLello's rock-history tome “The Longest Cocktail Party," which tracks his experience at the Beatles' company Apple Corps, is set to be adapted for the bigscreen.

Pic will be produced by London-based Revolution Films in conjunction with Liam Gallagher's newly formed shingle In 1 Prods. Gallagher, the former Oasis frontman, is known for his love of the Beatles and has often credited the group as an inspiration for his music. Revolution toppers Andrew Eaton and Michael Winterbottom will develop the ...

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Falco Out, Lahti in as the Jazzman's Wife in L.A. Theatre Works' 'Side Man'

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

Not too many theater companies can play dial-a-star as readily as L.A. Theatre Works.

Case in point: An announcement just came through that Edie Falco, of “The Sopranos" and “Nurse Jackie" fame, won't be able to play her announced role as the jazz man's unstable wife next week in the radio-play company's production of Warren Leight's 1999 Tony- winning drama, “Side Man." The fill-in? Christine Lahti, who also has a high profile from television ("Chicago Hope"), but has returned to ...

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Other High Minded Sounds and Assorted Festivals

Source: All About Jazz
May 10, 2010

Carole King & James Taylor You've got a friend: The longtime pals come together on their new combo CD/DVD, Live at the Troubadour. While Baby James' easygoing vocals and lyrics are still a little bland, King is a masterful songwriter (and performer) who's composed several lifetimes of memorable tunes, including “Chains," “Up on the Roof," “Will You Love Me Tomorrow," “A Natural Woman," “I Feel the Earth Move," “The Loco-Motion," “Some Kind of Wonderful," “The Porpoise Song" (and, ...

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FCC Lets Hollywood Turn Off Your Output Jacks

Source: All About Jazz
May 10, 2010

Hollywood will soon have the power to remotely disable the analog outputs on your set-top box, under a decision by federal regulators on Friday intended to prevent home recording of new movie releases. The move by the Federal Communications Commission grants cable and satellite providers the power to block consumers from viewing just-released movies in an analog format through a process known as Selectable Output Control. Hollywood requested SOC powers as a condition of allowing providers for the first time ...

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After Flooding, Nashville Musicians Assess Losses

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

NASHVILLE -- The country music star Brad Paisley was one of hundreds of performers who feared for their instruments this week after the Cumberland River overflowed.

The water covered large areas of Nashville, flooding the Grand Ole Opry stage with two feet of it, causing heavy damage to the symphony hall and forcing electricity to be cut in a tourist neighborhood of downtown.

The stage door of the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, where a cleanup effort is under ...

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Beyond Hefner's Bedroom, a Look at His Legacy

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

The tale of the Playboy founder's gift to help save land by the Hollywood sign is but one of many stories of his life chronicled in 2,000 scrapbooks.

Before I explain how I happened to be in Hugh Hefner's bedroom last week, let me start at the beginning. I bumped into L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge at the supermarket recently and asked if he'd had any clue that Hefner was going to save the day a couple of weeks ago ...

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Media Moguls on Elevated Pay Scale

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

While most CEOs of U.S. companies saw their compensation fall in 2009, top executives of TV, movie and cable companies continued to rake it in.

When an executive runs a company whose success depends on stars whether they are richly rewarded TV news anchors or generously compensated movie idols it is only fitting that the boss is paid, well, like a star.

Call it the Katie Couric Syndrome.

That's one take-away from a Los Angeles Times survey of compensation packages ...

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Review: Peter Gabriel at the Hollywood Bowl

Source: Michael Ricci
May 10, 2010

It's all too easy in the age of “American Idol" to forget just how profoundly powerful music can be in the hands of an absolute master like Peter Gabriel.

The veteran British artist -- one of the select few in the pop music world to whom the term “artist" is wholly appropriate -- brought his orchestral tour to the Hollywood Bowl on Friday and demonstrated once again his completely inspired command of the medium of live performance. Theatrics in pop ...

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