Jazz News

Jazz Fest May Be a Misnomer, Considering Varied Lineup

Source: All About Jazz
April 22, 2010

Indulging one niche may be the modern festival formula, but it doesn't apply to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which expects huge crowds this year with a bill that accommodates Simon & Garfunkel, Drake, My Morning Jacket, Ledisi, Terence Blanchard, Smokie Norful, Better Than Ezra, Grandpa Elliott and Rockin' Dopsie Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters. That's just a slice of Saturday.

Jazz Fest knows its audience: everyone. The 41st edition, Friday-Sunday and April 29-May 2, will fling its ...

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Box-Office Futures Exchanges Dealt Blow by Senate Panel

Source: Michael Ricci
April 22, 2010

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday passed the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act, which includes in it a provision banning futures trading on movie box office.

This is a big blow to Indiana-based Media Derivatives and Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, both of which had been given the green light to create their box-office futures exchanges by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The major studios are fiercely opposed to futures contracts related to the movie industry, maintaining that the ...

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Its a Joni Mitchell Concert, Sans Joni

Source: Michael Ricci
April 22, 2010

Actor and performance artist John Kelly channels the iconic singer-songwriter in his tribute show, Paved Paradise: The Art of Joni Mitchell. Even the real Mitchell is a fan.

“People used to say nobody can sing my songs but me they're too personal," Joni Mitchell explained last week during a rare interview. Apparently, nobody told John Kelly not to try adapting her songs. The renowned Obie Award-winning actor and performance artist has been belting out Mitchell's songs for more than 20 ...

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John Scofield to Curate Series at the Katonah Museum of Art

Source: Michael Ricci
April 22, 2010

ANOTHER JAZZY SUMMER AT THE KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART: SHADES OF JAZZ CELEBRATES FIFTH SEASON

The Katonah Museum of Art (www.katonahmuseum.org) is tuning up for another summer filled with sunshine, art, and jazz as Shades of Jazz returns for its fifth season. As curator for the series, legendary guitarist John Scofield presents some of the brightest talents in jazz today and jams with them at the end of each performance in the Museums Sculpture Garden. The intimate Shades of Jazz ...

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Tiny West African Nation Inspires Politically Provocative Afro-Rock

Source: rock paper scissors, inc.
April 22, 2010

Watch out! Here they Come Again! A Tiny West African Nation Inspires a Politically Provocative Afro-Rock Re-invention

In the political maelstrom of Washington DC, where Dr. King marched for civil rights, where soldiers vigorously protested Vietnam, and thousands continue to speak truth to power on the steps of the nations capitol, an adamant African voice exclaims, “Adje! Adje," urging people to take action against social injustices. From atop a smoldering, Afro-rock soapbox, rooted in the traditions of his homeland, an ...

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Keyboardist Don Preston Interviewed About the Don and Bunk Show at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
April 22, 2010

Just a few miles east of the Whisky a Go Go, where they stunned the world over 40 years ago with the classic Mothers of Invention, keyboardist Don Preston and saxophonist Bunk Gardner returned to Sunset Blvd. as The Don and Bunk Show, reviving their duo homage to the early music of Frank Zappa. Dolores Peterson Productions brought the terrible two to the Hollywood Studio Bar and Grill to warm up for their east coast tour, which may jump the ...

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Jazz Tour Honors Musical Legends of Woodlawn

Source: Michael Ricci
April 21, 2010

For music lovers who want to spend a beautiful day visiting the pioneers who've changed their lives, on Sunday, April 25, Friends of Woodlawn offers a walking tour of the final resting places of the Jazz Greats of Woodlawn Cemetery. From the dawn of the Jazz Age until today, hundreds of celebrated jazz musicians have been memorialized at Woodlawn, including W.C. Handy, Coleman Hawkins, King Oliver, Bricktop, William “Sonny" Greer, Charles “Cootie" Williams, King Oliver, Arthur Whetsol, Sandy Williams, Milt ...

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Trombone Shorty's "Backatown" Released on April 20th

Source: Michael Ricci
April 21, 2010

Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews' new album, Backatown (Verve Forecast April 20), is the work of a rare artist who can draw both the unqualified respect of jazz legends and deliver a high-energy rock show capable of mesmerizing international rock stars and audiences alike. With such an unprecedented mix of rock, funk, jazz, hip-hop and soul, he had to create his own name to describe his signature sound: Supafunkrock! Andrews is the kind of player who comes along maybe once in ...

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