Jazz News

Grammy Winner Steve Martin Takes His Banjo on Tour

Source: All About Jazz
April 13, 2010

With no introduction or celebrity fanfare, Steve Martin steps onstage with the Steep Canyon Rangers bluegrass band, a banjo strapped to his chest. He's not there to tell jokes, though he manages to squeeze in a few. He's there to play music -- songs from his Grammy-winning bluegrass album, “The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo." Martin tells the crowd he met the band at a party in North Carolina, “but when we're in California, I tell people we ...

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Apple Updates Macbook Pro Line

Source: All About Jazz
April 13, 2010

Apple today updated the MacBook Pro line with faster processors, powerful next-generation NVIDIA graphics and even longer battery life. The popular 13-inch MacBook Pro features the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor for up to 80 percent faster graphics and a groundbreaking 10-hour built-in battery.* The new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and Apple's new automatic graphics switching technology that toggles seamlessly between powerful NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and energy efficient Intel ...

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Summer Jazz Sicily: 8-Day Workshop in Polizzi Generoso - Applications Due April 15, 2010

Source: Michael Ricci
April 12, 2010

New York, NY - Summer Jazz Sicily is pleased to announce openings for our 2010 jazz workshop in Polizzi Generoso, Sicily, led by NYC jazz drummer and director of percussion at the Fieldston School, Scott Latzky. Aspiring jazz musicians of all levels are invited to join us for this intensive 8-day workshop which includes private lessons, small combos, classes on theory and improvisation, and live performance opportunities. Students will live and learn in a renovated 19th century country house on ...

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Fred Hersch to Release "Whirl" on Palmetto Records

Source: Michael Ricci
April 12, 2010

"Hersch's music--luxurious, free-flowing, unashamedly gorgeous jazz--is idiosyncratically, unmistakably a creation of his own," David Hajdu wrote in a recent, riveting New York Times Magazine profile on Hersch's music and life. The piece detailed Hersch's recovery from a harrowing, near-death health battle, placed him in the forefront of contemporary, innovative jazz artists, and chronicled his influence on many of today's brightest young musicians. Whirl is Hersch's first recording since undergoing intense physical therapy and achieving full recuperation. “One of the small ...

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Help Cobi Narita Fight Parkinson's Disease

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations
April 12, 2010

Cobi Narita Sponsors Concert to Benefit Parkinson's Unity Walk Sunday, April 18, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at Saint Peter's Church, New York City NEW YORK, NY - Join producer and jazz aficionada Cobi Narita on Sunday, April 18, at 7:30 pm at Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street in New York City, for a concert to benefit the Parkinson's Unity Walk. The 16th annual Walk takes place on Saturday, April 24, from 10:00 ...

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Craig Brenner Featured at New Orleans Jazz National Park During 1st Weekend of Jazz Fest

Source: Michael Ricci
April 12, 2010

Craig Brenner to Perform at the Jazz National Park on April 24, 2010, 2 p.m. Pianist Craig Brenner will perform at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park on Saturday, April 24, from 2 - 3:30 p.m. The Park is located at 916 N. Peters in the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA. Called “a fine and funky pianist" by Living Blues, pianist and composer Craig Brenner is a graduate of Florida Southern College who attended the Indiana University School of ...

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Otis Redding's 2-CD 'Live on the Sunset Strip' from 1966 Readied by Stax Records

Source: conqueroo
April 12, 2010

Three full sets available in their entirety for the first time, with digital remastering and extensive liner notes

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- In 1966, Otis Redding had emerged not only as the star of Stax Records but as one of nation's most influential soul singers. With his version of “Satisfaction" climbing the charts in April 1966, Redding arrived in Los Angeles to play both the Hollywood Bowl (as part of a KHJ-AM listener appreciation concert that also featured Donovan, Sonny ...

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Pianist and Songwriter Cyrus Chestnut to Headline Billy Taylor Jazz Festival

Source: Michael Ricci
April 12, 2010

Greenville, NC -- Again this year the East Carolina University School of Music Jazz Studies Program brings a world-class jazz performer to Greenville for the Billy Taylor Jazz Festival on April 22-23. Critically-acclaimed pianist and songwriter Cyrus Chestnut headlines this year's event at the Murphy Center on ECU's campus on Friday, April 23, backed by the ECU Jazz Ensemble A under the direction of Carroll V. Dashiell, Jr. “Cyrus is one of the most influential jazz artists on the scene ...

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