Jazz News

Curtain Comes Down on Sad 'Ragtime' Band

Source: Michael Ricci
January 8, 2010

A hit at the Kennedy Center, the complex musical with ensemble cast can't find its legs in New York.

Before the Dec. 28 evening performance of “Ragtime," the show's producers asked the cast to assemble on the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre for the dreaded announcement that always turns Broadway dreams to cinders: The lovingly crafted musical would have to shut its doors for good Jan. 10. The producers offered affectionate valedictories, and some of the lead actors, like ...

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Willie Mitchell Record Producer Worked with al Green Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
January 8, 2010

The trumpeter, who had hits such as 'Soul Serenade' in the 1960s, helped mold the Memphis soul sound with Green and Ann Peebles.

Willie Mitchell, an influential record producer, label head and musician who worked closely with singer Al Green and other stars to help mold the Memphis soul sound, died Tuesday. He was 81. Mitchell died at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., more than two weeks after he suffered cardiac arrest Dec. 19, said his son, Lawrence Mitchell. ...

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Is Avant-Jazz Pianist Matthew Shipp His Own Worst Enemy?

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
January 8, 2010

By Tad Hendrickson Matthew Shipp has a great new solo album coming out, but it's his mouth that once again causes a stir. There's been a rumble in the jazz jungle these last few weeks as a new Jazztimes article on the experimental pianist makes the rounds. There has been a number of posts here at All About Jazz with a lot of back-and-forth about comments Shipp made, some new and some published previously. According to Shipp, both Wayne Shorter's ...

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Jazz Video Guy 2009 Year in Review

Source: Michael Ricci
January 8, 2010

Bret Primack, aka the Jazz Video Guy, looks back at the video he produced in 2009. Features: Billy Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Miles Davis, John Coltrane. Writer/Video Journalist Bret Primack has been at the forefront of new media since he co- founded Jazz Central Station in 1995. In 1997, he was the first Jazz blogger with Bird Lives, where, as the Pariah, his heartfelt diatribes struck a responsive chord in the music industry. A graduate of NYU ...

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Court to FCC: You Dont Have Power to Enforce Net Neutrality

Source: All About Jazz
January 8, 2010

A federal appeals court gave notice Friday it likely would reject the Federal Communications Commissions authority to sanction Comcast for throttling peer-to-peer applications. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit suggested as much during oral arguments from the FCC and Comcast. The Philadelphia-based cable concern is appealing the agencys 2008 decision ordering it to stop hampering the peer-to-peer service BitTorrent as a traffic-management practice. The move was in response to complaints Comcast was sending fake signals ...

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Dave Pell & Med Flory Quintet @ Henri's Friday Night

Source: All About Jazz
January 7, 2010

The legendary sax of Dave Pell with the Med Flory Quintet plays the southland

Friday, January 8th The Back Room at Henri's 21601 Sherman Way Canoga Park, CA 91303 (818) 348-5582

Dave Pell - Tenor Med Flory - Alto John Campbell - Piano Chuck Berghofer - Bass Frank Capp - Drums

Shows: 7pm and 9pm No Cover Intimate Affordable Full Bar Good ...

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Jazz Film "Chaography" Reaches Contest Semi-Finals, Needs Your Vote

Source: Michael Ricci
January 7, 2010

CHAOGRAPHY: Variations on the Theme of Freedom, a new fiction film project celebrating New Yorks jazz scene, has been named a Semi-Finalist in the first annual Ultimate Filmmaker Competition (UFC) presented by Filmmakers Alliance. One of 25 entries selected from approximately 1,000 submissions, the film is slated to feature acclaimed jazz saxophonist Stacy Dillard and pianist Eric Reed in starring roles. For the Semi-Final Round, members of the public are encouraged to vote for the project they would most like ...

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Berkeley's Jazzschool Announces Winter 2010 Classes and Programs

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
January 7, 2010

As the Jazzschool's Winter 2010 Quarter commences on Monday, January 11, students in the Jazzschool Institute's brand-new four-year Bachelor of Music degree program in Jazz Studies return for their Spring 2010 semester on January 19. “We have a wonderful group of instrumentalists and vocalists in our entering class," says Founder and Director Susan Muscarella. “They are passionate about the music and committed to a life in and around jazz, and we are so excited to see these plans come to ...

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