Jazz News

Leo Records: Thirty Years Old and Counting

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2009

Remarkably, the latest batch of releases from Leo Records marked the labels thirtieth anniversary. In those three decades, proprietor Leo Feigin has released a prodigious amount of music on the Leo, LeoLab, Golden Years, Long Arms and Feet First labels, achieving an enviable balance between releases by established stars and those by lesser known artists that the label has backed and developed.

Leo has a fine array of releases by Anthony Braxton, Marilyn Crispell, the Ganelin Trio, Joelle Leandre, Sainkho ...

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Alex Cuba Releases "Agua Del Pozo"

Source: rock paper scissors, inc.
September 28, 2009

The New Face of Cuban Soul Rock from the North: Alex Cuba's Agua del Pozo Breaks the Language Barrier

Mangoes sprouting in the tundra. The new face of Latin soul thriving in a hamlet a day's drive north of Vancouver, British Columbia. This is the story of guitarist, singer, and songwriter Alex Cuba, who came into his musical own in the Canadian north and whose Cuban soul rock power trio flies in the face of conventional notions of what Latin ...

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The Black Seeds Plant New Zealand's Roots Sounds on New Album

Source: rock paper scissors, inc.
September 28, 2009

The Lord of the Rings put New Zealand's beauty and creative spirit on the pop culture map. Flight of the Conchords revealed New Zealand's unique wit. Now reggae/funk sensations The Black Seeds Conchord friends and former band mates are ready to take listeners one step deeper into the Other Down Under, with infectious grooves, slamming brass, and booty shaking beats on the group's first North American release, Solid Ground (Easy Star Records; Released exclusively on iTunes September 15; everywhere else ...

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Legendary Cuban Singer and Latin Grammy Nominee Omara Portuondo Receives Visa to Promote Concerts in USA

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2009

Cultural Breakthrough Achieved Six Year Restriction On Musical Performances Lifted San Francisco Jazz Festival October 20 and UCLA October 23 Omara Portuondo, the world renowned vocalist who began her career in the music scene of her native Cuba in the 1940s, has been granted a travel visa to perform in the United States for two very special dates in October. A member of the celebrated Buena Vista Social Club®, Omara is one of the first Cuban artists in six years ...

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Jamie Cullum to Release "The Pursuit" on March 2, 2010

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2009

FIRST SOLO RECORD IN FOUR YEARS Verve Records is very excited to announce the release of Jamie Cullum's first solo record in four years. The record is called The Pursuit and is being released March 2, 2010. It's Cullum's fifth record in a genre-defying career that has entertained an ever-growing fanbase across the globe since his first Verve record was released in 2002. The title of the record is taken from Nancy Milford's classic novel, The Pursuit of Love, and ...

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Bon Iver at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2009

In the twilight hours, that liminal space between sunset and sunrise, the eyes and ears are prone to trickery. The imagination takes over; hazy objects resemble ghosts, and faraway sounds evoke werewolves.

But on the precipice of Sunday morning, amid Hollywood Forever Cemeterys tombstones and mausoleums, the misty fog and leaning palm trees, Bon Iver provided an ethereal soundtrack to sunrise.

It was dreamlike as indie folkster and Wisconsonite Justin Vernon walked onstage with his band, Bon Iver, around 6 ...

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Antonio Ciacca Quartet in Lagos Blues

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2009

Antonio Ciacca Quartet will play in Lagos Blues On October 16, 2009. Ciacca began his career as a sideman for such acclaimed jazz artists as Art Farmer, James Moody, Lee Konitz, Johnny Griffin, Mark Murphy, Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman, who he cites as his mentor and with whom he studied for three years beginning in 1990. Steve Grossman will be the special guest in his last album recorded in Bologna “Lagos Blues". It will be released the coming January 2010 ...

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Friends of Jazz Gears up for Ragfest's Tenth Anniversary

Source: Michael Ricci
September 28, 2009

RagFest 2009, Orange County, California's annual festival of ragtime music, unfolds in historic downtown Fullerton on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18 , with a special variety revue show at 8 p.m. on Saturday night. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, RagFest offers several stages highlighting soloists, duets, combos, vocalists and more performing vintage and contemporary ragtime music. The festival will feature nationally known performers such as Ian Whitcomb and a lengthy roster of Californians that includes Carl Sonny Leyland ...

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