Jazz News

Cuba Gears up for Mega-Concert

Source: All About Jazz
September 20, 2009

International singing star Juanes expected to draw hundreds of thousands

HAVANA, Cuba - An international rock star is bringing a mega-concert to Cuba — a spectacle that could be the biggest visit by an outsider since Pope John Paul II's 1998 tour — while shrugging off death threats over an event he has dedicated to peace.

Juanes' show is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to the iconic Plaza of the Revolution, where the pope celebrated Mass and ...

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FCC Expected to Announce Support of Net Neutrality Monday

Source: Allegro Media
September 20, 2009

Federal regulators next week are expected to seek to turn controversial “net neutrality” principles into formal rules intended to give the nation’s computer users the right to use whatever services and devices they like without interference from their ISPs.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is widely expected to announce during a speech on Monday at the Brookings Institution that he will ask the Commission in October to start a formal rule making process. The FCC currently relies on the so-called Broadband ...

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Chicago Jazz Scene

Source: All About Jazz
September 20, 2009

Chicago Jazz Clubs Dates September/ October

The sad state of jazz venues in Chicago. The Jazz Showcase, the areas biggest jazz venue closed its doors at the end of 2007 after they were not able to renew their lease. Now the HotHouse, Chicago second largest venue that was beginging to pick up the slack with out the Showcase around is closed. Northwestern just canceled their jazz program at the end of the last school year.

Jazz is no ...

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Rufus Wainwright Creates His Own Oz

Source: Michael Ricci
September 20, 2009

The devoted fan dressed up as Judy Garland during a 2007 concert that has been turned into a CD and DVD, 'Milwaukee at Last!'

Martin Scorsese once called Rufus Wainwright a “one-man Greek chorus." The hyperliterate singer-songwriter is the son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, a devoted fan of Judy Garland and recently an opera composer. (His first, the French-language “Prima Donna," premiered this summer.) His next release is a live album, “Milwaukee at Last!!!," which ...

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Ken Burns: What About Mingus?!

Source: Michael Ricci
September 20, 2009

Ken Burns: Was a backlash inevitable? His familiar style of documentary filmmaking has bred some contempt on the part of his critics, who can't wait for his new opus, 'The National Parks.'

The documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has a story he clearly loves to tell. He was walking in New York City a few years ago -- on a date -- when he heard a man he'd just passed yell violently back at him: “What about Mingus?!" Preceding the name ...

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Ellen Johnson Sings the Vocal Music of Charles Mingus in Concert

Source: Sound Visions Media
September 19, 2009

Called “superior jazz singing by an artist of the highest quality" by Jazz Journal International, Ellen Johnson will be sharing her unique style and repertoire of jazz vocals joined by San Diego jazz artists, pianist Rick Helzer and bassist Rob Thorsen. The concert is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 with one show at 9:00 PM at Tango Del Rey located at 3567 Del Rey Street, San Diego. The admission price is $15 General and $10 for students with an ID. ...

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Minton's Playhouse Hosts Swing Night Every Friday

Source: Michael Ricci
September 18, 2009

Harlem jazz landmark The Uptown Lounge at Minton's Playhouse invites dancers and music lovers alike to join us on Friday nights for Swing Night.

Starting at 9:00 p.m. every Friday, Mike Davis' Harlem-Heritage Big Band, now celebrating 17 years of performances, will bring beloved classics by luminaries including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Fletcher Henderson.

The Uptown Lounge at Minton's Playhouse is located at 208 West 118th Street in Harlem, between St. Nicholas Avenue and Adam ...

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On October 13, 2009 - Motema Music Will Release Roni Ben-Hur's "Fortuna"

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
September 18, 2009

On October 13, 2009 - Motma Music will release RONI BEN-HUR’S FORTUNA Featuring Ronnie Mathews, Rufus Reid, Lewis Nash and Steve Kroon “a guitarist with a veiled tone and hornlike attack like vintage Kenny Burrell.” --Francis Davis, The Village Voice On October 13, 2009, Motema Music proudly releases Fortuna, the much-anticipated new recording from guitarist, composer, arranger, educator and author, Roni Ben-Hur. Fortuna follows up Ben-Hur’s critically-acclaimed recordings, Smile (Motema, 2008), which was recorded with fellow guitar great Gene Bertoncini, ...

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