Jazz News

Review: Diana Krall Fights the Chill

Source: Michael Ricci
August 15, 2009

The cold and windy conditions at Livermore's Wente Vineyards Thursday night might have been great for growing grapes, but wasn't ideal for the sold-out crowd that turned out to see Diana Krall. And the jazz singer-pianist certainly sympathized. “I should have gotten some Diana Krall cashmere blankets made up for you," she quipped at one point. In lieu of that souvenir item, the Grammy award-winning star who performs at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga Tuesday and Wednesday did her best ...

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AAJ Orchestra to Premiere at Pier 66 (NYC) on August 14th - Free!

Source: Michael Ricci
August 14, 2009

Jazz Comes off the Web and onto the River Free Jazz Concert on the Hudson Pier 66, on the Hudson River at West 26th Street Friday, August 14, 2009 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM New York City, A brand-new jazz ensemble, The All About Jazz Orchestra, will give its debut performance on Friday, August 14, 2009, outdoors on a Hudson River Pier. Admission is free. All About Jazz is a Website for jazz fans and musicians at ...

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Denise Donatelli with Josh Nelson Trio at Spazio Tonight

Source: All About Jazz
August 14, 2009

Denise Donatelli w/The Josh Nelson Trio plays Spazio Jazz Club Sherman Oaks TONIGHT!

One of the jazz vocal worlds most eminently listenable talents. - Don Heckman, International Review of Music

Denise Donatelli, vocals; Josh Nelson, piano; Hamilton Price, bass; Kevin Kanner, drums.

Hope to see you there .... Friday, August 14th 8:00 pm to 11:30 pm

Spazio Jazz Club 14755 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA res: 818-728-8400

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Steely Dan Wrap Beacon Theatre Stand with Gaucho Gig

Source: All About Jazz
August 14, 2009

Last night Donald Fagan and Walter Becker got dressed, walked down the street and made a little lucre playing the most cynical music ever.

The event was the final night of Steely Dans long stand at New Yorks Beacon Theatre. Theyve been here since July playing the final three records of their early career 1976s Royal Scam, 1977s Aja, and Gaucho, an album so stinky with 70s jaundice it came out in 1980, the most 70s year of all time. ...

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Woodstock: How Does It Sound 40 Years Later?

Source: All About Jazz
August 14, 2009

Jimi Hendrix played his guitar during his set at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair on Aug. 18, 1969

Lots of people never made it to Woodstock, in part because the 400,000 who did caused the most famous traffic jam in New York history.

But for those of us who missed it because of the inconvenience of having not yet been born, the concert's 40th anniversary is instinctively less a cause for celebration than an excuse to plug our ears. ...

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Mike Seeger Versatile Musician Major Influence on Folk Music Revival Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
August 14, 2009

Mike Seeger, a folk musician, music historian and collector of traditional music who was a major influence on the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, died last Friday of multiple myeloma at his home in Lexington, Va. He was 75.

The younger half brother of folk musician Pete Seeger and part of a renowned musical family, Seeger dedicated his life to documenting, teaching and keeping alive traditional music of the American South. The interwoven strands of Anglo American ...

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Steve Martin's 'Crow' Wins Kudos

Source: Michael Ricci
August 14, 2009

He's won an Emmy and a Grammy, and now Steve Martin is nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Assn. Awards.

The writer-comedian picked up six nominations Thursday in connection with his first music record, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo.

Martin was nominated as best banjo player and the album, which is No. 1 on Billboard's bluegrass chart, was nominated as best instrumental recorded performance of the year.

The Dan Tyminski Band led all nominees with nine. Tyminski, ...

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Les Paul's Innovations Paved the Way for Rock 'N' Roll

Source: Michael Ricci
August 14, 2009

The virtuoso picker influenced a generation of guitarists and had a series of hits in the '50s with wife Mary Ford. He invented an early solid-body electric guitar and pioneered new recording methods.

Les Paul was often called rock royalty, but for the people who knew the man before his death Thursday at age 94, that term often inspired a gentle chuckle.

Born in Wisconsin in 1915, Paul was a Midwestern jazz man who went on to make high-polish 1950s ...

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