Jazz News

Is Jazz Dead?: Stretching the Festival Definition of Jazz

Source: All About Jazz
June 26, 2009

With Canadian summer jazz festivals featuring everything from the gospel sounds of The Sojourners and straight-ahead jazz saxophonist David Sanborn to Nigerian superstar King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, the definition of jazz has become fluid. Okay, so here's another question: What is jazz? And another: Is jazz a meaningless term? Or even: Is jazz dead? If ever there was a word loaded with multiple meanings, it's the word jazz. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines it ...

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Jazz Artists Seek out Future Fans

Source: All About Jazz
June 26, 2009

Musicians hope to expand beyond regular devotees, bring in the younger generation It was 8 p.m., and jazz cellist Raymond Chu — better known as “Magic Ray" — was setting up for a performance at the Mosaic Caf in College Park, a hip restaurant and hookah bar that caters to students and young people. Chu, a statistician who lives in Lanham, said he did not expect an enthusiastic response to the June 12 performance. Most people go to Washington, D.C. ...

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Jackie Deshannon Albums to be Reissued by Collectors' Choice on August 25

Source: conqueroo
June 26, 2009

Look for Jackie Shannon’s self-titled debut folk album (1963), a twofer of Me About You (1968) and To Be Free (1970), and New Arrangement (1975), which gave the world the DeShannon-co-penned “Bette Davis Eyes.”

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The multi-talented, Grammy-winning Jackie DeShannon is best known for writing and recording hits like “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” as well as interpreting Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono’s “Needles and Pins” (long before the Searchers and the Ramones) and Burt ...

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Jump City Jazz Orchestra with Grant Stewart at Chris' Jazz Cafe on July 11, 2009

Source: All About Jazz
June 26, 2009

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Lisa Marie Presley: I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening

Source: All About Jazz
June 26, 2009

Lisa Marie Presley, who was married to Michael Jackson for 20 months following their 1994 wedding, posted the following statement (titled “He Knew") on her MySpace blog one day after the singer's death:

“Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.

I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death

At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and ...

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The London Concerts: Michael's Missed Comeback

Source: All About Jazz
June 26, 2009

The organizers behind “This Is It," Michael Jackson's 50-concert residency at London's O2 Arena, billed it as a spectacle for the ages that would mark the return of the King of Pop following a 12-year hiatus.

But after Jackson's sudden death on June 25, the series, scheduled to open July 13, will probably be remembered as the most lavish musical comeback that never was.

AEG Live, the Los Angeles-based entertainment company behind the concerts, invested more than $20 million to ...

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Herbie Hancock Statement on the Passing of Michael Jackson

Source: Shore Fire Media
June 26, 2009

This is an unbelievable tragedy, first of all for his family, for his devout fans, for the world of music and for the world of culture. Michael was one of the most diligent creators. His passion flowed through every pore of his being. His sense of invention was unparalleled. Who else could have thought of the moonwalk and who else could have created such a unique sense of movement in dance. His contribution to music and music videos; Off the ...

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The Jazz Life Now Digital Only

Source: JM Creative
June 26, 2009

The Jazz Life Now Digital Only B.J. Jansen's, “The Jazz Life," show will now only be broadcast via a digital podcast and stream online. Waning interest and the stagnation of terrestrial radio and it's subsequent inability to reach efficiently the Jazz Life's listeners has prompted this digital only move by Jansen. Jansen stated, “The stagnation of terrestrial radio has proved it much less effective than reaching jazz audiences worldwide directly via an on-demand format such as ...

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