Jazz News

David Williams Guitarist on Jackson Hits Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
March 16, 2009

David Williams, 58, a session guitar player who performed and recorded with Michael Jackson, Madonna and the Temptations, among others, died of cardiac arrest March 6 at the Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Va., after suffering a stroke March 2.

A native of Newport News, Va., Williams had moved to Hampton after years living in California and on the road.

Williams played guitar on many of Jackson's biggest hits, including those from the albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. ...

Continue Reading

Pritzker Jams on Jazz in Pic Pair

Source: All About Jazz
March 16, 2009

Billionaire first-time filmmaker backs biopics. And you thought silent films were dead.

Billionaire and first-time director Dan Pritzker has completed shooting a pair of films, including one that's a silent, complete with the dialogue title cards that were commonplace before those films became obsolete nearly 80 years ago.

Son of the late Hyatt Hotels chain magnate Jay Pritzker, Dan Pritzker is listed 246th on the 2008 Forbes list of “400 Richest Americans," with a reported net worth of $1.9 billion. ...

Continue Reading

Obama to Appear on 'The Tonight Show'

Source: Michael Ricci
March 16, 2009

The TV chat show circuit is a rare stop for U.S. presidents while in office.

President Barack Obama will appear on Thursday as a guest on “ The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC television said.

Obama will make an appearance on the late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jay Leno while on a visit to Southern California, a spokeswoman for the NBC show said on Monday.

“It is confirmed. He (President Obama) will be on the show on Thursday," ...

Continue Reading

iPhone to Get a Premium App Store

Source: All About Jazz
March 16, 2009

As Apple gets ready to preview its new software developers' kit and an updated iPhone operating system next week, there could be some changes to the company's App Store too.

We're hearing rumors that Apple could introduce a “premium" section in the store, in order to sell more expensive third-party programs. The premium section would largely be focused on games, giving game makers a channel to offer more in-depth (and pricier) titles without getting lost in the clutter of free ...

Continue Reading

Objectified Teaches Us 'You Are What You Own'

Source: All About Jazz
March 16, 2009

The hurricane is coming. You have 20 minutes to grab the objects in your house that are most important to you. What do you reach for first?

That's a question asked by Rob Walker, who writes the Consumed column for The New York Times, at the very end of Objectified, director Gary Hustwit's brilliant documentary about industrial design. The film, which premiered here at South by Southwest to a packed house Saturday, is an examination of the objects that surround ...

Continue Reading

College's Lennon Center Expanding Its Offerings

Source: Michael Ricci
March 16, 2009

Martin Cohen is chairman of the John Lennon Center for Music and Technology at Five Towns College. IT would be tough to find a more intense concentration of fans, scholars and interpreters of the work of John Lennon than the one at Five Towns College here. In 2005, Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, came to the college to help dedicate its John Lennon Center for Music and Technology, which offers audio and video equipment for students, academic courses — including one ...

Continue Reading

Seattle Paper Shifts Entirely to the Web

Source: Michael Ricci
March 16, 2009

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper will produce its last printed edition on Tuesday and become an Internet-only news source, the Hearst Corporation said on Monday, making it by far the largest American newspaper to take that leap. Enlarge This Image Kevin P. Casey for The New York Times In Seattle, boxes holding the city’s two major dailies. On Tuesday, The Post-Intelligencer will produce its last printed edition and become an Internet-only news source. But the P-I, as it is called, will ...

Continue Reading

Michelle Walker Live @ Bar Next Door

Source: All About Jazz
March 16, 2009

Michelle Walker Performs Live @ THE BAR NEXT DOOR Monday March 16, 2009

Vocalist Michelle Walker returns to one of her favorite performance rooms, the Bar Next Door for an intimate evening of live jazz vocals.

The Bar Next Door is one of the smaller and most intimate settings for serious jazz in Manhattan...[and]...is a perfect setting to enjoy richly textured music. The Bar Next Door has been home to some of the most outstanding musicians, instrumental and vocal, working ...

Continue Reading