Jazz News

John Stevenson's Top 10 Christmas Jazz Recordings for 2008

Source: All About Jazz
December 22, 2008

Christmas Notes by Manuel Engel was announced as a Top 10 Christmas Jazz Recordings for 2008:

John Stevenson’s Top 10 Christmas jazz recordings for 2008:

1. Verve Remixed Christmas (Verve) 2. A Night Before Christmas, Spyro Gyra (Heads Up) 3. Christmas With My Friends II, Nils Landgren (ACT) 4. Christmas Notes, Manuel Engel, (Metonic) 5. Christmas, Al Jarreau (Rhino) 6. What A Night! Harry Connick Jr (Columbia) 7. ...

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John Temmerman, Saxophonist, Releases Third Recording “Live in Evanston – John’S Mixed Bag”

Source: All About Jazz
December 22, 2008

Multi-reedist and Skokie, IL native John Temmerman’s new recording, Live in Evanston - John's Mixed Bag captures his band in live quartet and quintet performances from 2007 and 2008. “It's a live recording, which is a first for me… Probably the last,” he says drolly in his characteristic dry manner. “I've learned that live recordings are much more involved than studio recordings.” Live in Evanston - John's Mixed Bag is an amalgamation of original compositions; jazz classics by Horace Silver ...

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Mads Vinding Trio Releases "Bubbles & Ballads"

Source: All About Jazz
December 22, 2008

Mads Vinding started playing professionally at the young age of 16. A legend among jazz bassists on the European scene, Mads Vinding is celebrated for his dexterous virtuosity and razor-sharp perception, not least apparent in his trio performances that have set new standards for musical interplay. Mads Vinding’s mastery is manifest in trio performance with Jacob Karlzon and Morten Lund, who both belong to a new generation of inspired Nordic jazz musicians. Jacob Karlzon and Morten Lund are responsive and ...

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Ten Moments That Shook 'American Idol' in 2008

Source: Michael Ricci
December 22, 2008

To some (myself included), it was the greatest season in American Idol history. To others, it was sagging proof that the series was overdue for a reboot.

We had controversies, surprises, tragedies, outrages and amazing triumphs, and in the end hints of big shake-ups in the year to come. Below is my list of the most earth-jolting moments that rocked the Idoldome in 2008. Which did I leave out? What were yours?

10. David Hernandez stripping controversy. The ...

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Elmer Valentine, CO-Founder of Whisky a Go Go, Dies at 85

Source: Michael Ricci
December 22, 2008

Elmer Valentine, co-founder of the Whisky a Go Go, the legendary live rock showcase on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood that gave birth to the go-go dancer phenomenon of the 1960s, has died. He was 85.

Valentine, who also co-founded the Roxy Theatre in the early '70s, died at his home in Studio City after suffering from various ailments the last four years, said music mogul Lou Adler, his longtime friend and business partner.

The Beatles Played the Whiskey ...

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Jazz: Renolds Jazz Orchestra - Cube

Source: All About Jazz
December 22, 2008

"Cube" (Shanti) is a big band and vocal suite based on the Biblical events of Easter. (Reviewing it at Christmastime isn't out of place, considering the main character in each celebration.) The album features an all-star European and American group led by Swiss reedman and composer Fritz Renold. Helen Savari-Renold, his wife, handles vocals. The 10 performances, from “Grave Intrigues," early warnings of Jesus' trial to come, to the finale, the title composition, with Jesus reigning in heaven. Renold writes ...

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Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master

Source: All About Jazz
December 22, 2008

The Gist: Scholars tend to lionize directors who develop groundbreaking styles, or who come to dominate and define a genre men like Hitchcock, Welles, Hawks and Ford. But what of the filmmaker who didn't try to stick out so much as fit in; the man-for-hire who could saddle up to any studio assignment even a work in progress and mold it to perfection? In Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master, Baltimore Sun film critic Michael Sragow argues that ...

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Best of '08 Naked Brothers Band Speaks to Kids as Well as Mom

Source: Michael Ricci
December 22, 2008

Compiling my year-end lists always makes me realize how many areas in which I'm not an expert. Jazz, Latin music, down-tempo electronica, Finnish Christian mystical jams... there are so many icebergs out there, and I've hardly touched their tips. I do often wander into some specialized areas, however.

One is kids' music.

Since I am a mama, that stuff gets into my house and onto the stereo. My 5-year-old (happy birthday, Bebe!) is the kind of obsessive listener most kids ...

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