Jazz News

Wayne Shorter Birthday Bash with a Harmonious Mix of Guests

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

Months ahead of time Wayne Shorters 75th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall was being described as a kind of collaboration with Imani Winds, a classical wind quintet.

This caused minor concern among fans leading up to the show on Tuesday. It isnt that Mr. Shorter, probably jazzs greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser, shouldnt be going outside his territory; the lessons of 20th-century classical music have become inseparable from his composing. Its that his territory ...

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Quincy Jones Tapped for Keynote Austin TX Music Media Conference

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

The annual South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, has tapped legendary producer Quincy Jones to deliver the keynote address at the music portion of its 2009 event.

The five-day conference, which is part music fest/part industry summit/part spring break party, will launch on March 18.

Jones holds the record for the most Grammy nominations with 79, and counts Michael Jackson's “Thriller" and Frank Sinatra's “Sinatra and the Sands" among his many production and arranging credits. Jones ...

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Elmo Hope Tribute at Jazz Standard Featuring Bertha Hope on Piano

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Pianist Elmo Hope was one of the greatest composers of this music called Bop, along with Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. Seldom do we get to hear the genius of Elmo Hope's compositions in a live setting. With the gracious help of The Jazz Standard, these ambitious and dedicated musicians join forces with Don Sickler and Elmo's widow, Bertha Hope, on piano, to present two nights of Elmo's extraordinary music. Bertha's mission is to preserve, promote and play this music ...

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Piano for the Queen: Condi Rice Plays the Palace

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Live from the palace Condi Rice on piano!

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice performed in a piano quintet Monday night for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

Rice played Brahms' Op. 34 with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's wife, Louise, on violin, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra. The queen gave Rice an audio recording of the performance as a gift. Rice is a classically trained pianist who had expressed a wish to play at the palace. ...

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Sundance 2009: Films in Competition

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah is reeving up. Here is a list of this years films in competition.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION This year's 16 films were selected from 879 submissions. Each film is a world premiere.

The films screening in Documentary Competition are:

Art & Copy (Director: Doug Pray; Screenwriter: Timothy J. Sexton)Rare interviews with the most influential advertising creative minds of our age illustrate the wide-reaching effect advertising and creativity have on modern culture. ...

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Fantasia: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

If it wasn't for “The Sorcerer's Apprentice", the feature Fantasia would never have been made. The fairy tale was made into a poem by Goethe and into a concert piece by Paul Dukas.

Fantasia is a 1940 animated film produced by Walt Disney, an experiment in animation and music, consisting of classical music presented against the backdrop of animation and featuring no dialogue, only spoken introductions by Deems Taylor before each cartoon, as well as during the intermission segment.

The ...

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Wishful Drinking

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

'Wishful Drinking' by Carrie Fisher The actress maintains a sense of humor about her often tumultuous life.

[M]y entire existence could be summed up in one phrase. And that is: If my life wasn't funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable. Carrie Fisher

As Carrie Fisher explains it early in this brisk, entertaining adaptation of her 2006 one-woman stage show, she had famous parents. Debbie Reynolds was the beloved star of Singin' in ...

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Ahmad Jamal's "It's Magic" is Record of the Year and Best Jazz of the Year

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Jazz Legend Ahmad Jamal's Latest CD It's Magic is NPR's Best Jazz of the Year

It's Magic is Jazzman Magazine's Record of the Year

Ahmad Jamal on Tour in Continual Support of the Album

New York, NY Preeminent jazz piano master Ahmad Jamal's latest CD, It's Magic was chosen today as one of the Best Jazz of the Year on NPR's Best CDs of 2008 series. It's Magic also won Record of the Year in the renowned annual Jazzman Magazine ...

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