Jazz News

Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity: Holy Ghost Guitar Meets Brazilian Spirits

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

When Holy Ghost Guitar Meets Brazilian Spirits: Melvin Gibbs Elevated Entity Reunites the Diaspora on Ancients Speak

Listening to Melvin Gibbs Elevated Entity and their new album Ancients Speak (LiveWired Music; March 17, 2009) is like walking down the street in New York and unexpectedly falling into a manhole, only to discover there is an African-American underground music scene where the African diaspora has knocked down all barriers between genres, placing creativity on equal status with groove. Afrobeat is rubbing ...

Continue Reading

Harmonicist Paul Gillies Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Harmonica player Paul Gillies is an extraordinary individual. He has walked up Mount Vesuvius on crutches, jet power boated in New Zealand, bungee jumped 300 feet over the River Thames, and tandem freefall parachuted from 10,000 feet. These physical feats would have taxed the average person, but Paul did them while experiencing progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a degenerative disease that has robbed him of his sight in one eye, and will eventually claim his life.

Paul began to play blues ...

Continue Reading

Viva the Band at the Paradise Room, the Mecca for Jazz Entertainment on the Gold Coast QLD

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

The Gold Coast is Australia’s premier tourist destination with miles of white sandy surf beaches, lush green hinterland rainforests, world-class golfing greens and famous theme parks. With a diverse range of accommodation from exclusive 5-star hotels to sunny beachside apartments and backpacker hostels.

The Gold Coast has a Council that is pro active in the development of the arts locally, one of the Council’s objectives is to assist young and emerging musicians and music industry workers to develop their skills ...

Continue Reading

Grammy Award Nominations Announced

Source: Michael Ricci
December 3, 2008

Grammy Nominations Are Announced The British band Coldplay, which released “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends,” earned a total seven Grammy Award nominations.

Lil Wayne, whose album “Tha Carter III” has been one of 2008’s great commercial success stories, received eight nominations, including Album of the Year, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song (for “Lollipop”). Another blockbuster act, Coldplay, scored seven nominations, including Album of the Year (for “Viva La Vida or Death and ...

Continue Reading

The Thorazine Mirrorball: Jazz Mystery Getting Raves

Source: All About Jazz
December 3, 2008

LA Jazz musician Jack Maeby's thriller, The Thorazine Mirrorball is garnering critical acclaim from the literary and jazz communities alike. Dick Wood, host of “Jazz Tracks” on WABY Radio, raves “What an exciting read! You can almost hear the music. I couldn’t put the darn thing down." Aaron Lazar, writing for Futures Mystery Magazine says, “a superb thriller...a taut and colorful novel...characters jump from the page.” The Thorazine Mirrorball takes place in the jazz and R&B milieu of the 1970s ...

Continue Reading

The Tribeca Performing Arts Center Presents: Jazz in Progress/Monk in Motion – the Next Face of Jazz

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
December 3, 2008

The Tribeca Performing Arts Center Borough of Manhattan Community College Presents: Jazz In Progress/Monk In Motion – The Next Face Of Jazz

Presenting, In Concert, The Top Three Finalists In The 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition: Jon Irabagon – December 1 Tim Green – December 8 Quamon Fowler – December 15

(Fall/Winter, 2008) The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute, proudly presents Jazz In Progress/Monk ...

Continue Reading

Grammy Museum Opens with Hands-on Approach

Source: Michael Ricci
December 3, 2008

The Recording Academy's Grammy Museum doesn't officially open its doors to the public until Saturday, but a Tuesday morning preview revealed the new facility to be a heavily interactive exhibition hall, one whose emphasis is not on past trophy winners or even historic artifacts but instead on music education and appreciation.

The 30,000-square-foot space, which comes complete with a 200-seat theater, essentially functions as a hands-on gallery: Visitors who weren't taken with the mix on Beck's “Gamma Ray," a single ...

Continue Reading

Dhani Harrison Hot Beatle Progeny

Source: All About Jazz
December 3, 2008

Even though George Harrison is his father, its still striking how much Dhani Harrison resembles the legendary Beatles guitarist. His music, however, is a great departure.

Dhani and friend Oli Hecks have released their first album as Thenewno2, which borrows as much from Brian Eno and Massive Attack as it does from his dads band.

There's no hiding Dhani Harrison's lineage. “There's a lot I inherited from my dad," says the late George Harrison's son, 30, who is tentatively stepping ...

Continue Reading