Jazz News

Intimate Beethoven Within a Vast Setting

Source: Michael Ricci
August 10, 2008

Not to worry. Christian Zacharias' musical gifts work just as well outdoors as in.

A beautiful balmy evening. Blissful Beethoven. The Bowl. Although they had to dodge a helicopter or two, the alliteration gods beamed Tuesday night over the Cahuenga Pass.

The title of the Hollywood Bowl program was “Nothing but Beethoven." Christian Zacharias, who conducted and was solo pianist in the First Piano Concerto, made his debut in the large amphitheater. The Los Angeles Philharmonic was not “nothing but." ...

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Sarah Brightman Introduces Olympic Theme Song

Source: All About Jazz
August 10, 2008

Beijing Ceremony Introduces Olympic Theme Song

U.K. soprano vocalist Sarah Brightman and Chinese singer Liu Huan unveiled the official 2008 Beijing Olympics theme song “You And Me" at the National Stadium (aka the Bird's Nest) during the opening ceremony in front of a crowd of 91,000. The global TV audience is expected to be over one billion. The performance, which came an hour into the Aug. 8 opening ceremony (at 9pm Beijing time), was the climax of the artistic portion ...

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Recording Class A Tube Mic Preamps

Source: All About Jazz
August 10, 2008

Dan Alexander Audio Mic Preamp

Dan Alexander, a musician and recording engineer in San Francisco, has been a dealer of vintage pro audio gear for at least 20 years, and, in the early 1980s, sold me my first pair of Neumann M 50s and all my Schoeps 221Bs. I was thus quite curious when I heard that, in addition to selling large Neve consoles and individual channel strips, he had entered the manufacturing arena with a mic preamp-one whose circuitry ...

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The American Bar Association Mock Hearing of Mozart's "Don Giovanni"

Source: Michael Ricci
August 10, 2008

He Broke My Heart; I'll Sing (and Sue) Now on the docket: Donna Anna, Zerlina and 2,065 Jane Does v. the Estate of Don Giovanni.

The Don, summoned from the underworld, faced his accusers in a Hilton hotel ballroom-turned-courtroom on Friday afternoon.

“The wretched man is right there!" Donna Elvira cried, pointing to her seducer, who wore a sleek suit and sunglasses. Then, launching into her aria “Ah! Chi mi dice mai," she threatened revenge: “I will tear out his ...

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Detroit Jazz Fest Executive Director Terri Pontremoli Visits Detroit Jazzstage

Source: JazzStage Productions
August 9, 2008

This month on Detroit Jazzstage, Terri Pontremoli, the Executive Director of the Detroit International Jazz Festival, sat down to discuss this year's lineup. For more than a quarter century, the Detroit Jazz Fest has entertained millions of fans with jazz legends ranging from Herbie Hancock to Yusef Lateef and Ron Carter. Today, it ROARS on six stages over four days, with blues, gospel, R&B, and one of the finest jazz lineups on the planet. The festival also offers educational events, ...

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Newport After George Wein: One of the Stars Will Be George Wein

Source: Michael Ricci
August 9, 2008

George Wein, Newport Jazz Festival Producer's Swan Song Center Stage

Jazz lovers and jazz musicians are converging on Newport, R.I., this weekend, as they have been doing since 1954, for what is universally recognized as the jazz festival that put jazz festivals on the map. And, as usual, George Wein, the man who produced the first Newport Jazz Festival and built on its success to create a worldwide music empire, is there.

Last year Mr. Wein (pronounced WEAN) sold his ...

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ECM Events in Athens, Frankfurt & Barcelona

Source: All About Jazz
August 9, 2008

Major ECM live events are announced for autumn: festivals in Athens and Frankfurt, and - another first - the start of a long series of concerts in Barcelona. The Ymittos Festival will host concerts from September 5 to 13, with a rich programme of artists and ensembles and a focus on Mediterranean culture. The open-air festival in the atmospheric context of the Theatro Vrachon in Athens is launched on September 5 with the Anouar Brahem Trio and Savina Yannatou & ...

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First Eva Cassidy Compilation in Five Years

Source: W3 Public Relations
August 9, 2008

Blix Street Records adds to its series of albums by the late Eva Cassidy with the August 26 release of Somewhere, a collection of 12 previously unissued performances from the acclaimed Washington, D.C.-based singer. Among the program's highlights are two songs co-written by Cassidy, as well as impressive covers of material popularized by Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and Bobby “Blue" Bland. Somewhere comprises recordings Cassidy made, in various venues and studios, between 1987 and 1996 (the ...

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