Jazz News

Romanian-American Jazz Suite at the Bakery

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

'Romanian-American' suite taps deep roots American jazz and the music of Romania would not seem to have obvious linkages.

But, as frequently happens when players from one improvising musical culture meet those of another, common ground -- even fascinating common ground -- is discovered. Which is exactly what happened Thursday night at the Jazz Bakery in the performance of the “Romanian-American Jazz Suite" by a six-piece ensemble uniting three Romanian players with three Americans. Their empathetic partnership was ...

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Iran's Homay the Mastan Group at Disney Concert Hall

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

Presenting traditional sounds of Persia, the musicians astound their audience at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The rapturous reception given Iran's traditional music ensemble Homay and the Mastan Group in their debut U.S. performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Thursday night was well-deserved, not just for their dazzling innovations on old musical forms, but for the inspiring audacity shown by the group's very formation. The seven-member ensemble was founded by Parvaz Homay, a young man (still in his 20s) carrying ...

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Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

HER LIFE on screen played like an American fairy tale.

A new biography looks into the shadows and 'Untold Story' of Doris Day On screen, she was America's smiling, singing darling. But off screen, her husbands weren't Rock Hudson and her life was no light romp.

A former singer with Les Brown's band in the 1940s, Day also was a bestselling recording artist whose trademark songs -- “Sentimental Journey" and the Oscar-winning “Que Sera, Sera" -- seemed to epitomize her ...

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Digital Download Model Puts Song Exposure Above Sales

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

Some artists are using the pay-what-you-want option. But industry experts question the plan's long-term worth.

Mash-up artist Girl Talk's new album, Feed the Animals comes with some impressive numbers: About 300 sampled songs on 14 tracks that play for a manic 55 minutes. One number it doesn't come with, however, is a price. That's because Girl Talk, as Gregg Gillis calls himself, is adopting the model pioneered by artists such as Radiohead that allows fans to name their own price ...

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Zeltsman Marimba Festival Los Angeles

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

Marimba Players of the World, Unite! Marimba Festival gives percussionists a chance to jam with others and spread the musical joy.

That could be the motto of the Zelts- man Marimba Festival, an annual gathering of percussionists who have a special affection for the mallet instrument that's a mainstay of symphony orchestras and a close cousin of the smaller xylophone and the more resonant vibraphone. The festival, first organized in 2001 by marimbist Nancy Zeltsman, has never made ...

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Angel Tavira Maldonado Violinist Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

Don Angel Tavira Maldonado, 83; violinist, actor, promoted son calentano music

Maldonado, a Mexican regional musician whose stirring debut acting performance in “El Violin" ("The Violin") moved audiences and won critical acclaim, including a best actor award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, died Monday in a Mexico City hospital. He was 83. He died of kidney problems, a representative of the company that co-produced “El Violin" told the Associated Press. A violinist and composer of son calentano, a spry, ...

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Jefferson's Wee Little Book

Source: Michael Ricci
July 5, 2008

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth Jefferson Bible reveals Founding Father's view of God, Faith

SCHOLAR: Robert C. Ritchie says many people would consider it desecration to take a scissors to the Bible. “Yet, it gives a reading into Jefferson's take on the Bible, which was not as divine word put into print, but as a book that can be cut up," he says. Nation's third president compiled the four Gospels into a single text without ...

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Vic Juris Trio at the 55 Bar

Source: All About Jazz
July 5, 2008

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