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Award / Grant

Jazz Pianist Tigran Wins $35,000 Prize for Contemporary Music

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
February 25, 2013

The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to announce Yo-Yo Ma as the winner of the 2013 Vilcek Prize for Contemporary Music. While Mr. Ma is widely acknowledged as a master cellist in the field of classical music, the Vilcek Prize is the first to recognize and honor his contributions to contemporary music. The annual Vilcek Prize in the Arts, which comes with a $100,000 cash award, recognizes immigrants who have made significant contributions to the American arts. Mr. Ma, born in ...

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Recording

The Battle of Santiago to Release 'Followed By Thousands' March 5

Source: Press Junkie PR
February 25, 2013

The Battle of Santiago: Call it a sound clash with a victorious outcome. This Toronto-based instrumental ensemble comprises seemingly disparate musical elements. Out of potential conflict, however, comes a bracingly refreshing new sound that is quickly turning ears. Group founder Michael Owen explains “Within The Battle of Santiago (TBOS) we have a Latino section and a Canadian section. Everyone comes with such a variety of experiences. That can create something of a battle within the group, I think that kind ...

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Education

Jazz Arts Group Announces 11th Annual Hank Marr High School Jazz Award Competition

Source: Scott Vezdos
February 25, 2013

Columbus, OH – The Jazz Arts Group of Columbus (JAG) is looking for Ohio's finest young musicians to participate in the eleventh annual Hank Marr High School Jazz Award. This award demonstrates excellence in musicianship and performance amongst central Ohio's young students of jazz. “This competition is extremely important in these times where music and arts are being cut back all across the board in public education from K-12," states 2012 co-judge Tom Carroll. “Keeping this American art form in ...

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Recording

Oli Rockberger With New Solo Album

Source: FlipswitchPR, LLC
February 25, 2013

Whether you first discover Oli Rockberger through his work as a singer-songwriter, producer, arranger, keys sideman, or as one third of acclaimed band/production team Mister Barrington, you’ll find a distinctive musical voice running through the rich and varied work he does. Londoner Rockberger, who currently lives in NY, first came to the US on a Full Scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music ('99-'04). Since then, he has shared stages and studios with musical icons Levon Helm and ...

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Recording

Reggae Meets Jazz and Tropicalia: Kiwi Brings You a Uniquely Uplifting Sound

Source: FlipswitchPR, LLC
February 25, 2013

On the Move is the secnd full-length album by Jersey City-based group Kiwi, a masterful and joyful celebration of reggae rhythms, soulful vocals, and Latin jazz-inflected harmonies. The band’s expansive, brass-heavy arrangements echo the classic reggae and R&B grooves of the late 60s/early 70s. Kiwi’s music is welcoming and eminently danceable, radiating an infectious energy that belies the oft-introspective content of singer-songwriter Alex Tea’s lyrics. Tea, the grandson of a classical violinist, playfully sets melodies inspired by the classical music ...

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Recording

An Act of Defiance: Northern Mali Guitar Legend Baba Salah Plays for a Silenced People

Source: FlipswitchPR, LLC
February 25, 2013

Malian guitarist Baba Salah comes from the city of Gao, a remote trading hub nestled on the banks of the Niger river, situated at the edge of the Sahara desert. Ethnic Songhai, Tuareg, Fulani and Arabs - among other peoples - all call the city home and as the capital of one of West Africa’s most powerful former empires, it is arguably Mali’s most cosmopolitan city. Almost every facet of Gao is the product of a continuous melding of cultures, ...

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Recording

Angel In America: Salsa Master from Chicago Brings the Funk to His "Heritage"

Source: FlipswitchPR, LLC
February 25, 2013

Angel d'Cuba has never shied away from dropping everything he can into his music. A native Cuban, Angel came up in a rich musical melange where James Brown and Jackson 5 grooves mixed freely with red—hot Afro-Carribean traditions. And Angel never hesitated to add new flavors—funk, R&B, soca, samba, rock—to this eclectic sonic mix. Moving to Chicago further expanded Angel's musical palette, as he demonstrates on Heritage. Formerly the lead singer of the Cuban supergroup Mezcla, Angel takes on the ...

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Recording

Steve Weingart & Renee Jones - Observatory - Featuring Simon Phillips, Katisse Buckingham And Chris Wabich

Source: Stacey Horn-Spirito
February 25, 2013

With the release of Observatory, their second album in as many years, the husband and wife duo of keyboardist and pianist, Steve Weingart and bassist, Renee Jones continue to celebrate and redefine the music that has inspired them throughout their careers. Tapping into the influence of music legends like Joe Zawinul & Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter, Weingart & Jones have dramatically thrust the genre in new directions by expressing a potent mixture of compositional risk, ...

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