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Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.

Obituary

Bill Caldwell, Noted Wichita Jazz Musician, Dies

Source: Ted Ricci
March 29, 2012

Bill Caldwell, a gifted musician who brightened the lives and the musical arrangements of jazz enthusiasts all over the country, died this week at his home in Wichita. He was 49. Tim Henry, Mr. Caldwell's Wichita-based business partner and fellow jazz musician, found him dead in his home early Monday after he missed a rehearsal Sunday night. Henry and Richard Couch, who owns Couch Music at 131 S. Hydraulic, said Mr. Caldwell was a world-class musician who could play all ...

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Interview

Jazz Quartet Gives Pianist A Chance To Shine

Source: Ted Ricci
March 29, 2012

Some jazz artists spend much of their careers without hitting it big, only to finally emerge into the spotlight and enjoy the recognition they deserved all along. Duke Ellington was a brilliant bandleader and composer, but it was arranger Billy Strayhorn who wrote “Chelsea Bridge," “Lush Life" and “Take the 'A' Train." And guitarist Pat Metheny might not have arrived at such a successful fusion of jazz and rock without pianist and collaborator Lyle Mays. Until recently, Laurence Hobgood has ...

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Obituary

Khalil Shaheed, Noted Jazz Trumpet Player, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
March 29, 2012

Khalil Shaheed, a trumpet player who served as one of the Bay Area's most prominent jazz music educators and performed for several years with the drummer Buddy Miles, died Friday in Oakland. He was 63. His family confirmed the death. In 2009, the trumpeter was diagnosed with lung cancer. Mr. Shaheed's music career began in the 1960s as a horn player with Miles, a founding member of the Electric Flag and drummer for the Band of Gypsys, and, briefly, Jimi ...

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Festival

NJPAC to mount major jazz festival in October

Source: Michael Ricci
March 29, 2012

Newark, a city once teeming with jazz, will be filled with those glorious sounds again in October, when the New Jersey Performing Arts Center presents the James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival. The first major jazz festival in Newark in 15 years, it will take place the week of Oct. 15 to 21. There will be two star-studded concerts—featuring George Benson, the Manhattan Transfer, Terence Blanchard and others—plus more events at NJPAC and other venues, including Newark public schools. More ...

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Festival

NJPAC & Radio Partner WBGO 88.3 FM Announce Moody Jazz Festival

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations
March 29, 2012

NJPAC AND WBGO JAZZ 88.3 FM ANNOUNCE JAMES MOODY DEMOCRACY OF JAZZ FESTIVAL AND SARAH VAUGHAN INTERNATIONAL JAZZ VOCAL COMPETITION Newark, NJ: The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and WBGO Jazz 88.3FM announced today that they will inaugurate The James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival, a weeklong celebration of jazz and the musical legacy of longtime Newarker and beloved jazz musician James Moody. Grammy Award-winning bassist and composer Christian McBride serves as Artistic Adviser to the Festival, which will ...

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Recording

Minnie Riperton is in bloom with The Decoders featuring Boston Fielder's remake of the classic "Les Fleurs"

Source: 4961 Polemics
March 29, 2012

It's Spring and flowers are in bloom. Soul music great, Minnie Riperton, left a powerful body of work that continues to influence artists across multiple genres and generations. Riperton's uncanny 5 octave vocal range with an impeccable whistle register, however, has inspired and intimidated artists so much so that there have been very few covers of her music. The Decoders, a Los Angeles production duo, went directly to the heart to rectify that matter. Producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist, Itai Shapira ...

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Event

The Painted Bride Stirs-up Excitement With A Special Event To Acknowledge Jazz On Vine–the Longest Continuing Jazz Series In Philadelphia

Source: Painted Bride Art Center
March 28, 2012

BRIDE'S BLACK CAT BREW RECENT RECIPIENT TO AN ASCAP NATIONAL AWARD FOR ADVENTUROUS PROGRAMMING THE BRIDE STIRS-UP EXCITEMENT WITH A SPECIAL EVENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE JAZZ ON VINE —THE LONGEST CONTINUING JAZZ SERIES IN PHILADELPHIA AND ALSO ON TAP FOR THIS EVENING'S CELEBRATION, MTO PLAYS SLY STEVEN BERNSTEIN'S MILLENNIAL TERRITORY ORCHESTRA DEBUTS TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF SLY & THE FAMILY STONE AS PART OF PHILADELPHIA'S JAZZ APPRECIATION DAY Philadelphia, PA—Painted Bride Art Center presents Black Cat Brew, an evening honoring ...

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Music Industry

Dirty Dozen Brass Band Sign With Savoy Jazz, New Album "Twenty Dozen" Set for Release May 1st

Source: Michael Ricci
March 28, 2012

Band Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary With Live Dates Including BAM Residency With Dr. John & Headlining Jazz Fest SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 27, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — Exactly thirty five years ago born in the New Orleans neighborhood of Treme, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band revolutionized the New Orleans brass band by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional style. Anchored by original members Roger Lewis, Kevin Harris, Gregory Davis, Efrem Towns and Kirk Joseph, the band has signed with ...

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