Results for "AAJ Staff"

Jazz This Week: Kevin Eubanks; Garfield, Ligertwood and Stevens; Emily Bergl; a Tribute to Miles Davis; and More

March 13, 2014

While some revelers this weekend no doubt will be wearing green in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, your StLJN staff would like to remind you that one doesn't have be Irish, or indeed of any particular national origin or ethnicity, to enjoy jazz, either. You just have to know where to go and when, and to ...

Documentary: The Rock Album

March 13, 2014

The long-playing album was conceived in 1948 as a convenient product for adults who wanted to listen to music in their living rooms without getting up every three minutes to turn over smaller 78s. Targeting the at-home adult market was a relatively new concept for the record industry in '48—and one that came out of necessity. ...

The History of Recorded Music in 90 Seconds

March 13, 2014

Neil Young's Pono Kickstarter Campaign Passes $1.3 Million in One Day

March 13, 2014

Neil Young's campaign to fund high quality music player and download store Pono went live on Kickstarter on Tuesday.  By the next morning it had surpasses it's $800,000 goal, raising $1.35 million in 24 hours. Pono will play FLAC files with bit rates up to 9216 kbps, and the campaign has pledge levels ranging from $5 to $5000. A $200 ...

Rdio to Exit Echo Nest After Spotify Acquisition, New Data Competitors Emerge

March 13, 2014

Streaming music service Rdio will stop using the music intelligence services of The Echo Nest since it has been acquired by Spotify. Sharing data with its competitor was the primary reason cited for the move by Rdio CEO Anthony Bay in an interview on CNBC.   “As far as we are concerned, they were a good ...

Art Ford's Jazz Party: Remastered

March 12, 2014

For years, many of the Art Ford's Jazz Party videos at YouTube have been miserable. The sound of the TV show broadcast in New York in 1958 and featuring jazz greats was fuzzy and there was a disconnect between what you saw and heard. Now, Jimi Mentis in Athens has brought them up to snuff with ...

Are You Owed Royalties?

March 11, 2014

Jazz musicians who have been in the business for decades often wonder if they are receiving all of the residual payments they are due. If they aren't wondering about it, their spouses certainly are. A few weeks ago, a woman who works in the business reached out to me for a musician's email. As most people ...

Michael Dell Takes $25 Million Stake in Kobalt Music

March 11, 2014

(UPDATED) Computer titan Michael Dell’s private investment firm, MSD Capital, has taken a 9.9% stake in music publisher Kobalt. Kobalt has been a leader in using new technologies to collect new and far flung royalty streams. MSD reportedly paid about $25 million for the stake, sources tell the WSJ.  The full press release: NEW YORK, LOS ...

Vinyl is Not Dead (Never Has Been)

March 11, 2014

Blue Note Records gives vinyl a boost, releasing several classic albums for the Turntable Despite the origin of the CD roughly three decades ago and the more recent digital revolution, the old fashioned “record album," spinning at a rate of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute, never went out off style. Some companies have produced them all ...

Mills Brothers: Birth of R&B

March 10, 2014

Vocal harmony groups seemed to be everywhere in the 1930s and 1940s. The Depression played a role, of course, since entertainment was the only way out of harrowing poverty for most people and singing meant you didn't need to buy an instrument. The demand for vocal harmony groups surged during this period, primarily because they were ...