This coming weekend, the Saxophone Museum in Fiumicino will become a focal point for music enthusiasts as it hosts two days dedicated to celebrating the rich sounds of one of the most revered wind instruments, the saxophone. The events, scheduled for Saturday, May 4th, and Sunday, May 5th, aim to blend music, education, and jazz history in a dynamic showcase.
The weekend kicks off on Saturday at 6:30 Pm with a performance by the Jam Session band, an exceptional ensemble comprised of thirteen young musicians. This free concert is open to the public and stands as a homage to the power of music as a universal language, a cultural bridge, and a tool for social integration. Featuring a vibrant and energetic repertoire that includes some of the most celebrated pieces by Duke Ellington, Robert Johnson, Joan Tizol, Dizzy Gillespie, Walter Donaldson, Kansas J McCoy, and Herbie Hancock, the performance is...
The weekend kicks off on Saturday at 6:30 Pm with a performance by the Jam Session band, an exceptional ensemble comprised of thirteen young musicians. This free concert is open to the public and stands as a homage to the power of music as a universal language, a cultural bridge, and a tool for social integration. Featuring a vibrant and energetic repertoire that includes some of the most celebrated pieces by Duke Ellington, Robert Johnson, Joan Tizol, Dizzy Gillespie, Walter Donaldson, Kansas J McCoy, and Herbie Hancock, the performance is...
- 4/29/2024
- by Alice Lange
- Martin Cid Music
Juxtaposing the story of the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba with a musical tour of jazzman Louis Armstrong and with the expansion of the United Nations after the independence of many African countries in the 1960s might be tall order. Trickier still would be telling this complex story, full of many characters and plot swerves, in a nonlinear manner while filling the screen with written clues providing context like a bibliography of an academic thesis. Writer and director Johan Grimonprez sets himself a difficult task with “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” yet accomplishes it with astonishing success. The film plays like both a dense historical text and a lively jazz concert while proving itself to be an invigorating piece of documentary filmmaking.
Touching on far more than the decolonization of Africa, Grimonprez’s ambitious essay film encompasses the political and historical upheavals the world over — including the alleged involvement...
Touching on far more than the decolonization of Africa, Grimonprez’s ambitious essay film encompasses the political and historical upheavals the world over — including the alleged involvement...
- 3/11/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Jim Beard, a Grammy-winning keyboardist, composer and member of Steely Dan since 2008, died Saturday in a New York hospital of complications from a sudden illness, a publicist announced. He was 63.
Beard had been touring with Donald Fagen’s Steely Dan on the Eagles’ current “Long Goodbye” tour; his final performance was Jan. 20 in Phoenix.
Beard worked alongside such jazz legends as Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin and recorded with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, The Brecker Brothers, Mike Stern, Dianne Reeves, Meshell Ndegeocello and Steve Vai during his career.
He produced for Chick Corea, Al Jarreau and Esperanza Spalding and taught at institutions including the Mason Gross School of Arts, Berklee College of Music, Aaron Copland School of Music and the Sibelius Academy in Finland.
Beard recorded six solo CDs spanning the years 1990-2013 and won his Grammy in 2007 as a featured performer on the album Some Skunk Funk,...
Beard had been touring with Donald Fagen’s Steely Dan on the Eagles’ current “Long Goodbye” tour; his final performance was Jan. 20 in Phoenix.
Beard worked alongside such jazz legends as Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin and recorded with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, The Brecker Brothers, Mike Stern, Dianne Reeves, Meshell Ndegeocello and Steve Vai during his career.
He produced for Chick Corea, Al Jarreau and Esperanza Spalding and taught at institutions including the Mason Gross School of Arts, Berklee College of Music, Aaron Copland School of Music and the Sibelius Academy in Finland.
Beard recorded six solo CDs spanning the years 1990-2013 and won his Grammy in 2007 as a featured performer on the album Some Skunk Funk,...
- 3/6/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jim Beard, a pianist, keyboardist, composer, producer and arranger known for his work with Steely Dan as well as jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and John McLaughlin, died March 2 in a New York City hospital from complications of a sudden illness. He was 63.
His death was announced by a representative.
Born August 26, 1960, in Ridley Park, Pa, Beard moved to New York in 1985, launching a career that saw him perform with Steely Dan, McLaughlin, Shorter and Pat Metheny.
A member of Steely Dan since 2008, Beard until had been touring with the band as openers on the Eagles’ Long Goodbye Tour. His last performance with Steely Dan was on January 20 in Phoenix.
Beard also recorded with artists including Dizzy Gillespie, the Brecker Brothers, Dianne Reeves, Meshell Ndegeocello, Toninho Horta and Steve Vai.
Beard has more than 100 published compositions featured on recordings by John McLaughlin, Michael Brecker and many others and in books such as The New Real Book.
His death was announced by a representative.
Born August 26, 1960, in Ridley Park, Pa, Beard moved to New York in 1985, launching a career that saw him perform with Steely Dan, McLaughlin, Shorter and Pat Metheny.
A member of Steely Dan since 2008, Beard until had been touring with the band as openers on the Eagles’ Long Goodbye Tour. His last performance with Steely Dan was on January 20 in Phoenix.
Beard also recorded with artists including Dizzy Gillespie, the Brecker Brothers, Dianne Reeves, Meshell Ndegeocello, Toninho Horta and Steve Vai.
Beard has more than 100 published compositions featured on recordings by John McLaughlin, Michael Brecker and many others and in books such as The New Real Book.
- 3/6/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Sundance Review: Soundtrack to a Coup d’État is a Vibrant, Complex, and Jazz-Infused Political Essay
It was Mark Twain who said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes,” which is one way of approaching Belgian filmmaker and multimedia artist Johan Grimonprez’s sprawling, jazz-infused Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. The political essay revisits 1960, a turbulent year in global affairs: Patrice Lumumba rises to power in Congo just as the United States, through the CIA-backed Voice of America radio network, aims to soften America’s image aboard, sending jazz musicians Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, and Max Roach to tour the world. The film positions the jazz musicians as a kind of political cabinet while Gillespie envisions his own run for the White House on TV talk shows back home. It proceeds with a rather kinetic, defiant tone in which the jazz, breaking news, citations, and quotes interrupt the historical footage a more standard documentary may have primarily focused on.
- 2/9/2024
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
“The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo,” Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Negro.” “They lynch me now in Texas.” The year was 1922, and racial segregation was the norm in the United States. Anti-Black racism in the South was such a millstone that the U.S. Senate failed to pass an NAACP-sponsored anti-lynching bill in January of that year, a list of simple protections that was prevented from coming to a vote due to filibusters.
Hughes’s poem is one piece of ephemera that comprises the massive tapestry that is Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. Director Johan Grimonprez’s documentary is primarily focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its struggle for independence from Belgian colonialism, during which time our government was using Black jazz musicians to, in its diplomatic tango with the Soviet Union, paint a portrait of American liberalism as benevolent.
The documentary focuses on...
Hughes’s poem is one piece of ephemera that comprises the massive tapestry that is Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. Director Johan Grimonprez’s documentary is primarily focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its struggle for independence from Belgian colonialism, during which time our government was using Black jazz musicians to, in its diplomatic tango with the Soviet Union, paint a portrait of American liberalism as benevolent.
The documentary focuses on...
- 1/23/2024
- by Greg Nussen
- Slant Magazine
Premiering out of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition, the impressionistic essay film “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” refracts the plot against Patrice Lumumba through a kaleidoscopic lens. Cutting between historical footage of the Un General Assembly and home movies shot in liberation-era Congo, weaving in a diverse set of perspectives, and setting the pace to a non-stop rhythm of bebop, rumba and classic jazz, director Johan Grimonprez evokes the euphoria of post-colonial possibility and the heartbreak of the dashed hopes and violent reprisals that would ensue.
“At first, I wanted to explore the colonial legacy of my own country,” says the Belgium-born Grimonprez. “I was already mesmerized by the story of Andrée Blouin, who was an independence leader, an advisor to [Ghana president] Kwame Nkrumah and chief of protocol for [first Congolese prime minister] Patrice Lumumba, but who was almost written out of history. And as a filmmaker, I like to explore those intimate stories within a wider,...
“At first, I wanted to explore the colonial legacy of my own country,” says the Belgium-born Grimonprez. “I was already mesmerized by the story of Andrée Blouin, who was an independence leader, an advisor to [Ghana president] Kwame Nkrumah and chief of protocol for [first Congolese prime minister] Patrice Lumumba, but who was almost written out of history. And as a filmmaker, I like to explore those intimate stories within a wider,...
- 1/17/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Norby Walters, the onetime music agent who ran the annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar party for years and hosted an iconic low-stakes poker party for actors, died December 12. He was 91. His son, Walters Media Group founder and former Bold Films CEO Gary Michael Walters, confirmed the news but did not provide details.
Born Norbert Meyer, in 1952 Walters started booking jazz luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz into his father’s bar.
Walters and his brother, Walter took over a place from their father and dubbed it Norby & Walter’s Bel Air, but its sign had no ampersand — which led to the name Walters would use during his career. He later took over a failing nightclub located next to the world-famous Copacabana, dubbed it Norby Walters’s Supper Club, and attracted a who’s who of boldfaced New York City names.
“What was I going to do?...
Born Norbert Meyer, in 1952 Walters started booking jazz luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz into his father’s bar.
Walters and his brother, Walter took over a place from their father and dubbed it Norby & Walter’s Bel Air, but its sign had no ampersand — which led to the name Walters would use during his career. He later took over a failing nightclub located next to the world-famous Copacabana, dubbed it Norby Walters’s Supper Club, and attracted a who’s who of boldfaced New York City names.
“What was I going to do?...
- 12/21/2023
- by Erik Pedersen and Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Norby Walters, a music agent who worked with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Kool & the Gang and Public Enemy before gaining renown in Hollywood for his annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar party and weekly poker game, has died. He was 91.
Walters died Dec. 10 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Burbank, his son, producer Gary Michael Walters (Whiplash), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Walters hosted his first Oscar night gala in 1990 and the last in 2017, most often inside the Beverly Hilton’s Crystal Ballroom. Among those who attended were Shirley Jones, Robert Forster, Charles Bronson, Patricia Neal, Richard Dreyfuss, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau, Louis Gossett Jr., J.K. Simmons, Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, Jon Voight and Allison Janney.
Walters for years also presided over a weekly poker game at his West Hollywood high-rise condo. The low-stakes $2 game was, his son said, “designed to be a place where actors could kibbutz,...
Walters died Dec. 10 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Burbank, his son, producer Gary Michael Walters (Whiplash), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Walters hosted his first Oscar night gala in 1990 and the last in 2017, most often inside the Beverly Hilton’s Crystal Ballroom. Among those who attended were Shirley Jones, Robert Forster, Charles Bronson, Patricia Neal, Richard Dreyfuss, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau, Louis Gossett Jr., J.K. Simmons, Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, Jon Voight and Allison Janney.
Walters for years also presided over a weekly poker game at his West Hollywood high-rise condo. The low-stakes $2 game was, his son said, “designed to be a place where actors could kibbutz,...
- 12/21/2023
- by Mike Barnes and Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Terry Kirkman, a founding member and a singer of the ’60s rock-pop band The Association, died Saturday. He was 83.
Kirkman’s death was announced on The Association’s Facebook page.
“We’re saddened to report that Terry Kirkman passed away last night, Rip Terry,” the band wrote. “He will live on in our hearts and in the music he so brilliantly wrote.”
Born Dec. 12, 1939, in Salina, Kansas, Kirkman became a founding member of The Association in 1965 in Los Angeles, along with Jules Gary Alexander, Russ Giguere, Ted Bluechel Jr., Brian Cole and Bob Page.
Recognized for their lush and complex harmonies, the band achieved success quickly with its 1966 album And Then… Along Comes the Association. That album hit No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and featured two songs that would become signature tunes for the group, both sung by Kirkman: the gold single “Cherish,” which Kirkman wrote and spent three weeks atop...
Kirkman’s death was announced on The Association’s Facebook page.
“We’re saddened to report that Terry Kirkman passed away last night, Rip Terry,” the band wrote. “He will live on in our hearts and in the music he so brilliantly wrote.”
Born Dec. 12, 1939, in Salina, Kansas, Kirkman became a founding member of The Association in 1965 in Los Angeles, along with Jules Gary Alexander, Russ Giguere, Ted Bluechel Jr., Brian Cole and Bob Page.
Recognized for their lush and complex harmonies, the band achieved success quickly with its 1966 album And Then… Along Comes the Association. That album hit No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and featured two songs that would become signature tunes for the group, both sung by Kirkman: the gold single “Cherish,” which Kirkman wrote and spent three weeks atop...
- 9/25/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The National Music Council of the United States will honor music and event producers Ray Chew and Vivian Scott Chew at the organization’s 39th annual American Eagle Awards on Sunday, June 25 at the American Federation of Musicians Convention in Las Vegas.
The honors are presented each year in recognition of those who have made career-long contributions to American musical culture, to promoting the ideal of music education for all children, and to supporting the protection of creators’ rights both locally and internationally.
This year’s presenter will be Academy Award and multi-Grammy-winning artist Regina Belle.
Music director, producer and composer Ray Chew’s work has been celebrated for excellence over the course of decades. His resume includes Dancing With the Stars, Showtime at the Apollo, and American Idol, as well as the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremonies, the 2008 Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Ball,...
The honors are presented each year in recognition of those who have made career-long contributions to American musical culture, to promoting the ideal of music education for all children, and to supporting the protection of creators’ rights both locally and internationally.
This year’s presenter will be Academy Award and multi-Grammy-winning artist Regina Belle.
Music director, producer and composer Ray Chew’s work has been celebrated for excellence over the course of decades. His resume includes Dancing With the Stars, Showtime at the Apollo, and American Idol, as well as the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremonies, the 2008 Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Ball,...
- 5/4/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Groundbreaking jazz pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal died this weekend, as per reports in the New York Times and other outlets. He was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2017. He was also nominated for two Grammys, one for his 2013 album “Blue Moon,” and also for his funky 1980s cover of Bobby Womack’s “You’re Welcome, Stop on By,” which was later sampled by multiple hip-hop artists. He was also the recipient of an Nea Jazz Masters Award, and Kennedy Center Legend Award, and was named to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2007. He was 92 years old.
The Pittsburgh-born pianist, who trained in Western classical music, was a noted prodigy in his youth, and began his professional career in his teens. On the road, the young man born Frederick Jones was welcomed by the Muslim community in the Detroit area,...
The Pittsburgh-born pianist, who trained in Western classical music, was a noted prodigy in his youth, and began his professional career in his teens. On the road, the young man born Frederick Jones was welcomed by the Muslim community in the Detroit area,...
- 4/17/2023
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
Music and politics were always entwined for Steve Katz. As a teenager in the Sixties, he’d travel from his apolitical family’s home on Long Island to Greenwich Village, where he’d watch radical folkies like Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and Dave Van Ronk play. He grew especially close with Van Ronk, who taught Katz guitar — and took him to socialist party meetings.
So it was frustrating and difficult when, in 1970, the U.S. State Department announced that Blood, Sweat & Tears – the band Katz had co-founded in 1967 — would...
So it was frustrating and difficult when, in 1970, the U.S. State Department announced that Blood, Sweat & Tears – the band Katz had co-founded in 1967 — would...
- 3/21/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Burt Bacharach was one of the most distinguished and successful composers of the last century.
Working most fruitfully with the lyricist Hal David, his addictively intelligent songs embodied unconventional time signatures, shifting chords and a fusion of pop and rock, jazz, and Latin elements. With Bacharach’s adventurous song structures married to David’s words, often bittersweet lyrics as though from a cinematic school of realism, the duo were like the personification of New York’s Brill Building hit factory.
Although not all these songs were with David, Bacharach, who has died aged 94, enjoyed more than 50 UK Top 40 hits, and more than 70 in his native US. A remarkable 38 of these tunes were with the classically trained former gospel singer Dionne Warwick with whom the pair began working in 1962. Several of Bacharach’s compositions were bigger hits in the UK than in America.
The pair first hit the charts in 1957 with...
Working most fruitfully with the lyricist Hal David, his addictively intelligent songs embodied unconventional time signatures, shifting chords and a fusion of pop and rock, jazz, and Latin elements. With Bacharach’s adventurous song structures married to David’s words, often bittersweet lyrics as though from a cinematic school of realism, the duo were like the personification of New York’s Brill Building hit factory.
Although not all these songs were with David, Bacharach, who has died aged 94, enjoyed more than 50 UK Top 40 hits, and more than 70 in his native US. A remarkable 38 of these tunes were with the classically trained former gospel singer Dionne Warwick with whom the pair began working in 1962. Several of Bacharach’s compositions were bigger hits in the UK than in America.
The pair first hit the charts in 1957 with...
- 2/11/2023
- by Chris Salewicz
- The Independent - Music
Burt Bacharach, the composer and bandleader whose elegant melodies dominated pop radio for several decades, has died at the age of 94.
Bacharach’s publicist, Tina Brausam, confirmed to the Associated Press that the songwriter died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles.
During his 1960s heyday, Bacharach — along with his earliest and most productive partner, lyricist Hal David — wrote songs that became hits and, later, timeless standards. Among their many classics were “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “The Look of Love,...
Bacharach’s publicist, Tina Brausam, confirmed to the Associated Press that the songwriter died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles.
During his 1960s heyday, Bacharach — along with his earliest and most productive partner, lyricist Hal David — wrote songs that became hits and, later, timeless standards. Among their many classics were “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “The Look of Love,...
- 2/9/2023
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Composer Burt Bacharach has died, aged 94.
The legendary musician was known for his orchestral pop style featured in hits including “I Say a Little Prayer”.
His publicist said the musician died on Wednesday (8 February) at his home in Los Angeles.
Bacharach died of natural causes.
The pianist was a six-time Grammy Award winner, and won three Oscars for his music in films Arthur and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
His other famous soundtracks include Michael Caine film Alfie and What’s New Pussycat.
Bacharach was a prolific composer who, alongside lyricist Hal David, wrote music artists ranging from Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield to Cilla Black and Tom Jones.
Their music was also perfromed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Carpenters.
Some of Bacharach’s most recognisable songs include “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head“ (1969), “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970) and “That’s What Friends Are For...
The legendary musician was known for his orchestral pop style featured in hits including “I Say a Little Prayer”.
His publicist said the musician died on Wednesday (8 February) at his home in Los Angeles.
Bacharach died of natural causes.
The pianist was a six-time Grammy Award winner, and won three Oscars for his music in films Arthur and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
His other famous soundtracks include Michael Caine film Alfie and What’s New Pussycat.
Bacharach was a prolific composer who, alongside lyricist Hal David, wrote music artists ranging from Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield to Cilla Black and Tom Jones.
Their music was also perfromed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Carpenters.
Some of Bacharach’s most recognisable songs include “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head“ (1969), “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970) and “That’s What Friends Are For...
- 2/9/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Music
Click here to read the full article.
Janet Thurlow, the jazz singer and widow of famed trombonist Jimmy Cleveland who performed with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra and helped give Quincy Jones an early career boost, has died. She was 96.
Thurlow died Oct. 4 congestive heart failure at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, her family announced.
Thurlow first met Cleveland in 1951 when she joined Hampton’s band and he was playing with the vibes legend. They married two years later and performed together often until his death in 2008 at age 82.
The first of five children, Janet Lorraine Thurlow was born in Seattle on May 21, 1926. She received violin, piano and voice lessons as a youngster and played violin on a radio talent show hosted by Major Edward Bowes.
She began as a song stylist with Robert “Bumps” Blackwell’s Seattle-based band in 1949 before she was recruited by Hampton. She then pushed the bandleader to hire Jones,...
Janet Thurlow, the jazz singer and widow of famed trombonist Jimmy Cleveland who performed with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra and helped give Quincy Jones an early career boost, has died. She was 96.
Thurlow died Oct. 4 congestive heart failure at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, her family announced.
Thurlow first met Cleveland in 1951 when she joined Hampton’s band and he was playing with the vibes legend. They married two years later and performed together often until his death in 2008 at age 82.
The first of five children, Janet Lorraine Thurlow was born in Seattle on May 21, 1926. She received violin, piano and voice lessons as a youngster and played violin on a radio talent show hosted by Major Edward Bowes.
She began as a song stylist with Robert “Bumps” Blackwell’s Seattle-based band in 1949 before she was recruited by Hampton. She then pushed the bandleader to hire Jones,...
- 10/24/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
By Eve Goldberg
Ronnie’s, a 2020 documentary, tells the story of Ronnie Scott and his legendary London jazz club.
From the opening sequence in which virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson and his band perform in an exuberant split screen montage, the film announces itself as a vehicle where style reflects content, and the filmmakers really know how to present their material in a compelling way.
The documentary recounts how Ronnie Scott, a poor Jewish kid from London’s East End, becomes a top British jazz saxophonist in the 1940s and 50s. Eventually tiring of big band swing, and inspired by the new music of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Scott forms his own Bebop ensemble. In 1959, Scott and his fellow musician and business partner, Pete King, open their own nightclub—Ronnie Scott’s. It doesn’t take long for their club to become the premiere jazz spot in London, and a...
Ronnie’s, a 2020 documentary, tells the story of Ronnie Scott and his legendary London jazz club.
From the opening sequence in which virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson and his band perform in an exuberant split screen montage, the film announces itself as a vehicle where style reflects content, and the filmmakers really know how to present their material in a compelling way.
The documentary recounts how Ronnie Scott, a poor Jewish kid from London’s East End, becomes a top British jazz saxophonist in the 1940s and 50s. Eventually tiring of big band swing, and inspired by the new music of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Scott forms his own Bebop ensemble. In 1959, Scott and his fellow musician and business partner, Pete King, open their own nightclub—Ronnie Scott’s. It doesn’t take long for their club to become the premiere jazz spot in London, and a...
- 4/10/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Joe Messina, the prolific guitarist whose work with the Funk Brothers can be heard on an array of Motown classics, died Monday, April 4, the Detroit Free Press reports. He was 93.
Messina died at his home in Northville, Michigan after a lengthy battle with kidney disease. Despite his long illness, Messina’s son, Joel, said his father had not only been living on his own up until a month ago, but he was still frequently inviting fellow musicians over to jam.
“As one of the original Funk Brothers, Joe Messina leaves...
Messina died at his home in Northville, Michigan after a lengthy battle with kidney disease. Despite his long illness, Messina’s son, Joel, said his father had not only been living on his own up until a month ago, but he was still frequently inviting fellow musicians over to jam.
“As one of the original Funk Brothers, Joe Messina leaves...
- 4/5/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
James Mtume, a percussionist who performed in Miles Davis’ seminal fusion band from 1971 to 1975 and later had hits with his own eponymous group, has died at the age 76.
The daughter of Mtume’s late creative partner Reggie Lucas, Lisa Lucas, took to Twitter this morning to confirm the passing of the musician.
“So much loss. So much grief. Rest in power to Uncle Mtume. My late fathers partner in crime, the co-creator of the songs of my life (and about my birth!). He was essential part of the life of the man who made me, therefore me too. Gone now. He will be dearly, eternally missed,” Lucas wrote.
There is no cause of death at the time of reporting.
Mtume appeared on 80 albums with a wide variety of other notable musicians, including Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Roberta Flack and Lonnie Liston Smith.
His namesake group Mtume had several No.
The daughter of Mtume’s late creative partner Reggie Lucas, Lisa Lucas, took to Twitter this morning to confirm the passing of the musician.
“So much loss. So much grief. Rest in power to Uncle Mtume. My late fathers partner in crime, the co-creator of the songs of my life (and about my birth!). He was essential part of the life of the man who made me, therefore me too. Gone now. He will be dearly, eternally missed,” Lucas wrote.
There is no cause of death at the time of reporting.
Mtume appeared on 80 albums with a wide variety of other notable musicians, including Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Roberta Flack and Lonnie Liston Smith.
His namesake group Mtume had several No.
- 1/10/2022
- by Bruce Haring and Brandon Choe
- Deadline Film + TV
Slide Hampton, a jazz mainstay on the trombone for more than 60 years, died Saturday at his home in Orange, NJ at age 89. His grandson confirmed his death, but didn’t give a cause.
Hampton was one of the top trombonists of his era, starting in the late 1950s post-bebop scene. He was part of bands with Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson, among others. He won Grammy Awards for his arrangements in 1998 and in 2005, and later in 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master.
In the 1980s, he led a band called the World of Trombones, a nine trombone ensemble.
Hampton married Althea Gardner in 1948, divorcing in 1997. Survivors include his brother, Maceo; his children, Jacquelyn, Lamont, and Locksley Jr.; five grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Hampton was one of the top trombonists of his era, starting in the late 1950s post-bebop scene. He was part of bands with Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson, among others. He won Grammy Awards for his arrangements in 1998 and in 2005, and later in 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master.
In the 1980s, he led a band called the World of Trombones, a nine trombone ensemble.
Hampton married Althea Gardner in 1948, divorcing in 1997. Survivors include his brother, Maceo; his children, Jacquelyn, Lamont, and Locksley Jr.; five grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
- 11/25/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Of the many music documentaries that screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, many – in fact, most – spend a lot of time telling you how great their subjects are. And then there’s “Listening to Kenny G,” which spends a lot of time telling you how much smooth-jazz saxophonist Kenny G sucks.
Mind you, it’d be impossible to make a Kenny G doc without addressing the elephant in the room, which is that the former Kenneth Gorelick is to many, particularly in the jazz community, a living embodiment of everything that can be wrong with popular music. And director Penny Lane, whose previous work includes “Our Nixon” and “Hail Satan?” is smart enough to know she can’t avoid the topic of Kenny G’s extreme divisiveness and playful enough to make it the defining characteristic of her film.
So while we hear from Kenny’s old high-school music teacher,...
Mind you, it’d be impossible to make a Kenny G doc without addressing the elephant in the room, which is that the former Kenneth Gorelick is to many, particularly in the jazz community, a living embodiment of everything that can be wrong with popular music. And director Penny Lane, whose previous work includes “Our Nixon” and “Hail Satan?” is smart enough to know she can’t avoid the topic of Kenny G’s extreme divisiveness and playful enough to make it the defining characteristic of her film.
So while we hear from Kenny’s old high-school music teacher,...
- 9/17/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
George Wein, an impresario of 20th century music who helped found the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals and set the template for gatherings everywhere from Woodstock to the south of France, died Monday.
Wein, 95, died “peacefully in his sleep” in his New York City apartment, said Carolyn McClair, a family spokesperson.
A former jazz club owner and aspiring pianist, Wein launched the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 under pouring rain and with a lineup for the heavens — Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lester Young. Louis Armstrong was there the following year and Duke Ellington made ...
Wein, 95, died “peacefully in his sleep” in his New York City apartment, said Carolyn McClair, a family spokesperson.
A former jazz club owner and aspiring pianist, Wein launched the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 under pouring rain and with a lineup for the heavens — Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lester Young. Louis Armstrong was there the following year and Duke Ellington made ...
- 9/13/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
George Wein, an impresario of 20th century music who helped found the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals and set the template for gatherings everywhere from Woodstock to the south of France, died Monday.
Wein, 95, died “peacefully in his sleep” in his New York City apartment, said Carolyn McClair, a family spokesperson.
A former jazz club owner and aspiring pianist, Wein launched the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 under pouring rain and with a lineup for the heavens — Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lester Young. Louis Armstrong was there the following year and Duke Ellington made ...
Wein, 95, died “peacefully in his sleep” in his New York City apartment, said Carolyn McClair, a family spokesperson.
A former jazz club owner and aspiring pianist, Wein launched the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 under pouring rain and with a lineup for the heavens — Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lester Young. Louis Armstrong was there the following year and Duke Ellington made ...
- 9/13/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Yasiin Bey, the musician formerly known as Mos Def, will portray jazz piano legend Thelonious Monk in the biopic “Thelonious,” which is slated to begin production in the summer of 2022. The project is being brought to the screen by Jupiter Rising Film and its co-founders, Alberto Marzan and Peter Lord Moreland.
Moreland will also write the screenplay for the film, which “will center around [Monk’s] struggles for musical success, mental illness and the spiritual love triangle between his wife Nellie and one of the world’s richest women, Nica Rothschild,” according to a statement.
“This role is one that requires great depth and a unique understanding of who and what Thelonious Monk was and how his lasting impact can still be heard throughout the music world today,” said Marzan. “The moment I met Yasiin, I knew we found our Thelonious. It’s an honor to be the first to tell this...
Moreland will also write the screenplay for the film, which “will center around [Monk’s] struggles for musical success, mental illness and the spiritual love triangle between his wife Nellie and one of the world’s richest women, Nica Rothschild,” according to a statement.
“This role is one that requires great depth and a unique understanding of who and what Thelonious Monk was and how his lasting impact can still be heard throughout the music world today,” said Marzan. “The moment I met Yasiin, I knew we found our Thelonious. It’s an honor to be the first to tell this...
- 7/21/2021
- by Jonathan Cohen
- Variety Film + TV
Years ago, screenwriter-producer Peter Lord Moreland watched Straight No Chaser, the landmark 1988 documentary on bebop pianist-composer Thelonious Monk. Thus began a near-obsessive fascination with the jazz legend that “was already triggered by one of my favorite jazz ballads of all time: ‘Round Midnight.’”
As his career progressed, Lord Moreland began researching the musician and started on a working script to document his life and career. “My entire life, I have been an artist, a person, and a thinker who seems to have an alternative view of creating, hearing, and seeing the world,...
As his career progressed, Lord Moreland began researching the musician and started on a working script to document his life and career. “My entire life, I have been an artist, a person, and a thinker who seems to have an alternative view of creating, hearing, and seeing the world,...
- 7/21/2021
- by Jason Newman
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club is coming to audiences in North America.
Greenwich Entertainment has acquired distribution rights to Ronnie’s, directed by Oliver Murray and produced by Goldfinch Entertainment, and will release the feature film early next year.
It comes after the doc premiered at Doc NYC last year and follows a UK theatrical run.
Ronnie’s chronicles the life of saxophonist Ronnie Scott, a poor, Jewish kid growing up in 1940s East End, London who became owner of the Soho, London night club. Musicians who have played the club include Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Nina Simone, Van Morrison, Chet Baker, and Jimi Hendrix, who played there the night of his death.
Murray previously directed Bill Wyman doc The Quiet One, directs with Goldfinch Entertainment CEO Kirsty Bell producing and COO Phil McKenzie executive producing. Greenwich’s Ed Arentz negotiated the deal with Abacus Media Rights,...
Greenwich Entertainment has acquired distribution rights to Ronnie’s, directed by Oliver Murray and produced by Goldfinch Entertainment, and will release the feature film early next year.
It comes after the doc premiered at Doc NYC last year and follows a UK theatrical run.
Ronnie’s chronicles the life of saxophonist Ronnie Scott, a poor, Jewish kid growing up in 1940s East End, London who became owner of the Soho, London night club. Musicians who have played the club include Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Nina Simone, Van Morrison, Chet Baker, and Jimi Hendrix, who played there the night of his death.
Murray previously directed Bill Wyman doc The Quiet One, directs with Goldfinch Entertainment CEO Kirsty Bell producing and COO Phil McKenzie executive producing. Greenwich’s Ed Arentz negotiated the deal with Abacus Media Rights,...
- 7/20/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Samuel E. Wright, whose vocal portrayal of Sebastian the crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid included the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea,” died yesterday. He was 74.
His death was announced on the Facebook page of the town of Montgomery, New York, where Wright lived. A cause of death was not specified.
“Sam was an inspiration to us all and along with his family established the Hudson Valley Conservatory,” the tribute states. “Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves. On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing Pure Joy to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and laugh and he loved to love.”
Though known to...
His death was announced on the Facebook page of the town of Montgomery, New York, where Wright lived. A cause of death was not specified.
“Sam was an inspiration to us all and along with his family established the Hudson Valley Conservatory,” the tribute states. “Sam and his family have impacted countless Hudson Valley youth always inspiring them to reach higher and dig deeper to become the best version of themselves. On top of his passion for the arts and his love for his family, Sam was most known for walking into a room and simply providing Pure Joy to those he interacted with. He loved to entertain, he loved to make people smile and laugh and he loved to love.”
Though known to...
- 5/25/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, who examined the ties between the international arms industry and Western political establishments in his recent documentaries, the award-winning “Shadow World” and “Blue Orchids,” is set to explore its impact in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in his new project, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.”
Grimonprez and producer Daan Milius are presenting the project at the Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival’s Cph:Forum financing and co-production event, which runs April 26-30.
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” looks back at the hopeful rise of Patrice Lumumba, who became the first prime minister of the newly independent Congo in 1960, only to be deposed a few months later and executed the following year. Lumumba, who is also the subject of a new feature film project, had alarmed Belgium and the United States with his assertions that Congo’s riches should belong to the country’s people. He...
Grimonprez and producer Daan Milius are presenting the project at the Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival’s Cph:Forum financing and co-production event, which runs April 26-30.
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” looks back at the hopeful rise of Patrice Lumumba, who became the first prime minister of the newly independent Congo in 1960, only to be deposed a few months later and executed the following year. Lumumba, who is also the subject of a new feature film project, had alarmed Belgium and the United States with his assertions that Congo’s riches should belong to the country’s people. He...
- 4/24/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Dave Chappelle, Talib Kweli, and Yasiin Bey have partnered with subscription podcast network Luminary on the new podcast “The Midnight Miracle.”
The show is described as salon style and features the three hosts and creators as well as their friends and featured guests. “The Midnight Miracle” was recorded during Chappelle’s 2020 Summer Camp at “The Shack” — a mechanic’s garage retrofitted as a clubhouse. The conversations are intermixed with sketches, impersonations, archival audio clips, and a soundtrack that includes music from Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, D’Angelo, Heatwave featuring Johnny Wilder, and more.
“Making a podcast isn’t the obvious next move for me, but it’s the right one,” Chappelle said. “‘The Midnight Miracle’ gives you a look into how me and my friends process the world around us, and I think it will change the way listeners think of what a podcast can be.”
The show...
The show is described as salon style and features the three hosts and creators as well as their friends and featured guests. “The Midnight Miracle” was recorded during Chappelle’s 2020 Summer Camp at “The Shack” — a mechanic’s garage retrofitted as a clubhouse. The conversations are intermixed with sketches, impersonations, archival audio clips, and a soundtrack that includes music from Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, D’Angelo, Heatwave featuring Johnny Wilder, and more.
“Making a podcast isn’t the obvious next move for me, but it’s the right one,” Chappelle said. “‘The Midnight Miracle’ gives you a look into how me and my friends process the world around us, and I think it will change the way listeners think of what a podcast can be.”
The show...
- 4/20/2021
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
The Recording Academy announced on Monday that Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Lionel Hampton, Marilyn Horne, Salt-n- Pepa, Selena and the Talking Heads will be recipients of the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Awards. The presentations will take place during the 63rd annual Grammy Awards next month.
The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.
Other 2021 Special Merit Awards to be presented at the Jan. 31 ceremony include the Trustee Award to Ed Cherney, Benny Golson and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, as well as a Technical Grammy Award to Daniel Weiss.
The Trustees Award recognizes contributions in areas other than performance, and Technical Grammy Award recipients are individuals and companies that have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording industry.
“As we welcome the new class of Special Merit Award honorees, it gives us a chance to reward and recognize...
The Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates performers who have made outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.
Other 2021 Special Merit Awards to be presented at the Jan. 31 ceremony include the Trustee Award to Ed Cherney, Benny Golson and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, as well as a Technical Grammy Award to Daniel Weiss.
The Trustees Award recognizes contributions in areas other than performance, and Technical Grammy Award recipients are individuals and companies that have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording industry.
“As we welcome the new class of Special Merit Award honorees, it gives us a chance to reward and recognize...
- 12/22/2020
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Did ex-Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan and the late London jazz club impresario Ronnie Scott ever cross paths? As key figures of the last century of music, it is certainly possible. And based on the documentaries Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan and Ronnie’s, it is enticing to ponder the conversation that might ensue between the ragged Irish eccentric (MacGowan) and the witty tenor sax man turned club owner (Scott). The gobsmackingly entertaining Crock of Gold and well-made if less enthralling Ronnie’s make a strong case that both figures have left an indelible mark on music. And while director Julien Temple’s Gold is far more memorable than Oliver Murray’s Ronnie’s, both films deserve attention. Crock of Gold is making its North American premiere at the Doc NYC festival, while Ronnie’s is making its international premiere.
It should come as no surprise that...
It should come as no surprise that...
- 11/12/2020
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
What if it turned out your favorite song had been written by the CIA? That’s exactly what a new podcast aims to determine.
In 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, West German band the Scorpions released their prescient ballad “Wind of Change.” With earnest lyrics about togetherness and the “children of tomorrow,” the song sounds like an anthem to the end of the Cold War. But, according to The New Yorker’s Patrick Radden Keefe, there’s reason to believe the hit ballad could have been a...
In 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, West German band the Scorpions released their prescient ballad “Wind of Change.” With earnest lyrics about togetherness and the “children of tomorrow,” the song sounds like an anthem to the end of the Cold War. But, according to The New Yorker’s Patrick Radden Keefe, there’s reason to believe the hit ballad could have been a...
- 7/14/2020
- by Andrea Marks
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment has taken North American theatrical and home ent rights to feature documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.
The film chronicles the role of popular music in propelling the relatively unknown candidate from Georgia to the White House, and the significant role music has played in Carter’s life and work. The film combines interviews with the former President and contributors and performances from the likes of Willie Nelson, Bono, Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Jimmy Buffett, Roseanne Cash, Chuck Leavell, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Andrew Young, and Madeleine Albright.
The documentary, which heralds from director Mary Wharton, producer Chris Farrell, and writer Bill Flanagan, closed the recent AFI Docs Fest (where Carter sent his virtual congratulations), after originally being scheduled to open Tribeca. Greenwich will release the film in theaters this September.
The deal was negotiated by Ed Arentz and Andy Bohn at Greenwich...
The film chronicles the role of popular music in propelling the relatively unknown candidate from Georgia to the White House, and the significant role music has played in Carter’s life and work. The film combines interviews with the former President and contributors and performances from the likes of Willie Nelson, Bono, Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Jimmy Buffett, Roseanne Cash, Chuck Leavell, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Andrew Young, and Madeleine Albright.
The documentary, which heralds from director Mary Wharton, producer Chris Farrell, and writer Bill Flanagan, closed the recent AFI Docs Fest (where Carter sent his virtual congratulations), after originally being scheduled to open Tribeca. Greenwich will release the film in theaters this September.
The deal was negotiated by Ed Arentz and Andy Bohn at Greenwich...
- 6/30/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Jimmy Cobb, a jazz drummer and the last surviving member of the ensemble sextet of Miles Davis’ iconic album, Kind of Blue, died Sunday lung cancer at his home in Manhattan. He was 91. His wife, Eleana Tee Cobb, made the announcement on Facebook.
The 1959 albumKind of Blue is considered one of the greatest jazz records of all time. At the time of its release, the album was met with rave reviews from critics, widespread radio play and often is regarded as the best-selling jazz album in history, It was certified quintuple-platinum last year. Kind of Blue also was honored as a national treasure by the U.S. House of Representatives.
He worked on several other Davis albums including Sketches of Spain, Someday My Prince Will Come, Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, and The Complete Blackhawk.
Notable Hollywood & Entertainment Industry Deaths In 2020: Photo Gallery
Born in Washington, D.C. in...
The 1959 albumKind of Blue is considered one of the greatest jazz records of all time. At the time of its release, the album was met with rave reviews from critics, widespread radio play and often is regarded as the best-selling jazz album in history, It was certified quintuple-platinum last year. Kind of Blue also was honored as a national treasure by the U.S. House of Representatives.
He worked on several other Davis albums including Sketches of Spain, Someday My Prince Will Come, Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, and The Complete Blackhawk.
Notable Hollywood & Entertainment Industry Deaths In 2020: Photo Gallery
Born in Washington, D.C. in...
- 5/25/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
As the world fights a pandemic, we’ve been reaching out to some of our favorite artists to get their takes on these unprecedented times. Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen responded to a few quarantine questions via email (printed exactly as-is, per his request) in his characteristically sardonic manner, saluting his heroes Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and nodding to the incredibly dangerous presidential suggestion that injecting disinfectants like bleach or isopropyl alcohol into the human body could somehow help fight Covid-19.
In the three years since the death of Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker,...
In the three years since the death of Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker,...
- 4/30/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Z2 Comics and the estate of jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker announced the first-ever graphic novel on a legend of the genre. Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California will be published in September, in time to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late great father of bebop.
“I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will view Bird, Miles and Dizzy as our Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky,” Quincy Jones once said, according to the Z2 press statement. During his short life, the alto saxophonist nicknamed “Bird” changed the course of music. From tempos to chord substitutions, he explored harmonic depth to fuse hard bop and free jazz and move the art from danceable swing to improvisational bebop.
The publisher’s highly anticipated Grateful Dead: Origins graphic novel is due out in just over a month and...
“I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will view Bird, Miles and Dizzy as our Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky,” Quincy Jones once said, according to the Z2 press statement. During his short life, the alto saxophonist nicknamed “Bird” changed the course of music. From tempos to chord substitutions, he explored harmonic depth to fuse hard bop and free jazz and move the art from danceable swing to improvisational bebop.
The publisher’s highly anticipated Grateful Dead: Origins graphic novel is due out in just over a month and...
- 4/28/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Hal Willner wasn’t known for playing music himself. But the producer, who died Monday at 64, had a unique gift for making music happen. Through his marvelously eclectic tribute albums — which featured everything from Tom Waits yowling out Snow White’s “Heigh Ho (The Dwarf’s Marching Song)” to Debbie Harry singing a wordless tune from Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and Chuck D declaiming passages from Charles Mingus’ autobiography — he turned countless sonic what-ifs into reality. As he once put it, through his curation he was “trying to to...
- 4/7/2020
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney, 59, died on Tuesday at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey from coronavirus (Covid-19) complications. Roney took lessons from jazz legends Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and was the protégé of the late Miles Davis. In 1979 and 1980, Roney won the DownBeat Award for Best Jazz Musician […]
The post Jazz Trumpeter Wallace Roney Dies At 59 From Coronavirus appeared first on uInterview.
The post Jazz Trumpeter Wallace Roney Dies At 59 From Coronavirus appeared first on uInterview.
- 4/4/2020
- by Paloma Thoen
- Uinterview
Bucky Pizzarelli, a jazz guitar giant and member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame who played with most of the greats in his decades-long career, has died. He was 94 and had been diagnosed with cornonavirus, but the exact cause of death has not been determined, his daughter said.
Pizzarelli had a smooth style that was in demand for sessions and performances. He performed at the White House for Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, appeared with Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” band, and worked with Frank Sinatra, Les Paul, Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole and many others. .
More from Deadline'Yogi Bear Show' Voice Actress Julie Bennett Dies Of Covid-19 At 88Ellis Marsalis Dies: Noted Jazz Educator, Father Of Wynton And Branford Marsalis Was 85Alan Merrill Dies Of Coronavirus: 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll' Songwriter Was 69
His seassion work included Ray Charles’s...
Pizzarelli had a smooth style that was in demand for sessions and performances. He performed at the White House for Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, appeared with Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” band, and worked with Frank Sinatra, Les Paul, Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole and many others. .
More from Deadline'Yogi Bear Show' Voice Actress Julie Bennett Dies Of Covid-19 At 88Ellis Marsalis Dies: Noted Jazz Educator, Father Of Wynton And Branford Marsalis Was 85Alan Merrill Dies Of Coronavirus: 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll' Songwriter Was 69
His seassion work included Ray Charles’s...
- 4/2/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
More than a year after its debut at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and a brief theatrical run, the documentary Miles Davis: The Birth of the Cool will debut next week as part of PBS’ American Masters series.
PBS has shared the official trailer for the film, which focuses on the life and legacy of the jazz legend.
Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Flea, the Roots, Wayne Shorter, and others are among Davis’ admirers and collaborators who appear in the Stanley Nelson-directed documentary, which premieres Tuesday, February 25th.
“A lot of...
PBS has shared the official trailer for the film, which focuses on the life and legacy of the jazz legend.
Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Flea, the Roots, Wayne Shorter, and others are among Davis’ admirers and collaborators who appear in the Stanley Nelson-directed documentary, which premieres Tuesday, February 25th.
“A lot of...
- 2/19/2020
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Tony Sokol Feb 13, 2020
Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things documentary paints an intimate portrait of the First Lady Of Jazz.
Ella Fitzgerald debuted at an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in 1934. She sang Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy" and "The Object of My Affection" and won $25. She went on win 13 Grammys, sell more than 40 million albums and be proclaimed "The First Lady of Jazz." Eagle Rock Entertainment will present Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things this spring. Directed by Leslie Woodhead along with producer Reggie Nadelson, the film will be screened in select cinemas beginning April 3.
A pillar of American music history, Ella is an international icon. Her tone, delivery, and scat improvisations laid the groundwork for generations of vocalists. Just One Of Those Things presents the artist through an intimate lens, "through all of her moments of triumph and joy, delivering a clear picture of the...
Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things documentary paints an intimate portrait of the First Lady Of Jazz.
Ella Fitzgerald debuted at an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in 1934. She sang Hoagy Carmichael's "Judy" and "The Object of My Affection" and won $25. She went on win 13 Grammys, sell more than 40 million albums and be proclaimed "The First Lady of Jazz." Eagle Rock Entertainment will present Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things this spring. Directed by Leslie Woodhead along with producer Reggie Nadelson, the film will be screened in select cinemas beginning April 3.
A pillar of American music history, Ella is an international icon. Her tone, delivery, and scat improvisations laid the groundwork for generations of vocalists. Just One Of Those Things presents the artist through an intimate lens, "through all of her moments of triumph and joy, delivering a clear picture of the...
- 2/13/2020
- Den of Geek
Moviegoers got shocking news earlier this month when it was announced James Dean would be digitally recreated using CGI visual effects in order to play a leading role in the upcoming Vietnam War action-drama “Finding Jack.” Dean died in a car crash in September 1955 at the age of 24 after leading the three feature films “East of Eden,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” and “Giant.” Bringing Dean back to the big screen through CGI has proved controversial, but it’s just the beginning for Worldwide Xr, a new company that “aims to bring digital humans to traditional film as well as augmented and virtual reality” (via Variety).
In addition to James Dean, Worldwide Xr holds the rights for more than 400 celebrities, athletes, historical figures, musicians, and more, all of whom could be digitally recreated to appear in movies or virtual reality projects. “Influencers will come and go, but legends will never die,...
In addition to James Dean, Worldwide Xr holds the rights for more than 400 celebrities, athletes, historical figures, musicians, and more, all of whom could be digitally recreated to appear in movies or virtual reality projects. “Influencers will come and go, but legends will never die,...
- 11/12/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
It feels unnatural to think of New York City without the Apollo Theater, yet more than once during the production of HBO’s “The Apollo,” Roger Ross Williams’ documentary about the Harlem landmark, the doors were in danger of closing for good.
That’s just one of many stories you’ll discover watching this exhaustive compendium of archival riches and fond first-person memories by many of the audience regulars, the star-studded acts who graced its stage, and some of the hopefuls still looking to be a part of the Apollo’s history.
Throughout “The Apollo,” Williams vacillates between the theater’s past and present, thematically connecting how some things have changed while others have stayed the same. Through the testimonies of historians and academics, as well as first-hand accounts, the director traces the history of the Apollo as one of the few venues that allowed Black performers not only on...
That’s just one of many stories you’ll discover watching this exhaustive compendium of archival riches and fond first-person memories by many of the audience regulars, the star-studded acts who graced its stage, and some of the hopefuls still looking to be a part of the Apollo’s history.
Throughout “The Apollo,” Williams vacillates between the theater’s past and present, thematically connecting how some things have changed while others have stayed the same. Through the testimonies of historians and academics, as well as first-hand accounts, the director traces the history of the Apollo as one of the few venues that allowed Black performers not only on...
- 11/5/2019
- by Monica Castillo
- The Wrap
Ginger Baker, the wildly influential and innovative drummer who laid the groundwork for heavy metal and world music and played with everyone from Fela Kuti to John Lydon to Max Roach, died Sunday after a lengthy hospital stay. He was 80.
“We are very sad to say that Ginger has passed away peacefully in hospital this morning. Thank you to everyone for your kind words over the past weeks,” the drummer’s Facebook confirmed Sunday, nearly two weeks after Baker’s family said he was “critically ill” in the hospital.
“Dad passed away peacefully,...
“We are very sad to say that Ginger has passed away peacefully in hospital this morning. Thank you to everyone for your kind words over the past weeks,” the drummer’s Facebook confirmed Sunday, nearly two weeks after Baker’s family said he was “critically ill” in the hospital.
“Dad passed away peacefully,...
- 10/6/2019
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Though an instantly recognizable face from films such as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “A Walk to Remember” and “Erin Brockovich,” it is Peter Coyote’s voice — a coolly authoritative baritone with a Zen master’s holy roll — that has endeared him to documentary lovers and makers. Alrhough director-writer Alex Gibney used Coyote’s wisened narration for “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and “The Pacific Century,” it is Ken Burns’ work where Coyote’s tones are most welcomed. In a collaboration that started with the 1992 documentary “The West,” Coyote has gone on to narrate 11 of Burns’ PBS film series, becoming almost a DeNiro to the documentarian’s Scorsese.
Being a musician and musical collector since his adolescence made Coyote an apt choice to narrate Burns’ epic new “Country Music” series. But it is the actor-writer’s activist past in the 1960s, cofounding the Diggers — the anarchist communal group that sought...
Being a musician and musical collector since his adolescence made Coyote an apt choice to narrate Burns’ epic new “Country Music” series. But it is the actor-writer’s activist past in the 1960s, cofounding the Diggers — the anarchist communal group that sought...
- 9/20/2019
- by A.D. Amorosi
- Variety Film + TV
Stanley Nelson brings a studious effort to Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, the music makes it real.
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"Music is always there, it comes before everything," Miles Davis says early in director Stanley Nelson's (The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution) documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool. This thesis comes in all forms during the film. It is an explanation, a direction and an excuse at various times. But after an hour into the film, it becomes apparent Miles Davis, the quintessential cool jazz cat, wasn't so aloof as it would seem. Everything went into his music. His loves, his torments, his early family's inner turmoil, the entire racial divide of America came out of his horn. And he encouraged the musicians who played with him to do the same.
Miles Davis: Birth Of the Cool is comprehensive and revelatory, even if it is a...
tumblr
"Music is always there, it comes before everything," Miles Davis says early in director Stanley Nelson's (The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution) documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool. This thesis comes in all forms during the film. It is an explanation, a direction and an excuse at various times. But after an hour into the film, it becomes apparent Miles Davis, the quintessential cool jazz cat, wasn't so aloof as it would seem. Everything went into his music. His loves, his torments, his early family's inner turmoil, the entire racial divide of America came out of his horn. And he encouraged the musicians who played with him to do the same.
Miles Davis: Birth Of the Cool is comprehensive and revelatory, even if it is a...
- 9/10/2019
- Den of Geek
It’s hard to dispute Ginger Baker’s status as a rock icon. Unless you’re Ginger Baker, that is. “Oh for god’s sake, I’ve never played rock,” the drummer, who turns 80 today, said testily during a 2013 interview. “Cream was two jazz players and a blues guitarist playing improvised music. We never played the same thing two nights running. … It was jazz.”
Related: 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time
Baker’s history with jazz dates back to the mid-Fifties, when he began playing in British Dixieland-revival groups and absorbing...
Related: 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time
Baker’s history with jazz dates back to the mid-Fifties, when he began playing in British Dixieland-revival groups and absorbing...
- 8/19/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
In a 1997 interview with philosopher Jacques Derrida, the late saxophonist and sonic trailblazer Ornette Coleman recalled the origins of his most famous composition. “Before becoming known as a musician, when I worked in a big department store, one day, during my lunch break, I came across a gallery where someone had painted a very rich white woman who had absolutely everything that you could desire in life, and she had the most solitary expression in the world,” he said of his time working as a stock boy at L.A.
- 5/22/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Actress Rosemary Harris, playwright Terrence McNally and composer Harold Wheeler – Tony Award winners all – each will received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, the Tony administration company announced today.
“We are thrilled to recognize Rosemary, Terrence and Harold with the Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre,” said Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League. “They are pioneers in each of their crafts and their contributions to American Theatre and culture has been immeasurable.”
Harris, who won the Tony for Best Actress for The Lion in Winter (1965), is currently starring as Mrs. Higgins in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of My Fair Lady. Her other 25 Broadway credits include Tony-nominated performances in The Royal Family (2009), Waiting in the Wings (1999), Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (1996), Hay Fever (1985), Pack of Lies (1984), Heartbreak House (1983) and Old Times...
“We are thrilled to recognize Rosemary, Terrence and Harold with the Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre,” said Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League. “They are pioneers in each of their crafts and their contributions to American Theatre and culture has been immeasurable.”
Harris, who won the Tony for Best Actress for The Lion in Winter (1965), is currently starring as Mrs. Higgins in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of My Fair Lady. Her other 25 Broadway credits include Tony-nominated performances in The Royal Family (2009), Waiting in the Wings (1999), Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (1996), Hay Fever (1985), Pack of Lies (1984), Heartbreak House (1983) and Old Times...
- 4/25/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
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