Michael Cuscuna, the three-time Grammy winner, Mosaic Records co-founder, historian and archivist who produced hundreds of jazz reissues and studio sessions during his career, has died. He was 75.
Cuscuna died Saturday of cancer at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, Grammy-winning recording artist Billy Vera, a longtime friend, announced.
Cuscuna produced the 1970 album Buddy & the Juniors, featuring Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Junior Mance, for Vanguard Records, and 1972’s Give It Up, Bonnie Raitt’s lone gold album during her time at Warner Bros.
He produced reissues and studio sessions for Impulse, Atlantic, Arista, Muse, Elektra, Freedom, Novus and virtually the entire Blue Note catalog.
“Plainly stated, Blue Note Records would not exist as it does today without the passion & dedication of Michael Cuscuna,” execs from the label wrote on Instagram.
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Readers of Blues & Rhythm magazine know his work in the blues field,...
Cuscuna died Saturday of cancer at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, Grammy-winning recording artist Billy Vera, a longtime friend, announced.
Cuscuna produced the 1970 album Buddy & the Juniors, featuring Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Junior Mance, for Vanguard Records, and 1972’s Give It Up, Bonnie Raitt’s lone gold album during her time at Warner Bros.
He produced reissues and studio sessions for Impulse, Atlantic, Arista, Muse, Elektra, Freedom, Novus and virtually the entire Blue Note catalog.
“Plainly stated, Blue Note Records would not exist as it does today without the passion & dedication of Michael Cuscuna,” execs from the label wrote on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Blue Note Records (@bluenoterecords)
Readers of Blues & Rhythm magazine know his work in the blues field,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
George “Funky” Brown, the drummer, founding member and one of the main songwriters of pop-r&b group Kool & The Gang, died in Los Angeles last night following a battle with lung cancer. He was 74.
Brown, along with Robert “Kool” Bell on bass, his brother Ronald Bell on tenor and lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor, was one of the songwriters in a band with such hits as “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Celebration,” and “Get Down on It.”
His death was reported by TMZ.
According to an official biography of the drummer-songwriter posted by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Jersey City, N.J., native had developed an early affinity for jazz drummers Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Jack DeJohnette when he met neighbor and future Kool & The Gang keyboardist Ricky West. West introduced Brown to the band’s future saxophonist and musical director Ronald Bell and future trumpeter Robert Mickens,...
Brown, along with Robert “Kool” Bell on bass, his brother Ronald Bell on tenor and lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor, was one of the songwriters in a band with such hits as “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Celebration,” and “Get Down on It.”
His death was reported by TMZ.
According to an official biography of the drummer-songwriter posted by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Jersey City, N.J., native had developed an early affinity for jazz drummers Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Jack DeJohnette when he met neighbor and future Kool & The Gang keyboardist Ricky West. West introduced Brown to the band’s future saxophonist and musical director Ronald Bell and future trumpeter Robert Mickens,...
- 11/17/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
In Rustin, George C. Wolfe and Colman Domingo recount how one man helped make a movement.
Set to release on Netflix Nov. 17, the biopic — which features a script from Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black — traces the life and work of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, a gay Black man and a key architect of the 1963 March on Washington.
The emotional thrum that underscores Rustin’s triumphs and challenges amid one of the country’s most significant moments in history, is captured through Grammy-winning jazz and classic artist and composer Branford Marsalis’ score. Captured in multiple cities — New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Charlotte and New Orleans — the soundtrack was recorded digitally, then mixed to analog 2-track before being mastered digitally.
That includes the track “Show Me Your Ideas,” one of the score’s more energetic contributions. The song seemingly captures the initial rhythm of an idea and the eventual buzz of collaboration.
Set to release on Netflix Nov. 17, the biopic — which features a script from Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black — traces the life and work of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, a gay Black man and a key architect of the 1963 March on Washington.
The emotional thrum that underscores Rustin’s triumphs and challenges amid one of the country’s most significant moments in history, is captured through Grammy-winning jazz and classic artist and composer Branford Marsalis’ score. Captured in multiple cities — New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Charlotte and New Orleans — the soundtrack was recorded digitally, then mixed to analog 2-track before being mastered digitally.
That includes the track “Show Me Your Ideas,” one of the score’s more energetic contributions. The song seemingly captures the initial rhythm of an idea and the eventual buzz of collaboration.
- 10/12/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Awards, sure — over his 60-odd-year career, Wayne Shorter amassed his share of prizes and honors. But none of that conveys what a singular and visionary talent he was more powerfully than this simple fact: Miles Davis and Art Blakey, two of the greatest bandleaders in the history of jazz, fought over him.
In Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity, director Dorsay Alavi tells his story over three roughly hourlong episodes called “portals,” a fitting nod to the Buddhism that Shorter embraced and the sci-fi and fantasy he adored. The Prime Video docuseries — which takes its streaming bow Aug. 25, on what would have been Shorter’s 90th birthday — traces the chronology of the New Jersey native’s biography, but, much more than that, it’s a chronicle of emotion, creativity and faith, tuned in to the magnitude of Shorter’s musicianship and, no less, to his playfulness and searching nonconformity.
Alavi, who first...
In Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity, director Dorsay Alavi tells his story over three roughly hourlong episodes called “portals,” a fitting nod to the Buddhism that Shorter embraced and the sci-fi and fantasy he adored. The Prime Video docuseries — which takes its streaming bow Aug. 25, on what would have been Shorter’s 90th birthday — traces the chronology of the New Jersey native’s biography, but, much more than that, it’s a chronicle of emotion, creativity and faith, tuned in to the magnitude of Shorter’s musicianship and, no less, to his playfulness and searching nonconformity.
Alavi, who first...
- 8/22/2023
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It is remarkable how few people know that the same person produced Bob Dylan’s three defining early albums (as well as “Like a Rolling Stone”), the first two Velvet Underground albums, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s debut “Freak Out” and pivotal music by jazz legends Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor (including tracks with John Coltrane), among many others.
It was Tom Wilson, a visionary music producer who died in 1978 at the age of 47.
He was even the man who in 1965 overdubbed a folk-rock backing onto a song he’d recorded the previous year by an acoustic duo who had already split up and were living on different continents — that would be Simon & Garfunkel — resulting in the smash hit that ignited their career, “Sounds of Silence” (the duo quickly reunited and hastily recorded a new album). He also produced key songs by the Animals (the classic “Don’t Bring Me Down”), Nico,...
It was Tom Wilson, a visionary music producer who died in 1978 at the age of 47.
He was even the man who in 1965 overdubbed a folk-rock backing onto a song he’d recorded the previous year by an acoustic duo who had already split up and were living on different continents — that would be Simon & Garfunkel — resulting in the smash hit that ignited their career, “Sounds of Silence” (the duo quickly reunited and hastily recorded a new album). He also produced key songs by the Animals (the classic “Don’t Bring Me Down”), Nico,...
- 6/10/2021
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
From the period-specific tunes of “The Crown” to the surprising instrumental reworkings of modern pop hits in “Bridgerton,” this season’s Emmy contenders in music supervision showcase the growing field’s continued influence.
Alexandra Patsavas
“Bridgerton” may give veteran music supervisor Patsavas her best shot yet at an Emmy thanks to her clever use of chamber music-style covers of modern pop songs, which help trace the emotional journey of Daphne and Simon (Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page) in Regency-era London.
The Vitamin String Quartet’s renditions of Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” along with Duomo’s cover of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams,” sent streaming numbers into the stratosphere soon after the Netflix series debuted in December.
According to Patsavas, discussions about “how a period project could be relevant and inviting,” musically speaking...
Alexandra Patsavas
“Bridgerton” may give veteran music supervisor Patsavas her best shot yet at an Emmy thanks to her clever use of chamber music-style covers of modern pop songs, which help trace the emotional journey of Daphne and Simon (Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page) in Regency-era London.
The Vitamin String Quartet’s renditions of Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” along with Duomo’s cover of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams,” sent streaming numbers into the stratosphere soon after the Netflix series debuted in December.
According to Patsavas, discussions about “how a period project could be relevant and inviting,” musically speaking...
- 6/2/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features drummer Sonny Emory.
When Sonny Emory was a kid growing up in Atlanta, the largest poster on his bedroom wall was the cover of the 1977 Earth,...
When Sonny Emory was a kid growing up in Atlanta, the largest poster on his bedroom wall was the cover of the 1977 Earth,...
- 3/24/2021
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
“I wanted to be one of the best — that was my wish,” Nigerian drum legend Tony Allen said on the Trap Set podcast during a 2015 interview. “To be the best, it’s not when you are doing the same thing with others…. To be the best means I have to find a way to put something on the road, create something that wasn’t there, for other people to learn from.”
Few would dispute that Allen, who died Thursday at age 79, lived up to his objective. When he joined up...
Few would dispute that Allen, who died Thursday at age 79, lived up to his objective. When he joined up...
- 5/1/2020
- by Daniel Kreps, Elias Leight and Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Back in 2018, when jazz fans heard that a previously unreleased John Coltrane album was set to come out, they immediately zeroed in on the date.
The fact that the tapes dated from 1963, right in the middle of the saxophonist’s most celebrated period, signaled that this was a major find. The same applies to Just Coolin’, a never-before-released album from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers that’s due out in April from Blue Note: Its recording date of March 1959, just a couple of months after the release of...
The fact that the tapes dated from 1963, right in the middle of the saxophonist’s most celebrated period, signaled that this was a major find. The same applies to Just Coolin’, a never-before-released album from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers that’s due out in April from Blue Note: Its recording date of March 1959, just a couple of months after the release of...
- 3/20/2020
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
McCoy Tyner, one of the most influential pianists in jazz history, died Friday at his home in northern New Jersey. He was 81 and his death was confirmed by a nephew. No cause was given.
Tyner was a part of John Coltrane’s seminal 1960s quartet, and his distinctive, clean and percussive sound on acoustic piano was an influence on everyone who followed him. Even Coltrane acknowledged his force when he said, “He’s sort of the one who gives me wings and lets me take off from the ground from time to time.”
Born in Philadelphia in 1938 as Alfred McCoy Tyner, he began taking piano lessons at 13. His mother bought him his first piano, setting it up in her beauty shop. Tyner later studied at the Granoff School of Music, and began playing professionally at age 16 with a rhythm & blues band. In 1957, he met saxophone legend John Coltrane at a Philadelphia nightclub,...
Tyner was a part of John Coltrane’s seminal 1960s quartet, and his distinctive, clean and percussive sound on acoustic piano was an influence on everyone who followed him. Even Coltrane acknowledged his force when he said, “He’s sort of the one who gives me wings and lets me take off from the ground from time to time.”
Born in Philadelphia in 1938 as Alfred McCoy Tyner, he began taking piano lessons at 13. His mother bought him his first piano, setting it up in her beauty shop. Tyner later studied at the Granoff School of Music, and began playing professionally at age 16 with a rhythm & blues band. In 1957, he met saxophone legend John Coltrane at a Philadelphia nightclub,...
- 3/6/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
When Ginger Baker was a teenager, his life was transformed in two lasting ways. While at a party around age 15, he was encouraged to sit down at a drum kit and play; classmates had noticed he would drum on his desktop and thought he’d be good at it. Before long he had given up dreams of being a pilot or a championship bicyclist for a musician’s life. Around the same time, he belatedly read a letter his late father, a bricklayer who had died in World War II,...
- 10/12/2019
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Tony Sokol Jun 6, 2019
New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack conjured the best mojo in Dr. John the Night Tripper.
"They call me Dr. John, The Night Tripper," New Orleans voodoo pianist Mac Rebennack sang on the 1969 song "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya." With his sizzling Gris-Gris his hand, he lived and breathed New Orleans. The last of the best, Dr. John the Night Tripper, died of a heart attack "toward the break of day" on Thursday, June 6, according to the New York Times. Like Leon Redbone, who died last week, there is some dispute over Dr. John's age, various reports have him listed as 77 or 78.
"The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time," a statement from the musician's family said. They did not say where he died, though he reportedly was resting at his Lake Pontchartrain area home, not too far from New Orleans.
New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack conjured the best mojo in Dr. John the Night Tripper.
"They call me Dr. John, The Night Tripper," New Orleans voodoo pianist Mac Rebennack sang on the 1969 song "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya." With his sizzling Gris-Gris his hand, he lived and breathed New Orleans. The last of the best, Dr. John the Night Tripper, died of a heart attack "toward the break of day" on Thursday, June 6, according to the New York Times. Like Leon Redbone, who died last week, there is some dispute over Dr. John's age, various reports have him listed as 77 or 78.
"The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time," a statement from the musician's family said. They did not say where he died, though he reportedly was resting at his Lake Pontchartrain area home, not too far from New Orleans.
- 6/7/2019
- Den of Geek
Sophie Huber’s film, though sanctioned by the jazz record label, is no hagiography, interviewing key players and adding fantastic rostrum pictures of the era
This damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber pays tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. Co-founded in 1939 by German-Jewish immigrants Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, Blue Note became a home for artists such as Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter (the last two are interviewed here). The label also issued key work by Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet and John Coltrane among others who largely recorded elsewhere.
Although clearly officially sanctioned by the label’s current owners this doesn’t feel like a slick, bland exercise in self-promotion. Instead, Huber crafts a respectful, crisply told but depth-plumbing history of the label, drawing from original recordings, vintage audio of studio chatter,...
This damn-near immaculate music documentary by Swiss film-maker Sophie Huber pays tribute to Blue Note Records, the iconic label most associated with mid-20th-century bebop jazz. Co-founded in 1939 by German-Jewish immigrants Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, Blue Note became a home for artists such as Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter (the last two are interviewed here). The label also issued key work by Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet and John Coltrane among others who largely recorded elsewhere.
Although clearly officially sanctioned by the label’s current owners this doesn’t feel like a slick, bland exercise in self-promotion. Instead, Huber crafts a respectful, crisply told but depth-plumbing history of the label, drawing from original recordings, vintage audio of studio chatter,...
- 3/15/2019
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Emanon, a full-length graphic novel co-written by Wayne Shorter and included with his new album of the same name, tells the story of a “rogue philosopher” who travels between worlds, spreading a message of truth and empowerment. For much of his 60-plus-year career, Shorter has been on an analogous mission. The saxophonist-composer branched out from era-defining jazz groups with Art Blakey and Miles Davis to create a legacy of innovative, genre-blurring work, on his own and in collaboration with everyone from Joni Mitchell to Carlos Santana and Milton Nascimento. The...
- 9/14/2018
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Despite recently becoming fodder for comedians looking to slander what they see as a laughably pretentious aspect of American hipsterism, one of the great artforms ever to be fostered in these here United States is having a bit of a moment.
Jazz, ladies and gentlemen, is seeing a resurgence unlike any in music. Be it its ever growing influence within the world of hip-hop or acts like Thundercat drawing from worldwide influences to evolve their own form of jazz, jazz music proper is seeing its impact on mainstream pop culture expand exponentially with each release cycle. And that means it’s time for some history lessons, folks.
With a documentary about John Coltrane arriving later on in April, a lesser known juggernaut of the jazz music scene is about to get his due. The focal point of director Kasper Collins’ newest film entitled I Called Him Morgan, jazz legend Lee Morgan...
Jazz, ladies and gentlemen, is seeing a resurgence unlike any in music. Be it its ever growing influence within the world of hip-hop or acts like Thundercat drawing from worldwide influences to evolve their own form of jazz, jazz music proper is seeing its impact on mainstream pop culture expand exponentially with each release cycle. And that means it’s time for some history lessons, folks.
With a documentary about John Coltrane arriving later on in April, a lesser known juggernaut of the jazz music scene is about to get his due. The focal point of director Kasper Collins’ newest film entitled I Called Him Morgan, jazz legend Lee Morgan...
- 4/3/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.
So we’re going to try something different this week, because the Weekend Warrior has been getting a little long in the tooth, and we’re worried that our busy readers may prefer shorter and more concise pieces. We’ll give this a try over the next few weeks and maybe I’ll write a little more when there’s a bigger movie opening.
How Will Power Rangers and Two Other Movies Fare Against Disney’s Beauty and the Beast?
This past weekend, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast reigned supreme with nearly $175 million--over $20 million more than my prediction (ouch!)--and even with a substantial drop this weekend, it’s unlikely that any of the three new movies will be able to...
So we’re going to try something different this week, because the Weekend Warrior has been getting a little long in the tooth, and we’re worried that our busy readers may prefer shorter and more concise pieces. We’ll give this a try over the next few weeks and maybe I’ll write a little more when there’s a bigger movie opening.
How Will Power Rangers and Two Other Movies Fare Against Disney’s Beauty and the Beast?
This past weekend, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast reigned supreme with nearly $175 million--over $20 million more than my prediction (ouch!)--and even with a substantial drop this weekend, it’s unlikely that any of the three new movies will be able to...
- 3/23/2017
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
This story originally appeared on travelandleisure.com
At this point, it’s become cliche to say that a city plays a character in certain films. But, then again, not every film spends as much time running around a city as La La Land.
The hit movie, which has already been nominated for over 140 awards, just tied the record for most Oscar noms in a single year with 14 at this year’s ceremony. The movie nabbed a Best Picture nomination and stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were both nominated in the lead acting categories.
And the film dedicates as much...
At this point, it’s become cliche to say that a city plays a character in certain films. But, then again, not every film spends as much time running around a city as La La Land.
The hit movie, which has already been nominated for over 140 awards, just tied the record for most Oscar noms in a single year with 14 at this year’s ceremony. The movie nabbed a Best Picture nomination and stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were both nominated in the lead acting categories.
And the film dedicates as much...
- 1/24/2017
- by Mackenzie Schmidt
- PEOPLE.com
The one-season wonder is a fairly well known phenomenon in America. Whether it befalls a now-classic like Freaks & Geeks or a cult oddity like Rubicon, a show getting cut down before its time is the source of countless reunion, anniversary, or appreciation articles. Succinct rarely applies in the current media climate. When something is a success, businesses hunger for more, often stretching mini-series into multiple seasons. When something is a failure, it’s cut loose. But other countries subscribe more readily to the short and sweet mentality, and that can account for some of the best TV there is.
Kids on the Slope is an anime that ran from April to July 2012 in Japan. It has since found distribution in the Us, in the form of streaming services (the anime-centric app Crunchyroll) and home video. The show only ran for twelve episodes, but managed to create characters as easy to...
Kids on the Slope is an anime that ran from April to July 2012 in Japan. It has since found distribution in the Us, in the form of streaming services (the anime-centric app Crunchyroll) and home video. The show only ran for twelve episodes, but managed to create characters as easy to...
- 3/16/2015
- by Josh Oakley
- SoundOnSight
Chris Rock’s Top Five hits theatres this Friday and it’s as much a film about the history of hip hop as it is about the nature of comedy.
The film made a huge splash at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival for netting a $12.5-million distribution rights deal with Paramount, a pact that was largely floated by electric audience response. What helped evoke that response was the natural dialogue.
Top Five is very much a movie about people hanging around, talking nonsense. However, in between old stories and filthy jokes, one current – or one question, rather – runs through the entire film and helps give the film its title: Who are your all-time Hip Hop Top Five?
This is not a “top five” in the Nick Hornby sense, as in: “What are your top five hip hop songs about New York?” Instead, it’s a basketball question that...
The film made a huge splash at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival for netting a $12.5-million distribution rights deal with Paramount, a pact that was largely floated by electric audience response. What helped evoke that response was the natural dialogue.
Top Five is very much a movie about people hanging around, talking nonsense. However, in between old stories and filthy jokes, one current – or one question, rather – runs through the entire film and helps give the film its title: Who are your all-time Hip Hop Top Five?
This is not a “top five” in the Nick Hornby sense, as in: “What are your top five hip hop songs about New York?” Instead, it’s a basketball question that...
- 12/8/2014
- by Shane McNeil
- Cineplex
“Rhythm is everything in cinema,” says director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Making the unique choice for the Birdman soundtrack, Iñárritu went with an almost total drum score by four-time Grammy Award winner Antonio Sanchez.
Sanchez is considered by many critics and musicians alike to be one of the most prominent drummers, bandleaders and composers of his generation.
Sanchez will open the 2014 Hollywood Music in Media Awards with a special drum performance from Birdman. Held at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday, November 4, Sanchez will play his critically acclaimed drum score live to a scene from the film.
Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career,...
Making the unique choice for the Birdman soundtrack, Iñárritu went with an almost total drum score by four-time Grammy Award winner Antonio Sanchez.
Sanchez is considered by many critics and musicians alike to be one of the most prominent drummers, bandleaders and composers of his generation.
Sanchez will open the 2014 Hollywood Music in Media Awards with a special drum performance from Birdman. Held at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday, November 4, Sanchez will play his critically acclaimed drum score live to a scene from the film.
Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career,...
- 10/23/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Bradley Rubenstein: I first encountered your work in the late eighties. I remember a painting of yours called Hunters that was quite memorable. It had the impact of something iconic, like an Eqyptian stele or a Barnett Newman piece. The work that you have done in the last several decades has continued to have that effect, in my opinion, and I have enjoyed following along on your trip through painting. Let’s go back, though, for a minute and fill in some of your history. You live and work in Chicago. Where did you study before then?
Wesley Kimler: Alright, well, I left home when I was fourteen years old (and actually if you look on Facebook I posted a bunch of stuff). I grew up in the old South of Market area of San Francisco, living in derelict single-room-occupancy hotels down there.
I didn't go to high...
Wesley Kimler: Alright, well, I left home when I was fourteen years old (and actually if you look on Facebook I posted a bunch of stuff). I grew up in the old South of Market area of San Francisco, living in derelict single-room-occupancy hotels down there.
I didn't go to high...
- 6/8/2014
- by bradleyrubenstein
- www.culturecatch.com
“Cathy’s Clown,” from The Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival's antiwar anthem “Fortunate Son” and Heart Like a Wheel, from newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Linda Ronstadt, have been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Albums by U2 (The Joshua Tree), Isaac Hayes (Theme From Shaft) and Art Blakey (A Night at Birdland) and music from Celia Cruz, Bing Crosby, Elmore James, Buck Owens, The Louvin Brothers, Louis Jordan and Jeff Buckley also can be found among the latest batch of 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” recordings to be preserved, it was announced today. The selections bring
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- 4/2/2014
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In these exclusive extracts from his classy memoir, the Anchorman opens his head and shares his biggest memories
Ron on myths about his hair
1. My hair is called Andros Papanakas. It is not. I have no name for my hair.
2. My hair was bestowed upon me by the gods. This one is hard to dispel. It would have been just like Zeus to make such a gift, or Hermes, but even though I have called on these two gods many times I have never been told specifically by either one that I was given my hair, so I have to say no to the gift-from-the-gods theory.
3. My hair is insured by Lloyd's of London for $1,000. Nope! It's fifteen hundred, thank you.
4. My hair won't talk to my moustache. This is basically true but I would hardly call that a myth.
5. My hair starred in the movie Logan's Run. It was...
Ron on myths about his hair
1. My hair is called Andros Papanakas. It is not. I have no name for my hair.
2. My hair was bestowed upon me by the gods. This one is hard to dispel. It would have been just like Zeus to make such a gift, or Hermes, but even though I have called on these two gods many times I have never been told specifically by either one that I was given my hair, so I have to say no to the gift-from-the-gods theory.
3. My hair is insured by Lloyd's of London for $1,000. Nope! It's fifteen hundred, thank you.
4. My hair won't talk to my moustache. This is basically true but I would hardly call that a myth.
5. My hair starred in the movie Logan's Run. It was...
- 11/11/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Jazz TeeVee will give you the latest in the jazz world on FilmOn. The channel will give viewers all the cool news from the jazz scene, including performances, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage from vintage and current bands. Art Blakey, Al Dimeola, the Yellowjackets, Robben Ford and more–all can be seen on Jazz TeeVee. Coming up on Jazz TeeVee is the Joe Lovano Nonet Paris Concert. At 3:03 pm Et, you’ll be able to see tenor saxophone legend Joe Lovano perform with technical aplomb. Here’s more about the concert: “Tenor saxophone great Joe Lovano plays with a balance of imaginative abandon and technical control that has not been heard since John [ Read More ]
The post Jazz TeeVee Gives Jazz Fans The Inside Scoop on FilmOn appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Jazz TeeVee Gives Jazz Fans The Inside Scoop on FilmOn appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/16/2013
- by monique
- ShockYa
★★★☆☆ The very fact that rockumentary Beware of Mr. Baker (2012) exists at all is solely down to director Jay Bulger's strange passion for the irate and ferociously talented flame-haired drummer Ginger Baker. Not that the musician doesn't deserve his own documentary, but it was both brave and insightful of Bulger to choose the fledgling Baker as a subject, dust him down and reintroduce the man to a world that had almost forgotten he existed. Last year's critically acclaimed Searching for Sugar Man (2012) also trod a similar path, but if Rodriguez is a softly-spoken, peace-loving messianic figure, then Baker is the Antichrist.
Some may see only a bitter and acid-tongued musical monster, who spends the majority of the film seemingly wishing Bulger would put him back under the rock he found him under. Undoubtedly a master of his instrument, Baker grew up in South London during the blitz, lost his father...
Some may see only a bitter and acid-tongued musical monster, who spends the majority of the film seemingly wishing Bulger would put him back under the rock he found him under. Undoubtedly a master of his instrument, Baker grew up in South London during the blitz, lost his father...
- 7/23/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Legendary jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd died earlier this week at the age of 80, but news of his death was only just confirmed.
Amoeba reports that Byrd's nephew, Alex Bugnon, confirmed via Facebook that his uncle died on Feb. 4, adding that for an unexplained reason other family members were trying to keep the news of his death private.
"I have no more patience for this unnecessary shroud of secrecy placed over his death by certain members of his immediate family," wrote Bugnon.
Byrd was born in Detroit in 1932, and was already an accomplished trumpeter by the time he finished high school. He later went on to play in a military band during his term in the United States Air Force, and then obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music.
His career began when he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers,...
Amoeba reports that Byrd's nephew, Alex Bugnon, confirmed via Facebook that his uncle died on Feb. 4, adding that for an unexplained reason other family members were trying to keep the news of his death private.
"I have no more patience for this unnecessary shroud of secrecy placed over his death by certain members of his immediate family," wrote Bugnon.
Byrd was born in Detroit in 1932, and was already an accomplished trumpeter by the time he finished high school. He later went on to play in a military band during his term in the United States Air Force, and then obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music.
His career began when he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers,...
- 2/7/2013
- by Stephanie Marcus
- Huffington Post
Don Cheadle has been developing a biopic of jazz legend Miles Davis for some time, but director George Tilman Jr might just have got the jump on him: he's now attached to a different Davis project, with the involvement of Davis' own son Gregory.Miles Davis was a trumpeter and band leader, and a central figure in jazz music for decades. As well as being a key figure of the age himself, he worked with everyone else you've ever heard of, including greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey and John Coltrane, and was right in the middle of practically every scene - bebop, cool, fusion - that emerged between the 1940s and 1970s. He won Grammy awards in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and one for Lifetime Achievement in 1990. He died, aged 65, in 1991.The new film, tentatively titled Miles, is based on Dark Magus: The Jekyll And Hyde Life Of Miles Davis,...
- 11/11/2011
- EmpireOnline
For some folks, American Idol is a jaunty little TV show that provides a fine distraction every Wednesday and Thursday night from January to May. For others, it’s a 365-day-a-year obsession that’s yielded dozens of album downloads and a terrifying number of iTunes spins that we would rather not begin to count. Since I fall into the latter category, I’m not ashamed to admit that I spend an inordinate amount of time pondering the post-Idol careers of my favorite former contestants — seriously, folks, it’s time you checked out Aloha Misho’s Badd Ep on iTunes,...
- 7/30/2011
- by Michael Slezak
- TVLine.com
Filed under: Reality-Free, TV Replay
While the Internet continues to rumble with rumors that 'American Idol' (Thu., 8Pm Et on Fox) contestants Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams are more than just friends, the two of them showed real sparks of chemistry on Thursday night's results show.
Paired for a duet, they dusted off a track from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The song had them both 'Moanin'' and scatting and staring deep into one another's eyes as the music appeared to transport them both someplace else entirely.
It was as if we were witness to a private session between the two of them, and easily one of the strongest performances either one of them had ever given on the show. Definitely, it was a more confident vocal than they gave on their respective songs the night before.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments...
While the Internet continues to rumble with rumors that 'American Idol' (Thu., 8Pm Et on Fox) contestants Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams are more than just friends, the two of them showed real sparks of chemistry on Thursday night's results show.
Paired for a duet, they dusted off a track from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The song had them both 'Moanin'' and scatting and staring deep into one another's eyes as the music appeared to transport them both someplace else entirely.
It was as if we were witness to a private session between the two of them, and easily one of the strongest performances either one of them had ever given on the show. Definitely, it was a more confident vocal than they gave on their respective songs the night before.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments...
- 4/15/2011
- by Jason Hughes
- Aol TV.
Twenty-eight Puerto Rican musicians were awarded scholarships at the closing ceremony of Berklee in Puerto Rico, a weeklong workshop held at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Carolina, in conjunction with the Puerto Rico Heineken JazzFest.Four students received full tuition awards to Berklee's Five-Week Summer Performance Program; 16 students received partial scholarships for full-time study at Berklee in Boston; 5 students won Berkleemusic.com free online courses; and 3 students won one semester of study at Conservatorio de Belles Artes del Caribe in San Juan. 179 students, ranging in age from 12 to 34, participated in this year's workshops.Over $3 million in tuition assistance has been awarded in the 15 years of the Berklee in Puerto Rico program.
A group of the program's top students played for thousands of people at the Puerto Rico Heineken JazzFest, at the Tito Puente Amphitheater, in San Juan, on the final day of the festival. Following the performance, Berklee presented...
A group of the program's top students played for thousands of people at the Puerto Rico Heineken JazzFest, at the Tito Puente Amphitheater, in San Juan, on the final day of the festival. Following the performance, Berklee presented...
- 6/18/2010
- I Am Entertainment Magazine
Legendary jazz photographer Herman Leonard, now 86, shot virtually every giant of the genre—from Louis Armstrong and Art Blakey to Miles Davis and Lena Horne— in his trademark high-res, lush-light style. A vibrant new exhibition at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center (on display through February 14) showcases Leonard’s incomparable lens, as evidenced in this accompanying review by V.F.’s editor of creative development and this up-tempo slide show.
- 1/12/2010
- Vanity Fair
Summer is almost officially here, and the Ottawa International Jazz Festival is less than two weeks away (June 25 - July 5). There aren't many better ways to spend a warm summer evening than sitting outside and listening to some live jazz.
This week's Youtube picks feature a couple of the greats: Miles Davis's soundtrack to the 1958 Louis Malle film "Ascenseur pour l'echaffaud" (Elevator to the Gallows); and the legendary drummer Art Blakey and his group, The Jazz Messengers, [...]...
This week's Youtube picks feature a couple of the greats: Miles Davis's soundtrack to the 1958 Louis Malle film "Ascenseur pour l'echaffaud" (Elevator to the Gallows); and the legendary drummer Art Blakey and his group, The Jazz Messengers, [...]...
- 6/15/2009
- by brendan.blom@gmail.com
- CultureMagazine.ca
Considered among jazz aficionados as one of the pioneers in "America's Only Original Art Form," trumpeter Freddy Hubbard passed away Monday in Los Angeles' Sherman Oaks Hospital, at the age of 70.According to a Hubbard obituary appearing in the La Times, the Grammy winning musician, "was capable of quickly grasping the subtleties as well as the specific elements of a startlingly wide range of stylistic areas, from the hard bop of his work with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, to the most avant-garde music of the decade."Hubbard can be seen here, during a 1975 appearance for jazz magazine "Down Beat," performing his song "Straight Li ...
- 12/31/2008
- by By Actress Archives
World premiering at the Playboy Jazz Film Festival and opening Friday at Laemmle's Monica, Jean Bach's excellent documentary illuminates the history and lasting legacy of a "magic moment" in 1958 -- when "Esquire"'s Art Kane photographed 60 of jazz music's "big dogs" one summer morning in Harlem.
A treat for jazz aficionados and a dandy historical jam session for the curious, "A Great Day in Harlem" combines recent interviews with those subjects in the photo still alive, liberal use of the famous black-and-white still and others taken by Kane that day, home movie footage shot by Mona and Milt Hinton, and great film clips of performances to support the verbal storytelling.
Starting with Kane's account of how the photograph came about, with support from then-Esquire art director Robert Benton, Bach weaves together the memories of the late Dizzy Gillespie plus Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer and many others -- including Taft Jordan Jr., one of the now-grown boys seated on the curb with Count Basie -- and thoroughly recounts the events of the "Great Day".
Amazingly, it was Kane's first pro gig as a photog and the early-morning session resembled a social gathering until everything came together just right. Controlling the group was "near impossible" and Kane used a rolled-up newspaper as a megaphone. His assistant did not even know how to load film.
But the moment is undeniably powerful, as the group stands on the steps of a 125th Street tenement and sidewalk with locals looking on. The mood seems casual and the composition unpretentious, evoking but not overstating the subjects' "hard life surrendered to art."
Bach and co-writers Susan Peehl and Matthew Seig wisely follow the leads of their talkative subjects. Stories about those in the photo no longer among the living are both laudatory and personal.
The soundtrack is heavenly and supports Art Blakey's conclusion that these jazz greats were "literary figures," using drums, trombones, trumpets and saxophones to imaginatively capture the experience of living.
A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM
A Jean Bach Production
Flo-Bert Ltd.
New York Foundation for the Arts
Producer Jean Bach
Co-producer Matthew Seig
Writers Jean Bach, Susan Peehl, Matthew Seig
Director of photography Steve Petropoulos
Editor Susan Peehl
Narrator Quincy Jones
With Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Marian McPartland, Mona Hinton, Robert Benton, Horace Silver, Art Blakey
Color/Stereo
Running time -- 60 minutes
No MPAA Rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
A treat for jazz aficionados and a dandy historical jam session for the curious, "A Great Day in Harlem" combines recent interviews with those subjects in the photo still alive, liberal use of the famous black-and-white still and others taken by Kane that day, home movie footage shot by Mona and Milt Hinton, and great film clips of performances to support the verbal storytelling.
Starting with Kane's account of how the photograph came about, with support from then-Esquire art director Robert Benton, Bach weaves together the memories of the late Dizzy Gillespie plus Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer and many others -- including Taft Jordan Jr., one of the now-grown boys seated on the curb with Count Basie -- and thoroughly recounts the events of the "Great Day".
Amazingly, it was Kane's first pro gig as a photog and the early-morning session resembled a social gathering until everything came together just right. Controlling the group was "near impossible" and Kane used a rolled-up newspaper as a megaphone. His assistant did not even know how to load film.
But the moment is undeniably powerful, as the group stands on the steps of a 125th Street tenement and sidewalk with locals looking on. The mood seems casual and the composition unpretentious, evoking but not overstating the subjects' "hard life surrendered to art."
Bach and co-writers Susan Peehl and Matthew Seig wisely follow the leads of their talkative subjects. Stories about those in the photo no longer among the living are both laudatory and personal.
The soundtrack is heavenly and supports Art Blakey's conclusion that these jazz greats were "literary figures," using drums, trombones, trumpets and saxophones to imaginatively capture the experience of living.
A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM
A Jean Bach Production
Flo-Bert Ltd.
New York Foundation for the Arts
Producer Jean Bach
Co-producer Matthew Seig
Writers Jean Bach, Susan Peehl, Matthew Seig
Director of photography Steve Petropoulos
Editor Susan Peehl
Narrator Quincy Jones
With Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Marian McPartland, Mona Hinton, Robert Benton, Horace Silver, Art Blakey
Color/Stereo
Running time -- 60 minutes
No MPAA Rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 9/28/1994
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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