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| THIRD AWARD FOR DENNIS ROLLINS |
| On Monday 9 October, trombonist Dennis Rollins picked up his third award of the year. Following on from his BBC Jazz Award for Best Band and his Marston¹s Pedigree British Jazz Award, Dennis' Rhythms of Fire project won the 2006 Arts & Kids Award, part of the regional Arts & Business Awards. Arts & Business is a national charity dedicated to encouraging new and sustainable arts and business relationships. |
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Rhythms of Fire was a commission from Doncaster¹s first annual HotHouse Festival and involved 180 children from Doncaster primary schools working with Liverpudlian poet Levi Tafari to produce an anthology of poems on the theme of 'hot'. The poems were then used by Dennis to inspire a suite of compositions.
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| 25 August 2006 TRUMPETER MAYNARD FERGUSON DIES |
Following a historic run at New York’s Birdland last month trumpeter, flugelhornist, valve trombonist and bandleader Maynard Ferguson died late last night in Canada, from kidney failure resulting from an intestinal infection.
Born in Verdun (part of Montreal), Canada 4 May 1928, as a child he studied piano and violin. |
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Taking up the trumpet at nine, he was a member in his teens of dance bands led by Stan Wood Roland David, and Johnny Holmes (his older brother Percy, a baritone saxophonist, also played for Holmes) and studied 1943-8 at the CMM. Ferguson was heard frequently on CBC radio and on one occasion played a “Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz” written for him by Morris Davis. While leading his own band in the Montreal area and in Toronto during the mid-1940s Ferguson came to the attention of US bandleaders. As Paul Bley recalled (Montreal Gazette, 28 Oct 1978), “Maynard would always open the show, and he played three octaves higher on trumpet than anyone else ... you ought to have seen the jaws drop on the visiting musicians.”
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POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
SELLABAND - THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? |
August 1st 2006 could just be a red letter day for the struggling music industry, as a new website is launched that aims to put musicians and creativity first. As producer Adam Midgley of First Man Productions says, 'Sellaband is a major label's nightmare. An intelligent, forward thinking idea that has the potential to empower the independent artist like nothing before. Sellaband is the next step in the myspace generation's guerilla assault on the industry'.
How it actually works is very simple.
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| WAYNE SHORTER FOR THE LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL |
The line-up for this year’s London Jazz Festival is taking shape with the announcement that Wayne Shorter is returning to the capital with an all-star quartet. Other performers at the ten day event taking place throughout the city and which begins on the 10th November, include Latin jazz pianist Michel Camilo who joins flamenco guitar virtuoso Tomatito in their first London concert, iconic South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim in a solo acoustic concert and E.S.T who will launch their new album Tuesday Wonderland in a one off double bill with Polar Bear.
The Festival brochure will be published in September but you can keep up with the latest developments by logging on to www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk
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2007 LONDON INTERNATIONAL JAZZ COMPETITON
FOR VOCALISTS ANNOUNCED |
Following the success of this year’s event, won by Mon David of the Philippines, the 2007 competition will take place between 4th and 7th of March. 107 competitors from 25 countries entered the 2006 competition with six making the finals.
The preliminary audition will be by professional or demo CD, followed by the semi-final on the 4th and final on the 7th at The Cadogan Hall in London. The first prize will be a cash prize and engagements at selected UK venues. Minimum age for applicants is 18 on 1st February 2007 and the entry deadline is 30th September.
View further information and entry details
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| MAJOR JAZZ ARCHIVE REMAINS IN THE UK |
A major collection of early and rare jazz recordings, compiled by one of the great jazz figures of our time, has been saved from the auction house thanks to the determination of his widow and of a group of jazz lovers. Sebastian Scotney, administrator of the jazz audience development trust JazzDev, explains what happened.
Perhaps the most significant collection of early recorded jazz in the world, the life time's work of musician and recording technician John R T Davies - known as Ristic, a childhood nickname - is now safely in York University's Borthwick Institute for Archives, two years after his death. Chris Webb, Keeper of Archives at the Borthwick says: "It's a fantastic collection, not just for its size, but also stunning quality and range".
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| 2006 BBC JAZZ AWARDS ANNOUNCED |
The BBC Jazz Awards were announced at a ceremony in London on 13th July at which Lifetime Awards were also presented to Quincy Jones and Ian Carr.
BEST VOCALIST - Clare Teal
Long overdue recognition for Clare Teal, who made her recording debut in 2001. Since then her instantly recognizable tone and unique take on The Great American Songbook, coupled with finely crafted writing skills, have established her as one of the UK's leading jazz performers. Signed to Sony last year in a record breaking deal for a jazz artist, Teal will release her second album for the label later this year.
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| GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER ARIF MARDIN DIES |
June 26, 2006, New York - Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin died on Sunday evening at the age of 74, after a protracted fight against pancreatic cancer.
Arif Mardin became co-General Manager of EMI Music's Manhattan record label in 2001. During his tenure he was instrumental in achieving multiple Grammy Awards for Norah Jones' Come Away With Me which also earned him a Grammy for producer of the year, a Grammy in 2004 for producing Dianne Reeves' album A Little Moonlight and Grammy for Norah Jones' Feels Like Home. His last recording project for Manhattan Records was Raul Midon’s State of Mind, which he co-produced with his son, Joe.
At various times throughout a long and influential career, Mardin produced music for such artists as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Phil Collins, Jewel, The Average White Band, The Rascals, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, The Bee Gees, Dusty Springfield, Chaka Khan and Donny Hathaway, as well as several jazz albums and original cast recordings for movie soundtrack albums.
Bruce Lundvall, President of EMI Jazz & Classics, said: “He was equally prominent as a composer and an arranger. Arif, in my opinion, was one of the greatest music men in the history of our business and the finest gentleman I've ever worked with. He inspired the entire Blue Note, Angel, Manhattan staff with his humour, his counsel and his great enthusiasm for artists and music. He honoured us and his legacy will continue to inspire us in the days and years to come.”
Arif is survived by his wife Latife, son Joe and daughters Julie and Nazan. The funeral service was held in Istanbul.
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| 2006 BBC JAZZ AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED |
The 2006 BBC Jazz Awards will be held on 17th July and will feature Quincy Jones, Jools Holland and Jamie Cullum. The immense contribution to jazz made by the veteran Jones will be recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Jazz Award and Ian Carr will be similarly acknowledged with the Services To Jazz In The UK Award.
This year’s nominations include:
Radio 2 Jazz Artist of the Year:
Jools Holland
Georgie Fame
Elaine Delmar
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| 2006 JAZZ JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION AWARDS WINNERS |
Here is an interesting demonstration of where jazz in the USA is today.
Lifetime Achievement in Jazz
- Roy Haynes
Musician of the Year
- Sonny Rollins
Up & Coming Musician of the Year
- Dafnis Prieto
Jazz Album of the Year
- Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane, Carnegie Hall 1957 (Blue Note)
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| DUNE’S IRONS HONOURED BY THE QUEEN |
Janine Irons, co-founder and managing director of Dune Music has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
The award is in recognition of Janine’s work and commitment over the last decade in developing a number of award winning jazz artists and two companies that have been major players in jazz recording, live performance and music education.
Along with partner and bassist Gary Crosby she has established Dune Records as one of Europe’s leading independent labels and as artist manager she has achieved significant success with over 20 awards for Dune artists since 1997, including two MOBO awards, two Mercury Music Prize albums of the year and several BBC Radio Jazz awards as well as international prizes.
2007 marks Dune Records 10th anniversary and various special events are planned throughout the year. Dune’s roster of award winning artists include Tomorrow’s Warriors, The Jazz Jamaica All Stars, bassist Gary Crosby, saxophonists Denys Baptiste and Soweto Kinch, trumpeter Abram Wilson, pianist Andrew McCormack and vocalist Julia Roberts.
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6th JUNE 2006
R & B Great Billy Preston dies at 59 |
Keyboardist and vocalist Billy Preston died today at the age of 59, after a long battle against chronic kidney failure. According to his long-time manager, Joyce Moore, he had been in a coma since last November and was in a care facility until last Saturday, when he was taken to a Scottsdale hospital after his condition deteriorated. Preston had received a kidney transplant in 2002 but the kidney had failed and he had been on dialysis ever since.
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Born in Houston, Texas in 1946, Billy Preston was a musical prodigy. His career began at the age of 10 when he played keyboards for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Two years later he portrayed a young W. C. Handy in the 1958 biopic "St. Louis Blues." He toured with mentors Ray Charles and Little Richard in the early 1960s before becoming one of the most sought after sidemen by the new generation of superstars (he played and recorded with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and his session credits included Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks, Aretha Franklin’s Young, Gifted And Black and Sly & The Family Stones’ There’s A Riot Going On, three of the most acclaimed albums of the last years) until his solo breakthrough in 1973, when he won a Grammy for “Outa Space” and went on to produce more hits with "Will It Go 'Round In Circles” and “Nothing From Nothing” as well as writing Joe Cocker's weeper "You Are So Beautiful."
Exposed to drugs and alcohol early on, Preston was dogged by personal problems in recent years. In 1992, he was given a suspended jail sentence but incarcerated for nine months at a drug rehabilitation center for his no-contest pleas to cocaine and assault charges. Five years later, he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating probation. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and agreed to testify against other defendants in an alleged scam that netted about $1 million.
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REVIEW
Neil Cowley Trio, Pizza Express Jazz Club, 5th June 2006 |
In the world of jazz, many are called but few are chosen. Well here’s a few.
Last night pianist Neil Cowley, bassist Richard Saddler and drummer Evan Jenkins introduced a packed house to a brilliant display of innovative, exciting and highly cohesive playing that had the audience sitting up like meercats throughout the performance and standing in appreciation at the end.
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Ostensibly there to promote their new album, Displaced, the trio played two sets consisting of a series of mesmerising Cowley compositions, characterised by intricately interchanging tempos and finely balanced sound shadings ranging from crescendoing wall of sound riffs to the delicately ethereal, imbued with a flowing spirit that belied the markedly tight and empathetic ensemble playing. Although none of the pieces had conventional solo spots each member, unusually for a trio, made a distinctive and recognisable contribution to the whole, both in individual virtuosity and sheer hard work.
The band have been compared to E.S.T and The Bad Plus but just to say that does them a disservice. Cowley’s writing has a coherence and sensibility that extends from the likes of Stan Tracey and Keith Jarrett as much as from his contemporaries but more than that it is a genuinely unique voice with something new to say, and one that will resonate with jazz enthusiasts of every persuasion. It is early days but these guys have the potential to change the face of British jazz. See them when you can.
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JAZZ HITS A WRONG NOTE IN ST LUCIA
By Christine Larbey of the St Lucia Star |
Police Commissioner Ausbert Regis. Will the higher-ups in the police force respond to this doctor’s claims?
A horrifying ordeal for a local medical doctor began the minute he and his wife, also a doctor, tried to leave the Mindoo Phillip Park after the official opening of this year’s jazz festival, held on Friday May 5.
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In an interview with the STAR on Thursday the doctor told this reporter, that his wife, a female colleague and another friend had gone to the park to enjoy the festivities. “We really enjoyed the show,” said the doctor. “It was fantastic. There were some great performances by the artists.”
However, things took a turn for the worst when the four tried to leave. “It was approximately 12:45am. We all proceeded to exit the field,” said the doctor. “I noticed the larger gates were not open. In the middle of the stands there is a small gate. We used this entrance when we came in. When we got to the small gate other people were also trying to get out. Two police officers were stationed at the entrance. One was dressed in an SSU camouflage uniform. The other was in plain clothes.
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BIG BILL BROONZY BOX SET FEATURES AMSTERDAM
Concerts from 1953
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Live recordings from the bluesman's artistic prime to be made available in the U.S. on Munich Records September 19.
Two CDs capturing live performances by Big Bill Broonzy will be released in the U.S. as a box set by Munich Records on September 19. |
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Featuring the long awaited recordings of two shows from February of 1953, Big Bill Broonzy: Amsterdam Live Concerts 1953 contains 25 songs and between-song storytelling, plus extensive liner notes about Broonzy's legacy and his little-known second life as a European, and dozens of previously unseen photos.
After an afternoon performance in Holland in 1953, Broonzy was taken to a pub in old Amsterdam. When he was asked to sing a few more songs he refused, to the surprise of his Dutch friends. When they asked for the reason, he explained that he was afraid he'd be arrested for being black. After it had been explained to him that there was no reason to fear that in the Netherlands, Bill played for over an hour.
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