Ben Butler is Our Candidate / Thomas Coates [sheet music]
Title > Ben Butler is Our Candidate
Composer > Coates, Thomas
Lyricist > Richards, Phillip
Place of Publication/Creation > Philadelphia
Publisher(s) > Worley Lithographers
Date issued > 1884
Physical Description > 14 x 10 3/4 in. ; 4 p.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Presidential Campaigne Songs
12th April: The Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra Easter Special!
one of the finiest Big Bands teeming with first-call players and appearing under the Musical Directorship of award winning band leader Pete Long.
Kikoe - Movie about Otomo Yoshihide in IndieLisboa'09
“This is a documentary with one main axis and that is: Otomo Yoshihide. It is an arbitrary but perfect gesture such as connecting stars and giving names to constellations.” This is how Kikoe's filmmaker sees the documentary he brought to live about one of the most relevant composers of contemporary improvised music: the japanese Yoshihide. It is a mirror on a free-thinker and a peculiar avant-garde of mind and spirit. Ground Zero has been one of his most known projects but at high school Yoshihide was already building his own electronic gadgets. Kikoe explores not only Otomo Yohihide concerts and interviews but also other great musicians such as John Zorn, DJ Spooky, Jan Svankmajer, Jonas Mekas, Adachi Masao, Jim O’Rourke, Keiji Haino, Bill Laswell and Fred Frith, among others.
www.indielisboa.com
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Ex-Centrum Jazz Port Townsend Artistic Director Bud Shank Dies at 82
PORT TOWNSEND -- Bud Shank, former artistic director of Centrum's Jazz Port Townsend program and a renowned alto jazz saxophonist whose career spanned 60 years, has died at his home in Tucson, Ariz.
He was 82.
Cause of death was listed as pulmonary failure.
While Shank had “some ongoing health issues," according to JazzTimes.com, the Web site said a few days before his death last Thursday he had been in San Diego, recording a new album.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
Born May 27, 1926, in Dayton, Ohio, Clifford Everett “Bud" Shank tried his hand at a variety of woodwinds before settling on the saxophone.
He attended college in North Carolina and worked with saxophonist Charlie Barnet before moving to California in the late 1940s, where he played with trumpeter Shorty Rogers and then pianist Stan Kenton.
He was one of the early stars of Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music band and was closely associated with the emergence of swinging “West Coast" jazz in the 1950s.
Working with guitarist Laurindo Almeida, Shank was also one of the first jazz musicians to explore Brazilian music.
In the late 1970s, a revitalized jazz scene saw Shank emerge with a new quartet, LA 4, which included guitarist Laurindo Almeida and bassist Ray Brown.
Always exploring new musical frontiers, Shank also played with India's star sitar-player Ravi Shankar, Japanese kotoist Kimio Eto and London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Shank cut a number of albums for the international music label World Pacific from the 1950s to the '70s.
In 2005 he formed the Bud Shank Big Band in Los Angeles.
He was scheduled to headline at the Tucson Jazz Society's spring series of concerts later this month.
He was honored in 2008 by the Tucson group and the Los Angeles Jazz Society with their lifetime achievement awards.
“Shank's cool but always strongly swinging sound has made him one of a handful of saxophone players with an instantly recognizable and always exciting sound," the Tucson Jazz Society said in its award citation.
“Bud Shank has more than earned his status as a legend."
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=33347
Ronnie Scott's, apr 09 to 11
For this visit to Ronnie’s, the jazz guitar great will be standing square in his favourite musical environment with the burnin’ B3 Hammond organ player Tony Monaco and propelled by drummer Louis Tsamous.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Jimmy Smith....
It is one of the classic injustices of the music business that credit is not always given where credit is due. The past few years have seen a huge resurgence in the popularity of the Hammond B3 organ. Artists like Medeski, Martin and Wood are now bringing the B3 back into the public eye especially to a younger audience. A mass of wood, pedals, stops and keys, the B3 is not an easy instrument to play but its sweet distinct sound is unmistakable. Not surprisingly, many listeners are unaware of the man who is truly the master of the B3: Jimmy Smith. Smith has not received the attention that his legacy and talents so richly deserve. Until now.
Dot Com Blues (Blue Thumb) is the new album by the supreme organist in music today. Featuring an all-star cast of supporting musicians including B.B. King, Etta James, Taj Mahal, Dr. John, and Keb Mo, Dot Com Blues proves that though Smith is often thought off as only a jazz organist, he can play the blues with the best of them, which he does literally on this album!
"When we speak about the Hammond B3," states Ron Goldstein, President of The Verve Music Group who worked closely with Smith on Dot Com Blues, "there is nobody better than Jimmy. Though the organ faded into obscurity for a while, now it's on everybody's records! I thought, 'why should the man who is the master remain in obscurity?' I figured the best way to swing the spotlight back around to Jimmy was to have him cut something outside of the jazz marketplace. Why not the blues?"
Goldstein brought in friend and producer John Porter, who has worked behind the boards with an eclectic range of musical acts, from The Smiths to The Go-Go's to John Lee Hooker & Eric Clapton. He's produced five GRAMMY -winning albums, and has also graced several breakthrough crossover blues albums; most notably Taj Mahal's acclaimed Phantom Blues and B.B. King's award-winning, all-star project, Deuces Wild. The result is an extra special, well-rounded, bluesy 11-song Jimmy Smith album that definitely stands up to his finest works.
Each and every track on Dot Com Blues sparkles with the spontaneity and chemistry that filled the studio. Gathering all this talent in the same recording studio was a rare feat. (Don Was and Bette Midler, who were cutting a record next door, stopped by just to watch.) A man of few words, Smith succinctly, but jokingly, described Etta as "fun," Taj as "crazy," and Dr. John as "a mess." With Smith on organ, Harvey Mason on drums, Verve labelmate Russell Malone on guitar, and Reggie McBride on bass, the core band sounds as if they've been playing together for years.
The album kicks off with "Only In It for the Money," featuring the inimitable Dr. John on vocals and piano. Smith opens the up-tempo shuffle with his trademark blazing organ licks. Next up is the organist's own tune, the funky instrumental "8 Counts for Rita," which has standout solos from Smith and Malone, along with the added flavor of Lenny Castro's percussion.
Taj Mahal delivers a scintillating performance on his composition "Strut." Comping tastefully behind Taj and Smith for most of the tune, Malone steps to the forefront for a searing solo that is one of the album's high points. Smith grabs the spotlight on the next track, the blues perennial "C.C. Rider."
In a true meeting of legends, Etta James offers up a smoldering vocal on Willie Dixon's "I Just Wanna Make Love To You," confirming that her vocal chords are clearly as strong as ever. Smith's spry playing on this track is ably assisted by the Texicali Horns and Was (Not Was) vocalists Sir Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson.
The tone of the album shifts wonderfully for the next track to Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo". While listening to playbacks during the session, Smith dozed off momentarily and when he awoke, he immediately corralled the other musicians (including the fabulous John Clayton on upright bass) back into the studio to cut a strong, spontaneous version of this standard.
Contemporary blues star Keb Mo, a longtime Smith fan, was thrilled to contribute his vocals and guitar licks to Smith's lowdown rendition of Keb's newly-penned "Over and Over." B.B. King was also happy to team up with Smith, and their collaboration, "Three O'Clock Blues," finds the old friends reuniting and proving why they are living legends.
The disc's title track, "Dot Com Blues," is inspired by Jimmy's observations on the troubles our high-tech world has created. It not only features classic Smith organ work, but another stand-out solo by Malone as well. This track is followed by the funky instrumental "Mr. Johnson" which again pairs Smith with Dr. John. The latter's influence is clear as the tune features a classic New Orleans vibe.
Dot Com Blues concludes, fittingly, with "Tuition Blues," a slow blues and showcase for Smith's peerless organ prowess; he's still capable of stunning listeners.
Switching into a blues gear in the new millenium, Smith makes the jump to the Verve Music Group's eclectic Blue Thumb label for this new record. By showcasing his enormous talents and including a few old friends, Jimmy Smith's Dot Com Blues should finally bring this master musician the recognition he deserves.
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