Music News Net

DANIEL LANOIS Admits He's Lucky to Be Alive

MUSIC NEWS - Musician / producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan) admits he's lucky to be alive after his motorcycle accident last month.  In the mishap, he broke six bones, cracked his pelvis and suffered internal bleeding in his right lung following the wreck in Los Angeles.

"I was on my bike with a friend of mine on the back and a guy coming the other way decided to turn in front of me into a variety store," he recently said to Rolling Stone.   "I veered to miss him, but I hit an industrial box on the sidewalk going 35 miles per hour. I blacked out and when I came to I was laying on my back in the parking lot and people were telling me, 'Don't move.' Then they hauled me away to a hospital and I had to lay there like a vegetable for three weeks."

Al Jarreau Hospitalized in France

MUSIC NEWS - Jazz singer Al Jarreau, 70, is in intensive care in a French hospital Friday after experiencing breathing difficulties that has resulted in the cancellation of at least four of his concerts.

He became ill prior to show on Thursday at a jazz festival in the French mountain town of Barcelonnette and was taken to an intensive care unit in Gap, the hospital said Friday.  Jarreau's British talent agent has the Grammy winning singer  "became weak from the altitude" in Barcelonnette, which is in the southern Alps.  "Upon medical advice, (he) was advised not to perform to allow him time to recover," Marshall Arts Ltd said in a statement, noting Mr Jarreau hopes to resume his tour next Thursday.

NPR Music To Broadcast & Webcast Newport Festivals

MUSIC NEWS - NPR Music, along with six partner radio stations around the USA, has announced plans to exclusively carry live webcasting and broadcast dozens of performances from George Wein's Newport Folk Festival and CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival, to give you four days of music by some of the country's most acclaimed artists.  NPR Music and WFUV New York City (90.7 FM), FolkAlley.com (WKSU) Kent, Ohio, and mvyradio in Martha's Vineyard and Newport are covering many acts from the Folk Festival on July 31 and August 1. Performances airing will include The Avett Brothers, Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Justin Townes Earle and more.  From the Jazz Festival on August 7 and 8, NPR Music with WBGO Newark, WGBH Boston and WICN New England are broadcasting and webcasting line-ups from three stages, with potential sets from Jamie Cullum, Chick Corea Freedom Band, Ahmad Jamal and Wynton Marsalis (final artists tbd).

Al DiMeola and the World Sinfonia Continue World Tour

MUSIC NEWS- Al Di Meola and the international acoustic sextet World Sinfonia have drawn rave reviews on their current world tour (full itinerary below) and stop by NYC for some special shows at the Highline Ballroom on Friday, June 25th. The sets on this tour highlight songs from Di Meola's well-known repertoire alongside select electric performances that will showcase never-before-performed songs from the forthcoming studio album.

Di Meola, who was voted Best Jazz Guitarist by Guitar Player readers an amazing 11 times; more often than any other guitarist, will once again show off his "impressive stylistic range" (NY Times), delivering, as the Hartford Courant said of a show earlier this year, "impassioned, intricate tunes that wedded jazz, rock and folk traditions."

Watch a live performance of "Gumbiero" by Al Di Meola and World Sinfonia below:

Newport Jazz and Folk Fest 2010 Tix Available

MUSIC NEWS - Organizers have announced today that General Admission tickets (priced at $50) will be available for the 2010 Newport Folk Festival  (July 30 - August 1) and the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival (August 6 - 8) , starting on March 12, at the Newport Visitor Information Center (NVIC) in Rhode Island.

Beginning March 12 at 10 am, Adult General Admission tickets to concerts at Fort Adams State Park, regularly priced at $69, will be available for $50 to those fans who go in person to the Newport Visitor Information Center, located at 23 America's Cup Avenue in Newport.  Children's tickets, (ages 3 - 15) are $15; admission for children under 3 is free. And, there are no service charges on tickets purchased in person at the NVIC.

UPDATE 3/25/10 - News on the 2010 Folk Festival line up .

UPDATE 4/15/10 - Organizers announced today that the sale of General Admission tickets specially priced at $50 for the 2010 Newport Folk Festival (July 30 - August 1) and the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival (August 6 - 8) will be extended through April 30 at the Newport Visitor Information Center (NVIC).  Take advantage of this great deal!

Drummer LENNY WHITE Returns With New Album, ANOMALY

MUSIC NEWS - After 2008's worldwide reunion tour with Return To Forever and then separate trio tours in 2009 with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke and pianist Hiromi with Clarke, Lenny White worked up the steam to put out his own recording, his first as a leader in ten years. And now, we get word that on Anomaly, (out May 18, 2010 via Abstract Logix) the pioneering jazz-rock drummer returns to his roots that characterized the early 70s fusion movement.
 
"We need to restart a revolution so that we can take back the music and stop the fluff," says White. "I'm hoping that this new album is a representation of that ideal."

MY MORNING JACKET Sets Spring Shows with Presevation Hall Jazz Band

MUSIC NEWS - For the first time in almost a year Indie rockers MY MORNING JACKET announced a return to the road for a short run of spring dates with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band opening.  The rock five piece start up in Birmingham, AL on April 20 and continue with shows in eight cities through the Southeast USA. The current itineray (below) ends on May 2 in Columbus, OH.

MMJ's Jim James worked with PHJB in 2009  at New Orleans' legendary Preservation Hall, recording two tracks for the band's upcoming release, "Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program" (order below) which is due to be released on February 12.  James recently said;

"When I got the invitation to go to the legendary Preservation Hall--where so much of the music we now know and love on this earth found its early roots--I did not waste a minute," James explained in a press release. "Getting to sing while the guys played with such glorious bursts of sound--all live in that holy room with the ghosts and garbage trucks crankin' along--was an experience I'll never forget."

New York and Newport Jazz Fests Confirmed for 2010

MUSIC NEWS- With the 2009 jazz festival series behind us,  CareFusion and Jazz Impresario George Wein today announced details about the CareFusion Jazz Festival New York and dates for the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival. Though no word out yet on Wein's Newport Folk Festival for 2010.

 

"CareFusion's continued sponsorship of jazz, including the long-standing event in Newport and now bringing back the festival in New York, is nothing short of a miracle," said George Wein, world-famous jazz impresario and founder of the Newport Jazz Festival. "Since 1972, fans have been enjoying this celebration of artistic excellence. With CareFusion's exemplary support for the arts, it reinforces how companies are tying education and community engagement into their business practices."

Pat Metheny' New ORCHESTRION - Album, Tour and New Video

MUSIC NEWS - Grammy Award-winner (17 times !) Pat Metheny dives into new new territory with his new project, Orchestrion and news of album’s January 26 release (via Nonesuch Records; out March 9 on vinyl) and extensive North American solo tour from the genre-shattering guitarist/composer (full itineray below).

Orchestrion is said to bring a musical idea from the late 19th and early 20th centuries—a large mechanical multi-instrument device that utilizes actual orchestral instruments of various types, called an “orchestrion”—to the technologies of today. Metheny’s concept includes a large ensemble of acoustic instruments—including several pianos, drum kit, marimbas, “guitar-bots,” dozens of percussion instruments and even cabinets of carefully tuned bottles. With Metheny’s guitar and compositional mind, five new original pieces showcase the instruments as they are struck, plucked, and played via the technology of solenoid switches and pneumatics. Metheny was at work for months with a brilliant team of scientists and engineers to develop and assemble the “New Orchestrion” for this project.

HEATHER GREENE's New "Moon Hangs Fire", Listen

MUSIC NEWS - Singer-songwriter and Scotch whiskey expert Heather Greene has offered us the chance to stream her latest single, “Moon Hangs Fire”. Check it out, below, and you'll agree that the smoothness of the tune equals some of the finest Scotch we've enjoyed.  Heather continues to display a sultry, yet innocent voice delivered with mellowed surprise.

 

The single comes from Greene’s latest release, “Sweet Otherwise,” out now on Paved Earth Records.  If you're near NYC, you should know that Greene will play at Joe’s Pub in on December 8. Come out, start getting into the holiday spirit and hear what the Boston Globe called “songs that evoke the defiant, giddy energy of musicians associated with John Hughesmovies.”

 

More @ MySpace.com/HeatherGreene

Moon Hangs Fire - Heather Greene

NORAH JONES is "Chasing Pirates", Video Premiere

MUSIC NEWS - Norah Jones’ premiered her new video for “Chasing Pirates”, her single off of her upcoming new album, Chasing Pirates !  Filmed in Norah’s hometown of NYC, the video was directed by Rich Lee (Fergie, Michael Buble) who worked on the visual effects for all three Pirates of the Carribbean movies.  “Chasing Pirates” will begin to air on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown on October 31.  Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video. 

 “Chasing Pirates” is her lead single off Norah’s upcoming album The Fall, which will be released on  November 17. via EMI / Blue Note Records.   The Fall fhas Jones experimenting with a new set of collaborators, including Jacquire King, a noted producer and engineer who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and Modest Mouse among others. Jones enlisted several songwriting collaborators, including Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff, as well as her frequent partner Jesse Harris. King also helped Jones put together a new group of musicians to perform on the album, including drummers Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.) and James Gadson (Bill Withers), keyboardist James Poyser (Erykah Badu, Al Green), and guitarists Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello) and Smokey Hormel (Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer). 

Watch the new video, here and give Chasing Pirates a listen .

UPDATE 11/2/09 -  NPR Music now presents a full, free advance stream of the new album at NPR.org.

"ONE" More Time for Michael Buble...

MUSIC NEWS - Michael Bublé’s fans have showered him with “Crazy Love” for his new CD (out via Reprise Records) as it remained at the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart for the 2nd week in a row.  “Crazy Love,” Bublé’s first release in two and a half years, follows on his previous # 1 album, “Call Me Irresponsible.”  The current CD also remains at the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Top Traditional Jazz Albums.  Internationally, “Crazy Love” stays at No. 1 in Canada and Australia for the second week in a row and debuts at No. 1 in Italy and Ireland and No. 2 in the UK.

 

Catch Michael on the Rachael Ray Show (October 28)and ABC’s Dancing With the Stars (November 10).

LEE RITENOUR Announces SIX STRING THEORY Guitar Contest

     MUSIC NEWS - Guitar legend, Lee Ritenour has just announced THE YAMAHA SIX STRING THEORY GUITAR COMPETITION.

 The competition, based on the vision of guitar icon Lee "Captain Fingers" Ritenour, will culminate with the spring/summer 2010 album, SIX STRING THEORY, on Concord Records.  The talented grand prize winner will be featured as a special guest on the album with legendary superstar guitarists, who along with Ritenour now include: George Benson, BB King, Steve Lukather and John Scofield;  additional artists being announced shortly.