an blog | AJBlog Central | Contact me | Advertise | Follow me:
You are here: Home / 2011 / Archives for July 2011

UNESCO names pianist Herbie Hancock “goodwill ambassador”

July 25, 2011 by
herbieh

Pianist Herbie Hancock has been appointed a "goodwill ambassador" by UNESCO. The 71-year-old multiple Grammy winner, Chicago-born child prodigy, Miles Davis' keyboards man ushering open-form improvisation, electronic instruments and studio procedures into the past half-century of jazz-based music and talent scout with global interests joins an international coterie that currently includes Nelson Mandela, Pierre Cardin, Claudia Cardinale, Forest Whitaker, Jean Michel Jarre and royal personages from Belgium, Jordan, Morocco and Thailand. A … [Read more...]

07/25/11 3:46 PM | filed under: main, Uncategorized | |

Free funk electric bassist gets $60k Pew Fellowship

July 24, 2011 by
jt

Jamaaladeen Tacuma, free-funk electric bass virtuoso, protege of Ornette Coleman and one of the dancingest musicians on the planet, has been named one of 12 Philadelphia artists receiving $60,000 fellowships from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. Two other musicians are also 2011 Pew fellows: electronic music improviser Charles Cohen and exploratory folk/rock/goth guitarist Chris Forsyth. The Pew's level of financial support is comparable to the Herb Alpert Award ($75k) though not as much as the MacArthur Fellows Program ($500k over … [Read more...]

07/24/11 5:44 PM | filed under: main | |

Beyond music in the waters off the City

July 14, 2011 by
city lights

Take a night-time jazz cruise with saxophonist Avram Fefer, guitarist Joe Cohn and rhythm in New York Harbor on Wednesday nights for respite from NYC - I detail it and other unusual musical staycations for July in my new City Arts New York column. If you've got 10 minutes, check out my dark video of Avram and Joe's quartet and the Statue of Liberty. howardmandel.com This weekend it's into (across) the Harbor again, for an electronic music lecture/dem, car-less biking and ocean breezes on Governor's Island. Or listening to a favorite … [Read more...]

07/14/11 1:06 PM | filed under: main | |

House Appropriations Committee to NEA: Keep Jazz Masters

July 12, 2011 by
house

The National Endowment for the Arts has been directed by the US House Appropriations Committee in its report to Interior  to continue the American Jazz Masters Fellowships and dump its proposed American Artists of the Year honors. The report also supports continuation of the NEA's National Heritage Fellowships program (but not its Opera Honors) and recommends a 2012 NEA budget $19.6 million less than it got in 2011, $11.2 million below what the NEA asked for. "The Committee does not support the budget request proposal to eliminate the … [Read more...]

07/12/11 10:28 PM | filed under: main | |

Urban Realism and Treme

July 5, 2011 by
md_horiz

"Life is glorious and vibrant and joyous at points, but it is essentially tragic. That's not a unique David Simon perspective." So sayeth David Simon, (pictured left; right is a Mardi Gras Indian portrayed by Clarke Peters), executive producer with Eric Overmyer of Treme, in a long interview on Salon conducted by Matt Zolar Seitz.  The HBO series about New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which ended its second season last Sunday night, is unique as a musical drama for its grounding of psychologically acute and entertaining … [Read more...]

07/5/11 1:29 PM | filed under: main | |

Hurray for Treme

July 4, 2011 by
khandi alexander

"Do Watcha Wanna," the season finale of Treme, had everything I watch the series for: Compelling characters embodied by terrific actors; plausible and suspenseful quick-cutting across and interweaving of plot strands;confident command of realities afflicting post-Katrina/pre-Gulf oil spill New Orleans, andthe extraordinary depiction of living, breathing, hugely enjoyable music as a central factor in peoples' lives, whether or not they're professionally involved. … [Read more...]

07/4/11 2:11 PM | filed under: main | |

Symphonic “jazz” compositions, big bands and holiday blasts

July 3, 2011 by

The American Composers Orchestra readings of short symphonic works by jazz-oriented composers which I wrote of in my CityArts column and posted about here are now available to hear, thanks to Lara Pelligrinelli at NPR's A Blog Supreme. The 23rd annual BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra concert, featuring "New Works for Big Band" and the naming (not yet publicized) of the winner of the 11th Annual Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize. I'm looking for a third item regarding really large scale opportunities for jazz composers (and listeners), … [Read more...]

07/3/11 10:37 AM | filed under: main | |

an ArtsJournal blog