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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The $3M Music Man

The article didn't state explicitly, but I'm sure jazz & the blues were well represented

February 22, 2008
Record Collection Fetches $3M on EBay

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:59 a.m. ET

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A man says he can now retire because someone bought his
massive record collection on eBay for the asking price -- $3 million.

A buyer from Ireland agreed to shell out $3,002,150 for the collection of
nearly 3 million vinyl albums, singles and CDs, owner Paul Mawhinney said
Thursday.

The winning bidder has already deposited $300,000, and a bank has confirmed
that he has enough money to buy the collection, Mawhinney said.

The price tag is one of the highest recorded by eBay Inc., said Karen Bard,
a spokeswoman for the online auctioneer. A Gulfstream II jet once sold for
$4.9 million, she said.

On Thursday, the 68-year-old Mawhinney closed Record Rama, which opened in
Ross Township in 1968. He said he wants to spend time with his wife, three
children and five grandchildren.

''I am legally blind. I had a couple of strokes a few years ago ... and it's
time at my age to think about doing something else with my life,'' he said.

The collection includes more than 1 million albums, 1.5 million singles and
300,000 CDs, Mawhinney said.

------

On the Net:

Monday, February 25, 2008

#350 - Riffin This Week

RIFFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 25/2/08 AT NEWSTALK 93FM, AT 8.35PM



STREAMING LIVE AT WWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM



MONDAY; Chic Corea and Gary Burton, recreate a new Crystal Silence, involving the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and their magical interplay.



TUESDAY: Benin’s master musician Lionel Loueke, plays his own music, and features on, bass player Massimo Bicolati’s new album. Trinidadian percussionist and composer, Ralph MacDonald, presents some “homegrown” sounds.


WEDNESDAY: A revsit with one of the best albums of 2007, “Sky Blue “ by arranger, composer, Mari Schneider.


THURSDAY: A treasure trove of singers, mainly female, but with some males voices added for good measure.


FRIDAY: “ Honeydripper”, the jumping 50’s blues soundtrack from the film of the same name starring, Danny Glover.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Butler's Gonna Do It

CHRISTOPHER'S JAZZ BAR AND MAURICE GORDON
presents:

HAROLD BUTLER TRIO
Live at

CHRISTOPHERS JAZZ BAR

on
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 26th, 2008

at 7:30 p.m.
@

CHRISTOPHERS JAZZ BAR
in
THE QUAD
New Kingston

Contribution : $400
featuring:
HAROLD BUTLER : piano
MAURICE GORDON : bass guitar
Chris Tyrell: drums

Monday, February 18, 2008

Fresh from the Green and more

RIFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 18/2/08 AT NEWSTALK 93FM, AT 8.35PM


STREAMING LIVE AT WWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM


MONDAY: Fresh from “ Jazz On The Green”, some of the talent that appeared on the show, Kathy Brown, Sisaundra Lewis, Phlillip Martin and Rohan Reid.


TUESDAY: Brazilian pianist and singer,Eliane Elias, plays and sings Bill Evans, whose impressionist piano styling influenced Elias and countless other pianists.


WEDNESDAY: “Big Band sounds and sweet romance, created by a large orchestra of 22 players who recreate magic moments with classic songs.


THURSDAY: Pianist and bandleader, Eddie Palmieri returns to his Perfecta Sound, while Cuban violinist, Pedro Alfonso, bridges a world of pop and latin.


FRIDAY: The insider , outsider Marley, Kymani, released a new album in 2007 called “Radio”, and got a big break touring with the Van Halen Reunion tour, that brought his music to a larger audience than most reggae artists.

On the Green '08

Jazz on the Green '08 lived up to its billing musically if not exactly on the technical side. My review (don't worry, haven't forgotten baout Bammie ROse at Christopher's & Shang Hai)
MUSICAL TREATS FOR EARLY BIRDS & LATE BLOOMERS


A feature of the annual Jazz on the Green concert staged by the Rotary Club of Spanish Town is that parking radiates outward (usually upward) from the event's Cherry Gardens location, on a first-come basis. Thus, those who arrive too far outside the scheduled start time find themselves struggling for space closer to the foothills and awaiting the very pleasant shuttle bus down to the venue.
Such was the fate of this writer on Sunday (February 17) and consequently we arrived with keyboardist Dr Kathy Brown's set close to its 'dismount'. Still, we were fortunate to hear her usual robust and joyful treatments of Mongo's Afro-Blue (popularised by the late John Coltrane long before current titan Joshua Redman took it up), and her own Latin Groove, which left space for an extended percussion romp by Denver Smith.
The Jamaica Big Band, under the leadership of the venerable Sonny Bradshaw (foregoing his own trumpet, but surrendering nothing in the way of passion or timing) preceded their signature Take The A-Train with a stirring rendition of the National Anthem that may well have left the ears of some of the establishment ringing back in 1962, as it probably did even on this occasion. A Night In Tunisia signalled dancer-percussionist Ouida Lewis to get her tap shoes on, and despite the fact that the sound was never equal to her, tapped out an engaging variation on the song's theme.
But the hour belonged, as it so often does, to Myrna Hague. Whether on well-travelled standards like My Funny Valentine or more obscure tunes, she exemplified the 'fine wine' adage, sounding better than this writer has heard in quite a while, and that's saying much.
After a stirring all-percussion set by a corp that included former Edna Manley College faculty Kayode Siyanbola, drummer-poet-improviser Mbala and beat master Maroghini among others, Jamaican-born, US-resident Orville Hammond took the stage and gave the audience a rare and welcome exposition of the keyboard-bass-drums trio (Dale Haslam and Desi Jones filled out the rhythm section), reeling off some sparkling runs.
By this time, some of the early birds in the audience had decided that they'd had their fill of musical (and culinary) treats and numbers began to thin. This was a pity, as the husband and wife team of bassist Rohan Reid and singer Sisaundra gave a short yet scintillating set that began with an appropriately smoldering reading of Anita Baker's Been So Long and ended with a sassy, bouncy take on Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody. In addition to her spouse's Stanley Clark-like pyrotechnics on bass guitar, the songstress was more than ably supported by the fiery alto sax player Phillip Martin, hitherto an unknown quantity to the Jazz on the Green Faithful, but assuredly his name was made on this occasion and we confidently anticipate a return engagement for the young reed player.
Alas, this writer was unable to witness the night's final act, a band out of Canada, as we joined the ever-growing line of patrons streaming out of the venue and into the waiting shuttle.
The Spanish town Rotary may have to find ways of bringing the show to an earlier end, including speeding up band changes. Lorraine Fung's catering was of the usual excellent standard, and there was scarcely a morsel left long before the close of the evening. As alluded to before, the sound was unworthy of the performances, an uncharacteristic situation which needs to be remedied for 2009.
All in all, there was high entertainment value for early bird and late bloomer alike, and Jazz on the Green retains its cachet as the preferred uptown instrumental lyme.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Byard: A Day in the Life

In addition to being a great reed player, Byard Lancaster is one of the most fertile minds (music, business, history, politics etc) and most generous spirits I have ever met.
The l9nk isto a web TV service called blip tv (www.phillyjazz.blip.tv/#659674) and shows how he makes his mark on music, on his home city of Philadelphia and on the wider world.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Rose blooms twice

Saxist Michael 'Bammie' Rose followed up a sterling date at the Shang Hai restaurant last mOnday with a spirited session at the weekly Tuesday Night Showcase at
Christopher's Jazz Cafe last night.
Look out for full review tomorrow.

And watch for exciting developments at a new venue.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Monty Slautes 'Lords of the Windies'

CARIBBEAN MUSIC SET TO MAKE SPLASH ON BROADWAY

New York: The Lincoln Center, located on Broadway at 60th St., New York City is set to roll out the red carpet on March 7 and 8, 2008 for Jamaican born Jazz pianist Monty Alexander who has organized a special tribute concert billed, "Lords of the West Indies," to honor the 1950s royalty of Jamaican mento music and Trinidadian calypso. The event, which will be part of Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2007-2008 concert season, will take place in the Allen Room at Frederick P Rose Hall in two sets, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. each night.

"Lords of the West Indies" will present mento, the Jamaican folk music and calypso, the Trinidadian popular music, back to back in an evening that will draw on the enormous cultural legacy and pride of these two great countries. The concerts will feature international caliber players from Jamaica and Trinidad, and from the jazz world. The musicians will present the respective music forms in the spirit of great artists like Trinidadians Lord Kitchener and the Mighty Sparrow, and Jamaicans Lord Flea, Alerth Bedasse, and Harry Belafonte.

"It is always a special treat to perform for music lovers here in New York, the entertainment capital of the world. I am even more excited given that I will be shearing the spotlight with other Caribbean Jazz greats" Alexander said.

Joining Monty on stage will be Pluto Shervington (guitar and vocals), Dean Fraser (alto sax), Desi Jones (drums/percussion), Hassan Shakur (bass), Herlin Riley (drums), Carlton James a.k.a. "Blackie" (banjo and vocals), David "Happy" Williams (acoustic bass/vocals), Etienne Charles (trumpet), Charles Dougherty (sax), "Designer" (vocals), Clifton Anderson (trombone), Joseph Bennett (shaker and vocals) and Albert Morgan (rumba box).

In a career that spans more than four decades, Alexander has performed and/or recorded with musical talents like Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare and many more. Apart from being the best musician he can be, Alexander's most important objective – whether his vehicle is reggae or jazz or soul, small combo or symphony – is to express the joy of music to all within earshot, regardless of prevailing differences in taste or culture.

"My goal is to uplift," says Alexander. "The piano, to me, is a vehicle for connecting to other human beings. I'm very open to all forms of music. I'm not a bebop musician, I'm not a calypso musician, I'm not a reggae musician. I'm a musician who loves it."

Riffin' This Week

JB's former saxman, Burning Spear, the Cohen Jazz family and more this week on Riffin'

RIFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 11/2/08 AT NEWSTALK 93FM AT 8.35PM


STREAMING LIVE AT WWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM



MONDAY: “ WATINA”, meaning “I Called Out”, is the acclaimed album by Andy Palacio of the Garifuna Collective of Belize, Honduras. Palacio, died suddenly early this year, and “Riffin” celebrates his music.


TUESDAY: Three Israeli artists, a sister, Anat Cohen, and her two brothers, Avishai and Yuval, recorded a brilliant album of deftly interwoven straight ahead music.

WEDNESDAY: Saxman, Maceo Parker, gets to live his dream of recording a tribute to Ray Charles, backed by the swinging, WDR Big Band of Germany.


THURSDAY: “ Quiet Kenny”, finds underated, trumpeter, Kenny Dorham, in fine form , and in a variety of moods.

FRIDAY: Burning Spear, long considered the voice of roots reggae around the world, has formed his own label, and retained control of his music in a new album called, “The Burning Spear Experience”. Is Lovers Rock, romantic reggae, finding a new audience?.

Friday, February 08, 2008

'Bammie' & the "Butler' for Christopher's

They're not scheduled for the same night, but saxophonist Michael'Bammie' Rose
and pianist Harold Butler are among the headliners for February at the Tuesday
Night Music showcase at Christopher's Jazz Cafe in New kIngston

The month opened with blues/pop chanteuse Robin Banks turning in a typically scintillating performance.

On Feb 12, Bammie Rose makes his Christopher's debut, bringing the experience of having performed withthe likes of Paul Simon, Steel Pulse and the Jaz Jamaica All-Stars

Come Feb 19, Canada native Peter Dent koins with the Wide Grin group (including Jeremy Ashbourne and Loren Couch)


Butler - who was to have performed in January - will close out February in the company of guitar master Maurice Gordon.

Showtimes are 7:30 each night. Cover is J$400. Tips to the musicians are encouraged.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Riffin' this week

Missed Monday night's session (but with very good reason - see review tomorrow)Great lineup the rest of the week

RIFFIN’S RUNDOWN FOR WEEK 4/2/08 AT NEWSTALK93FM@8.35PM



STREAMING LIVE AT WWW.NEWSTALK.COM.JM


MONDAY: The historic collaboration between Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, opens with a straight faced rendition of the hymm, “Abide With Me”


TUESDAY: Nina Simone sings. Interpreting songs, as only she could, punctuated by her classical piano accompaniment.

WENESDAY: Song stylist, Michael Franks, makes a “Rendezvous in Rio”, and Mark Murphy inhabits some select songs.


THURSDAY: French guitarist, Christian Ecoude, retains some of Django Rheinhardt gypsy “feel”, while Brazilian guitarist, Ricardo Silveira, is in his zone.


FRIDAY: King Pleasure’s jazz rap, is not far removed from Guru’s Jazzmatazz, “Back To The Future”

Jazz &Blues goes 'U-Tube'

JazzVision is the first videosharing site dedicated solely to Jazz videos and Blues videos. Signing up is free, and you can put as many Jazz videos and Blues videos as you would like from classic jazz videos to jazz comedy videos, jazz lessons, jazz video epks, and whatever your imagination comes up with! We welcome your feedback and suggestions, as we continue to finesse and build JazzVision to be your 1st destination for Jazz videos on the web

tv.jazzcorner.com