Jazz Pioneer George Russell Dead at 86

(NEWSER) - 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of jazz’s best year jazz ever, Martin Johnson writes for the Root. 1959 saw canonical discs from genre royalty: “Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out and two by Charles Mingus, Blues and Roots and Ah-Um.” This was the era, Johnson writes, “when commercial success and artistic inspiration merged.” More»

(NEWSER) - In 1959, Miles Davis was looking to forge a path away from the bebop spearheaded by mentor Charlie Parker, Fred Kaplan writes on Slate. “Parker not only invented bebop, he perfected it,” Kaplan continues, leaving Davis nowhere else to go. So when Davis was introduced to so-called “modal” jazz—with the emphasis on free experimentation with scales and away from rigid chord structures—he jumped at it. “Man, if Bird was alive, this would kill him,” Davis said. More»

Theater, jazz, poetry collide in East Room event

(NEWSER) - Spoken word, jazz, and theater took the White House by storm last night in what has been called the first presidential poetry jam, the Washington Post reports. “We're here to celebrate the power of words,” President Obama said, adding that his wife is his poet. The jam, Michelle Obama said, was something she had wanted to do “from day one.” More»

Heavy metal legend also fronted Rainbow, Heaven & Hell

(NEWSER) - Ronnie James Dio, the legendary heavy metal singer who replaced Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath's frontman, died today. He was 61 or 67, according to the LA Times , and suffered from stomach cancer. "Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away," his wife, Wendy, said in a statement. "Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all." More»

Captured Hendrix, Dylan, Joplin, many more

(NEWSER) - Jim Marshall, whose iconic photography captured many of the stars of rock and roll’s 1960s heyday, died in his sleep last night at 74, Rolling Stone reports; cause of death is still unknown. Marshall shot everyone from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis to the Beatles, Janis Joplin to the Rolling Stones; images from his collection can be seen here . More»