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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: jazz

jazz stories: 21 news summaries

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 Beach Boy Wilson to 
 Complete Gershwin Songs 

Project a 'weird dream come true' for fans of 2 seminal American composers

Oct 8, 09 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Beach Boys songster Brian Wilson will put a gloss on unfinished tunes by revered Jazz Age composer George Gershwin. Gershwin’s estate tells the Los Angeles Times that dozens of fragments, from “a few bars to some almost finished songs and everything in between,” have been in... More »

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entertainment • classical music • composer • jazz • Brian Wilson • estate • Beach Boys • popular music • songwriter • George Gershwin • unfinished

 New Orleans Clinic Gives 
 Jazz Musicians Free Care 

Volunteer doctors eagerly treat musical idols

Aug 30, 09 5:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - One New Orleans couple is so passionate about jazz that they give musicians free or low-cost health care, NBC News reports. The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic, founded 11 years ago, tries “to prevent death by lifestyle" for low-paid musicians who can’t afford treatment, says one founder. "We... More »

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health care • music • New Orleans • Louisiana • jazz • musician • clinic • Jay-ZTV

(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 “... More »

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entertainment • music • jazz • Miles Davis • Charlie Parker • John Coltrane • Bill Evans • Cannonball Adderley • Kind of Blue • bebop • modal

obituary

 Jazz Pioneer 
 George Russell  
 Dead at 86 

His theory influenced Miles Davis, John Coltrane

Jul 28, 09 11:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jazz innovator George Russell died at 86 yesterday in Boston of Alzheimer’s complications, the Globe reports. Russell developed a jazz theory that played a key role on landmark records like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. Russell’s theory “gives you a... More »

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entertainment • music • obituary • jazz • Miles Davis • Herbie Hancock • Jay-ZTV • John Coltrane • George Russell • Dizzie Gillespie

OPINION

 1959: The Apex of Jazz 


Jul 20, 09 12:36 PM CDT
(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... More »

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entertainment • music • jazz • Miles Davis • Charlie Parker • album • Dizzy Gillespie • recording • Jay-ZTV • Charles Mingus • John Coltrane • Ornette Coleman • Dave Brubeck

OPINION

 Black Music Month Still Matters 

Young musicians' education is priceless

Jun 18, 09 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Black Music Month, also known as June, used to celebrate visionaries like Duke Ellington and Billie Holliday. “In an age in which Auto-Tune and ringtone hits dominate, should we even be celebrating Black Music Month?” asks Erin Evans in The Root. “The answer, of course, is yes.”... More »

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music • jazz • hip-hop • rap music • Jay-ZTV • Black Music Month

OBITUARY

 Hoops Star Wayman 
 Tisdale Dead at 44 


May 15, 09 11:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - College basketball Hall of Famer Wayman Tisdale died today at 44, ESPN reports. Tisdale was diagnosed with bone cancer last year, and his right leg was amputated. The 6-foot-9 forward was an All-American all 3 years at Oklahoma, and went on to spend 12 years in the NBA. He was... More »

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NBA • Phoenix Suns • Indiana Pacers • Sacramento Kings • Oklahoma Sooners • Hall of Fame • Oklahoma • jazz • University of Oklahoma • college basketball • Jay-ZTV • Wayman Tisdale • bass guitar

 White House Jams 
 to Spoken Word 

Theater, jazz, poetry collide in East Room event

May 13, 09 9:33 AM CDT
(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... More »

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entertainment • music • theater • Michelle Obama • poetry • jazz • William Shakespeare • President Obama • Michael Chabon • Jay-ZTV • poetry slam • James Earl Jones • spoken word

analysis

 Few Blacks Followed 
 Anderson's Lead 


Apr 6, 09 5:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Marian Anderson shattered a racial barrier when she sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939—70 years ago this week—yet despite planned tributes, the power of the moment has faded, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Most young people know nothing of Anderson, and "black... More »

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African Americans • classical music • opera • jazz • black women

 Jazz Great 
 Ellington 
 Will Grace 
 DC Quarter 

Capital honors native son with commemorative coin

Feb 24, 09 6:07 AM CST
(Newser) - Late jazz legend Duke Ellington has been chosen to appear on the District of Columbia's commemorative quarter, CNN reports. The composer and performer, a DC native who died in 1975, beat out abolitionist Frederick Douglass and surveyor and astronomer Benjamin Banneker in a vote of the capital's residents. Ellington becomes... More »

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African Americans • Washington DC • quarters • jazz • coins • US Mint • commemorative coin

 Jazz Great
 Dearie Dead at 82 

Blossom Dearie dead at 82

Feb 9, 09 6:39 AM CST
(Newser) - Blossom Dearie, whose career as a jazz and cabaret singer spanned six decades, died peacefully in her sleep at her Greenwich village apartment over the weekend. She was 82. Dearie continued performing until 2006, and her last public appearance was at the now-defunct Danny's Skylight Room, reports the New York ... More »

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obituary • jazz • Andrew Lloyd Webber • cabaret • Blossom Dearie • Annie Ross

glossies

 Kind of Blue 
 Still the Gold 
 Standard at 50 

Topselling jazz album helped redefine American music

Jan 31, 09 5:27 PM CST
(Newser) - Fifty years to the day since its debut, Miles Davis’ signature album Kind of Blue remains beautiful and inviting—"like meeting an old friend," Malcolm Jones writes in Newsweek. The record helped jazz earn its title as America’s classical music and remains the bestselling jazz album ever.... More »

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music • jazz • musician • Miles Davis • blues

 Jazz Icon Hubbard Dead at 70 


Dec 29, 08 9:02 PM CST
(Newser) - Grammy-winning jazz giant Freddie Hubbard died today in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a month after having a heart attack, the AP reports. He was 70. Revered among trumpet players, Hubbard collaborated with legends like John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins as he established a blazing, hard-bop style that influenced a generation. "... More »

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music • obituary • jazz • Wynton Marsalis

Glossies

 Eastwood's 
 First Love: 
 Jazz Piano 

Love, not practice, evinced in movies and performance

Dec 15, 08 3:09 PM CST
(Newser) - Growing up, Clint Eastwood had an affinity for piano but no money for lessons. He nurtured his passion for jazz throughout his life, Nick Tosches writes in Vanity Fair, and has written music for almost every picture he’s directed, including the theme for his recent Gran Torino. But, Eastwood... More »

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Clint Eastwood • jazz • blues • movies • Carnegie Hall • rhythm and blues

Bird Lives! And He Does It in Fanatic Detail

NY radio jock keeps jazz boppin', stumps die-hard know-it-alls

May 17, 08 6:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - A white guy from Queens may be our best link to a music rooted in black history. Phil Schapp grew up in a home full of jazz, and has hosted a radio show obsessed with the music's minutiae for decades, the New Yorker reports. He's liable to digress on Charlie... More »

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music • radio • New York City • jazz • Charlie Parker • Phil Schaap • Dizzy Gillespie

 Jazzman Giuffre Dead at 86 

Adventurous instrumentalist and composer Jimmy Giuffre was a '50s jazz hero

Apr 26, 08 6:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - The iconoclastic clarinetist and composer Jimmy Giuffre died Thursday, two days before what would have been his 87th birthday, the New York Times reports. The Texas-born jazz legend's 50-year career took him from big-band hits with Woody Herman to minimalist trios, with a stint playing in mess halls as a... More »

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music • obituary • jazz • musician • saxophone

Corinne Bailey Rae's Husband Found Dead

Saxophone player
died from suspected drug overdose at 31

Mar 24, 08 7:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - The husband of British soul singer Corinne Bailey Rae has been found dead from a suspected drug overdose at his home in the UK. Jason Rae, 31, a saxophone player, is said to have struggled with drug abuse for years, according to Britain's Daily Mail. His band, the Haggis Horns,... More »

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drug addiction • celebrity • overdose • jazz • Amy Winehouse • saxophone • Corinne Bailey Rae • Jason Rae • West Yorkshire Police • Haggis Horns • Put Your Records On

Oscar Peterson Dies at 82

Jazz virtuoso known for quickness at the keyboard

Dec 24, 07 2:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson died last night at his home near Toronto from kidney failure, CBC News reports. He was 82. The Canadian musician made hundreds of recordings, won seven Grammys, and played alongside greats like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Ella Fitzgerald. "The world has lost the... More »

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music • Canada • obituary • jazz • musician • Oscar Peterson • piano • Toronto • Montreal • Charlie Parker • Ella Fitzgerald • Louis Armstrong

Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75

Keyboardist defended 'electric jazz' against purists

Sep 11, 07 7:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Joe Zawinul, the keyboardist who plugged America into "Electric Jazz" in the 1970s, has died at age 75. Best known for playing jazz-rock fusion with Miles Davis and starting up Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Zawinul defended his electric sound against jazz purists. "There is no difference between... More »

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obituary • Austria • jazz • musician • Vienna • Joe Zawinul • Miles Davis • Wayne Shorter • electric • Maynard Ferguson • Dinah Washington • Cannonball Adderly

Musicians March Silently Through New Orleans

Post-Katrina hard times in the Big Easy threaten legendary jazz scene

Aug 27, 07 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - The battered post-Katrina economy drove jazz musicians into the streets of New Orleans yesterday, holding instruments silent at their sides in what they termed a “solidarity march.” Ninety percent of city musicians were living at or below the poverty line even before the hurricane, the Times-Picayune reports, and... More »

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music • Hurricane Katrina • New Orleans • jazz • musician • solidarity march • Katrina aftermath

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