Events also include pre-concert conversation with 2009 NEA Jazz Masters Washington, DC - The National Endowment for the Arts will sponsor its annual NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony and Concert on October 17, 2008, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The event will begin at 8 p.m. in Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center at Broadway at 60th Street and feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in a program dedicated to the honorees' works. The concert also will include brief video biographies on each 2009 NEA Jazz Master...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Arne Domnerus, one of Sweden's most influential jazz musicians, has died. He was 83. The alto saxophonist and orchestra leader died Tuesday morning after a long period of illness, his son, Leif Domnerus, told The Associated Press. He said Domnerus had heart surgery last year, after which he suffered pneumonia and a brain hemorrhage...

Clea Bradford, 67, a versatile jazz singer who toured the Soviet Union with Earl "Fatha" Hines and recorded with Clark Terry in the 1960s, died Aug. 19 of complications from breast cancer at Holy Cross Hospital. She lived in Silver Spring. Ms. Bradford, who settled into a second career as a voice coach in the Washington area after two decades of touring, was not a big star but a "huge twinkle," as she once joked to The Washington Post, and was a favorite of critics. She performed locally in the 1970s and '80s, and reviewers found her compelling, noting her range, versatility and hornlike phrasing...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will pay tribute to the "father of the electric guitar" this fall. Les Paul will be honored at the annual American Music Masters series, a weeklong event that begins Nov. 10, Rock Hall officials said Tuesday. A tribute concert -- artists will be named later -- is scheduled Nov. 15 at Cleveland's State Theater...

Both Rebecca Martin and Kate McGarry are native New Englanders in their 40s, and both create exceptionally appealing blends of folk and jazz in their new albums. Yet thanks to their contrasting voices and arrangements, Ms. McGarry's "If Less Is More . . . Nothing Is Everything" (Palmetto) and Ms. Martin's "The Growing Season" (Sunnyside) take their listeners on divergent sonic paths. Ms. McGarry sings in a broad, bluesy soprano that dominates her sound. Ms. Martin sings in a slightly lower register with a touch of world weariness to her timbres; her arrangements locate her voice more within the context of her backing instrumentalists...

Westchester, NY -- The Westchester Jazz Orchestra has been called a "local" orchestra "in about the same way as, say, the New York or Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras are local." On Saturday, September 20, this world-class big band will begin their sixth season celebrating Hard Bop at 8 PM at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, 85 Main Street, Irvington, NY. Spearheaded by Horace Silver, Nat Adderley, Art Blakey and others, Hard Bop is a hard-driving and bluesy style that developed from bebop and returned a strong gospel influence to jazz. WBGO's Gary Walker is set to host the concert. Reserved seating is $35/$30 for seniors/ $5 for students and subscription discounts are available. WJO, 914-861-9100...

Will Google Chrome sink Firefox? Not exactly, according to Mozilla chief executive John Lilly. "More smart people thinking about ways to make the Web good for normal human beings is good, absolutely," Lilly wrote in a blog post. "Competition often results in innovation I'd expect that to continue now that Google has thrown their hat in the ring...

MySpace plans to launch a contest on Tuesday to market the latest in Walt Disney Co's blockbuster franchise "High School Musical 3" in what the News Corp Internet social network called its biggest film campaign to date. Disney is hoping to build interest in the third movie in its hit television films series, and the first to hit theaters, by tapping MySpace's estimated 76 million unique users as of July, according to comScore...

The Dead To Tour In 2009 Obama Benefit on October 13 The Dead Word on the Web is that the surviving fellas from The Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, guitarist Bob Weir, and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are getting back together to tour in April and May of 2009. There are no further details available at this time and no indication who will join the core four to complete the lineup. Past lineups of The Dead and The Other Ones have included Warren, Haynes, Steve Kimock, Mark Karan, Jimmy Herring, Susan Tedeschi, Joan Osborne, Jeff Chimenti and Rob Baracco amongst others...

By: Brian Bavosa Nicholas Payton For decades, jazz musicians have been viewed as "cool," "hip" or demonstrating an articulate, intellectual swagger that can be viewed as both polite as well as borderline taboo. New Orleans' own son, Nicholas Payton, can certainly be characterized by all of these adjectives, but also a few others all his own, especially on his Nonesuch Records debut, Into The Blue (released last April). Almost always dressed in sharp, exquisite suits, looking polite and playing in a style reminiscent of earlier jazz legends, ultimately Payton has a style and mood all his own...

By: Dennis Cook...

Words by: Adam Kaye | Images by: Scott Newton My Morning Jacket :: 08.25.08 :: KLRU Studios :: Austin, TX MMJ :: 08.25 :: ACL Taping :: Austin, TX In 2006, Louisville, Kentucky's My Morning Jacket joined an elite group of musicians when they taped their first appearance on the long-running public television program, Austin City Limits. A little over a week ago, they joined an even more elite group who have appeared on the show more than once...

Jazz St. Louis is looking for help with their information booth at this weekend's Art Fair. Their email newsletter says that volunteers "are urgently needed to staff the Jazz St. Louis booth during the Saint Louis Art Fair, held in the heart of Clayton September 5 through 7...Volunteers are needed f...

Via St. Louis Post-Dispatch pop music critic Kevin Johnson's blog The Blender, the news comes that the concert by trumpeter Chris Botti scheduled for Saturday, September 13 at the Fox Theatre has been postponed. The announcement cites "scheduling complications" as the reason for the postponement. Bu...

Trombonists Brett Stamps and Jim Owens will celebrate the release of their new Victoria Records CD Bad To The Bone with a performance at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday, September 9 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Stamps and Owens will be joined for the concert by all the musicians who played on the CD, includi...

Please tune into WXPN today at 2:00 PM EST to listen to Jessie's performance and interview on World Cafe with David Dye. To find your local broadcast choose your state and scroll to the bottom here.If you miss the live performance, you can hear the archived show at NPR.org...

Wonder Accepts Prize and Performs Library Commission Feb. 23 Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today named singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder - who burst on the scene in the early 1960s as a musical prodigy, and whose dance hits and love songs segued over the years into thoughtful commentaries on the joy and injustice in our world - as the winner of the Second Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Award presentation will take place in the Great Hall of the Library on Feb 23, 2009...

MY AAJ members can now view a collection of articles about their favorite musicians by clicking the "My Articles" or the "My CD Reviews" links on the All About Jazz home page, on their MY AAJ page, and on the Article Center and CD Review Center pages. The results presented on the "My Articles" and the "My CD Reviews" pages are determined by the musicians you have added to your "watch" list...

Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit," has died of complications from emphysema at 71. His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday. "He's one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That's the way I feel about him," Moore-Reed said...

On Thursday, September 11, 2008, from 8-10:30 p.m. PLG Arts presents Igor Lumpert and Inner Textures: Igor Lumpert on tenor saxophone, Jason Palmer on trumpet, Chris Tordini on bass, and Rodney Green on drums as part of the continuing PLG Arts Jazz at the Inkwell series. "There is a quality to his playing and compositions that has absorbed the rich traditions of jazz music in this country but has also added something new and unidentifiable. " Jane Ira Bloom, Saxophonist/composer/Grammy winner...

One of the most successful Chicago Jazz Festivals on record (both for attendance and quality of programming) ended with a bang Sunday night, and that wasn't just the sound of fireworks over the lake co-mingling with Denardo Coleman's bass drum beats during the closing set. The Petrillo Music Shell had hosted cut-above local tenorist Ron Dewar and his quintet with peppy alto sax sideman Willie Garcia, the wonderful ICP Orchestra from Amsterdam, in sparkling form, followed by Eight Bold Souls, which climaxed a colorful set with leader Ed Wilkerson's lively "Brown Town." However, considerable anticipation preceded the appearance of Ornette Coleman...

Guitar great Elvin Bishop will headline the 2008 San Francisco Blues Festival on September 27th. The show, a homecoming for the San Francisco resident, will come hot on the heels of his new album, 'The Blues Rolls On' (Delta Groove/Eclecto Groove), set for release on September 23rd. Bishop will perform with The Delta Groove All Star Blues Revue, which includes The Mannish Boys, Mike Zito, and many others...

Insight Editions is pleased to announce a two-book publishing agreement with the legendary Quincy Jones. The first book, The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey and Passions: Photos, Letters, Memories and More from Q's Personal Collection will be published October 28, 2008. Quincy Jones: 60 Years of American Music is scheduled for a September 2009 release. Random House distributes Insight Editions, an imprint of Palace Publishing Group, to the trade...

Ol' Blue eyes did it his way -- and so now has Michael Feinstein. Feinstein takes Ol' Blue Eyes' 1940s hits and gives them 1950s Nelson Riddle-style arrangements. When he began kicking around ideas recently for a new album, the singer and recording artist who carries a torch for the Great American Songbook initially dismissed a suggestion that he do a Frank Sinatra tribute. There were too many on the market already, he thought, and most simply copied legendary performances, sometimes note for note. Why bother...

LAFAYETTE GILCHRIST and THE NEW VOLCANOES New Album SOUL PROGRESSIN' Available September 9 East Coast Shows To Follow "...the heir to Thelonious Monk." - Entertainment Weekly "Imagine pianist Billy Preston in the FBI witness protection program; he hides out in the Washington, DC, go-go scene and then the jazz underground; he invents an unlikely pseudonym to go with his new style: a sort of twisted, funky, neo-juke-joint avant-gut-bucket." - Detroit Metro Times...

Since 2005, the non-profit record label Reboot Stereophonic has dedicated itself to rescuing lost treasures of Jewish-American music. They did it with Irving Fields' Bagels and Bongos. They did it with Fred Katz's Folk Songs for Far Out Folk. They did it with the way-out Moog experiments of Beastie Boys hero Gershon Kingsley and they did it, most notoriously, with the outrageous vaudeville cylinders of Jewface...

If any more evidence was needed that the Detroit International Jazz Festival has elevated its product in the last two years, the gloriously stuffed schedule of overlapping talent on Sunday was it. The laws of metaphysics made it impossible to hear it all, and no sane person would even try to ingest as much as I did. Of course, jazz critics have never been known for their mental stability...

Denver jazz musician Henry Butler this weekend called friends who live in his old hometown of New Orleans, checking on how they were as Hurricane Gustav bore down upon the Gulf Coast. Some were getting ready to evacuate. Some planned to ride it out. They are all in his thoughts, said Butler, who lost his home, his recording studio and his piano three years ago in the wake of Hurricane Katrina...

From Rice 'N' Gravy Records "Pick Of The Week" --USA Today "15 Swampy Soulful Tracks" --Rolling Stone "My old buddy, Robert Charles Guidry, was better known as Bobby Charles, and he was more successful as a songwriter than a singer, and it's a sin 'cause he's a hell of a singer. He's got one of the most melodious voices ever transferred to a piece of vinyl. The boy could sing like a bird. He still does as a matter of fact." --Bob Dylan...

TWO GIANTS OF AMERICAN WORDCRAFT CELEBRATED IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONCERT Woody Guthrie This Land Is Your Land - A Tribute to John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie and the American Spirit will take place Saturday, September 20 beginning at 2pm at Sleep Train Pavilion At Concord. So far, the lineup, which will include further additions includes...

FOND NATAL DAY WISHES TO ROCK'S GRUMPIEST CURMUDGEON GENIUS Van "The Man" Morrison turns 63 today. Notorious for his mercurial mood swings and, uh, "artistic temperament," he's been known to perform whole concerts with his back to the audience, grumbling forced thank-yous between songs and he's as likely to spit in your eye as answer your questions in an interview, but the cat is bloody brilliant and produced an unbroken string of inspired albums between 1968-1974 rivaled only by his fellow United Kingdom luminary Elton John and a handful of others. He's been no slouch in the intervening years and remains one of the most prolific musicians of his generation, especially in what many regard as the "golden years," where Morrison seems determined to steadily crank out albums. His most recent release, Keep It Simple, arrived this past April...

Uptown Records has announced the release of two new additions to its Flashback Series, featuring two of the jazz worlds most immortal figures: Charlie Parker, Washington, D.C., May 23, 1948 and Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Showtime at the Spotlite. The Parker, Washington release is from a live concert produced by Willis Conover, whose Voice of America broadcasts promoted good will and captivated millions of jazz fans all over the world for more than 40 years. The CD features the bebop segment of a concert entitled Jam Session #3: Dixieland vs. Bebop, a somewhat provocative title that, despite its inaccuracy in context, offers an interesting perspective on the aesthetic controversy existing within jazz at the time. This recording offers Parker accompanied by some of Washingtons finest local bop musicians and, most importantly and rewardingly, drummer Buddy Rich...

4onefunk, Rudder, Quantic, Christian McBride Band Star In Funk-Filled Nonstop Jazz Party $35 Ticket Includes Access To 8 Stages Of World Class Jazz, Dancing, DJs, International Shopping, Food, Beverages, And More Monterey, CA; The Monterey Jazz Festival kicks off its 51st edition on Friday, September 19, with a funk-filled night of New Grooves. Started as a special showcase in 2003 for artists and bands that pushed the sonic envelope, New Grooves will continue in the no-holds-barred direction with the electrified funk-fusion sounds of the Christian McBride Band and hard-driving and edgy Rudder. Adding to the spontaneity, fans looking for an even denser and bass-heavy feel can bounce into Lyons Lounge, the Festival's DJ/Dance tent, which will feature Turntablists-In-Residence Quantic and 4onefunk, who will alternate hour-long sets each evening throughout the MJF weekend...

Comcast's disclosure of usage caps yesterday points to what may become inevitable across the industry -- restricted, metered broadband services. Demand [for broadband] is rising at a time when relevant supply is actually shrinking ... Elementary economics would suggest that greater pricing power is the inevitable outcome. Craig Moffett Bernstein Research cable and satellite analyst...

Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" builds upon a former song. In this particular case, the Delta blues classic of the same name created by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. On Saturday, a million citizens fled Louisiana for safer ground, after Hurricane Gustav metamorphosed into a Category 4 hurricane in a mere 24 hours. It is scheduled to slam into the U.S. almost exactly three years after Hurricane Katrina did the same, visiting the kind of disaster dystopia one usually sees in film or music, most notably in the Led Zeppelin epic "When the Levee Breaks," onto the Gulf coast...

Although attention is focused on the petroleum industry as Hurricane Gustav takes aim at the Gulf Coast, billions of dollars are at stake in other economic sectors: New Orleans' trademark tourism industry, the shipping business, sugar harvesting -- and even such niche products as red-hot Tabasco sauce...

T Bone Burnett may have Neil Young and Bob Dylan singing a new tune. The singers are among the artists critical of digital sound. But Burnett has been developing Code, a high-fidelity audio system that he says will improve sound quality. Artists including Neil Young and Bob Dylan have made no secret of their distaste for digital sound. But Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett believes he's found a way to affordably give listeners an experience akin to hearing studio master tapes...

Girl power is taking charge when "Lady Jazz in the Key of Grand" hits the stage...

Evacuations were in high gear Sunday as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast, threatening to cut a devastating swathe across the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas infrastructure and to flood at least parts of New Orleans just days after the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Gustav's untimely arrival also disrupted plans for the Republican National Convention, scheduled to begin Monday in Minnesota. President Bush and Vice President Cheney both canceled appearances scheduled for Monday due to the hurricane, as convention planners scrambled to cope with political and practical implications of the mammoth storm...

Ray Vega is multi-tasking. He sat for a chat Wednesday in the University of Vermont Recital Hall, in the same building where the newest faculty member in UVM's jazz-studies program is rushing to set up his new office in time for Tuesday's start of the school year. While in the Recital Hall he fielded a few calls on his cell phone -- two from his wife, Miriam, about work a contractor is doing on the home they're trying to sell back in New York City and one from Alex Stewart, director of the jazz-studies program, asking when Vega wanted to go shopping for a chair for that new office of his...

Five years after his first volume of standards, But Beautiful, debuted at # 1 on the Billboard Jazz chart, GRAMMY award winning musician Boz Scaggs offers his second volume of standards and ballads, aptly titled Speak Low (out September 30 on vinyl and wide release on October 28th via Decca).The multi-dimensional singer, whose 1976 album Silk Degrees was one of the landmark pop titles of the decade, began working on Speak Low several years ago. He'd settled on most of the material, and had developed a rough notion of the sound in his head. "I had a few distinct elements I wanted to hear paired with my voice," Scaggs recalls, "but I needed an arranger who could bring those textures to life." He remembers wondering whether he'd ever realize the sound he'd imagined. And then he experienced what he describes as a remarkable coincidence. "It was raining, cold out. I walked by the Blue Note and heard music coming out of the club. It was vibes, string trio, a couple of horns - this was the so ...

Then and Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock, an essential collection of tracks from multi-Grammy Award-winning artist Herbie Hancock, will be released September 23rd on Verve Records. A first-ever career retrospective of the jazz visionary's unparalleled work, the 12-track CD chronicles five decades, featuring music spanning Hancock's illustrious career from Blue Note, Warner Brothers and Sony, to his present days with Verve. The only truly comprehensive collection of Hancock's work covers the genre-stretching musician's expansive repertoire, from his best-known solo works including "Maiden Voyage" and "Rockit" to his collaborations with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Damien Rice, and Corinne Bailey Rae, including a previously unreleased live version of "River" featuring Joni Mitchell, the title track of his 2008 Grammy Album of the Year...

For one extraordinary week only, December 17-21, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will join with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for a live music celebration of America-s two great art forms - modern dance and jazz music. Featuring two programs full of Duke Ellington's most glorious orchestrations for dance, this special week is a highlight of Ailey's 50th anniversary season at New York City Center, December 3 through January 4...

What:Harmonica Buzz with "The Great" Mo' Kauffey - 7:00 When:Friday, September 5th, 2008 Eaton Rapids Amphitheater Where:315 W. Knight Street Eaton Rapids MI 48827 Price: n/c Phone:(517) 643-0892 Canadian Mo' Kauffey meets up with Lansing's Harmonica Buzz for a week's worth of performances around Michigan. Rooted and real, the two will perform as a guitar and harmonica duo for a free concert on Friday, September 5th at The City of Eaton Rapids' new amphitheater. "There's something about a guitar, a harmonica and two voices that gets right at what blues music is about." says Kauffey. "It's just right there and real" adds Buzz "and Mo' is a lot of fun to play with." Mo Kauffey's unique percussive style is not to be missed while Buzz bobs and weaves around the rhythmic patterns created by his thumb. "There really aren't many people who play like Mo'" says Buzz "and the foundation he lays down with that old, Silvertone guitar of his is perfect for what I do with my music and harmonica...

Technology seminar for the Blues artist, label, publisher and support companies. Held on Beale Street Memphis, Tennessee during the Jus Blues Music Foundations Award Week proved a big success. The filled-to-capacity crowd received numerous new avenues to assist them in building their businesses and developing profitable new technological revenue streams...

The 2008 Jus' Blues Music Awards Week is a wrap. Memphis, home of the Blues and the birthplace of Rock and Roll has hosted another spectacular music special event. Blues and Soul music celebrities, executives and fans came together to network and celebrate the accomplishments of their peers at this year's Jus' Blues Music Awards Show held at the historical Daisy on Beale Street...

This year's Red Sea Jazz Festival delivered on all fronts. Major international draws, such as veteran jazz-world music fusion band Oregon, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's all-female quartet and iconic pianist Carla Bley's Lost Chords combo, packed in the crowds. And the Israeli contingent showed its mettle too, particularly the Mafrum Sextet, the Shauli Einav Quartet and Avi Lebovich's Orchestra. The latter was celebrating the launch of its latest album, Groove Collage, and its efforts were well received by the sell-out crowd...

Time is running out for New Orleans residents to flee the approach of deadly Hurricane Gustav, which is tipped to gain power before slamming into the US coast. Mayor Ray Nagin has ordered the compulsory evacuation of the city to begin at 8am local time (2pm BST) as the "storm of the century" churns around in the Gulf of Mexico...

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered the city's more than 239,000 residents to evacuate on Sunday in the face of powerful Hurricane Gustav, which he called "the mother of all storms." The evacuation order issued on Saturday was the first in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina devastated the historic Southern city in August 2005...

The role of music in the early civil rights movements is fairly widely known. Classic gospel songs, some more than a century old, were refashioned and sung at demonstrations, on picket lines, and across the South. Even the iconic song "We Shall Overcome" is based on an early spiritual. These songs expressed the surging energy of the Black freedom movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s...