To start off this week I've got a fun, slightly kitschy Cake meets a twenty-first century Tito Puente slice of goodness. It's titled Johnny Wants To Be A Matador , and is from artist Rene Lopez 's EP of the same title that is scheduled to come out on the first of December. I really don't know much about Lopez, but the five tracks on this EP are all upbeat Latin infused numbers (I do know that his father...
As Latin-jazz legends go, saxophonist Ray Santos ranks high on the list. Few living Latin-jazz artists today can claim to have played in and arranged for the bands of Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez. To give you an idea of what this trifecta means, it would be akin to a saxophonist playing in the Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Woody Herman bands. In addition, Ray is one of only a handful of...
Perth Amboy, NJ -- Morris Nanton passed away peacefully at home Sunday morning, November 15. He was born in Perth Amboy and lived there all his life. He served his country with honor in the U.S. Armed Forces with the 5th Army Division Band during the Korean War. He graduated from Perth Amboy High School and Juilliard Conservatory of Music in New York after attending on full scholarship. Known throughout...
Art D’Lugoff, who was widely regarded as the dean of New York nightclub impresarios and whose storied spot, the Village Gate, was for more than 30 years home to performers as celebrated, and diverse, as Duke Ellington, Allen Ginsberg and John Belushi, died on Wednesday in Manhattan…. …Though most often thought of as a jazz space — among the eminences heard there over the...
I have been a demographers' puzzle lately, sitting on the couch crocheting rather pretty things whilst watching The Wire. Well I'm breaking up the intense viewing with a bit of 30 Rock Season Three, which is so damn funny, but anyway, my inner girliness is embodied in these new necklaces. They are currently residing at etsy HQ and Craft Victoria, among many other fine items of handmade splendour. Seriously...
On Saturday evening, Nov. 7 at 8:00PM, a stellar show will grace the stage of the Beanrunner in Peekskill, NY, 201 S. Division St.(914-737-1701... reservations recommended). On that night, the Andy Polay Quintet will perform miles of Miles, Honks of Herbie, no shortage of Shorter, mounds of Monk, and more as the 'Trane steams for a few hours of hot, spicy jazz...
C racked Latin Genre: Latin / Alternative / Progressive From: New York, Venezuela Woven thicker than a Mayan quilt smeared with toad venom, mixing pre-Castro cha-cha, Latin rock, and American pop/soul with a heavy dose of late-'60s psychedelia, Cracked Latin's first release, 'The World Is Cracked Latin' , out November 10 from Transparency, is a joyous abundance of Spanglished compass-spinning like...
Known for harmonica work on Rolling Stones' "Miss You," Blue branches out with new album, out January 26, 2010 NEW YORK, NY -- "We have chosen the title Threshold because the tunes open new musical territory for us," says bluesman Sugar Blue of his new album, due out January 26, 2010 on Beeble Music. The album follows the acclaimed 2007 album Code Blue, which hinted at a widening...
This week’s Dancing With The Stars show was very entertaining. I enjoyed most of the dances the stars performed tonight. The scores tonight by the judges were: Wikipedia: Couple Score Style Music Mýa & Dmitry 24 (8,7,9) Jitterbug “C’mon Everybody“—Eddie Cochran Melissa & Mark 20 (7,7,6) Waltz “Only One Road“—Celine Dion Mark & Lacey...
There are poetry readings, and then there is a Martin Espada poetry reading. From the moment he took the podium (he started off with a joke about being cited for jaywalking in downtown Seattle), he had me. He introduced himself as a guy who grew up in the projects of East Brooklyn. He told us about his father, a soldier turned civil rights activist, a photographer, a revolutionary. He read a poem about...
Coalition-building came with dance steps, sequins and plenty of rhythm at Fiesta Latina, a concert held Tuesday night in a tent on the South Lawn of the White House as part of the White House Music Series. From the open tent, the White House was the performers’ backdrop. Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, José Feliciano, Los [...]
Over 50 years old is the only requirement for membership to attend the 2009 AARP Presents Vegas@50+, an annual "National Event & Expo" on October 22-24 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ray Harryhausen, the undisputed master of classic animation, is legend. I do notice, though, a tendency of filmmakers to use long shots of "guy-with-spear-fights-extra-large-creature". However, any...
Laurel Fehrenbach is a Public Programs Assistant here at American Art. She manages the free Take 5! Jazz concerts that take place in the Kogod Courtyard every third Thursday from 5-8 p.m. Afro Bop. Photo by Larry Melton. The Grammy...
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