Max Roach, a Founder of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83

Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940’s and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners’ expectations, died Thursday, August 16th in Manhattan. He was 83.

As a young man, Mr. Roach, a percussion virtuoso capable of playing at the most brutal tempos with subtlety as well as power, was among a small circle of adventurous musicians who brought about wholesale changes in jazz. He remained adventurous to the end.

To read an article about Roach from Drummerworld, click HERE

To read the entire New York Times obituary, click HERE

Terence Blanchard: Rebuilding New Orleans in Song

New Orleans native son Terence Blanchard has created an impassioned song cycle, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), as his third album for Blue Note Records.

An important jumpstart for A Tale of God’s Will was director Spike Lee’s decision to document the aftermath of Katrina on film, in what turned out to be the four-hour award-winning HBO documentary, When the Levees Broke, which aired last year. Lee, who has enlisted Blanchard on numerous occasions to score his films, tapped him once again for his documentary.

Josh Jackson asked Blanchard to talk about his music for the Lee documentary. Jackson also asked him to play the piano.

To hear Blanchard's performance and an interview with Jackson on NPR from New Orleans click HERE

Bobby Sanabria's Latin Jazz Hybrid

Growing up in the South Bronx, Bobby Sanabria was exposed to a wide range of music: Latin, Afro-Cuban, blues, jazz, funk, rock. He became a fan of Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, James Brown and Mario Bauzá, among others.

Later, Sanabria performed alongside many of those legendary musicians. Now his name is included in the short list of renowned drummers and percussionists, and he's determined to make sure that the musical mélange of his past continues in the future.

To read the article and listen to the NPR interview, click HERE

Marian McPartland to be inducted into National Radio Hall of Fame

Jazz Icon, Marian McPartland, will be one of five inductees into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago in a ceremony to be held November 3rd of this year.

Host of Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz for more than 25 years, McPartland taught herself how to play piano at age three. Since 1978 the English born jazz musician has hosted one of the longest running weekly programs on NPR. McPartland is revered for her own talent and welcomes a wide range of guests to her program, including legendary jazz artists and fledgling jazz talents.

To read all about the National Radio Hall of Fame as well as to find out more about the Museum of Broadcast Communications, which is scheduled for opening in 2008 in downtown Chicago, click HERE

At the Concert Hall, a Symphony for Space Invaders

The average concertgoer might not expect to hear music from Super Mario Bros. at the local symphony hall — of if they did hear it, they might look around to see who smuggled in the Game Boy.

But that may be changing. A touring multimedia show that has already been seen by more than 100,000 people is playing at the world's finest concert halls — with the world's finest orchestras powering through some of the world's most popular video-game music.

To read the article and listen to NPR's segment by Benjamin Frisch, click HERE

Lee Hazlewood: Writer Gave Music Biz the 'Boots'

Lee Hazlewood, the reclusive songwriter and producer behind a slew of hits by Duane Eddy, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in the 1950s and 1960s, including Ms. Sinatra's No. 1 smash "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," died on Saturday in Henderson, Nev. He was 78.

To listen to a remembrance of Hazlewood from NPR's Felix Contreras, click HERE

To read the entire New York Times obituary, click HERE

Tanglewood Festival: Male Singers Need Not Apply

In case you missed this in the New York Times' ArtsBeat the other day...One new twist at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music is the involvement of a scholar in residence, to put the festival’s composers and music in perspective. This year's scholar in residence, Judith Tick, drew animated audience discussion, including comments from several composers, with a surprising statistic to the effect that some 70 percent of contemporary vocal music is written for the female voice.

To read the complete article, click HERE