Jazz
NOLAxNOLA Announces Livestream Fundraiser with Tribute to Dr. John
New Orleans arts coalition NOLAxNOLA has announced NOLAxNOLA ‘21: Show Your Love! A Virtual Celebration of New Orleans. The livestream fundraiser takes place November 19th and 20th, and will use performances by Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia, and a tribute to Dr. John to support local not-for-profits. The event is free to view, but the digital fundraising platform Fandiem is using the event to funnel money towards The Roots of Music, Trombone Shorty Foundation, Tip-It Foundation, Preservation Hall Foundation, New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic & Assistance Foundation, and Upbeat Academy Foundation. Performances come from a variety of New Orleans staples, including Irma Thomas, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Dumpstaphunk, Rebirth Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins, ...
Adele’s 10 Best Songs
It’s sometimes surprising to remember just how long Adele has been part of the pop culture conversation. Her breakout, “Hometown Glory,” was released when she was only nineteen years old, and it’s a track the singer-songwriter penned at just sixteen. Since then, Adele has obliterated records to the tune of fifteen Grammy awards across three full-length studio albums. Her crossover appeal is the result of a unique mix of gifted vocals, vulnerable songwriting, and a personality overflowing with sharp wit. It’s been over five years now since Adele released new music — a curious stint as host of Saturday Night Live in 2020 was more of an opportunity for the vocalist to try her hand at comedy and acting than it was a hint of a musical comeback — but finally, new tunes from Adele are on the hori...
BADBADNOTGOOD Release New Album Talk Memory: Stream
Canadian jazz-fusion ensemble BADBADNOTGOOD have just released Talk Memory, their new album and first ever for XL Recordings. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. Talk Memory is the fifth studio LP of BADBADNOTGOOD’s career overall, following 2016’s IV. It spans nine tracks in total, including album opener “Signal From the Noise” and the recent single “Beside April.” Scattered throughout the album are a handful of guest performers, including Arthur Verocai, Karriem Riggins, Terrace Martin, Laraaji, and harpist Brandee Younger. Written as a way to express gratitude for their community and the music they’ve made together, Talk Memory is a stacked record of heartfelt and joyful jazz numbers. Arguably the album’s high points occur when BADBADNOTGOOD improvise together as a trio, result...
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga Release New Collaborative Album Love For Sale: Stream
Powerhouse music duo Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga have just released their new collaborative album Love For Sale. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Love For Sale serves as the follow-up to 2014’s Cheek to Cheek, which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Record. This new album spans 10 songs in total that were pulled from the songbook of American composer Cole Porter. While they’re certainly not close in age by any measure, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga are both pop legends in their own rights — one for his contributions to the world of classy jazz standards, and the other for her reworking of modern pop as a bold art form. Combined, their talents form a charming, timeless, generation-spanning type of music that will win over you, your mom, and your grandmother, as was the cas...
Beach Fossils Announce Jazz Piano Collection, Share “This Year (Piano)”: Stream
Beach Fossils have announced The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, a collection of jazz reimaginings of some of their favorite tracks. It’s out November 19th, and as a preview the Brooklyn indie rockers have shared the single “This Year (Piano).” “This Year” appeared on the band’s 2017 album Somersault, which also provided the basis for new trcks “May 1st (Piano),” “Down the Line (Piano),” and “That’s All for Now (Piano).” The new eight-track effort is rounded out by “Sleep Apnea (Piano),” based on the 2013 Down the Line cut, two piano versions of the What a Pleasure EP tracks, “What a Pleasure” and “Adversity,” and a reimagining of “Youth” from the group’s 2010 self-titled debut. The album was made in collaboration with Tommy Gardner, who played drums i...
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett Share “Love For Sale”: Stream
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett have unveiled the title track for their upcoming album Love For Sale. Watch the song’s accompanying music video below. The two superstars turn the jazzy Cole Porter standard into an old-fashioned duet, trading lines and harmonies over a big band. “Let the poets pipe of love/ In their childish way/ I know every type of love/ Better far than they,” Gaga warbles before being joined by Bennett on the rest of the verse. Originally introduced by Porter in his 1930 musical The New Yorkers, the song was a controversial addition to the Great American Songbook due to its racy telling of a sex worker advertising her “love for sale.” However, on the updated version, Mother Monster and the 95-year-old crooner spell out the song from a more distant third-person perspective. Ad...
TIFF Review: Listening to Kenny G Explores What Makes Him So Beloved (And Despised)
This review is part of our coverage of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The Pitch: When some people think of Kenny G, they think of the platinum-selling recording artist who’s shaped their childhoods, soothed their workplaces, and even soundtracked the most intimate moments in their lives. But for others, the thought of Kenny G fills them with scorn. He’s a sellout, a fake, a mop-haired purveyor of anodyne saxophone schlock. He disrespects the improvisational, group-centered dynamics of jazz in favor of treacly solo showmanship, and — even worse — subjected the world to “smooth jazz.” The man’s a paradox wrapped in an enigma topped with a curly perm he’s maintained since the 1980s — the best-selling instrumentalist of all time who nonetheless remains a pop-culture punchli...
BADBADNOTGOOD Unveil New Single “Beside April”: Stream
BADBADNOTGOOD have shared “Beside April,” a new preview of their upcoming album Talk Memory. Watch the music video, directed by Cammille Summers-Valli, below. “Beside April” follows the Canadian jazz-fusion ensemble’s July track “Signal from the Noise,” the lead single from Talk Memory. The upcoming project is described as a “heartfelt expression of joy” and features a lineup of guest artists including Arthur Verocai, Karriem Riggins, Terrace Martin, Laraaji, and harpist Brandee Younger. “It took a year or two of just living life to get to the place where the creative process was exciting again,” BBNG said in a statement about Talk Memory. “Once we actually went into the studio it was the most concise recording and writing process we’ve ever had. We hope that the improvised studi...
Hurricane Ida Destroys Legendary New Orleans Jazz Site The Karnofsky Shop
The Karnofsky Shop, New Orleans’ first jazz record store and the place where an immigrant Jewish family helped along Louis Armstrong’s music career, has been demolished by Hurricane Ida, reports CBS affiliate WWL-TV. Ida made landfall Sunday as one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the US. It carried so much force it reversed the flow of the Mississippi river and resulted in at least one death, with the potential for more casualties as rescue crews struggle to reach stranded residents. Given the human devastation, the Karnofsky Shop won’t be the greatest loss in the storm, though it will be felt dearly by lovers of music history. According to A Closer Walk NOLA, the Karnofsky family opened a tailor shop in 1913, and hired Armstrong when he was just a child to work on their junk ...
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Tony Bennett Cancels Remaining Concerts, Officially Retired from Touring [Updated]
Tony Bennett just celebrated his 95th birthday last week with a pair of shows at Radio City Music Hall alongside Lady Gaga. The gigs were billed as his final concerts in New York City, but it turns out they may be his last shows permanently. The legendary jazz and pop singer has just canceled his fall 2021 tour dates, reports Variety. Update: In an interview with Variety, Tony’s son and manager, Danny Bennett, confirmed that his father has played his final shows. “There won’t be any additional concerts,” Danny said. “This was a hard decision for us to make, as he is a capable performer. This is, however, doctors’ orders. His continued health is the most important part of this, and when we heard the doctors — when Tony’s wife, Susan heard them — she said, ‘Absolutely not.’ He’ll be doing ot...
2021 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Canceled Due to COVID Surge in Louisiana
The 2021 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been canceled due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Louisiana. The popular annual event was one of many festivals expected to return this fall, but will now take place in spring 2022. The 2021 edition was set to be staged over two weekends from October 8th through 17th, and feature such acts as The Rolling Stones (who were added recently), Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks, Dead & Company, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, Elvis Costello, and dozens more artists. The fest will now take place in 2022 over the two weekends from April 29th through May 8th. A full statement from festival organizers reads as follows: “As a result of the current exponential growth of new COVID cases in New Orleans and the region and the ongoing public health emergency, we ...
Yasiin Bey Will Not Portray Jazz Great Thelonious Monk In Biopic Despite Reports
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Dominique Charriau / Getty Yasiin Bey was the subject of several reports stating that he would be portraying Jazz legend Thelonius Monk in an upcoming biopic but now, the Brooklyn rapper and actor isn’t attached to the project any longer. According to Bey, he was given the impression that the production company was on board with the film but apparently, he was given improper information. A press release went out earlier this week from Jupiter Rising Film, a production company headed by Peter Lord Moreland and Alberto Marzan, which would begin filming Thelonious in the summer of 2022. In the release, Bey was noted as the main star of the film as Monday. However, a report from Pitchfork notes that T.S. Monk, Thelonious Monk’s son and the chairman and co-fou...
