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#New York Jazz Quartet
jazzdailyblog · 3 months
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Frank Wess: Harmonizing Jazz, Weaving Legacy
Introduction: In the intricate realm of jazz, Frank Wellington Wess emerged not only as a virtuoso saxophonist and flutist but also as a key architect of the genre’s evolution. From his early days in Kansas City to his influential tenure with Count Basie and beyond, Wess left an indelible mark on jazz. This article explores the life, career, and enduring legacy of this luminary figure. Early…
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tfc2211 · 2 years
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Mat Mathews - Accordion Whitey Mitchell - Bass Herbie Mann - Clarinet, Flute Joe Puma - Guitar A1 - Adam's Theme A2 - Blue Chips A3 - Skylark A4 - How About You B1 - Minors Not Allowed B2 - Early Morning Blues B3 - The Song Is You B4 - Just You, Just Me
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jonjaz · 1 year
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Swings & Roundabouts ~ Mark Lockett
Mark Lockett has released his seventh album Swings & Roundabouts, arguably his finest. The project had been in gestation for a while but like many projects, it was delayed by the pandemic. Still, once the travel restrictions were lifted he headed for New York, engaged some of New York’s finest Jazz musicians and set up the session in the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Queens—a studio versed in…
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pleasantlyinsincere · 17 days
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Hi, I was wondering if you know what music John was a fan of in the late 70’s? I’m aware of him being excited about the B52’s, and I’m assuming he liked David Bowie and Elton John’s music in part because they were his friends in addition to obviously being talented. And I think I read once that Julian turned him onto Queen but tbh that may be me misremembering a fanfic lol I just wonder if there’s anything out there that describes what John’s music tastes was in those days or whether he preferred to stick with his favorite classics; early rock and roll, girl groups ect. Like what did he think about the punk scene in NY?? Or the close harmonies a la Fleetwood Mac that dominated the charts? Just things I think about haha.
Hi, thanks for the question. I know that I skipped through a book called John Lennon: 1980 playlist by Tim English before, that may be a good source for you. Here's some random info, that I remembered where to look up. I think Julian introducing John to Queen comes from the SPIN magazine interview in '75:
[Julian] likes Barry White and he likes Gilbert O’ Sullivan. He likes Queen, though I haven’t heard them yet. He turns me on to music. I call him and he says, “Have you heard Queen?” and I say “No, what is it?” I’ve heard of them. I’ve seen the guy … the one who looks like Hitler playing a piano … Sparks? I’ve seen Sparks on American TV. So I call him and say, “Have you seen Sparks? Hitler on the piano?” and he says, “No. They are alright. But have you seen Queen?” and I say “What’s Queen?” and then he tells me. His age group is hipper to music … at 11 I was aware of music, but not too much.
But then there is also an anecdote, I think by Tony Barrow, that John didn't want to sign Queen to Apple years earlier? However that may be a lie, or John just didn't remember.
Yoko gifted John a jukebox for his birthday in '78 and apparently John filled it with the old music he liked. Elliott Mintz says there was quite some Bing Crosby. And I remember John also putting some new song by Dolly Parton in there.
"Yoko gave him this old-fashioned jukebox and John stocked it with Bing Crosby records. People kind of expected him to have rock 'n' roll records in there, but it was almost totally Crosby stuff. There were 3 songs which John played over and over. I still remember them. They were Crosby with a jazz quartet from the 50's, I think. He would banter and talk in the songs and John thought that was just the end. The songs were Whispering, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter and Dream a Little Dream of Me. Yeah, those were the songs, I can still see John listening to them." - Elliott Mintz
“The one modern song I remember him listening to was ‘The Tide Is High’ by Blondie, which he played constantly. When I hear that song, I see my father, unshaven, his hair pulled back into a ponytail, dancing to and fro in a worn-out pair of denim shorts, with me at his feet, trying my best to coordinate tiny limbs.” - Sean Lennon
One night we were playing at Max's (Kansas City) in New York City, and I was waiting for everyone to leave the club so I could go back in and pick up my gear. We were sitting in the van waiting and John Lennon and Ian Hunter from Mott the Hoople came staggering out and looked over. John Lennon saw it was me and stuck his head in the window. He was kind of drunk and stuck his face right against mine and went 'yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah' because he recognized it (Devo's song Uncontrollable Urge) as being an updating of She Loves You. That was one of my most exciting moments ever. - Mark Mothersbaugh on John coming to a DEVO gig in '77
PB: John, what is your opinion of the newer waves? Lennon: I love all this punky stuff. It's pure. I'm not, however, crazy about the people that destroy themselves. Playboy interview, 1980
I like pop records. I like Olivia Newton-John singing "Magic" and Donna Summer whatever the hell she'll be singing. I like ELO singing "All over the World". I can dissect it and criticize it with any critic in the business...But without any thought I enjoy it! That's the kind of music I like to hear. - John
John Lennon raced into Yoko Ono’s home office in the mammoth old Dakota building with a copy of Donna Summer’s new single, “The Wanderer.” “Listen!” he shouted to us as he put the 45 on the record player. “She’s doing Elvis!” I didn’t know what he was talking about at first. The arrangement felt more like rock than the singer’s usual electro-disco approach, but the opening vocal sure sounded like Donna Summer to me. Midway through the song, however, her voice shifted into the playful, hiccuping style Elvis had used on so many of his early recordings. “See! See!” John shouted, pointing at the speakers. The record was John’s way of saying hello again after five years. [...] It was just weeks before his death in December of 1980, and his playing the Summer record was an endearing greeting -- and one that was typical of John. Of the hundreds of musicians I’ve met, John was among the most down-to-earth. Corn Flakes with John Lennon (And Other Tales From a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life) by Robert Hilburn
"I'm aware of ... Madness. "Don't do that. Do this." (As on the spoken word intro to "One Step Beyond".) I think that is the most original thing actually because it's so peculiar. ... Out of all that mob I think that was one of the most original sounds. Very good drumming, very good bass and all of that." Andy Peebles interview
And things I don't have quotes for right now: I remember Bob Gruen had given John some video compilation of punk bands, that John enjoyed watching. In one of the last interviews John said Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen was a great song. There are the albums John asked Fred Seaman to buy on his shopping lists. Some are printed in The John Lennon Letters (Though I'm not sure that means he liked them, but at least was interested in.) Lot's of Bob Dylan talk in the diaries and parodies. Many anecdotes about reggae bands. In the Double Fantasy studio recording John references quite some songs and artists, when he tells the musicians what they are aiming for in the songs.
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cartermagazine · 1 month
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Today In History
Nina Simone, known as the “High Priestess of Soul,” was born in Tryon, NC, on this date February 21, 1933.
Nina Simone studied classical piano at the Juilliard School in New York City. Performing in night clubs, she turned her interest to jazz, blues and folk music and released her first album in 1957, scoring a Top 20 hit with the track “I Loves You Porgy.” In the 1960s.
Simone became known as the voice of the Civil Rights Movement. She wrote “Mississippi Goddam” in response to the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers and the Birmingham church bombing that killed four young African American girls. She also penned “Four Women,” chronicling the complex histories of a quartet of African American female figures, and “Young, Gifted and Black,” borrowing the title of a play by Hansberry, which became a popular anthem. After the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Simone’s bassist Greg Taylor penned “Why (The King of Love Is Dead),” which was performed by the singer and her band at the Westbury Music Festival.
“So while you’re imitating Al Capone, I’ll be Nina Simone and defacating on your microphone” - Lauryn Hill
CARTER™️ Magazine
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mcgomega · 7 months
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Young Heroes Support Group AU [DP X DC + Secret Quartet + Nicktoons Unite "A Glitch in Time" compliant AU]
Part Two and Part Three
I can share some brainrots I came up with. With immeasurable help from @jocejoce1001 who provided her vast knowledge of DC universe lore and characters and convinced me to keep Lance Bruner alive))).
Ships included: Everlasting Trio (Danny Fenton/Sam Manson/Tucker Foley), Anger Management (Jazz Fenton/Jason Todd), platonic JimmyTimmy (Jimmy Neutron & Timmy Turner).
"A Glitch in Time" caused differences:
Due to how much Dan's rampage caused not only one, but several timelines, Clockworked stitched what was left of them and tied to another, also tethered by reality-bending catastrophes, but still withstanding - the DC universe.
That being said, Danny already met with Timmy, Jimmy and Spongebob before AGIT. But met the rest of the Secret Quartet after AGIT.
Jimmy was the first to notice the reality-bending changes and was swift to contact the rest of the universal gang to assess damage.
Jake was second, and that would be how the Secret Quartet would meet.
There are now ways for Timmy to keep his Fairy Godparents that he's yet to learn about.
Spongebob and the entirety of Bikini Bottom are now Atlanteans that were not only accepting of, but also fascinated by the surface dweller's culture and technologies so much that they assimilated it into their and the entire city of Bikini Bottom was built as an independent community inspired by surface cities. All of its inhabitants are various atlanteans with varying fish traits.
Sandy is a human researcher that lives in Bikini Bottom in her air bubble.
Spongebob now look humanoid, but he still has mostly sponge biology, meaning he can regenerate and regrow lost limbs. He also knows water magic. But other than that, he's still Spongebob Squarepants that lives in a pineapple-shaped house, likes catching jellyfish and works as a cook at Crusty Crab.
Amity Park is in Illinois, Norrisville in Oklahoma, Retroville in Texas, Dimmsdale in California, Bikini Bottom in the Pacific somewhere between Hawaii islands and the west coast of USA (where New York and Paris are you already know).
Jazz is now 4 years older than Danny (instead of 2 in canon).
Lance Bruner survived, but then he died with Jason and also was brought back to life and taken by Talia Al Ghul along with Jason. He later becomes Red Hood's information broker and a vigilante Nighthawk (@jocejoce1001 can tell more).
Lazarus Water is a corrupted ectoplasm that is "dumped" from the Ghost Zone. Pure/filtered ectoplasm "embraces death" and thus forms and empowers ghosts but may harm humans (due to it being slightly radioactive). Corrupted ectoplasm "rejects death" and thus is useless to ghosts but can revive and heal humans, but with Pit Madness in some cases as a side effect.
Jack, Maddie and Vlad were friends with Dr. Mcginis (Terry's father(Batman Beyond)) in college.
Relathionships details:
Jake, Randy and Adrien jokingly call themselves Danny's harem, since he's the Ghost King. He's not amused.
That being said, all the other ghosts call Sam and Tucker Danny's consorts. He's still not amused, even though Sam and Tucker get a kick out of it.
Timmy and Jimmy view Danny as a caring older brother.
Spongebob is everyone's emotional support animal.
The entire gang roots for Adrien and Marinette's love life - it's their own personal Santa Barbara.
Randy called Adrien "the Disney Prince". As a retaliation, he started calling Randy "Disney Comic Relief". Not wanting to be left out, Jake proclaimed himself "Disney Adventure Hero". Danny refused to join this meme.
Damian knows that Billy is Shazam and he and Jon are his best (only) friends. (someone please tell me the name of that one normal classmate of Damian's I wanna include him too).
Important Plot Points:
Jack and Maddie lost funding from GIW and Vlad was no longer in everyone's favor, so they tried to appeal to Bruce Wayne for funding. Bruce refused because "You should first prove that those "ghosts" are in fact non sapient before attempting to dissect them. Then we can talk about funding". Jack and Maddie begrudgingly agreed and decided to try a different approach at their research.
Jazz and Danny notice and try to help them by guiding friendly or non-violent ghosts to them.
Jack and Maddie gradually change their view of ghosts and accept that not all ghosts are evil. They're just not bound by the living's norms of behaviour.
Jazz stays in Amity Park for one year after her graduation from high school. The reason is to have more time in finding a fitting college and to make sure that Danny will be okay without her.
Jack and Maddie, now that they're not focused on attacking ghosts, start noticing rather obvious similarities between their son Danny and Phantom.
Eventually they figure out themselves that Danny is somehow connected to Phantom. They confront Danny, he confesses and his parents accept him (because I am sick and tired of that angsty trope where they see him as an evil spirit that killed their son and keep hunting him, please no more!).
This is good news for Jazz because, now that she knows her parents won't try to dissect her brother, she can fully focus on her future education.
She applies to Gotham U and moves to Gotham. The family farewell is touching and full of best wishes and support.
While Jazz is in uni, Jack and Maddie, with Danny's consent, perform a more thorough research of his ghostly abilities and physiology (in a non-violent way).
They also started helping Danny fight his rogues gallery and any new ghost-related threats.
But Danny also starts befriending some of his rogues, like Ember, Johnny 13, Kitty, Youngblood and Sidney Poindexter. Wulf and Cujo also started hanging out with Danny more.
Back in Gotham Jazz made a profile in a dating app, because she wanted to have some normalcy in er life and it seemed like a good time to start trying out a romantic relationship.
Coincidentally, one Jason Todd also have a profile in the same dating app as Jazz and she immediately fell for Jason.
Let's make Jason 2 years older than Jazz. I think it would be ok.
The two of them matched, decided on a date. met together, chatted, liked it, agreed to meet again and their relationship progressed.
Jazz fell hard. Jason was everything she didn't even know she needed in a boyfriend.
But Jason took his sweet time learning to really like Jazz. He humored her at first because he also wanted some semblance of normalcy and her profile intrigued him. Not to say that he didn't like her at all, he just wasn't entirely convinced that it was love or the right choice for him.
It took Jazz kicking some criminal ass and facing Red Hood without fear for Jason to start getting the doki-doki's. After several similar encounters, Jason finally realised that he was head over heels for Jazz.
Jazz convinces Jason to get a college education and she was willing to help him along the way. He chose English major with minoring in Law.
Jazz can feel that Jason is somewhat liminal, but isn't sure how. 
Jason's Pit settles some when he's with Jazz. Might be due to her relation to the Ghost King (Danny).
Jason did a background check of Jazz. At this moment the Fentons have already posted on their site their more positive-oriented and non-biased research of ghosts. There was a separate section on different kinds of ghosts and liminality, including Revenants, which piqued Jason's interest. He didn't find anything discriminating on Jazz tho, but asked Barbara to dig deeper.
Eventually Jazz moves in with Jason. But both of them are hesitant to move to the next step.
That doesn't stop Jazz from gushing about Jason to her family and they are very happy for her and can't wait to meet the fine lad that captured her heart.
Jason keeps his relationship with Jazz a secret from Bruce and the rest of the Batclan. But he rambles Lance's, Roy's and Outlaws' ears off about Jazz at every opportune moment. They are very invested.
Dick and Tim eventually find out about the two of them and also become invested. Dick is really obnoxious about it.
Eventually Jazz figures out that Jason is Red Hood and she starts working on convincing Jason that she's okay with it.
Because of Dick and Lance's gossiping, Bruce gets curious and starts poking. He finds out about Jazz, finds her connection to Fentons, remembers what was their last conversation like, finds their new research.
Meanwhile Barbara still can't get deeper access to Fenton's more personal files because their cybersecurity is ghostly. This unnerves Bruce and he becomes suspicious.
But he decides to keep possible enemies closer. So he invites Fentons to work for Wayne Enterprises.
This means that Jack, Maddie and Danny would need to move to Gotham
This is very convenient and just at the right time, because there was an increased GIW activity and Danny's parents started to get worried for their son's safety. (Maybe there was even a moment when he was actually captured by GIW and they had to break him out.) They close and disassemble the portal so that no one will be able to use it.
Danny's ghost friends followed. For most of them Gotham is the city where they died.
Bruce offered the Fentons one of the houses he owned (for convenience) where they could live and the parents don't question it, but Danny's suspicious.
Danny starts occasionally patrolling Gotham. On his first night he met Lady Gotham and they became friends.
Like Amity Park, Gotham is also a place with a thin barrier and it is a massive haunt of one powerful spirit that allows other weaker spirits to reside within her haunt, but because there's so much death and killing, there's so little ambient ectoplasm that it's not enough for Lady Gotham to keep weaker spirits in check, which results in whispers urging criminals. It's the spirits' vengeful behaviour - cause the same pain to others that led them to death.
Because of all the reality shattering and stitching back (including the Superboy event), some ectoplasm leaked from the Ghost Zone into Gotham and Lady Gotham absorbed all of it... and used it to bring Jason and Lance back to life. Lady Gotham loves her Knight like a mother would a son. She's forever grateful for his efforts and it brings her sorrow to see him so broken. So bringing Batman's lost sons back to him is her reward for all of his effort
Once the Fentons settle in their new home, they immediately call Jazz and Jason over to finally meet their eldest daughter's boyfriend that they heard so much about. Jack and Maddie give their blessings right off the bat.
Danny would ABSOLUTELY get buddy-buddy with Jason. Firstly because he's a lil' shit and he NEEDS to know who his sis is dating. Secondly because his ghost core can feel that he's a revenant and that his ecto is corrupted, so he needs some cleansing and Danny just CAN"T not help someone who is basically family at this point. And thirdly... they'd catch like house on fire XD.
When Danny starts attending Gotham Academy, he meets Damian, befriends him and adds him to the separate chat he has with Timmy and Jimmy ("big bro and his lil rascals"), because he feels, since they're the same age, they'd get along. Damian, naturally, thinks it's useless but pretty soon warms up to the two. What with Jimmy's intellect and Timmy's artistic talent (I HC Timmy as an artist).
When Jack and Maddie start working at Wayne Enterprises, they're mentored by their old college friend - Dr. Mcginis. They don't get to work on their paranormal inventions yet, but that's okay with them, they can make do. And it's for Danny's sake.
I ran out of text. Here's Part Two and Part Three
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prgnant · 8 months
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top ten mid 60’s jazz records for me personally in my life are
Coltrane quartet- all of them but love supreme or meditations especially
Eric Dolphy- out to lunch
Andrew Hill - point of departure
Sun Ra arkestra- magic city
Albert Ayler - spiritual unity
Grachan Monchur III - some other stuff
Jackie McLean - destination out
Archie Shepp - fire music
Wayne Shorter - speak no evil
New York art quartet - self title
all 64-65 im pretty sure? arbitrarily but also something so special abt those two years <33333
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power-chords · 10 months
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In fact the backstory of Tom in the film is that in the offshore world of narco trafficking cartels, they have the budgets to buy the best and they do. Particularly since the end of the Cold War, when that market has become available, people that are ex-KGB, ex-Stasi, as well as Brits and Americans from special forces; Israelis.
Since we’re only in these ten hours, we’re only seeing a fraction of a whole life. And since we’re only ten hours, the challenge is can I design those fractions that they become glimpses… that you kind of sense the person. To do that, one has to invent the history of Vincent, the history of Max, and then to choose those details to put in the ten hours of tonight. [...] The film does not do what a life experience of these ten hours would not do, which is to have exposition or to travel backwards in time via flashbacks or any of those other devices. But instead just to keep it as immediate, into this presence, and yet to have a greater degree of knowingness into their lives.
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Vincent is somebody who’s decisive… who’s embraced force as a way of controlling his environment, as a way of — and I don’t think Vincent is actually actively aware of this — but it’s a way of controlling an environment so that bad things don’t happen to him. He, consequently, can be someone who’s improvisational, he’s highly trained, he takes action, he has opinions. Max is exactly the opposite.
The other aspect about Vincent’s appearance is again, and building the character, how to make these two characters be oppositional, what Vincent’s chosen to wear, it tells us things — I believe that audiences are much brighter than they are aware of, there’s a lot of information they take in on a feeling level. There’s a cut to his suit that says perhaps it was custom tailored, but not in Milan or London or New York, in my mind it was Kowloon. The thing about his hair, scars on his hand, scars on his face.
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In effect he’s a rough trade in a good suit. Prematurely gray, kind of a steely aspect to him. Those are design issues that are there to tell us, tell the audience, tell YOU things about who he is on a feeling level, not anything that is didactic or spoken to you. It was tricky to arrive at some of these looks and some of these issues because — and this is also the challenge of the film that made it very exciting to me, to do it and want to do it — which is that when you compress the time frame, of a narrative and it’s under two hours, and you’re just in one locale, you’re one night, it also means there’s going to be one suit and one wardrobe change and everything’s going to become inordinately important. Driving a race car, a very small input in steering has a radical effect. So the slightest change, because it’s cumulative, becomes a big deal.
But the deep work that goes into this kind of thing is in fact how did Vincent become Vincent. And Tom and I did a lot of work in trying to understand where this guy came from. If he was in a foster home for part of his time, if he had an institutionalized childhood. And if he was back in the public school system by age 11, that would have been sometime in the 1970s. He would have been dressed very awkwardly. He probably would have been ostracized, because he would have looked odd and you know… the brutality of preteens and early adolescents.
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We postulated an alcoholic, abusive father who was culturally very progressive. He was probably part of Ed Solowski’s steelworkers local in Gary. He was a Vietnam veteran. He had friends who were African American, the South Side of Chicago, the Checkerboard Lounge is 30 minutes away in a cab, Calumet Skyway. So the father in his sixties and early seventies was probably an aficionado of jazz, there was a great jazz scene on the South Side of Chicago, modern jazz quartet… it’s almost as if the father blamed the son I.E. Vincent for what happened to the mother, and the father drank and Gary was being reduced to — I mean it looked like Dresden at the end of the war. The father never tutored the boy in jazz. But the boy extolled the virtue of knowing about jazz because he heard his father talk about jazz, not to him, but to other people. And that’s why he knew about jazz, and that’s why he learned about jazz.
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Now his father, Vincent’s father, never tutored Vincent about jazz because he had rejected his son. And ignored him. It was something that got constructed as backstory and the work I did with Tom during pre-production and understanding every aspect of the character of who Vincent was, much more than it appears in the text of the film so that the fractions of Vincent-ness that we have IN the text of the film, within these ten hours, could resonate with the totality of a life the same as they would with anybody you met. We all bring a whole history with us into the moment of the present.
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whileiamdying · 22 days
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A SERENE JAZZ MASTERPIECE TURNS 65
The best-selling and arguably the best-loved jazz album ever, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue still has the power to awe.
MARCH 06, 2024
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At a moment when jazz still loomed large in American culture, 1959 was an unusually monumental year. Those 12 months saw the release of four great and genre-altering albums: Charles Mingus’s Mingus Ah Um, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out (with its megahit “Take Five”), Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, and Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. Sixty-five years on, the genre, though still filled with brilliant talent, has receded to niche status from the culture at large. What remains of that earthshaking year in jazz? “Take Five” has stayed a standard, a tune you might hear on TV or on the radio, a signifier of smooth and nostalgic cool. Mingus, the genius troublemaker, and Coleman, the free-jazz pioneer, remain revered by Those Who Know; their names are still familiar, but most of the music they made has been forgotten by the broader public. Yet Kind of Blue, arguably the best-selling and best-loved jazz album ever, endures—a record that still has the power to awe, that seems to exist outside of time. In a world of ceaseless tumult, its matchless serenity is more powerful than ever.
On the afternoon of Monday, March 2, 1959, seven musicians walked into Columbia Records’ 30th Street Studio, a cavernous former church just off Third Avenue, to begin recording an album. The LP, not yet named, was initially known as Columbia Project B 43079. The session’s leader—its artistic director, the man whose name would appear on the album cover—was Miles Davis. The other players were the members of Davis’s sextet: the saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, the bassist Paul Chambers, the drummer Jimmy Cobb, and the pianist Wynton Kelly. To the confusion and dismay of Kelly, who had taken a cab all the way from Brooklyn because he hated the subway, another piano player was also there: the band’s recently departed keyboardist, Bill Evans.
Every man in the studio had recorded many times before; nobody was expecting this time to be anything special. “Professionals,” Evans once said, “have to go in at 10 o’clock on a Wednesday and make a record and hope to catch a really good day.” On the face of it, there was nothing remarkable about Project B 43079. For the first track laid down that afternoon, a straight-ahead blues-based number that would later be named “Freddie Freeloader,” Kelly was at the keyboard. He was a joyous, selfless, highly adaptable player, and Davis, a canny leader, figured a blues piece would be a good way for the band to limber up for the more demanding material ahead—material that Evans, despite having quit the previous November due to burnout and a sick father, had a large part in shaping.
A highly trained classical pianist, the New Jersey–born Evans fell in love with jazz as a teenager and, after majoring in music at Southeastern Louisiana University, moved to New York in 1955 with the aim of making it or going home. Like many an apprentice, he booked a lot of dances and weddings, but one night, at the Village Vanguard, where he’d been hired to play between the sets of the world-famous Modern Jazz Quartet, he looked down at the end of the grand piano and saw Davis’s penetrating gaze fixed on him. A few months later, having forgotten all about the encounter, Evans was astonished to receive a phone call from the trumpeter: Could he make a gig in Philadelphia?
He made the gig and, just like that, became the only white musician in what was then the top small jazz band in America. It was a controversial hire. Evans, who was really white—bespectacled, professorial—incurred instant and widespread resentment among Black musicians and Black audiences. But Davis, though he could never quite stop hazing the pianist (“We don’t want no white opinions!” was one of his favorite zingers), made it clear that when it came to musicians, he was color-blind. And what he wanted from Evans was something very particular.
One piece that Davis became almost obsessed with was Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli’s 1957 recording of Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. The work, inspired by Ravel’s triumphant 1928 tour of the U.S., was clearly influenced by the fast pace and openness of America: It shimmers with sprightly piccolo and bold trumpet sounds, and dances with unexpected notes and chord changes.
Davis wanted to put wide-open space into his music the way Ravel did. He wanted to move away from the familiar chord structures of jazz and use different scales the way Aram Khachaturian, with his love for Asian music, did. And Evans, unlike any other pianist working in jazz, could put these things onto the keyboard. His harmonic intelligence was profound; his touch on the keys was exquisitely sensitive. “I planned that album around the piano playing of Bill Evans,” Davis said.
But Davis wanted even more. Ever restless, he had wearied of playing songs—American Songbook standards and jazz originals alike—that were full of chords, and sought to simplify. He’d recently been bowled over by a Les Ballets Africains performance—by the look and rhythms of the dances, and by the music that accompanied them, especially the kalimba (or “finger piano”). He wanted to get those sounds into his new album, and he also wanted to incorporate a memory from his boyhood: the ghostly voices of Black gospel singers he’d heard in the distance on a nighttime walk back from church to his grandparents’ Arkansas farm.
In the end, Davis felt that he’d failed to get all he’d wanted into Kind of Blue. Over the next three decades, his perpetual artistic antsiness propelled him through evolving styles, into the blend of jazz and rock called fusion, and beyond. What’s more, Coltrane, Adderley, and Evans were bursting to move on and out and lead their own bands. Just 12 days after Kind of Blue’s final session, Coltrane would record his groundbreaking album Giant Steps, a hurdle toward the cosmic distances he would probe in the eight short years remaining to him. Cannonball, as soulful as Trane was boundary-bursting, would bring a new warmth to jazz with hits such as “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” And for the rest of his career, one sadly truncated by his drug use, Evans would pursue the trio format with subtle lyrical passion.
Yet for all the bottled-up dynamism in the studio during Kind of Blue’s two recording sessions, a profound, Zenlike quiet prevailed throughout. The essence of it can be heard in Evans and Chambers’s hushed, enigmatic opening notes on the album’s opening track, “So What,” a tune built on just two chords and containing, in Davis’s towering solo, one of the greatest melodies in all of music.
The majestic tranquility of Kind of Blue marks a kind of fermata in jazz. America’s great indigenous art had evolved from the exuberant transgressions of the 1920s to the danceable rhythms of the swing era to the prickly cubism of bebop. The cool (and warmth) that followed would then accelerate into the ’60s ever freer of melody and harmony before being smacked head-on by rock and roll—a collision it wouldn’t quite survive.
That charmed moment in the spring of 1959 was brief: Of the seven musicians present on that long-ago afternoon, only Miles Davis and Jimmy Cobb would live past their early 50s. Yet 65 years on, the music they all made, as eager as Davis was to put it behind him, stays with us. The album’s powerful and abiding mystique has made it widely beloved among musicians and music lovers of every category: jazz, rock, classical, rap. For those who don’t know it, it awaits you patiently; for those who do, it welcomes you back, again and again.
James Kaplan, a 2012 Guggenheim fellow, is a novelist, journalist, and biographer. His next book will be an examination of the world-changing creative partnership and tangled friendship of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
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rafikny · 4 months
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Rare live audio of John Coltrane Quartet in SF and NYC.
Tracks 1 and 2 recorded at a television broadcast, "Jazz Casual TV Show", KQED TV Studio, San Francisco, CA, December 7, 1963. (misdated on the back cover as February 23, 1964) Track 3 recorded at "Half Note", New York City April 2, 1965.
Lineup: Tenor Saxophone - John Coltrane Drums - Elvin Jones Bass - Jimmy Garrison Piano - McCoy Tyner
Track list: 1. Alabama 2. Impressions 3. Creation
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John Coltrane Quartet - The Jazz Gallery, New York City, June 27, 1960
Since we just checked out a 1960 audience tape of Miles and Coltrane, let's hang out back there for a little while longer. Another audience tape! A pretty listenable one, all things considered. Thank a taper, for heaven's sake. By June, Coltrane had left the Miles Davis group for good and quickly set about forming his own unit. This isn't quite the classic quartet yet — McCoy Tyner is firmly in place on piano, but drummer Pete LaRoca is behind the kit instead of the soon-to-join Elvin Jones. And then there's the somewhat shadowy bassist Steve Davis, who would play on some of Coltrane's classic Atlantic LPs and then more or less vanish, only appearing on a handful of other sessions. Mysterious ...
Anyway! This Jazz Gallery performance is, as far as I know, our first glimpse of Coltrane live and on his own in the 1960s. He sounds ready to go, kicking things off with a long, wild "Liberia" before sliding smoothly into a gorgeous "Every Time We Say Goodbye." The band, especially Tyner, follows their new leader fearlessly. Interestingly, if the date of this tape is right, Coltrane would go into the studio the next day — but not with this band. Instead, he'd be playing with Ornette Coleman's group: Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell. The results wouldn't be released until 1966.
Coltrane says: I’ve got to keep experimenting. I feel that I’m just beginning. I have part of what I’m looking for in my grasp but not all. I’m very happy devoting all my time to music, and I’m glad to be one of the many who are striving for fuller development as musicians. Considering the great heritage in music that we have, the work of giants of the past, the present, and the promise of those who are to come, I feel that we have every reason to face the future optimistically.
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thesobsister · 8 months
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Poster for Billie Holiday with an all-star lineup at Loew's Sheridan in NYC, 1957
The Loew's Sheridan, gone since 1969 and leaving no terrestrial trace, but whose likeness we can see in this painting by Edward Hopper from 1937:
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From the Village Voice review—the paper having co-produced the show—the following Monday:
Voice Concert Sell-Out
The Village Voice and Jean Shepherd proved last Saturday night that one of the liveliest of the “lively arts” has massive appeal in Greenwich Village. “Jazz music,” said Monday’s New York Times, “successfully invaded new territory at midnight Saturday when 2500 packed Loew’s Sheridan Theatre in Greenwich Village to hear a program headed by Billie Holiday and the Modern Jazz Quartet.”
Interest in the show was so intense that fully one hour before curtain-time the entire square block on which the Sheridan is located was encircled four-deep by people waiting to get in. Jazz-lovers who were admonished by patrolmen to get to the end of the line were thrown into confusion trying to find the end of a line that had no end. The entire house was sold out, with more than 500 people being turned away.
The evening went off smoothly before an enthusiastic audience. The only suspense was involved in getting jazz singer Billie Holiday, who was performing in a Philadelphia club until 12:30 a.m., back to New York in sufficient time to sing on the stage of the Sheridan. The Voice driver made it, and she was able to close the show with some 10 songs, including her classic “Don’t Explain.”
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sweetdreamsjeff · 3 months
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Soul Coughing/ Jeff Buckley Rock the House
Great American Music Hall on Thursday
night (May 4, 1995)
By MTV News Staff
May 6, 1995
12:00 AM
Editor's Note: We found a pile of notes on the recent Jeff
Buckley/Soul Coughing concert scribbled by our business manager, Steve
McConnell. They were almost unintelligible, but after hours and hours
of deciphering, we were able to piece together the following report.
Listen to Soul Coughing's debut album, Ruby Vroom, and you'd
think the New York-based quartet were beat poets messing around with
samples. See them in person however, and it is clear that they are
from the New York white-boy school of rap (think low-keyed Beastie
Boys). That was the most surprising thing about their terrific
hour-long performance at the Great American Music Hall on Thursday
night (May 4).
"You all don't have to get up," said leader singer/rapper M. Doughty,
as Soul Coughing took the stage. "I was kinda digging that campfire
thing." He was directing his comments to the nearly 100 people
sitting cross-legged on the floor of San Francisco's Great American
Music Hall.
Ruby Vroom has received some remarkable (and well deserved)
reviews. The New Yorker called it "one of the best records of
1994"; Details noted that "this is some serious boho, Dada
shit." Live, the group more than lived up to such praise.
Soul Coughing is comprised of Sebastian Steinberg on upright bass;
Yuval Gabay, drums; M'Ark De Gli Antoni, keyboards/samples; and Doughty
on guitar and vocals. They emerged from the New York avant garde jazz
scene (John Zorn gets a word of thanks in the album credits). Live, the
group brought together elements of Morphine (the driving bass and
narrative style), Digable Planets ( rap set to jazz samples) and the
Beasties. But where Digable Planets come from the rap world and the
Beasties arrived via punk, Soul Coughing bring a distinctive bohemian
jazz sensibility to the mix.
At the Music Hall, they performed nearly the entire album. Highlights
included "Casiotone Nation," "Mr. Bitterness," "Down To This" and the
amazing "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago," which included the line "San
Mateo is in the house." After performing that song, noting the
enthusiastic response, Doughty said, "I guess San Mateo is in
the house."
Headliner Jeff Buckley was in fine form, performing one of the most
rocking sets of his current tour (at least according to a fan who saw
the last four shows), stretching out many of the songs and
improvising. Buckley played a taped-up red Rickenbacker six string
guitar; his voice sounded even more beautiful and emotional than on his
debut album, Grace. At one point someone from the audience
yelled, "Shonen Knife?" "OK," replied Buckely, then played two minutes
of a Shonen Knife song while the rest of the band smirked. Half way
through the set Buckely played a loud and raucous version of the MC5's
"Kick Out the Jams."
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davidisen · 3 months
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NOLA 2023, Part 2
My New Orleans visit, December 12-19, 2023, continued . . .
On Sunday, December 17, Aurora Nealand (soprano sax, clarinet, vocals) led an especially poignant gig at the Spotted Cat, with Steve Lands (trumpet), Leo Forde (guitar), Pete Olyciw (bass), each a highly-skilled, big-eared, adventurous soul. They played the standards, but in a very exploratory way. When Aurora sang, "In My Solitude," by Duke Ellington, she articulated each lyric with precious presence.
Aurora appeared in David Simon's great, and under-appreciated, TV series Treme. Her best line of the whole series said, in part, " . . . but music, that's personal." She was talking about gigs like this one.
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Here's another view of the same gig by Bill Bush, a new friend I met on this trip with similar musical tastes. Bill had some other gigs on his list that evening, but, like me, he sensed how special the gig was, and for three sets, he couldn't tear himself away. It's Bill's original pic, but it's my fault for messing with it . . . From L to R it's Leo Forde, Steve Lands, Steve Olyciw, and Aurora Nealand.
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Jason Marsalis did one of the afternoon sessions at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park 2PM series. He explained the vibraphone - and its cousins the glockenspiel, the marimba and the xylophone. And he talked about growing up in the house of Ellis Marsalis with brothers Wynton, Branford, etc. And played a few tunes too!
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Sharon Martin and her quartet did another one of those great 2PM National Park gigs.
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That woman could sing.
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I caught a set at Maison Dupuy by Robin Rapuzzi's Glo-worms, two mandolins and a guitar, focused on traditional Italian music. If the two guys on the right look familiar, it's probably because they're in Tuba Skinny. Robin's in the middle and Greg Sherman is on the right. Nobody was there. It was Sunday, something about Saints at the Superdome.
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There's been a drum circle on Sunday afternoons in Congo Square since . . . well . . . there's a legend that before the Civil War, the enslaved people of New Orleans were allowed to play their drums on Sunday in Congo Square. One line of thinking says this is why New Orleans music is so unique. As I walked past Congo Square on Sunday afternoon, I heard drums . . .
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One of my friends, now a very successful musician, once was busted for busking in a New York subway. He wasn't even playing. He had opened his violin case to look for something, and the cop saw him and out came the ticket book! Why??????
Busking is encouraged in New Orleans. One afternoon I stopped to listen to Charlie Bridges . . .
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I met this young lady but didn't remember her name. She was a good singer and a songwriter too.
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Doreen Ketchens is one of the best clarinet players in New Orleans! She gives 110%! I've seen her on Royal Street many times.
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My allocated week in New Orleans was winding down. On Monday, I caught The Winding Boys at the Spotted Cat, and then Doyle Cooper and Z2 at Buffa's.
Here's The Winding Boys. That's Myla Burnett on guitar, Dizzy on washboard, and Dizzy on bass. One of those all-purpose names. I never caught the names of the two front guys. They were both good. The sax guy was musically clever. The trumpet player was verbally clever, with, a humph, clever, a humph, improvised lyrics. Note the great trumpet player James Williams, in the window.
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I went to hear Doyle Cooper at Bill Bush's suggestion. He was very good. So was piano player Z2.
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I had some fries and cheese sauce, smothered in Crystal hot sauce, and went home early to pack for my flight to NYC. A remarkable week.
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Quinn Lemley
Through Rita Hayworth - The Heat is On, Singer/Performer Transforms Into the Legendary Star
by Brad Balfour
On Nov 20, 2023, the singer/style queen Quinn Lemley will present her last NYC performance of The Heat Is On! – Rita Hayworth at Don’t Tell Mama (343 W 46th St.), the long-established cabaret center in midtown Manhattan, before going on the road. Hayworth, known as “The Love Goddess,” is iconic for her indelible performance in Gilda, the film noir classic – performing the sexiest striptease on celluloid, “Put The Blame On Mame.” The hottest sex symbol of the 1940s, Hayworth’s pin-up on the Atomic Bomb gave her the international title of “The Atomic Star.” Courted by the world’s most powerful men – Orson Welles, Prince Aly Khan, and Howard Hughes among others – Hayworth was a legend until she had early onset Alzheimer’s Disease which led to her death.
Fire-haired performer Lemley brings the star to life in her sold-out shows. Having headlined various performing arts centers and casinos across North America, she received The Bistro Award and two MAC award nominations. Lemley’s jazz quintet performs internationally and she’s the iconic face of the Half Note in Athens, Greece. The New York Times defines her performances as "Dazzling... with one show-stopping number after another!" 
Besides this show, Lemley has directed and co-produced Rebel Rebel, The Many Lives of David Bowie, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Wall and The Ultimate Queen Celebration. She’s had a presence on national TV through appearances on Good Morning America, Oprah and as a finalist on Shark Tank. Lemley also has five CDs available, and her music is on Spotify and Apple Music. She’s hosting the locally produced TV show, Secrets of the Stage on MNN.org with a monthly virtual concert on Zoom -- “Up Close & Personal.” A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she's a Distinguished Toastmaster at Toastmasters International and a member of National Speakers Association as well as SAG, AFTRA, AEA, DTM, NSA NY, APAP, and IEBA.
This critically acclaimed concert about Hayworth's life — the star who built Columbia Pictures — is a humorous, heartfelt and heartbreaking look at The Golden Age of Hollywood, the MeToo movement and the price of fame — especially in light of Hayworth's tumultuous relationship with the head of Columbia, the infamous Harry Cohn. The show reflects the price of fame, celebrating a remarkable life with humor, wit and impeccable storytelling. It’s all woven together with tunes from The Great American Songbook and the Golden Age of Hollywood. 
Written and directed by Carter Inskeep (“Always Patsy Cline”), Lemley’s performance is either backed by a quartet or by an 11-piece big band. The show includes hits from such legendary composers and lyricists as Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern. It includes “Bewitched,” “Zip,” and “The Lady is A Tramp” from such iconic films as “Gilda,” “Pal Joey,” “Cover Girl” and more. 
The following Q&A was conducted online in advance of the upcoming show.
When did you know you wanted to be a performer?
I came out of the womb entertaining. I’ve always known that I wanted to perform. Singing and acting have always been my passion. Even as a young girl from Indiana I was always producing puppet shows, carnivals and musicals for our neighborhood. Luckily, my parents were incredibly supportive and made sure I took lessons and classes. I’m so grateful today! 
Talk about the first time you performed. Can you describe the moment?
My first show was when I was in fifth grade. I played a Far-Out Foxy Lady from A Foreign Land in Whitecloud and the Seven Dwarfs. I guess I was bound to be a glamour gal from the get-go!
Have you focused on cabaret because of the intimacy of the experience?
I love cabaret. I love its intimacy. It’s taught me to connect to each and every person in the room. It provides an opportunity to try things out and to take a chance, to take risks. 
Although it’s been a big part of my life, I haven’t focused on cabaret. My late husband -– producer, manager and best friend, Paul Horton -- expanded my shows by putting them with 9- to 12-piece big bands. That opened up the scope of our shows. For the past 15 years, I’ve been headlining casinos and performing arts centers like The Kravis Center, Naples Philharmonic, Thousand Oaks Civic Center and BB Kings in NYC. After Covid, Paul suggested I go back to the club where I started my career -- Don’t Tell Mama in NYC -- before going back on the road in theaters. We won the Bistro Award, a MAC Nomination, rave reviews and have enjoyed a 17-month residency. I’m grateful Paul booked these dates leading up to going back to theaters starting in North Carolina at the Tryon Center Nov. 4, The Pheasantry in London on Feb 16 & 17th, and a one-week run at The Cape May Playhouse in July. We have our last NYC date on Monday, Nov. 20 at Don’t Tell Mama. It’s given me a chance to heal and put myself into the performance on another level. 
How do you choose the songs you do?
First, it’s the lyrics. What am I trying to say? How do I want to say it? Where does it fit into the show? Secondly, it’s about melody and structure. How does the melody make me and the audience feel? How do I want it arranged to tell the story? Finally, does it fit me as an artist? I love all kinds of music. But like clothing, not everything fits with my voice and personality or belongs in the arc of the story that I’m telling. I have to try the songs out and see how they feel and sound in my voice. 
How did you develop this show?
Rita Hayworth – The Heat Is On! has had three stages of development. The first stage was when I got out of NYU. I was starring in a show off Broadway. A reviewer saw me and said, “You look like Rita Hayworth. You should meet Carter Inskeep and do the story of her life.” That was pre-internet, so we read every biography, watched her films on tape and went to the library. We also read every article we could find on microfiche. The question we kept asking was, “Who is Rita Hayworth – the public persona?  But more importantly, who is Margarita Cansino? The girl who has hopes and dreams and just wants to be loved?” Just like me, like all of us. We had tremendous success, got rave reviews, were on Oprah, Geraldo, Good Morning America. I was in my mid 20s then. In my 30s, I met Paul Horton. He changed my life. He had us rewrite the show, using the songs from the Great American Songbook during the Golden Age of Hollywood to help tell the story instead of limiting it to songs from Rita’s films. He had it orchestrated for both a big band and a quartet. Now we can play intimate theaters as well as large ones like The Kravis Center, Naples Philharmonic and BB King’s. We toured throughout North America. During Covid, Carter rewrote the book to make the story about resilience, accepting our choices with topics like the “Me Too” movement, women’s empowerment and the price of fame. He had us return to Don't Tell Mama’s in NYC where we started the show after COVID, before going back on tour in theaters. Our residency was so successful that we got extended from four to 17 months, had rave reviews, won the Bistro Award and got a MAC Nomination. 
Besides this one performance left in NYC on Monday, Nov. 20, I’m going to London in February at The Pheasantry. I am so grateful that Paul put this in motion. It's been a lifesaver since he unexpectedly passed in March. It was his vision to do this residency. The story is so rich, deep, funny and moving. I’ve been able to tap into Rita’s story on a deeper level than I ever could have when I was younger. I’ve been able to put myself into the role in a way I never dreamed was possible. And the audiences are responding. 
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Do you try to make your shows thematic, or sometimes just a simple revue?
All of my shows are thematic. The Heat is On – Rita Hayworth is about Rita and The Golden Age of Hollywood. Burlesque to Broadway is about the women who went from Burlesque to Broadway and Beyond. As a director and producer, I've done these shows: The Ultimate Queen Celebration, Rebel Rebel: The Many Lives of David Bowie and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Wall. My TV Talk show on MNN, Secrets of the Stage is where I pull back the curtains and explore the creative process. My speaking keynote is about resilience through the lens of my relationship with my shows Rita and Burlesque to Broadway.
You did have a burlesque moment. Did it feel liberating, powerful or what?
I did a show called Burlesque To Broadway. It was so liberating. I was onstage with four beautiful and talented women who celebrated their talent, beauty and humor. It was powerful to claim and own my femininity and fun to tease. As the great poet Mel Brooks said, “When You Got It, Flaunt It.” Every woman should step into her power and “Be”! 
Besides the songs you're already playing, what are your benchmark tunes?
My heroine is Julia Child. I got to have lunch with her at her house in Cambridge with her husband Paul. Her spirit was incredible. She was a woman who took massive action and didn’t let anyone or anything stop her. Other icons of mine are Cher, Ann-Margret, Lady GaGa and Diana Ross. I’m putting a list of songs from '70s and '80s rock, so my benchmark songs are "The Show Must Go On," "You Take My Breath Away" and "Rock and Roll Suicide." I perform Queen and Bowie plus others to celebrate my late husband, Paul’s genius and talent. Plus, “Don’t Fret World” from his Rock Opera which was his anthem.
Who would you like to perform with or what show would like to be in?
My dream is to work with the French artist, arranger and producer Benjamin Biolay. And, of course, I’d love to work with David Foster.
What goals do you have for this show and for yourself?
We are going back on the road in theaters. I’m on a plane now headed to Tryon Arts Center in North Carolina. Going to London. I’m hoping to find producers and promoters who will help us tour and produce a run on the West End of London. I’d like to do a national tour. We’d also like to do a NetFlix special filming of the show for broadcast. Paul was my agent as well as producer, so I need to find an agent that can help me internationally. I am also looking to get my TV show, Secrets of the Stage, picked up by a major network with sponsorship. As a director and producer, I’m working on our tour of The Ultimate Queen Celebration with Yvan Pedneault and MiG Ayessa, both endorsed by Queen. It’s the best Queen tribute band on the market. We will be at The Egg in Albany, May 11th, and are routing around that. The audiences are on their feet. It's a Queen party. Starting next month, I’m working on a new show with ’70s and ‘80s rock that’s a tribute to Paul and our incredible 20-year journey together through music. I’m grateful to have so many talented colleagues with me on my journey. 
Who: Quinn Lemley
What: "Rita Hayworth - The Heat is On!"
When: November 20th, 2023
Where: Don’t Tell Mama – 343 W 46th St. – New York, NY – (212)-757-0788
For more info go to: www.QuinnLemley.com
Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: November 15, 2023.
Photos ©2023. Courtesy of Quinn Lemley. All rights reserved.
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cartermagazine · 1 year
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Tday In History Nina Simone, known as the “High Priestess of Soul,” was born in Tryon, NC, on this date February 21, 1933. Nina Simone studied classical piano at the Juilliard School in New York City. Performing in night clubs, she turned her interest to jazz, blues and folk music and released her first album in 1957, scoring a Top 20 hit with the track “I Loves You Porgy.” In the 1960s. Simone became known as the voice of the Civil Rights Movement. She wrote “Mississippi Goddam” in response to the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers and the Birmingham church bombing that killed four young African American girls. She also penned “Four Women,” chronicling the complex histories of a quartet of African American female figures, and “Young, Gifted and Black,” borrowing the title of a play by Hansberry, which became a popular anthem. After the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Simone’s bassist Greg Taylor penned “Why (The King of Love Is Dead),” which was performed by the singer and her band at the Westbury Music Festival. “So while you’re imitating Al Capone, I’ll be Nina Simone and defacating on your microphone” - Lauryn Hill CARTER™️ Magazine carter-mag.com #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #ninasimone #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #history #staywoke https://www.instagram.com/p/Co6_gx-uDzA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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