Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Torino Festival features Lou Reed

It was a real festival of entertainment. The Piazza Castello was the Medals Plaza of the Olympic Winter Games and, aside from the award ceremonies, every night it hosted a show with the best stars of the international music scene and the most promising artists in Piemonte.

The great Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, kicked off the festival, followed by Kelly Clarkson, Ennio Morricone, Gianni Morandi, Duran Duran, Jamiroquai, Anastacia, Italian Paolo Conte, Whitney Houston, Nek, Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne and Ricky Martin.

The series of concerts were closed by Lou Reed, Max Pezzali and Riccardo Cocciante on February 25th.

Lou Reed’s concert was the preview of a European tour that will see him performing 11 of his 14 dates in Italian theatres and concert halls. His powerful band included virtuoso bassist Rob Wasserman, Tony Thunder Smith, Fernando Saunders, and Mike Rathke. They set off a “symphonic-electronic” concert; after opening with “Paranoia”, other songs were “Street Hassle”, “Sword”, “Kennedy”, a very interesting version of “Red Joystick” and “Power and Glory”. His Tai Chi master arrived on stage to the notes of “Who Am I”, showing some moves from his discipline, and finally he closed his concert with “Mystic Child”. An encore of “Sweet Jane” drove the audience totally wild.

After the glory of the Velvet Underground and a crisis which made him leave the group, he became a solo artists and released his first memorable albums “Transformer”, “Rock & Roll Animal”, “Berlin”, and “Street Hassle”.

Today Lou Reed also plays music to poetry, paying tribute to literary artists like Edgar Allan Poe, and exhibits photographic works of art. The New York rock star also has a passion for Tai Chi for which he creates accompanying music. Lou Reed turns 64 next week.

Roberto De Luca, art director of the event, said it was designed to bring together the internationalism of the Olympic Winter Games with the city of Torino, to cater to all the audiences and promote the best artists on the local scene.

Italian artists featured during the “Torino Festival” were Lou Dalfin, Linea 77, Yo Yo Mundi, ATPC, Mambassa, and Discoinferno.

The Councillor of the Olympic Winter Games, Elda Tessore, remarked “it is the first time that a show of this calibre has been held in Italy for two weeks in a row”.

The tickets for each show were free of charge. From February 11th to 25th, the piazza was secured with 36 metal detectors. The first concerts at 6:30, the award ceremonies between 8 and 9, and finally the celebration, the day’s key event with live music.

Tenor Ben Heppner, sang the Canadian national anthem and Elisa performed during the grand finale in the Closing Ceremony. The real stars of the evening, the athletes, made their entrance to the backdrop of "Volare," "That's Amore," and other classics.

Another official moment was the extinguishing of the Olympic Cauldron, with Andrea Bocelli on the stage. Then, the grand finale with the aurora borealis, the pyrotechnical fountains, the live performances of Ricky Martin and Elisa and some awesome fireworks.

http://www.avrillavigne.com/home.php
http://www.morandimania.it/
http://www.andreabocelli.com/
http://www.anastacia.com/
http://www.jamiroquai.com/
http://www.rickymartin.com/
http://www.duranduran.com/
http://www.loureed.it/
http://www.concerto.net/conte/
http://www.kellyclarkson.it/


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Friday, February 24, 2006

2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Flanked by an honor guard of local musicians Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel, amid Mardi Gras festivities, Jazzfest producer Quint Davis announced the annual music celebration will return this year, and invited all the displaced citizens of New Orleans to return.

The 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will feature an all-star lineup including Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, the Dave Matthews Band, Lionel Richie, Keith Urban, Yolanda Adams, Elvis Costello, The Ohio Players, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and Little Feat.

They will join hundreds of local favorites at the 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which spans two weekends, April 28th through 30, and May 5th through the 7th, at the New Orleans Fair Grounds.

Visit nojazzfest.com for details on each weekend's lineup.

Fats Domino and the reunited Meters will lead a virtual who's who of Louisiana musicians that includes Art, Ivan and Charmaine Neville, Irma Thomas, the Radiators, Cowboy Mouth, Galactic, Allen Toussaint, Doug Kershaw, Deacon John, Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Paul S. Morton & the Greater St. Stephen Choir, Snooks Eaglin, Buckwheat Zydeco, Pete Fountain, Dr. John and hundreds more.

The musical community of New Orleans has suffered beyond comprehension. In addition to losing family, friends, band mates, homes and belongings to the destructive forces of hurricane Katrina, thousands of local musicians have also lost their livelihood. Instruments, equipment, and studios have been ruined, as have music stores, bars, clubs, and concert venues where musicians earned their living.

To help in the effort to return the creative musical soul to New Orleans, profits from the sale of the 2005 Jazz Fest Live Compilation Album will be donated to the MusiCares® Hurricane Relief Fund; an "organization set up so music people impacted by hurricane Katrina can get help".

Many of the artists on the Compilation Album are New Orleans based and could sorely use the royalties they earn from the album. Album artists not based in New Orleans have also offered to donate their royalties to MusiCares.

The "Crescent City" will rise again, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival will continue it's heritage of enriching millions of people's lives through music.

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Thursday, February 23, 2006

North Texas Rock Rally

The North Texas Rock Rally is a 3 day motorcycle rally and music festival that takes place July 21 through 23 at Paradise Ranch in McKinney Texas.

It's a weekend of fun, food, music, bikes, top notch entertainment and activities including 8 bands, vendors, bike rides, stunt shows, chili and BBQ cook-off, car show, swimsuit competition, hot air balloons, helicopter rides and an amusement area with bungee jumping.

Full Throttle Saloon from Sturgis, the world's largest biker bar will also be there. There's camping too, with electricity, shower facilities and swimming pool, provided by the ranch.

This event brings people together from all across North America, as far away as Florida and Hawaii. This year the estimated attendance should top 25K.

The 3rd annual North Texas Rock Rally...July 21 through 23. A portion of rally proceeds will benefit local charities.

Visit ntrr.com for details.


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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

NASCAR Tunes In

It's a natural thing. Music and movement go together. So it's no surprise to see NASCAR teaming up with iTunes to deliver the excitement of race reviews and exclusive content to your digital music player.

NASCAR's 75 million fans now have unparalleled access to racing highlights and exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage from Nextel Cup Series races throughout the 2006 season.

NASCAR is also emerging as a pioneer by using podcasts to put race fans "inside the helmet."
They're using really cool names too...real man radio, the grid, podclag, dixie thunder and half past beer 30 are my favorites.

Geez, kinda makes me wonder if Jimmie Johnson had any particular tune whistling through his head when he won the Daytona 500? Maybe not, but Daytona 500 fans enjoyed a pre-race performance from Jon Bon Jovi.

Search iTunes for NASCAR and you'll find compilation albums like "Sounds of NASCAR," "Thunder, the NASCAR Theme," and "Hotter than Asphalt."

A week ago in Nashville, the Nextel Sprint Sound and Speed event, A Celebration of Music and Motorsports, united country music's top performers with NASCAR's top drivers for a two-day festival.

Fans were treated to displays of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and Grand-Am cars, historic artifacts from racing and country music legends, an auction of music and racing memorabilia, interviews with both current and legendary stars of
NASCAR and country music, autograph sessions with artists and drivers, interactive fan attractions and a finale concert featuring Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes and Keith Anderson.

Other artists included Trisha Yearwood, George Jones, Julie Roberts, Darryl Worley, Diamond Rio, Jo Dee Messina, Ricky Skaggs, Lila McCann, Michael McDonald, and Lee Greenwood.

Drivers included Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Richard and Kyle Petty, Darrell and Michael Waltrip, Carl Edwards, Ernie Irvan, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle and 2005 Grand American champs Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli.

Proceeds from the inaugural event will benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp for children with life-threatening illnesses and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum charities.



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Monday, February 20, 2006

Indy Racing League to Kiss their ads

It could happen anywhere. Rock and Roll and racing always seemed to go together, so it's justly fitting that Gene Simmons, bassist for rock band Kiss, signed a deal to promote Indy racing.

The ad campaign and a 91-second anthem called "I Am Indy," co-authored by Simmons and performed by the band BAG, will also promote the IRL (Indy Racing League.)

"Indy cars are rockets on the ground. These drivers are modern knights in shining armor, risking their lives at close to 225 mph,"

The lyrics, which repeat the song's title "I Am Indy," preach about individuality and top-speed performance: "I am everything I want/ I have everything I need/ I know exactly what to do/ 'cuz I am Indy."

"It's a personal statement that's a sort of personal allegiance to the United States of Indy," Simmons said.


The Indianapolis-based IRL posted the song on its Web site, IndyCar.com and there is also a press release posted at Gene Simmons site.

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Friday, February 17, 2006

Vault Radio Presents Bill Graham

(excerpted from Vault Radio...where live music lives)

Bill Graham and his concert promotion company, Bill Graham Presents, produced more than 35,000 concerts all over the world. His first venue, the legendary Fillmore Auditorium, was home to many of rock's greatest performers - Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan - and countless others.

Graham taped thousands of live performances and stored the tapes away in his basement headquarters. These tapes and the concerts they captured lay dormant until the Bill Graham archive was acquired by Wolfgang's Vault in 2003.

Vault Radio is playing selected tracks from these concerts in an FM-quality, 128K digital radio stream. Songs will be added and removed from the radio show on a regular basis, which is broadcasting unaltered live performance music from many of the greatest bands of the last 40 years. It hasn't been sweetened, polished or remixed.

You only hear what the band actually played that night...nothing more, nothing less...




Playing On Vault Radio:
The Allman Brothers
Big Brother and the Holding Company
The Band
Chuck Berry
Booker T. & the MG's
Chambers Brothers
Chicago
Cream
CCR
CSN&Y
Miles Davis
Delaney & Bonnie
The Doobie Brothers
Dylan & The Band
Everly Brothers
Aretha Franklin
The Grateful Dead
Jimi Hendrix
Hot Tuna
Jefferson Airplane
Elton John
Led Zeppelin
Van Morrison
Pink Floyd
Santana
John Sebastian
Bruce Springsteen
Steppenwolf
Taj Mahal
James Taylor
Tower of Power
Muddy Waters
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young
Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

Wolfgang's Vault also features Poster Art, Rock Photography, T-Shirts, Vintage Tickets and
Backstage passes.


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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Bill Clements Undergroundalienbass

Bill Clements is one incredible bassist. Especially considering he is making all that music with just four fingers. Watch the video on their website and you'll see what I mean.

Bill Clements has teamed up with fellow local musician Matt Lund in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan and formed The Music Group of Greater Kalamazoo. It's a community of musicians and ensembles that can play, perform and record a variety of musical styles and formats. I find it a really interesting idea, and a great way to pool local resources. There's strength in numbers, and these guys are supporting local music while supporting each other's artistic careers.

It's a growing trend to promote your music and talents online via the web, and it's starting to pay off. At least for these guys. Bill Clements' current CD "Undergroundalienbass" is now available at Tower Records and Best Buy. Bill and fellow musician Matt Lund are both releasing new solo CD's this summer, as well as recording a new album by The Light Fusion Trio.

It may be cold in Michigan, but The Music Group of Greater Kalamazoo is heating up the local music scene there. And with national distribution of Bill Clement's "Undergroundalienbass" CD, we're sure to hear alot more from these guys!

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Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Valentine's Day music to set the mood

Well it's Valentine's Day, 2006. A day of love...a night of romance. What better way to set the mood, than with music. If I were making a "love compilation CD," this would be my setlist...


Layla - Derek & the Dominos
(Eric Clapton's most famous love song, written for Patti Boyd, who left George Harrison)

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton (probably his next most famous love song)

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young

Moondance - Van Morrison

Suite Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash

Cherish - The Association

Dedicated To The One I Love - The Mamas and the Papas

You Didn't Have To Be So Nice - The Lovin' Spoonful

Love Is Blue - Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra

Where Is The Love - Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

(Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All - The 5th Dimension

Look Of Love - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

Let's Stay Together - Al Green

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Try A Little Tenderness - Otis Redding



Colour My World - Chicago

Make It With You - Bread

Tracks Of My Tears - Linda Ronstadt

Waiting For A Girl Like You - Foreigner

You're The Only Woman - Ambrosia

You Are The Woman - Firefall

Something - The Beatles

You've Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears

Best Of My Love - The Eagles

Your Song - Elton John

Say You Love Me - Fleetwood Mac

Because - Dave Clark Five

Still...You Turn Me On - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Without You - Harry Nilsson

My Love - Paul McCartney (written for his wife, Linda, during the height of Wings)

I Left My Heart In San Francisco - Tony Bennett

My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker

I've Got You Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra

Theme from The Pink Panther - Henry Mancini (almost anything by Mancini is romantic)

Don't Know Why - Norah Jones (same here, almost any choice is a good one)

I know I missed some good ones but there's more material than I have room for here. Maybe that's why we see so many "love compilations" on sale around Valentine's Day.

I guess we're looking at a multi-volume set. Look for volume two next year.



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Monday, February 13, 2006

Donald Fagen Solo Album and Tour

"H Gang" is the brand new track from Donald Fagen's forthcoming new solo album "Morph The Cat." This will be his first solo album in 13 years.

If Fagen's new solo work is anything like his last, Kamakiriad (1993,) this will surely be another contemporary classic from this half of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo Steely Dan.

Rumor has it that this new solo album with be the final installment in a musical trilogy that began with his first solo album The Nightfly in 1982. Fagen begins his first ever solo tour on March first, playing 18 dates between both coasts.

Available on Reprise Records March 7th.

Links:
Donald Fagen
The Official Reprise Records Website



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Thursday, February 09, 2006

The 48th Grammy Awards


Here's my picks for the 48th Grammy Awards...

Album of the Year: "Chaos And Creation In The Backyard" by Paul McCartney

Song of the Year: "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" by U2

Best New Artist: John Legend (this guy is everywhere this past year!)

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: "I Will Not Be Broken" by Bonnie Raitt from "Souls Alike"

So what really happened at LA's Staples Center?? "And the envelope, please..."

From Burleson, Texas; American Idol's first winner, Kelly Clarkson wins Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year! I was really rooting for Paul McCartney to win this, but I'm happy for my fellow Texan to bring home a Grammy! Kelly also won her second Grammy in Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Since U Been Gone" from her album "Breakaway."

The best part of the show was the tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. I can't even name everyone on stage for it, but I remember Joe Perry, Steven Tyler and Maroon 5. Sly Stone himself made an appearance to take us all a little bit higher. He's still just as flashy as he ever was, dressed in a silver cape, shades and a blonde mohawk. The song medley was awesome, except when Wil.I.Am started rapping over it.

Other highlights include Linkin Park and Jay-Z winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung, which is a collaborative performance by artists who normally do not perform together. For "Numb/Encore" from "Collison Course."

It's really cool to see performers give each other credit and share the spotlight. That's class, man. Jay-Z stayed in the background while Linkin Park accepted the award. I just love to see performers grateful to be there, to graciously accept their award and thank the ones whose hard work behind the scenes that helped shape that moment onstage. Moments like when Kelly Clarkson cried upon winning her first Grammy award.

U2 won Song Of The Year for "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own." Although Bono thanked his father for instilling an attitude and a voice in him, the Edge sounded more sincere in thanking all their fans for supporting them for all these years.

Jack Bruce accepted the Lifetime Achievement award for Cream, and gave tribute to producer Tom Dowd, who helped shape the group's sound.

Best Pop Instrumental Performance was a richly deserved award for guitar pioneer Les Paul; presented for "Caravan," from his "American Made, World Played" album. He also got Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "69 Freedom Special," from the same album. We're told he is in the hospital, but doing well.

James Taylor was honored as the 2006 MusiCares Person of the Year.

Green Day captures the big one...Record of the Year...with "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" from last year's Album of the Year "American Idiot."

Best New Artist award went to John Legend, who thanked everyone with a short heartfelt speech. He sounds like a regular guy, which is great for a new artist winner.

And...Album of the Year goes to U2, for "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb."
They had to walk right past Paul McCartney, who was also nominated. Bono graciously acknowledged Paul upon taking the stage for the award; and that was a great moment.

Mariah Carey's album "The Emancipation of Mimi," was declared Best Contemporary R&B Album and she also claimed a Grammy award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance with "We Belong Together."

Paul McCartney performed for the very first time at the Grammies, starting off with his current single "Fine Line," which was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. However, that award went to Stevie Wonder for his track "From The Bottom of My Heart" from "A Time To Love." Then Paul and his band tore through "Helter Skelter," which was pretty cool to see on national television. Later in the show he sang "Yesterday" but it was "rapped up" by Jay-Z, which just didn't work.

Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance went to Aretha Franklin for "A House Is Not A Home."

The best music of the evening came from a rousing version of "Yes We Can Can" featuring a really rocking band with Bruce Springsteen and the Edge on guitar and vocals; Bonnie Raitt on guitar and vocals, and Dr. John on keyboards and vocals. The supporting musicians were great too. It's all part of the MusicCares program to help rebuild the New Orleans music scene.

Then the band launched into "In The Midnight Hour" with Bruce opening the vocals, switching to an all star lineup of trading vocals in tribute to America's R&B hero Wilson Pickett, God rest his soul, a wicked pickett!

Of course, there's always the "off show/off stage" awards handed out to keep the television broadcast down to a paltry three and a half hours.

B.B. King got Best Traditional Blues Album for "80"

Best Contemporary Blues Album "Cost Of Living" went to Delbert McClinton.

Eric Idle and John Du Prez snagged the award for Best Musical Show Album with their broadway hit "Monty Python's Spamalot."

Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Cream, blues pioneer Robert Johnson, David Bowie, Merle Haggard, and Richard Pryor. The Trustees Awards were presented to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who launched a thousand careers and helped countless others go on to stardom.

A long scroll at the end of the show also mentioned awards for English blues legend Long John Baldry, jazz drummer Milton Holland, keyboard innovator Robert Moog, keyboarist Jimmy Smith, guitarist Link Wray, Lou Rawls, Luther Vandross and Wilson Pickett.

Logon to grammy.yahoo.com and bid for charity to help the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and show your support for this legendary music capitol of the south. Let's revive their music scene and keep Mardi Gras alive!

You could even bid on grammy online charity auctions at cbs.com!!


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Monday, February 06, 2006

Super Bowl Halftime - Rolling Stones

First I will admit I was always more of a Beatles fan than a Rolling Stones fan. With that said I was willing to give the Stones a listen at this years Super Bowl. Wow, they sounded horrible. Just compare it to last years show with Paul McCartney. He looked good (for his age) and sounded fantastic, the Stones on the other hand sounded worse than most bands starting out playing in a garage somewhere with no effects for their vocals.

Stevie Wonder did a pretty good set before the game. I would like to know why the Motown guys played before the game instead of the main halftime show? And in Detroit, I mean cmon, that would be like playing in Mississippi and not having the Blues as the main show.

Did someone think they had to give the Stones a shot since the Beatles had a representative play last year?

In any case, the halftime show was less than stellar. Maybe it's time to crank it down a notch. 6 hours of pregame show with several key musicians getting a song in. Let's get back to a single halftime show, with one good headliner performing a couple hit songs. And maybe choose a more contemporary act. I guess next year we should look for KISS ?

Oh, one last musical note. There is a time and a place for musicians to perform their own arrangement of a song, but the National Anthem at the top sporting event of the year is not it.

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Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Searching for Song Lyrics ?

Song Lyrics are one of the most popular search terms on the Internet. Obviously music is a popular topic among those who frequent the net. With this in mind we set out to find the most popular sites dedicated to Lyrics. The results were interesting in that only one site showed up multiple engines.

This list is compiled from the following.
AZLyrics - Google & Yahoo Top Search Result
Lyrics collection organized by artists alphabetically. Search engine included.
lyricsfly - del.icio.us Top Listing
Lyricsfly.com is using a slightly modified java script engine from the brilliantly crafted Google Suggest project, along with some PHP code to serve suggestions as text is being typed into the input field. The requested text is then withdrawn from a MySQL database of currently 312,816 song titles.
Sing365 - MSN Top Search Result
Full Text Phrase Searchable Lyrics Database. 400000 Lyrics
So if your looking for those lyrics from your favorite music, we would recommend any of the above listed lyric sites.

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