#Edinburgh jazz and blues festival

[miriamvowen]

Skilfully executed, fun and atmospheric - Ready Player Seven Debut at Edinburgh Jazz Festival

Ready Player Seven made their world debut at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues festival on Sunday 26 November 2023. The seven-piece band treated the audience to a wild ride through a multitude of iconic video game themes. Ready Player Seven, led by drummer Vid Gobac, are Tolek Konior (guitar), Mike Kearney (keys), Cameron Bradley (bass), Chuck Dearness (trumpet), Patrick Darley (trombone) and Kassandra…

[burlveneer-music]

London Afrobeat Collective - Esengo

Taking inspiration from afrobeat father Fela Kuti as well as artists including Ebo Taylor, Parliament, Funkadelic and Havana d’Primera, London Afrobeat Collective’s music and multi-lingual performances in English, Spanish, Lingala, and French have won them admirers across the UK and Europe. On the 14th February, they are set to release their new album ‘Esengo’ via Canopy Records. This eight-strong multi-cultural collective from England, Italy, France, Congo, Argentina, and New Zealand, combine traditional afrobeat and hi life with funk, jazz, Latin, and dub to deliver party music born of their truly global DNA. With recent knock out performances stretching from opening the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (Scotland) to Bardentreffen (Germany), Tempo Latino (France), Couleur Café (Brussels), Cully Jazz (Switzerland), Earth Garden (Malta), Kala (Albania), Jazz in the Park (Romania) and many more venues across Europe, the band have also been busy in the studio, working on their fourth studio album. The resulting ‘Esengo’, produced by Sonny Johns (Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela, Oumou Sangare, Ali Farke Toure, Polar Bear), showcases London Afrobeat Collective’s love and respect for the traditions of afrobeat. With acclaimed Congolese singer Juanita Euka on vocals once more, ‘Esengo’ channels the spirit of Fela Kuti but with a willingness to create original music that crosses genres. The players: Juanita Euka (vocals), Alex Farrell (rhythm guitar), Alex Szyjanowicz (lead guitar), John Mathews (bass), Luigi Casanova (bass), Giuliano Osella (drums), Richie Sweet (percussion), Klibens Michelet (Baritone Saxophone) and Andy Watts (Trumpet). 

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Ian Anderson, born 10th August 1947 in Dunfermline.

After attending primary school in Edinburgh, his family relocated to Blackpool in 1959. Following a traditional Grammar school education, he moved on to Art college to study fine art before deciding on an attempt at a musical career. He was influenced by his father’s big band and jazz records and the emergence of rock music, but was disenchanted with the “show biz” style of early American rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley.

In 1963 with some school friends he formed his first band The Blades, a soul and blues outfit. In 1965 they regrouped into The John Evan Band with major lineup changes. They disband two years later when Anderson moved to Luton. In his new surroundings, Ian meets the drummer Clive Bunker and the guitarist Mick Abrahams and with Glenn Cornick, a bassist - of The John Evan Band-, Anderson creates the seed of the group that would become the legendary Jethro Tull.

Still enjoying a lengthy if intermittent ongoing career, Jethro Tull has released 30 studio and live albums, selling more than 60 million copies since the band first performed at London’s famous Marquee club.

After undertaking more than 3000 concerts in forty-something countries throughout four decades, Tull has played typically 100 concerts each year to longstanding, as well as new fans worldwide.

Widely recognized as the man who introduced the flute to rock music, Ian Anderson remains the crowned exponent of the popular and rock genres of flute playing. So far, no pretender to the throne has stepped forward. Ian also plays ethnic flutes and whistles together with acoustic guitar and the mandolin bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone, harmonica, and a variety of whistles.

I briefly met Ian on Skye in 1987 on my way back from Benbecula where he had an estate and ran a Fish farm, well 11 fish farms as my research has unearthed, he also employed over 400 people before selling it in the 90’s.

Anderson recalled in an interview how he started as a flautist…

“ once owned a 1960s Fender Stratocaster, which had previously belonged to Lemmy Kilminster before he found fame with Motorhead. But when it dawned on me I was never going to catch up with the growing band of hotshot British guitarists at that time – Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton – I traded it in for a Selma Goldfield student flute worth £30.

I knew Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton didn’t play the flute, so I thought I would be in with a chance. A lot of people told me it was a ridiculous trade because the Strat was worth at least £150. But in fact it was a great buy because learning to play it was the start of Jethro Tull.”

Anderson lives on a farm in the southwest of England where he has a recording studio and office. He has been married for 37 years to Shona who is also an active director of their music and other companies. They have two children.

In 2006 and 2010, he was awarded Doctorates in Literature from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and the Abertay University of Dundee. He received the Ivor Award for International Achievement in Music.

Ian admits he owns no fast car, never yet having taken a driving test, and has a wardrobe of singularly uninspiring and drab leisurewear varying from light grey to black in colour. He still keeps a couple of off-road competition motorcycles, and a saxophone which he promises never to play again.

Jethro Tull are about to start a US tour on Friday, Aug. 18th, at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. They will however be hopping over the Atlantic to perform in Europe during the tour.

[news-markharrisonrootsmusic]

NEWSLETTER JULY 2024

Hello,

I hope that everyone is as OK as they can be, which is probably all anyone can aim for, especially in these, er, curious times. Lots happening at this end, lots to be uplifted about, music works whatever else is going on!  

NEW SINGLE - THEM AND US

We're off to do the dirty work, the most important part

They're off to do the easy jobs that they call working hard

The modern workplace from the point of view of people who do real jobs, and how they see the battalions of highly-paid managers who make those jobs way worse and have no useful function. It's so much a part of all of our lives one way or another and a bane for so many.  

That's the topic of the new single THEM AND US, ahead of the new album FOOLS & CLOWNS (released August 30). It may be the only song out there on this topic!

Stream it, download it and see the lyrics, here.

Watch the official film, which illustrates this widespread issue with some wit here

See Mark talking about the subject of the songhere

Public link to order the album Fools & Clowns here

Here's the brilliant artwork for the single, as with all my artwork, by Andy Hall of wearefrank: 

NEW ALBUM - FOOLS & CLOWNS

The new album has some new sounds for us, and covers all manner of topics you won't normally find. The songs together present a world view, upsides and downsides of the human condition, common experiences of trying to get by, and fun in the face of adversity. In short, the human spirit.  We hope you like it! And buy it too! It's different from anything else out there. 

The album can be pre-ordered here.

It comes out officially on August 30 but pre-orders will be sent out ahead of that. Everyone pre-ordering the album will also receive a link to download it and watch a film in which I talk briefly about each of the songs and the ideas behind them. 

Here's a trailer for the album:

Fools & Clowns trailer

Here's a film of us making the album:

The Making of Fools & Clowns

The album has, as you can see, fantastic artwork, plus a booklet with all the lyrics. It won't be going on digital places for a little while, so please take advantage of the chance to have it now! And buying direct from us is of course a very great help to us.

DATES

Some great shows in top places coming up, come and see us. 

THURS JULY 18    STOW ON THE WOLD, Merrymouth Inn              TICKETS & INFORMATION  

SAT   JULY 20     EDINBURGH JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL                TICKETS & INFORMATION

FRI   JULY 26     SHERBORNE, DORSET, Music At Oborne              TICKETS & INFORMATION

FRI   AUG 15      BUDLEIGH SALTERTON, DEVON, Otterton Mill        TICKETS & INFORMATION 

Details are also here:

https://www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com/shows.php

FILMS

All manner of good films are on our YouTube channel, have a prowl around and subscribe too: YouTube channel

New live films get uploaded here, have a look:

recent live films

SPOTIFY

Passing Through continues to get a lot of streams, and you can check out all the albums: 

Spotify

ALBUMS

All the albums, can be ordered direct here, so if there are any you haven't got, do get them! We do songs from all of them.

http://www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com/shop.php

WEBSITE

Here's the website, where everything is: 

http://www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com/

Many thanks for all the interest and support,  

Mark 

[lboogie1906]

Rain Pryor (July 16, 1969) is an actress and comedian. She is the daughter of comedian Richard Pryor.

She was born in Los Angeles, her mother was a Jewish go-go dancer and she was raised with her maternal grandparents. Her award-winning solo show Fried Chicken and Latkes explores racism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Regarding her background, she has joked that while growing up she felt “proud, but guilty about it.”

She graduated from Beverly Hills High School.

She went on to star in Head of the Class. Her role was created from a series of characters she performed at her audition for the producers. She starred for several years as Jackie on Rude Awakening and has guest-starred on The Division and Chicago Hope. She has appeared numerous times on both The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as well as The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and The Tavis Smiley Show.

Her stage credits include playing the title role of Billie Holiday in the UK tour of the Billie Holiday Story and the title role of Ella Fitzgerald in the UK premiere of Ella, Meet Marilyn. She performed in the Los Angeles productions of The Vagina Monologues; Joan, in which she portrayed Joan of Arc; Cookin’ With Gas; The Exonerated; and The Who’s Tommy at the La Jolla Playhouse.

She is a jazz/blues vocalist, having played to sold-out crowds in Los Angeles, DC, Hong Kong, Scotland, and London, where she released a performance CD, Rain Pryor Live in London. Her live cabaret show received four stars and was critically acclaimed as “not to be missed.”

She appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

She was named the artistic director of Baltimore’s Strand Theater.

She received the inaugural British Urban Film Festival honorary award from Ellen Thomas on behalf of her father for his outstanding contribution to film and television. The festival screened the UK premiere of “That Daughter’s Crazy” a documentary about her life, living in the spotlight of her father.

She published her book Jokes My Father Never Taught Me. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[brookston]

Holidays 7.12

Holidays

Alkanet Day (French Republic)

Battle of the Boyne Day

Carver Day (Missouri)

Day of Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Villages

Different Colored Eyes Day

Disco Demolition Night (Chicago, Illinois)

Divad Etep’t (Elder Scrolls)

Etch-A-Sketch Day

Fjord Day

Founder’s Day (Rhodesia)

Hijab and Chastity (Iran)

International Cabin Crew Day

International Day of Combating Sand & Dust Storms

International Malala Day

Internet-Wide Day of Action for Net Neutrality

Lawyer’s Day (Mexico)

Malala Day

National Cancel Culture Awareness Day

National Hair Creator’s Day

National Keder Day

National Rodeo Day

National Tyler Day

New Conversations Day

Night of Nights

Orangeman’s Day (a.k.a. “The Twelfth;” Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador)

Rainmaker Day (Salem, Oregon)

Ratha Yathra (a.k.a. King; parts of India)

Relieve Stress By Walking Outside and Calling the Hogs Day

712 Day (Iowa)

Shonen Knife Day (Japan)

Simplicity Day

Tirana Festival (Chile)

Tube to Work Day (Boulder, Colorado)

USA Woman VP Day

Visitation Day

World Paper Bag Day

World Penis Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Eat Your Jell-O Day

International Cava Day

Michelada Day

National Pecan Pie Day

Pani Puri Day

Independence & Related Days

Granda Aŭtista Duklando de Sophia (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Kiribati (from UK, 1979)

Pacificonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Pibocip (Declared; 2000) [unrecognized]

Sao Tome and Principe (from Portugal, 1975)

Unification Day (England; by Athelstan of England, 927 CE)

2nd Friday in July

Collector Car Appreciation Day [2nd Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

French Fries Day [2nd Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

National Motorcycle Day [2nd Friday]

Wayne Chicken Show begins [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

World Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

Worldwide Art Day [2nd Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 12 (2nd Week of July)

Kilburn Feast (Yorkshire, England) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Sea Festival (Jūras Svētki Sākas; Latvia) [2nd Friday]

White Cloud’s Birthday & Tatanka (Bison) Festival (North Dakota) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Festivals Beginning July 12, 2024

Art of Wine Festival (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Ballard SeafoodFest (Ballard, Washington) [thru 7.14]

Baltimore Washington One Carnival (Baltimore, Maryland & Washington, D.C.) [thru 7.14]

Bospop (Weert, Netherlands) [thru 7.14]

Boston JerkFest Rum & Brew Tasting (Boston, Massachusetts) [thru 7.13]

California State Fair (Sacramento, California) [thru 7.28]

Copper Country Strawberry Festival (Chassell, Michigan) [thru 7.13]

Corn & Clover Carnival (Hinckley, Minnesota) [thru 7.13]

Dine L.A. Restaurant Week (Los Angeles, California) [thru 7.26]

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland) [thru 7.21]

Famous Food Festival (Deer Park, New York) [thru 7.14]

Farm Toy Show (Metropolis, Illinois) [thru 7.13]

Halal Ribfest (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Hanover Tomato Festival (Mechanicsville, Virginia) [thru 7.13]

Kaltenberg Knights’ Tournament [Kaltenberger Ritterturnier] (Geltendorf, Germany) [thru 7.28]

Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands & Brews (Loveland, Colorado) [thru 7.13]

McLoud Blackberry Festival (McLoud, Oklahoma) [thru 7.13]

New Jersey State Barbecue Championship (Anglesea, New Jersey) [thru 7.1]

North Carolina Blackberry Festival (Lenoir, North Carolina) [thru 7.13]

The Odessa International Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 7.20]

Ohio Brew Week (Athens, Ohio) [thru 7.19]

Parke County 4-H Fair (Parke County, Indiana) [thru 7.19]

Pori Jazz (Pori, Finland) [thru 7.20]

Rib & Wing Festival (Seven Springs, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.14]

Square Roots Music, Craft Brew & Local Food Festival (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Trempealeau Lions Catfish Days (Trempealeau, Wisconsin) [thru 7.14]

Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy) [thru 7.21]

The Wayne Chicken Show (Wayne, Nebraska) [thru 7.14]

Whiskies of the World (Dallas, Texas)

Wireless Festival (London, United Kingdom) [thru 7.14]

World’s Largest Wild Rice Festival (Deer River, Minnesota) [thru 7.14]

Feast Days

Alphaeus Philemon Cole (Artology)

Amedeo Modigliani (Artology)

Andrew Wyeth (Artology)

Carl Lundgren (Artology)

Day Sacred to Dikaiosune (Ancient Deity for Justice; Everyday Wicca)

Donald E. Westlake (Writerism)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Positivist; Saint)

Eugène Boudin (Artology)

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)

Gaulbert (Christian; Saint) [Foresters, Parks, Park Rangers]

Germ (Muppetism)

Henry David Thoreau (Writerism)

Hermagoras and Fortunatus (Christian; Martyrs)

Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)

John Gualbert (Christian; Saint)

John the Iberian (Christian; Saint)

Kronia (Kronos Festival; Ancient Greece)

Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (Christian; Saint)

Max Jacob (Artology)

Millennial Fairy Olympics, Day 7 (Shamanism)

Mr. Screech (Muppetism)

Naadam, Day 2 (Mongolia)

Nabor and Felix (Christian; Martyrs)

Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))

The Old Dances (For Yama, Buddhist God of Death & the Underworld)

Pablo Neruda (Writerism)

Pam Grier Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Paisios of Mount Athos (Greek Orthodox)

Requiem in D Minor, by Gabriel Fauré (Mass; 1900)

Solstitium VIII (Pagan)

Surrealism Day (Pastafarian)

Take a Walk in the Woods Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Vardavar (Pagan Prank Festival; Armenia)

Veronica (Christian; Saint)

Viventiolus, Bishop of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

We Come to the River, by Has Werner Henze (Opera; 1976)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Luckiest Day of the Year (Everyday Wicca)

Lucky Day (Philippines) [39 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 193 [44 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The Adventures of Sam Spade (Radio Series; 1946)

Alice Wins the Derby (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Amateur Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Booby Socks (Phantasies Cartoon; 1945)

Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut (Novel; 1973)

The Bride Came C.O.D. (Film; 1941)

By the Sea (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

California Girls, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

A Dance of Dragons, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 2011) [A Song of Fire and Ice #5]

A Distant Mirror, by Barbara W. Tuchman (History Book; 1978)

Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor (Short Stories; 1965)

Explorers (Film; 1985)

Family Feud (TV Game Show; 1976)

Fighton’ Pals (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

The High Window, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1942)

The Hunter, by Richard Stark (Novel; 1962)

I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, by The New Seekers (Radio Jingle; 1971)

Last Date, by Floyd Cramer (Song; 1960)

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League — Gotham City Breakout (Animated Film; 2016)

Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (Film; 1985)

Monk (TV Series; 2002)

Northern Exposure (TV Series; 1990)

Oz (TV Series; 1997)

Pacific Rim (Film; 2013)

The Playful Pup (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1937)

Point Break (Film; 1991)

Princess Mononoke (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1997)

Road to Perdition (Film; 2002)

Rock-a-Bye Bear (Tex Avery MGM Cartoon; 1952)

Rupert the Runt (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Salt Water Tabby (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

She (Film; 1935)

Silverado (Film; 1985)

The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (Novel; 1977)

Trouble for Trumpets, by Peter Cross and Peter Dallas-Smith (Children’s Book; 1984)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Film; 1961)

When Harry Met Sally (Film; 1989)

Today’s Name Days

Nabor, Felix (Austria)

Fortunat, Hilarije, Mislav, Proklo, Tanja, Živko (Croatia)

Bořek (Czech Republic)

Henrik (Denmark)

Armand, Härm, Härmel, Härmo, Herman, Hermann, Hermo (Estonia)

Herkko, Herman, Hermanni (Finland)

Jason, Olivier (France)

Siegbert, Henriette, Felix, Elenore (Germany)

Veronike, Veroniki (Greece)

Dalma, Izabella (Hungary)

Ermacora, Fortunato (Italy)

Heinrichs, Henriks, Indriķis, Ints (Latvia)

Izabelė, Margiris, Vyliaudė (Lithuania)

Eldar, Elias (Norway)

Andrzej, Euzebiusz, Feliks, Henryk, Jan Gwalbert, Paweł, Piotr, Tolimir, Weronika (Poland)

Nina (Slovakia)

Fortunato, Juan (Spain)

Herman, Hermine (Sweden)

Hilary, Ilary, Larry, Veronica (Ukraine)

Bud, Buddy, Jason, Jay, Jayla, Jaylen, Laylin, Laylon, Jayson, Oscar, Osvaldo, Oswald, Oswaldo, Ozzie, Waldo (USA)

Jace, Jacey, Jacy, Jaison, Jase, Jasen, Jason, Jayce, Jaycee, Jaycen, Jayson, Live, Olivier, Olivia, Oliver, Ollie, Olly (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 194 of 2024; 172 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 28 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 6 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 7 (Ding-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 5 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 14 Red; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 29 June 2024

Moon: 37%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Elizabeth of Hungary]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 23 of 94)

Week: 2nd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 22 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.12

Holidays

Alkanet Day (French Republic)

Battle of the Boyne Day

Carver Day (Missouri)

Day of Struggle and Martyrdom of the Polish Villages

Different Colored Eyes Day

Disco Demolition Night (Chicago, Illinois)

Divad Etep’t (Elder Scrolls)

Etch-A-Sketch Day

Fjord Day

Founder’s Day (Rhodesia)

Hijab and Chastity (Iran)

International Cabin Crew Day

International Day of Combating Sand & Dust Storms

International Malala Day

Internet-Wide Day of Action for Net Neutrality

Lawyer’s Day (Mexico)

Malala Day

National Cancel Culture Awareness Day

National Hair Creator’s Day

National Keder Day

National Rodeo Day

National Tyler Day

New Conversations Day

Night of Nights

Orangeman’s Day (a.k.a. “The Twelfth;” Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador)

Rainmaker Day (Salem, Oregon)

Ratha Yathra (a.k.a. King; parts of India)

Relieve Stress By Walking Outside and Calling the Hogs Day

712 Day (Iowa)

Shonen Knife Day (Japan)

Simplicity Day

Tirana Festival (Chile)

Tube to Work Day (Boulder, Colorado)

USA Woman VP Day

Visitation Day

World Paper Bag Day

World Penis Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Eat Your Jell-O Day

International Cava Day

Michelada Day

National Pecan Pie Day

Pani Puri Day

Independence & Related Days

Granda Aŭtista Duklando de Sophia (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Kiribati (from UK, 1979)

Pacificonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Pibocip (Declared; 2000) [unrecognized]

Sao Tome and Principe (from Portugal, 1975)

Unification Day (England; by Athelstan of England, 927 CE)

2nd Friday in July

Collector Car Appreciation Day [2nd Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

French Fries Day [2nd Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

National Motorcycle Day [2nd Friday]

Wayne Chicken Show begins [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

World Kebab Day [2nd Friday]

Worldwide Art Day [2nd Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 12 (2nd Week of July)

Kilburn Feast (Yorkshire, England) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Sea Festival (Jūras Svētki Sākas; Latvia) [2nd Friday]

White Cloud’s Birthday & Tatanka (Bison) Festival (North Dakota) [2nd Friday thru Sunday]

Festivals Beginning July 12, 2024

Art of Wine Festival (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Ballard SeafoodFest (Ballard, Washington) [thru 7.14]

Baltimore Washington One Carnival (Baltimore, Maryland & Washington, D.C.) [thru 7.14]

Bospop (Weert, Netherlands) [thru 7.14]

Boston JerkFest Rum & Brew Tasting (Boston, Massachusetts) [thru 7.13]

California State Fair (Sacramento, California) [thru 7.28]

Copper Country Strawberry Festival (Chassell, Michigan) [thru 7.13]

Corn & Clover Carnival (Hinckley, Minnesota) [thru 7.13]

Dine L.A. Restaurant Week (Los Angeles, California) [thru 7.26]

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland) [thru 7.21]

Famous Food Festival (Deer Park, New York) [thru 7.14]

Farm Toy Show (Metropolis, Illinois) [thru 7.13]

Halal Ribfest (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Hanover Tomato Festival (Mechanicsville, Virginia) [thru 7.13]

Kaltenberg Knights’ Tournament [Kaltenberger Ritterturnier] (Geltendorf, Germany) [thru 7.28]

Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands & Brews (Loveland, Colorado) [thru 7.13]

McLoud Blackberry Festival (McLoud, Oklahoma) [thru 7.13]

New Jersey State Barbecue Championship (Anglesea, New Jersey) [thru 7.1]

North Carolina Blackberry Festival (Lenoir, North Carolina) [thru 7.13]

The Odessa International Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine) [thru 7.20]

Ohio Brew Week (Athens, Ohio) [thru 7.19]

Parke County 4-H Fair (Parke County, Indiana) [thru 7.19]

Pori Jazz (Pori, Finland) [thru 7.20]

Rib & Wing Festival (Seven Springs, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.14]

Square Roots Music, Craft Brew & Local Food Festival (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 7.14]

Trempealeau Lions Catfish Days (Trempealeau, Wisconsin) [thru 7.14]

Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy) [thru 7.21]

The Wayne Chicken Show (Wayne, Nebraska) [thru 7.14]

Whiskies of the World (Dallas, Texas)

Wireless Festival (London, United Kingdom) [thru 7.14]

World’s Largest Wild Rice Festival (Deer River, Minnesota) [thru 7.14]

Feast Days

Alphaeus Philemon Cole (Artology)

Amedeo Modigliani (Artology)

Andrew Wyeth (Artology)

Carl Lundgren (Artology)

Day Sacred to Dikaiosune (Ancient Deity for Justice; Everyday Wicca)

Donald E. Westlake (Writerism)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Positivist; Saint)

Eugène Boudin (Artology)

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox)

Gaulbert (Christian; Saint) [Foresters, Parks, Park Rangers]

Germ (Muppetism)

Henry David Thoreau (Writerism)

Hermagoras and Fortunatus (Christian; Martyrs)

Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church)

John Gualbert (Christian; Saint)

John the Iberian (Christian; Saint)

Kronia (Kronos Festival; Ancient Greece)

Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin (Christian; Saint)

Max Jacob (Artology)

Millennial Fairy Olympics, Day 7 (Shamanism)

Mr. Screech (Muppetism)

Naadam, Day 2 (Mongolia)

Nabor and Felix (Christian; Martyrs)

Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA))

The Old Dances (For Yama, Buddhist God of Death & the Underworld)

Pablo Neruda (Writerism)

Pam Grier Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Paisios of Mount Athos (Greek Orthodox)

Requiem in D Minor, by Gabriel Fauré (Mass; 1900)

Solstitium VIII (Pagan)

Surrealism Day (Pastafarian)

Take a Walk in the Woods Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Vardavar (Pagan Prank Festival; Armenia)

Veronica (Christian; Saint)

Viventiolus, Bishop of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

We Come to the River, by Has Werner Henze (Opera; 1976)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Luckiest Day of the Year (Everyday Wicca)

Lucky Day (Philippines) [39 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 193 [44 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The Adventures of Sam Spade (Radio Series; 1946)

Alice Wins the Derby (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Amateur Night (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1935)

Booby Socks (Phantasies Cartoon; 1945)

Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut (Novel; 1973)

The Bride Came C.O.D. (Film; 1941)

By the Sea (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1931)

California Girls, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1965)

A Dance of Dragons, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 2011) [A Song of Fire and Ice #5]

A Distant Mirror, by Barbara W. Tuchman (History Book; 1978)

Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor (Short Stories; 1965)

Explorers (Film; 1985)

Family Feud (TV Game Show; 1976)

Fighton’ Pals (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1940)

The High Window, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1942)

The Hunter, by Richard Stark (Novel; 1962)

I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, by The New Seekers (Radio Jingle; 1971)

Last Date, by Floyd Cramer (Song; 1960)

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League — Gotham City Breakout (Animated Film; 2016)

Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (Film; 1985)

Monk (TV Series; 2002)

Northern Exposure (TV Series; 1990)

Oz (TV Series; 1997)

Pacific Rim (Film; 2013)

The Playful Pup (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1937)

Point Break (Film; 1991)

Princess Mononoke (Animated Studio Ghibli Film; 1997)

Road to Perdition (Film; 2002)

Rock-a-Bye Bear (Tex Avery MGM Cartoon; 1952)

Rupert the Runt (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1940)

Salt Water Tabby (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1947)

She (Film; 1935)

Silverado (Film; 1985)

The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks (Novel; 1977)

Trouble for Trumpets, by Peter Cross and Peter Dallas-Smith (Children’s Book; 1984)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Film; 1961)

When Harry Met Sally (Film; 1989)

Today’s Name Days

Nabor, Felix (Austria)

Fortunat, Hilarije, Mislav, Proklo, Tanja, Živko (Croatia)

Bořek (Czech Republic)

Henrik (Denmark)

Armand, Härm, Härmel, Härmo, Herman, Hermann, Hermo (Estonia)

Herkko, Herman, Hermanni (Finland)

Jason, Olivier (France)

Siegbert, Henriette, Felix, Elenore (Germany)

Veronike, Veroniki (Greece)

Dalma, Izabella (Hungary)

Ermacora, Fortunato (Italy)

Heinrichs, Henriks, Indriķis, Ints (Latvia)

Izabelė, Margiris, Vyliaudė (Lithuania)

Eldar, Elias (Norway)

Andrzej, Euzebiusz, Feliks, Henryk, Jan Gwalbert, Paweł, Piotr, Tolimir, Weronika (Poland)

Nina (Slovakia)

Fortunato, Juan (Spain)

Herman, Hermine (Sweden)

Hilary, Ilary, Larry, Veronica (Ukraine)

Bud, Buddy, Jason, Jay, Jayla, Jaylen, Laylin, Laylon, Jayson, Oscar, Osvaldo, Oswald, Oswaldo, Ozzie, Waldo (USA)

Jace, Jacey, Jacy, Jaison, Jase, Jasen, Jason, Jayce, Jaycee, Jaycen, Jayson, Live, Olivier, Olivia, Oliver, Ollie, Olly (Universal)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 194 of 2024; 172 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 28 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 6 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 7 (Ding-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 6 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 5 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 14 Red; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 29 June 2024

Moon: 37%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 25 Charlemagne (7th Month) [St. Elizabeth of Hungary]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 23 of 94)

Week: 2nd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 22 of 31)

[automaticdreamerwinner]

Hello!

I am a care manager studying a course called Evidence Based Practice in the Digital age. One of my tasks for this course is to set up a blog. The purpose of this blog is to learn a new skill in this digital communication and to share my ideas as I progress through the course. This is the first of 23 Things suggested by the SSSC to improve digital skills.

I work for a Housing Association where I manage their Tech Enabled Care (TEC) Service. We provide support to people in the central belt via video calls and tech such as fall alarms and door alarms. Most of our customers suffer poor mental health.

I have been a care Manager for many years in mental health services, care at home and TEC. I enjoy learning and qualified as a Social Worker in 2004 while working and studying with the Open University.

I have 3 adult children and I am married. We have two cats, one is blind but still goes out an about in our garden (and next doors garden).

My hobbies are reading, listening to soul, jazz and reggae music, occasional sewing and home decorating.

I sit on two Management Boards - the Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival and Positive Action in Housing who support refugees and migrants with advice, emergency aid and housing and money advice.

What have I learnt completing this task. That I'm still not great at working out how to do activities like this but get there in the end. I have also learnt that I am losing patience with having to create passwords and new accounts on line!

[izatrini]

Edinburgh Festival Carnival and Grassmarket ‘Mardi Gras’ revived as part of city’s jazz and blues celebration - The Scotsman http://dlvr.it/SPsTFZ

[catloud]

Put August 2nd in your diaries...

The Jazz Bar - purveyors of the best Espresso Martinis in town, and the home of great music all year long, that legendary basement where 4am rolls around without you even realising. As if there weren’t enough reasons to head down those famous stairs, there is a day’s worth of gigs from local women to kick start you Fringe the right way. 

Let me organise your day. You’re welcome.

Friday. 12:33pm. You’ve had a quick bite to eat, but you know, you could do with a coffee and a little peace. Or perhaps, a piece of the action?!  “What’s on?” you think. You check your Fringe guide. SWEET. The Jazz Bar is a five minute walk away, and at 1pm, Bonnie Bayou is getting swampy...

The Jennifer Ewan Band is back with another exhilarating melting pot of heartfelt original songs and old-time Louisiana Creole and Cajun dance classics. As well as performing beautiful new Scottish pop, this upcoming songwriter and her bayou band demonstrate an easy familiarity with the older dance music of the swamps of rural French Louisiana...

Get tickets for BONNIE BAYOU

~

Wow. That was perfection. Scottish fusion at it’s BEST. And the coffee hit the spot, too. Or did you have a Swampy? Who knows. You're a livewire. Your lunch fatigue is wearing off and you realise you’re in that sweet crossroad of the day when you could put your feet up and choose a night in, or make this Friday a night to remember. You chose the latter. Up and out of The Jazz Bar for a quick snack, and then back down the rabbit hole because at 4pm, Queens of the Blues is kicking OFF.

Led by acclaimed vocalist Nicole Smit, Queens of the Blues presents a musical celebration of the women who have shaped blues and popular music as we know it, and have gone largely unrecognised for their influence and talent.

Down down the stairs you go. A pint to start the evening. Sit back. Enjoy.

Get tickets for QUEENS OF THE BLUES

~

Phew. That was great. What a band. What a voice. But you’re insatiable. This night is just getting started. WHAT’S NEXT, you cry. You’re in luck! You’ve got time to head back into the Friday rush of Fringe-goers to soak up some of that good atmosphere and grab some street food - George Square is but a stone’s throw away - and then you’re back into the haven of the jazz cave for 8pm, grab yourself a little post-dinner G+T and be treated to Cover Stories, a new show led by the sophisticated stylings of Louise Dodds!

Louise, who hails from Edinburgh but has enjoyed an illustrious, international career, will be backed by some of the country's finest jazz musicians. This conceptual show takes its inspiration from some of Louise’s favourite jazz arrangements of popular songs from the last few decades – think Kurt Elling to Kurt Cobain, Ritenour to Radiohead and even Peyroux to Prince. Expect variety, warmth and passion as well as heartfelt storytelling from one of Scotland’s finest jazz artists.

Get tickets for COVER STORIES

~

Oh. My. Word. Will you ever go back to reality, or do you live in this underground haven of musical delights? You don’t care anymore. You go to the bar. It’s Espresso Martini time. Why? Because 10pm rolls around pretty quickly, and then it’s my turn to treat you - Cat Loud Quartet: Torch Songs is your Fringe Friday lullaby. 

Known for dusky vocals and biting wit, Edinburgh Fringe regular and award-winning performer Cat Loud sets her sights on the historically female-led sub genre of jazz. Torch Songs features classic and contemporary tracks from vibrant women – the likes of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Melody Gardot – who sing of heartbreak and pain, and every shade of love in between.

Get tickets for CAT LOUD QUARTET

~

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? You are. If only every day at the Fringe could be like this. It’s one more martini for the road, and then with a smile on your face, you hit The Hive till 5. 

You’re welcome, Fringe-goer. Good luck, and god speed.

[didanawisgi]

Jazz and freemasonry are unlikely bedfellows, but in the 1950s, the secret society became a support network for musicians and the world’s largest fraternity for black men, among them Duke Ellington and Sun Ra

When the City of London festival found out about a long dormant masonic temple that had been uncovered next to Liverpool Street station, it seemed obvious that this wonderfully opulent hall should be used as a one-off music venue. The only question was – what music should it host?

“The obvious choice would have been to host a Mozart recital, because everyone knows that Mozart was a freemason,” says Paul Gudgin, former director of the Edinburgh Fringe and now director of the City of London Festival. “But it just so happened that I was reading a biography of Duke Ellington which mentioned, in passing, his membership of a masonic lodge. I found it astonishing that such an anti-establishment figure turned out to be at the heart of an establishment organisation. And I thought it would be a perfect place to pay tribute.”

This month, the City of London Festival will host two Duke Ellington tributes in this elaborate, neo-classical masonic temple, now in the basement of the Hyatt group’s Andaz hotel. Saxophonist Tommy Smith plays on 4 July, and pianist Julian Joseph on 11 July.

“It’s something of a badge of honour to hear that Ellington was a mason,” says Joseph. “Not only was he part of a musical elite, but he had managed to enter this secretive and powerful organisation, one that only the privileged few had access to.”

Start digging into the history of freemasonry and you discover that Ellington was just one of many renowned African-American musicians to be inducted into its mysterious world. He was joined by the likes of Nat King Cole, WC Handy, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton and Paul Robeson.

“Throughout history, freemasonry has attracted musicians,” says Martin Cherry, librarian at the Museum of Freemasonry in London. “Mozart is the obvious example, but in 18th-century London, a lodge was established called the Lodge of the Nine Muses, which attracted a number of European musicians and artists, including JC Bach. For musicians and artists who were new to a city, the lodge would have been an opportunity to meet fellow artists and network with people with whom they may be able to find work.”

The same applied two centuries later, across the Atlantic. “Musicians often led an itinerant lifestyle,” says Cherry. “Belonging to an organisation that had lodges all over a country could help ease the slog of life on the road, particularly in such a vast country as the US.

“Freemasonry was also charitable towards its members when they fell on hard times, looking after them when they were sick or paying for their funeral. Mozart’s funeral, famously, was paid for by his lodge, and there’s evidence that freemasons paid for the funeral of the blues musician Mississippi Fred McDowell – there are images of his open coffin which show him wearing his masonic regalia.”

Many white jazz musicians and bandleaders were freemasons, including Glenn Miller, Paul Whiteman, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, as were many country & western stars. But, like so much in American life, freemasonry was segregated, with American masonic lodges split along colour lines.

Black freemasons: the sons of Prince Hall

Black freemasonry dates from before the American war of independence, when a freed black abolitionist and leather worker by the name of Prince Hall (1735-1807) was refused admittance to the St John’s masonic lodge in Boston, Massachusetts. Undaunted by the rebuff, Hall and 14 other free black men were initiated into freemasonry in 1775 by a British military lodge based in Boston.

In 1784, after the British had left America, the grand lodge of England issued Hall with a charter to set up an African lodge in Boston. It proved so popular that Prince Hall was granted the status of provincial grand master, allowing him to set up two further African masonic lodges in Philadelphia and Rhode Island.

Over the next two centuries, Prince Hall freemasonry snowballed across the United States, becoming the world’s largest fraternity for black men. By the middle of the 20th century there were lavish Prince Hall masonic temples around the country – from Los Angeles to Washington DC, from Seattle to Madison, Wisconsin.

“One of the attractions of Prince Hall freemasonry to African-Americans is that it is an organisation started by African-Americans in the 18th century for African-Americans,” says Cherry. “It has a history. And, like all freemasonry in America, it became very popular in the early 20th century, which was a time when Americans tended to join things.”

By 1900, Prince Hall masonry had become a forum for politicised African-Americans, with Booker T Washington (1856-1915) and W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) serving as active members. Throughout the 20th century, many key figures in the civil rights movement were attracted to freemasonry. The father of Martin Luther King Jr – Martin Luther King Sr (1900-84) – was a member of the 23rd lodge in Atlanta, Georgia. Medgar Evers, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) activist who was assassinated in 1963, was a 32nd-degree freemason in Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction. Alex Haley (1921-92), the writer of Roots and biographer of Malcolm X, was a 33rd-degree mason in the same order. Thurgood Marshall (1908-93), the first black member of the US supreme court, was supported by his Prince Hall lodge in Louisiana. The comedian Richard Pryor (1940-2005) joined a lodge in Peoria, Illinois, while actor and activist Ossie Davis (1917-2005), Paul Robeson (1898-1976) and the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-89) were all active Prince Hall masons.

“Like all freemasonry, Prince Hall freemasonry does tend to have a middle-class appeal,” says Cherry. “The many Prince Hall visitors to the Masonic Library and Museum in London are often doctors, lawyers or skilled artisans, and a lot of them have a military background. Some join because their family were members; some think it’s a good way of networking. Some like the comradeship and the social aspects; others like the ritual and the regalia.”

As well as being a networking institution, freemasonry might also have had a philosophical appeal to many politicised African-Americans. The mysterious tenets of freemasonry include gnostic texts, references to ancient Egypt and alternative interpretations of the Bible. Prince Hall lodges thus became a forum where pre-Christian knowledge could mix freely with black liberation theories and remnants of African religions...”

[scotianostra]

On 24th August 1947 the first Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) of Music and Drama opened.

Rudolf Bing, an Austrian impresario who had fled Nazi Germany, wanted to create an international festival in the UK. After various searches Edinburgh was proposed by Henry Harvey Wood of the British Council, supported by both Sir John Falconer, the city’s Lord Provost, and Lady Rosebery. In 1945 a festival committee was formed which decided that 1947 would be the earliest possible date - and that the Festival would be a chance for Edinburgh to create a new post-war identity as ‘the cultural resort of Europe’.

The first Edinburgh International Festival began on 24 August 1947, with an aim to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’ by bringing people and artists together from around the world. One of the highlights of the first year’s programme was the reuniting of conductor Bruno Walter with the Vienna Philharmonic and Walter’s comments set the seal on the future – ‘What you have done in Edinburgh is one of the most magnificent experiences since the war. Here human relations have been renewed.’

The “Festival” as it simply known in Edinburgh is now the world’s biggest arts festival, in over 300 venues, thousands of shows from around the world entertain people from, well around the world too, it is said the population of my hometown more than doubles at Festival time.

It’s not all comedy, and theatre, there are now many aspects to the festival, first you have the Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama, that’s the one that started on this day 73 years ago, it’s the professionals who get paid for being on stage in what ever guise they don, the thing was at the beginning it was invite only, and only eight companies were invited, so some set up their own shows, hoping to not just entertain, but hopefully earn a few quid in the process, this took the name The Fringe, it was been so successful it soon became bigger than the “Official” Festival and over the years most acts just wanted to be in Edinburgh, any chance of earning a crust went out the window, many performers save up all year just to come to Edinburgh and appear, sometimes in front of only a handful of people, if you’re lucky!

There was no real organisation during the first years of The Fringe, it wasn’t until 1951 when the sign of any communal activity occurred in 1951 when Edinburgh University students opened a drop-in centre at 25 Haddington Place. This was used by many Fringe performers as it provided cheap food and a bed for the night, oh to be able to find a cheap bed nowadays!

It was 1954 before Fringe groups held their first meeting to discuss the possibility of working together. “We are cutting each other’s throats” was a quote from one of the groups.  It was the logistics, the non-performance aspects, that they saw as a problem and the establishment of a joint box office and publicity mechanism were given high priority. The first Fringe programme was produced in this year by C. J. Cousland, an Edinburgh printer, as seen in the second pic. The Fringe now outstrips the EIF by an insurmountable amount, but as I said earlier most shows struggle to make a profit.

Eventually, the Festival Fringe Society was set up in 1959. A constitution was drawn up, stating that elected officers should oversee the running of a box office, produce a programme brochure that would include every event that was not on the International Festival, and run a club where performers could meet, eat, drink until late, and generally feel involved.

This post is, like the Fringe, getting to large, I like to keep them short so having covered the main two, here is a quick run through of the rest of the Festival, as we know it now.

Pipes and dancing took place on the Castle Esplanade, and in Princes Street Gardens, from 1947, the year of the first International Festival. It was eventually superseded by The Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1950. Under the direction of Brigadier Alasdair Maclean, there were eight items in the first programme.  There were no stands in that first year, the audience watching from the side of the Esplanade. Stands were erected from the following year, growing to its current size when it houses an audience of around 9,000.

The Edinburgh Art Festival is a fixture in the International Festival programme, the early 1950s arguably being the golden period.  However, funds were withdrawn in 1973 and the visual arts were relegated to “associates”, i.e. linked to but not directly part of the International Festival.  In more recent years the associate tag gradually disappeared and it began to rely on The Fringe programme to provide external advertising of its wares. Most Edinburgh folk will remember the Ingenious  Campbell soup cladding on the pillars of the Scottish Royal Academy for the Andy Warhol exhibition in 2007, it’s certainly my most memorable memory of the Arts Festival.

The Jazz & Blues Festival is a 10 day festival, spread over a dozen venues, which spans late July and early August. It began in August 1979 at the Adelphi Ballroom, Abbeyhill, which had a capacity of 500, and it was held over a single weekend. Like all the festivals it has grown over the years and for a short time they had “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” which attracted a bigger crowd than any other single jazz event in the UK, it was held in Princes Street Gardens, but the commercial folk that run things in Edinburgh basically fucked things up by allowing a Spiegeltent event to take over the space in the gardens in 2010 and that aspect of it has not returned since, which is a shame.

Edinburgh International Book Festival was first held in 1983 and was an instant success with 120 authors attending, including John Updike and Anthony Burgess. The 17 day festival is now  sited in Charlotte Square Gardens, at the western end of George Street, converting it into a tented village for the duration. The 2016 festival, with an attendance of circa 230,000, boasted of appearances by over 800 authors, poets, illustrators, journalists and politicians from 55 countries.

So there you have it,  small beginnings from the ashes of world war two, I thought that things would be back to normal this year, after last years cancellation, but it is a curtailed Festival this year, I only managed to get across once, the place isn’t the same without the full thing, hopefully next year we will all get back to a more normal, normal. 

[ravnlghtft]

Alvin Ailey born on January 5th 1931, in Rogers, Texas, at the height of the Great Depression in the violently racist and segregated south, during his youth Ailey was barred from interacting with mainstream society. Abandoned by his father when he was three months old, Ailey and his mother were forced to work in cotton fields and as domestics in white homes—the only employment available to them. As an escape, Ailey found refuge in the church, sneaking out at night to watch adults dance, and in writing a journal, a practice that he maintained his entire life. Even this could not shield him from a shiftless childhood spent moving from town to town as his mother sought employment, being abandoned with relatives whenever she took off on her own, or watching her get raped at the hands of a white man when he was five years old.

Looking for greater job prospects, Ailey’s mother departed for Los Angeles in 1941. He arrived a year later, enrolling at George Washington Carver Junior High School, and then graduating into Thomas Jefferson High School. In 1946 he had his first experience with concert dance when he saw the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium. This awakened an until then unknown spark of joy within him, though he did not become serious about dance until 1949 when his classmate and friend Carmen De Lavallade dragged him to the Melrose Avenue studio of Lester Horton.

Ailey studied a wide range of dance styles and techniques—from ballet to Native American inspired movement studies—at Horton’s school, which was one of the first racially integrated dance schools in the United States. Though Horton became his mentor, Ailey did not commit to dancing full-time; instead he pursued academic courses, studying romance languages and writing at UCLA. He continued these studies at San Francisco State in 1951. Living in San Francisco he met Maya Angelou, then known as Marguerite Johnson, with whom he formed a nightclub act called “Al and Rita”. Eventually, he returned to study dance with Horton in Los Angeles.

He joined Horton’s dance company in 1953, making his debut in Horton’s Revue Le Bal Caribe. Horton died suddenly that same year in November from a heart attack, leaving the company without leadership. In order to complete the organization’s pressing professional engagements, and because no one else was willing to, Ailey took over as artistic director and choreographer.

In 1954 De Lavallade and Ailey were recruited by Herbert Ross to join the Broadway show, House of Flowers. Ross had been hired to replace George Balanchine as the show’s choreographer and he wanted to use the pair, who had become known as a famous dance team in Los Angeles, as featured dancers. The show’s book was written and adapted by Truman Capote from one of his novellas with music from Harold Arlen and starred Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. Ailey and De Lavallade met Geoffrey Holder, who performed alongside them in the chorus, during the production. Holder married De Lavallade and became a life-long artistic collaborator with Ailey. After House of Flowers closed, Ailey appeared in Harry Belafonte’s touring revue Sing, Man, Sing with Mary Hinkson as his dance partner, and the 1957 Broadway musical Jamaica, which starred Lena Horne and Ricardo Montalbán. Drawn to dance, but unable to find a choreographer whose work fulfilled him, Ailey started gathering dancers to perform his own unique vision of dance.

Alvin Ailey, a.k.a. Alvin Ailey Jr., founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Ailey School as havens for nurturing black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. His work fused theatre, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of black life in America. Ailey’s choreographic masterpiece Revelations is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. In this work he blended primitive, modern and jazz elements of dance with a concern for black rural America. On July 15, 2008, the United States Congress passed a resolution designating AAADT a “vital American cultural ambassador to the World.” That same year, in recognition of AAADT’s 50th anniversary, then Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 “Alvin Ailey Day” in New York City while then Governor David Paterson honoured the organization on behalf of New York State.

Ailey loathed the label “black choreographer” and preferred being known simply as a choreographer. He was notoriously private about his life. Though gay, he kept his romantic affairs in the closet. Following the death of his friend Joyce Trisler, a failed relationship, and bouts of heavy drinking and cocaine use, Ailey suffered a mental breakdown in 1980. He was diagnosed as manic depressive, known today as bipolar disorder. During his rehabilitation, Judith Jamison served as co-director of AAADT.

Ailey died from an AIDS related illness on December 1, 1989, at the age of 58. He asked his doctor to announce that his death was caused by terminal blood dyscrasia in order to shield his mother from the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.

Choreography

Cinco Latinos, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City, 1958.

Blues Suite (also see below), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1958.

Revelations, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Kaufmann ConcertHall, 1960

Three for Now, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Clark Center, New York City, 1960.

Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Clark Center, 1960.

(With Carmen De Lavallade) Roots of the Blues, Lewisohn Stadium, New York City, 1961.

Hermit Songs, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 1963.

Ariadne, Harkness Ballet, Opera Comique, Paris, 1965.

Macumba, Harkness Ballet, Gran Teatro del Liceo, Barcelona, Spain,1966, then produced as Yemanja, Chicago Opera House, 1967.

Quintet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, Scotland, 1968, then Billy Rose Theatre, New York City, 1969.

Masekela Langage, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Dance Festival, New London, Connecticut, 1969, then Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, 1969.

Streams, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1970.

Gymnopedies, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1970.

The River, American Ballet Theatre, New York State Theater, 1970.

Flowers, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, ANTA Theatre, 1971.

Myth, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Choral Dances, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Cry, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Mingus Dances, Robert Joffrey Company, New York City Center, 1971.

Mary Lou’s Mass, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1971.

Song for You, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1972.

The Lark Ascending, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, New York City Center, 1972.

Love Songs, Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater, New York City Center, 1972.

Shaken Angels, 10th New York Dance Festival, Delacorte Theatre, New York City, 1972.

Sea Change, American Ballet Theatre, Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., 1972, then New York City Center, 1973.

Hidden Rites, Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater, New York City Center, 1973.

Archipelago, 1971,

The Mooche, 1975,

Night Creature, 1975,

Pas de “Duke”, 1976,

Memoria, 1979,

Phases, 1980

Landscape, 1981.

Stage

Acting and dancing

(Broadway debut) House of Flowers, Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1954 – Actor and dancer.

The Carefree Tree, 1955 – Actor and dancer.

Sing, Man, Sing, 1956 – Actor and dancer.

Show Boat, Marine Theatre, Jones Beach, New York, 1957 – Actor and dancer.

Jamaica, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1957 – Actor and lead dance.

Call Me By My Rightful Name, One Sheridan Square Theatre, 1961 – Paul.

Ding Dong Bell, Westport Country Playhouse, 1961 – Negro Political Leader.

Blackstone Boulevard, Talking to You, produced as double-bill in 2 by Saroyan, East End Theatre, New York City, 1961-62.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright, Booth Theatre, 1962 – Clarence Morris.

Stage choreography

Carmen Jones, Theatre in the Park, 1959.

Jamaica, Music Circus, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1959.

Dark of the Moon, Lenox Hill Playhouse, 1960.

(And director) African Holiday (musical), Apollo Theatre, New York City, 1960, then produced at Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C., 1960.

Feast of Ashes (ballet), Robert Joffrey Company, Teatro San Carlos, Lisbon, Portugal, 1962, then produced at New York City Center, 1971.

Antony and Cleopatra (opera), Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1966.

La Strada, first produced at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 1969.

Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, Metropolitan Opera House, 1972, then John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia Academy of Music, both 1972.

Carmen, Metropolitan Opera, 1972.

Choreographed ballet, Lord Byron (opera; also see below), Juilliard School of Music, New York City, 1972.

Four Saints in Three Acts, Piccolo Met, New York City, 1973.

Director

(With William Hairston) Jerico-Jim Crow, The Sanctuary, New York City, 1964, then Greenwich Mews Theatre, 1968.

In 1968 Ailey was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada. In 1977 he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, was inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in 1992, inducted into the Legacy Walk in 2012, and posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014.

In August 2019, Ailey was one of the honorees inducted in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a walk of fame in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have “made significant contributions in their fields.”

A crater on Mercury was named in his honor in 2012.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[acelucky]

Heading into 2020 reflections

Here we are again at the end of the year and the end of a decade… I’m rather excited about heading into the roaring 20s! All that Jazz and hanging out at speakeasy’s, although as my husband pointed out – hopefully during the 20s this time we don’t see a terrifying rise in fascism. Anyway I could go into that and the political state of the world, but I wanted this to be a mostly positive and reflective post.

Some amazing things have happened this year.

My little brother got married, I was a bridesmaid and at the time had wonderful mermaid hair!

I went on the most wonderful holiday with my husband and dad to Tenerife. We did a day trip to La Gomera as well as a night tour of Mount Teide to gaze at the stars.

The view of Mount Teide from La Gomera

I finally got up to Edinburgh for the Festival in August and attended so many wonderful shows from comedy to theatre, jazz, cabaret, burlesque and more.

We’ve had some beautiful walks and day trips, finally getting to Richmond park with two of our best friends and going pumpkin picking.

I’ve been to some wonderful gigs (Static-X just being one of them!) with my brother.

This has also been the year when I’ve focused a lot on my writing and creativity, taking things one step at a time and not rushing. But making the time to really focus and to write to agents as well as entering competitions.It’s been my ‘make-or’break’ year for comedy. I was a semi-finalist in the South Coast Comedian of the Year competition, but faith in myself dwindled. Visiting Edinburgh during the fringe was just what I needed and after several terrible gigs I came back in full force and started putting more cabaret/clowning into my comedy. I’ll still talk up as myself and give anecdotes of my life, a few one liners, political comedy etc. But I also want to focus on burlesque, lip-syncing and character comedy. I enjoy playing the clown and I remembered that the reason I do comedy is because I enjoy it, you have to have fun on stage to make it worth it and for the audience to believe in you. Next year my show ‘Accio Fandom’ will be performed, I’ll be doing my first burlesque performance and generally being a little more silly.

Headshot taken on 22nd December at the Portsmouth Comedians Christmas party. 

The comedy photoshoot I had taught me how much fun I could have, how I’m not as ugly or as fat as I think I am, that actually I can be quite beautiful, and fabulous!

Yes, I have lost my job. Being made redundant has been hard, my grandmother has been ill this week and my grandfather passed away at the beginning of the year. But what is life without it’s ups and downs? It is the mundane and the difficult times, the heartbreaking moments that make the good things so wonderful and full of joy.

I recently had a conversation with my Uncle in New Zealand where I was reminded that sometimes the big things (bills, job etc) are actually the small things. And the small things (reading a book, a walk in the countryside, stroking your pet, listening to music) are the big things.

Have a very happy and safe New Year wherever you are – and especially thinking of those in Australia right now, it’s been breaking my heart. My mother lived in Australia for some time as a girl, I’ve been there since she died to visit the blue mountains and some of my favourite creatures are wombats, koalas, kookaburra’s etc. A thank you to all the firefighters, volunteers and wildlife rescue services for doing everything they can to protect one another and the wildlife.

[rockzone]

Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra Live

Release Date: 25 Oct 2019

Steve Hackett is renowned as an immensely talented and innovative rock musician. He was lead guitarist with Genesis as part of their classic line up with Gabriel, Collins, Banks and Rutherford, who produced several of the band’s most acclaimed albums including "Selling England by the Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway".

With Steve's extraordinary versatility in both his electric guitar playing and his composing, he involves influences from many genres, including Jazz, World Music and Blues. He is equally adept in his classical albums that include renditions of pieces by composers from Bach to Satie, his own acoustic guitar compositions that have gained the admiration of many, including Yehudi Menuhin, and ambitious guitar/orchestra albums such as “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic.

His most recent studio album is 2019’s “At the Edge of Light”, which was met with critical acclaim and charted in several countries all around the world. It reached number 28 in the UK Album Chart (number 3 in the Rock chart), number 13 in Germany and 12 in Sweden.

While keeping a continuous studio output for several decades, Steve Hackett has been presenting classic Genesis tracks with his live band. Now "Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra: Live" marks one of his most impressive live releases to date. It was recorded in October last year at London’s Royal Festival Hall with the renowned 42-piece Heart of England Philharmonic Orchestra!

Available as a 2CD & Blu-Ray digipak with behind the scenes footage, this is a brilliant fusion of progressive rock and orchestral grandeur. It includes powerful versions of "Dancing with the Moonlit King", "Shadow of the Hierophant", "The Steppes", 2Afterglow", "Serpentine Song", "The Musical Box", and the epic "Supper's Ready".

Line-Up (on this recording): Steve Hackett – Guitar, Vocals Roger King – Keyboards Nad Sylvan – Vocals, Tambourine Gary O’Toole – Drums, Percussion, Vocals Rob Townsend – Saxophone, Woodwind, Percussion, Vocals, Keyboards, Bass Pedals Jonas Reingold – Bass, Variax, Twelve String, Vocals With special guests: John Hackett, Amanda Lehmann and the Heart of England Philharmonic Orchestra

Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited 2019 Tour 2 Nov - Waterside Aylesbury 3 Nov - Leas Cliff Hall Folkestone 5 Nov - City Hall Sheffield 6 Nov - Corn Exchange Cambridge 8 Nov - De Montford Hall Leicester 9 Nov - St. David's Hall Cardiff 11 Nov - Philharmonic Liverpool 12 Nov - Dome Brighton 13 Nov - Guildhall Portsmouth 15 Nov - City Hall Salisbury 16 Nov - Hexagon Reading 18 Nov - Symphony Hall Birmingham 19 Nov - Barbican York 20 Nov - Forum Bath 22 Nov - Victoria Theatre Halifax 23 Nov - The Sage Gateshead 25 Nov - Usher Hall Edinburgh 26 Nov - Bridgewater Hall Manchester 27 Nov - Cliffs Pavilion Southend 29 Nov - Hammersmith Eventim Apollo London

[theedinburghreporter]

40th Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival - programme announced today

40th Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival – programme announced today

The 40th anniversary programme of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival has just been announced. 

From 13 to 22 July there will be jazz all over the capital with music legends and many newcomers too.

This festival celebrates the 300 years of music from New Orleans with many Crescent city musicians like the Soul Brass Band, the all-female Shake ‘Em Up Grammy award-swimming trumpeter Kevin Harrold,…