#pittsburgh international jazz festival

[sinceileftyoublog]

Shemekia Copeland Interview: Break It Down to the Basics

Photo by Dave Specter

BY JORDAN MAINZER

A couple weeks ago, in speaking with Shemekia Copeland over the phone, I called her out. Though her new album Blame It On Eve, out Friday via Alligator Records, is her purported attempt to make an album that's a "break from the news" instead of "breaking news," she still sings about doomscroll-worthy topics. She admitted it right away. "I can't help myself," she said. "There was no way I couldn't talk about women's rights on this record." The album's very title refers to society's tendency to put the woman at fault, one that, of course, has biblical precedent. Copeland always has a way of selling you without hitting you over the head. "Hurricanes and tropical twisters / Always gettin' named after some sisters," she sings on the title track, "But the worst winds come from DC / Stealin' rights from you and me." Even alongside Jim Hoke's skronking saxophone and Luther Dickinson's screaming guitars, it's Copeland's wail that rises above.

Copeland calls herself "an idea person" who works with a stellar team of songwriters. Like most lyricists do, she jots down song ideas when they come into her head, and flushing the songs out with her team happens organically. "It's like getting a dress tailor made to fit you," she said. Blame It On Eve is her most balanced record yet. There are autobiographical songs (the blues stomp "Tough Mother"), paeans to interracial love ("Cadillac Blue"), gospel-rock jams ("Tell The Devil"), educational treatises ("Tee Tot Payne"), and even a couple covers, including her father Johnny's "Down on Bended Knee". Copeland turned to longtime collaborator Will Kimbrough to produce the record and play various instruments on it, and the core band of Kimbrough, bassist Lex Price, and drummer Pete Abbott treats Copeland's words with appropriate gravity. Kimbrough's mournful, echoing licks mirror Copeland's pained expressions on "Only Miss You All the Time". And the band's rock and roll strut gives levity to an otherwise serious song "Broken High Heels", where Copeland cleverly compares our collective attitude towards climate change to "Dancing in a graveyard in broken high heels."

Indeed, Copeland's songs that one might call "political" aren't really that--they're just about issues that affect everyday life. "Anything uncomfortable, people want to call it political," Copeland said. On "Is There Anybody Up There?" a duet with Alejandro Escovedo, the narrator starts to doubt that God is listening when looking at the ills of the world, like our broken immigration system, before realizing that his very doubts make him a sinner, too: "If they crucified poor Jesus, think what they'll do to me!" "Tee Tot Payne" is, of course, about the Black man who taught Hank Williams the blues. Copeland views the song as part of the larger conversation going on about Black influence on country music, and an important opportunity to engage with Black history. "Rhiannon Giddens wrote an amazing essay about the banjo and how it wasn't originally an instrument used amongst white bluegrass artists as much as it was used within Black culture," Copeland said. "They're trying to get rid of history, so for my last records, I try to put something educational in there."

As traditional as is the music Copeland makes, her view on making records and performing is pretty consistent with that of today's world. She's the first artist I've ever interviewed to admit that the sequencing of her albums isn't crucial. That is, she doesn't care whether listeners listen to the album's songs in order as much as they pay attention to what's in each song. "In all honesty, I don't believe sequencing is that important because people don't listen to records that way. I still do, but people don't listen to records in sequence. People pop it into their device and listen to it the way they want to," Copeland said. She then offered a caveat. "But it's important to me that they hear all the songs. They all fit on the record in some shape or form." That's Copeland, the idea person, thinking big picture, knowing that the collection of songs makes a whole, but each individual track tells a unique story. It's perhaps why her approach to playing live is so effective. Sequencing a set is important to Copeland, but it's less about planning and more about doing some of her own listening. "I don't really do setlists. I try to feel out the audience. I have some idea what we're gonna do, but I change it up," she said.

At the end of the day, Copeland has an innate sense for what makes songs tick. As she and her team write and practice, they start to think about who else could feature on the song, always without overloading it. It's how they ended up with Jerry Douglas contributing lap steel on "Cadillac Blue", Dashawn Hickman providing Sacred Steel guitar on "Tell the Devil", and Cara Fox playing cello on "Belle Sorciere", on whose chorus Copeland sings in French. Copeland's song-making prowess, though, is never more so evidenced by her version of Ron Miller's "Heaven Help Us All", recorded most famously by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles. The album closer, it features Kimbrough on organ and Lisa Oliver Gray and Odessa Settles providing impassioned backing vocals. Copeland had first heard the Charles version, which appeared on his 1972 album A Message from the People and featured Gladys Knight. "It [has] a lot of background vocals and horns. It was done in a very big, produced way," Copeland said. "I thought I wanted to break it down to the basics." She's not a minimalist, but when you listen to Copeland's albums or performances, or even talk to her on the phone, every word and moment is essential. She can't help it.

Tour dates:

8/30: Peoria Blues & Heritage Music Festival 2024, Peoria, IL 8/31: Fishers Blues Festival, Fishers, IN 9/1: Rhythm & Roots 2024, Charlestown, RI 9/5: Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI 9/6: The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI 9/7: Wheatland Music Festival, Remus, MI 9/17: Americanafest Showcase at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN 9/20: Fanatics Pub, Lima, NY, United States 9/21: Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Pittsburgh, PA 9/22: Center for the Arts of Homer, Homer, NY 9/27: Rochester Opera House, Rochester, NH 9/28: Spire Center for Performing Arts, Plymouth, MA 10/10: One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME 10/12: StageOne at FTC, Fairfield, CT 10/13: Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA 10/17: Daryl's House, Pawling, NY 10/18: Elkton Music Hall, Elkton, MD 10/19: Rams Head On Stage, Annapolis, MD 10/20: The Tin Pan, Richmond, VA 11/14: Music Box Supper Club, Cleveland, OH 11/15: The Acorn, Three Oaks, MI 11/16: City Winery Chicago, Chicago, IL 11/17: City Winery St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 11/22: Lizzie Rose Music Room, Tuckerton, NJ 11/23: Barre Opera House, Barre, VT 11/24: City Winery Boston, Boston, MA 11/30: SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco, CA 12/6: Sam's Burger Joint, San Antonio, TX 12/7: The Kessler Theater, Dallas, TX 12/8: Houston Blues Society Holiday Bash at Rockefeller's, Houston, TX 1/19: One Longfellow Square, Portland, ME 2/7: Zellerbach Theatre at The Annenberg Center, Philadelphia, PA 2/16: Vero Beach Blues Festival, Vero Beach, FL 2/22: Soka Performing Arts Center, Aliso Viejo, CA 2/23: Poway Center for the Performing Arts, Poway, CA 4/4: Lied Center of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 4/7: McCain Auditorium, Manhattan, KS 4/12: Bitterroot Performing Arts Council, Hamilton, MT

[itsyourbizme]

PIJF is FREE in the STREETS on Liberty Ave Look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Pittsburgh, PA (412)

[brookston]

Holidays 7.18

Holidays

Anti-Bigot Day

Billy Joel Day (New York)

Boxer 718 Day

Chrysanthemum Day

Constitution Day (Uruguay)

Global Lifting Awareness Day

Hug a Fat Bald Person Day

Insurance Nerd Day

International Day of the Vaquita Marina

International Laquita Marina Day

Jane Austen Day (Indiana)

Lollapalooza Day

Make A List of the People You Love Day

National Hamiltons Day

National Black Men’s Mental Health Day

National Dapper Your Data Day

National Emma Day

National Hamiltons Day

National Monica Day

National Mortgage Brokers Day

National Peyton Day

Nelson Mandela International Day (a.k.a. Mandela Day; UN)

Perfect Family Day

Perfect 10 Day

President’s Day (Botswana)

Pyramids Day

718 Day (New York)

Shawm Day (French Republic)

Tony the Tiger Day

Weinermobile Day

World Listening Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Brewers Day

National Caviar Day

National Sour Candy Day

National Tropical Fruit Day

St. Anou, Bishop of Metz's Day (patron saint of brewers; a.k.a. St. Arnulf, Arnould, St. Arnold)

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (Uruguay; 1830)

Prsänëa (Declared; 2012) [unrecognized]

Vietnam (Becomes U.N. member; 1977)

3rd Thursday in July

Get To Know Your Customers Day [3rd Thursday of each Quarter]

Latitude Festival (Suffolk, UK) [3rd Thursday thru Sunday]

National Dole Whip Day [3rd Thursday]

Protect Swimmers Day [3rd Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 18 (3rd Week of July)

Restless Leg Syndrome Education & Awareness Week (thru 7.28)

Festivals Beginning July 18, 2024

Chincoteague Island Blueberry Festival (Chincoteague Island, Virginia) [thru 7.20]

Cookin' on Kampeska (Watertown, South Dakota) [thru 7.20]

Delaware State Fair (Harrington, Delaware) [thru 7.27]

Durban International Film Festival (Durban, South Africa) [thru 7.28]

Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal, Canada) [thru 8.4]

Jazz in Marciac (Marciac, France) [thru 8.4]

Jerusalem Film Festival (Jerusalem, Israel) [thru 7.27]

Johnson County Peach Festival (Clarksville, Arkansas) [thru 7.20]

Lexington Restaurant Week (Lexington, Kentucky) [thru 7.28]

Miami Valley Steam Threshers Show (Plain City, Ohio) [thru 7.21]

N.C. Peach Festival [Candor, North Carolina) [thru 7.20]

New Horizons International Film Festival (Wrocław, Poland) [thru 7.28]

Picklesburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.21]

Porter Peach Festival (Porter, Oklahoma) [thru 7.20]

Port Fish Days (Port Washington, Wisconsin) [thru 7.20]

Riverfront Food Truck Festival (Hartford, Connecticut) [thru 7.20]

Taste of Galesburg (Galesburg, Illinois)

Taste of Park Ridge (Park Ridge, Illinois) [thru 7.20]

Venice International Festival of Contemporary Dance [Biennale Danza] (Venice, Italy) [thru 8.3]

Verbier Festival (Verbier, Switzerland) [thru 8.4]

Feast Days

Arnulf of Metz (a.k.a. Arnoldus; Christian; Saint) [Belgium; brewers] *

Bernd Fasching (Artology)

Bobby Henderson Day (Pastafarian)

Bruno of Segni (Christian; Saint)

Camillus de Lellis (optional memorial, U.S. only)

Day of Arstat and Copper Woman (Everyday Wicca)

Eadburh (a.k.a. Edburga) of Bicester (Christian; Saint)

Eid-e-Ghadir (Iran)

Elizabeth Ferard (Church of England)

Feast of Saint Arnoldus (Belgium)

Feast of Teneu

Fionn Mac Cumhail (Celtic Book of Days)

Frederick of Utrecht (Christian; Saint)

Giacomo Balla (Artology)

Hunter S. Thompson (Writerism)

Hyacinthe Rigaud (Artology)

Jabotinsky Day (Israel) [29 Tammuz]

Leroy (Muppetism)

The Lunch of the Forward Goblins (Surprisingly Fairies Only; Shamanism)

Marina of Aguas Santas (Christian; Saint)

Maternus of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Nebet-Het (Birthday of Nephthys, Egyptian Goddess of Beer)

Nephthy’s Day (Egyptian Goddess of Death; Pagan)

Odulph (Christian; Saint)

Pambo (Christian; Saint)

Philastrius (Christian; Saint)

Rabelais (Positivist; Saint)

Symphorosa and her Seven Sons (Christian; Martyrs)

Theneva (Christian; Saint)

Theodosia of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Thomas Morton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Vitulatio (Feast to Vitulatio, Ancient Roman Goddess of Exultation, joy & life)

Water Pistol Day (Pastafarian)

William Makepeace Thackery (Writerism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Day of Bad Omens (Ancient Rome) [1 of 2]

Prime Number Day: 199 [46 of 72]

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

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [41 of 57]

Premieres

Aliens (Film; 1986)

Arachnophobia (Film; 1990)

Bad Boys II (Film; 2003)

The Betty Boop Limited (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1933)

Bosko’s Holiday (WB LT Cartoon; 1931)

The Bowling Ally-Cat (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1942)

City Kitty (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1952)

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (Novel; 1962)

Closer, by Joy Division (Album; 1980)

Consider the Oyster, by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Essays; 1941)

Copy Cat (Animated Antics Cartoon; 1941)

The Dark Knight (Film; 2008)

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (Film; 1956)

Day Nurse (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1932)

Don’t Bother to Knock (Film; 1952)

Entourage (TV Series; 2004)

Eureka (TV Series; 2006)

Friends with Benefits (Film; 2011)

George of the Jungle (Film; 1997)

God Only Knows, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1966)

I Love to Sings (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Johnny English (Film; 2003)

Jurassic Park III (Film; 2001)

The Mahagonny Songspiel, by Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill (Song; 1927)

Mamma Mia! (Film; 2008)

The Minute and a 1/2 Man (Hector Heathcote Cartoon; 1959)

Mrs. Brown (Film; 1997)

The Nun’s Story (Film; 1959)

Pink Blue Plate (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Planes: Fire & Rescue (Animated Film; 2014)

Porco Rosso (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1992)

RWBY (Anime Series; 2013)

Sex Tape (Film; 2014)

Sketches of Spain, by Miles Davis (Album; 1960)

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn (Science book; 1962)

Symphony No. 8 in D Minor, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Symphony; 1956)

Tweet and Lovely (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

UHF, by Weird Al Yankpvic (Soundtrack Album; 1989)

Used Cars (Film; 1980)

Wouldn’t It Be Nice, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1966)

Today’s Name Days

Answer, Arnold, Arnulf, Friedrich, Ulf (Austria)

Emil, Emilian (Bulgaria)

Bruno, Emilija, Frederik, Ljuba (Croatia)

Drahomíra (Czech Republic)

Arnolphus (Denmark)

Eerika, Erika (Estonia)

Riikka (Finland)

Frédéric (France)

Arnulf, Friedrich, Ulf (Germany)

Aimilianos, Emilianos (Greece)

Frigyes (Hungary)

Calogero, Giusta (Italy)

Rozālija, Roze, Rozīte (Latvia)

Eimantė, Ervinas, Kamilis, Tautvilas (Lithuania)

Arnulf, Ørnulf (Norway)

Arnold, Arnolf, Erwin, Erwina, Kamil, Karolina, Robert, Roberta, Szymon, Unisław, Wespazjan (Poland)

Anna (Russia)

Kamila (Slovakia)

Federico, Marina (Spain)

Fredrik, Fritz (Sweden)

Alfie, Alfred, Avery, Federica, Federico, Fred, Freda, Freddie, Freddy, Fréddy , Freed, Frederic, Frédéric, Frederich, Federik, Frederick, Frédérick, Frederico, Fredrick, Fredy (Universal)

Fred, Freda, Freddie, Freddy, Frederica, Frederick, Frederico, Fredrick, Fredy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 200 of 2024; 166 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 29 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 13 (Guy-Wei)

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

Hebrew: 12 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 11 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 20 Red; Sixday [20 of 30]

Julian: 5 July 2024

Moon: 90%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Dante (8th Month) [Rabelais]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 29 of 94)

Week: 3rd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 28 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 7.18

Holidays

Anti-Bigot Day

Billy Joel Day (New York)

Boxer 718 Day

Chrysanthemum Day

Constitution Day (Uruguay)

Global Lifting Awareness Day

Hug a Fat Bald Person Day

Insurance Nerd Day

International Day of the Vaquita Marina

International Laquita Marina Day

Jane Austen Day (Indiana)

Lollapalooza Day

Make A List of the People You Love Day

National Hamiltons Day

National Black Men’s Mental Health Day

National Dapper Your Data Day

National Emma Day

National Hamiltons Day

National Monica Day

National Mortgage Brokers Day

National Peyton Day

Nelson Mandela International Day (a.k.a. Mandela Day; UN)

Perfect Family Day

Perfect 10 Day

President’s Day (Botswana)

Pyramids Day

718 Day (New York)

Shawm Day (French Republic)

Tony the Tiger Day

Weinermobile Day

World Listening Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Brewers Day

National Caviar Day

National Sour Candy Day

National Tropical Fruit Day

St. Anou, Bishop of Metz's Day (patron saint of brewers; a.k.a. St. Arnulf, Arnould, St. Arnold)

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (Uruguay; 1830)

Prsänëa (Declared; 2012) [unrecognized]

Vietnam (Becomes U.N. member; 1977)

3rd Thursday in July

Get To Know Your Customers Day [3rd Thursday of each Quarter]

Latitude Festival (Suffolk, UK) [3rd Thursday thru Sunday]

National Dole Whip Day [3rd Thursday]

Protect Swimmers Day [3rd Thursday]

Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning July 18 (3rd Week of July)

Restless Leg Syndrome Education & Awareness Week (thru 7.28)

Festivals Beginning July 18, 2024

Chincoteague Island Blueberry Festival (Chincoteague Island, Virginia) [thru 7.20]

Cookin' on Kampeska (Watertown, South Dakota) [thru 7.20]

Delaware State Fair (Harrington, Delaware) [thru 7.27]

Durban International Film Festival (Durban, South Africa) [thru 7.28]

Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal, Canada) [thru 8.4]

Jazz in Marciac (Marciac, France) [thru 8.4]

Jerusalem Film Festival (Jerusalem, Israel) [thru 7.27]

Johnson County Peach Festival (Clarksville, Arkansas) [thru 7.20]

Lexington Restaurant Week (Lexington, Kentucky) [thru 7.28]

Miami Valley Steam Threshers Show (Plain City, Ohio) [thru 7.21]

N.C. Peach Festival [Candor, North Carolina) [thru 7.20]

New Horizons International Film Festival (Wrocław, Poland) [thru 7.28]

Picklesburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [thru 7.21]

Porter Peach Festival (Porter, Oklahoma) [thru 7.20]

Port Fish Days (Port Washington, Wisconsin) [thru 7.20]

Riverfront Food Truck Festival (Hartford, Connecticut) [thru 7.20]

Taste of Galesburg (Galesburg, Illinois)

Taste of Park Ridge (Park Ridge, Illinois) [thru 7.20]

Venice International Festival of Contemporary Dance [Biennale Danza] (Venice, Italy) [thru 8.3]

Verbier Festival (Verbier, Switzerland) [thru 8.4]

Feast Days

Arnulf of Metz (a.k.a. Arnoldus; Christian; Saint) [Belgium; brewers] *

Bernd Fasching (Artology)

Bobby Henderson Day (Pastafarian)

Bruno of Segni (Christian; Saint)

Camillus de Lellis (optional memorial, U.S. only)

Day of Arstat and Copper Woman (Everyday Wicca)

Eadburh (a.k.a. Edburga) of Bicester (Christian; Saint)

Eid-e-Ghadir (Iran)

Elizabeth Ferard (Church of England)

Feast of Saint Arnoldus (Belgium)

Feast of Teneu

Fionn Mac Cumhail (Celtic Book of Days)

Frederick of Utrecht (Christian; Saint)

Giacomo Balla (Artology)

Hunter S. Thompson (Writerism)

Hyacinthe Rigaud (Artology)

Jabotinsky Day (Israel) [29 Tammuz]

Leroy (Muppetism)

The Lunch of the Forward Goblins (Surprisingly Fairies Only; Shamanism)

Marina of Aguas Santas (Christian; Saint)

Maternus of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Nebet-Het (Birthday of Nephthys, Egyptian Goddess of Beer)

Nephthy’s Day (Egyptian Goddess of Death; Pagan)

Odulph (Christian; Saint)

Pambo (Christian; Saint)

Philastrius (Christian; Saint)

Rabelais (Positivist; Saint)

Symphorosa and her Seven Sons (Christian; Martyrs)

Theneva (Christian; Saint)

Theodosia of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Thomas Morton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Vitulatio (Feast to Vitulatio, Ancient Roman Goddess of Exultation, joy & life)

Water Pistol Day (Pastafarian)

William Makepeace Thackery (Writerism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Day of Bad Omens (Ancient Rome) [1 of 2]

Prime Number Day: 199 [46 of 72]

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

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [41 of 57]

Premieres

Aliens (Film; 1986)

Arachnophobia (Film; 1990)

Bad Boys II (Film; 2003)

The Betty Boop Limited (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1933)

Bosko’s Holiday (WB LT Cartoon; 1931)

The Bowling Ally-Cat (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1942)

City Kitty (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1952)

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (Novel; 1962)

Closer, by Joy Division (Album; 1980)

Consider the Oyster, by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Essays; 1941)

Copy Cat (Animated Antics Cartoon; 1941)

The Dark Knight (Film; 2008)

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (Film; 1956)

Day Nurse (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1932)

Don’t Bother to Knock (Film; 1952)

Entourage (TV Series; 2004)

Eureka (TV Series; 2006)

Friends with Benefits (Film; 2011)

George of the Jungle (Film; 1997)

God Only Knows, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1966)

I Love to Sings (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Johnny English (Film; 2003)

Jurassic Park III (Film; 2001)

The Mahagonny Songspiel, by Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill (Song; 1927)

Mamma Mia! (Film; 2008)

The Minute and a 1/2 Man (Hector Heathcote Cartoon; 1959)

Mrs. Brown (Film; 1997)

The Nun’s Story (Film; 1959)

Pink Blue Plate (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Planes: Fire & Rescue (Animated Film; 2014)

Porco Rosso (Studio Ghibli Animated Film; 1992)

RWBY (Anime Series; 2013)

Sex Tape (Film; 2014)

Sketches of Spain, by Miles Davis (Album; 1960)

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn (Science book; 1962)

Symphony No. 8 in D Minor, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Symphony; 1956)

Tweet and Lovely (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

UHF, by Weird Al Yankpvic (Soundtrack Album; 1989)

Used Cars (Film; 1980)

Wouldn’t It Be Nice, by The Beach Boys (Song; 1966)

Today’s Name Days

Answer, Arnold, Arnulf, Friedrich, Ulf (Austria)

Emil, Emilian (Bulgaria)

Bruno, Emilija, Frederik, Ljuba (Croatia)

Drahomíra (Czech Republic)

Arnolphus (Denmark)

Eerika, Erika (Estonia)

Riikka (Finland)

Frédéric (France)

Arnulf, Friedrich, Ulf (Germany)

Aimilianos, Emilianos (Greece)

Frigyes (Hungary)

Calogero, Giusta (Italy)

Rozālija, Roze, Rozīte (Latvia)

Eimantė, Ervinas, Kamilis, Tautvilas (Lithuania)

Arnulf, Ørnulf (Norway)

Arnold, Arnolf, Erwin, Erwina, Kamil, Karolina, Robert, Roberta, Szymon, Unisław, Wespazjan (Poland)

Anna (Russia)

Kamila (Slovakia)

Federico, Marina (Spain)

Fredrik, Fritz (Sweden)

Alfie, Alfred, Avery, Federica, Federico, Fred, Freda, Freddie, Freddy, Fréddy , Freed, Frederic, Frédéric, Frederich, Federik, Frederick, Frédérick, Frederico, Fredrick, Fredy (Universal)

Fred, Freda, Freddie, Freddy, Frederica, Frederick, Frederico, Fredrick, Fredy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 200 of 2024; 166 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 29 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 12 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 13 (Guy-Wei)

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

Hebrew: 12 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 11 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 20 Red; Sixday [20 of 30]

Julian: 5 July 2024

Moon: 90%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Dante (8th Month) [Rabelais]

Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 29 of 94)

Week: 3rd Week of July

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 28 of 31)

[chorusfm]

Norah Jones Announces Summer Tour

Norah Jones has announced some new tour dates and shared the new song “Staring at the Wall.” 05/06 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway 05/07 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ Bardavon 1869 Opera House 05/10 – Port Chester, NY @ The Capitol Theatre 05/13 – Washington, DC @ Kennedy Center Concert Hall 05/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia 05/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount 05/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount 05/19 – New York, NY @ Apollo Theater 05/26 – Napa, CA @ BottleRock Napa Valley 06/27 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage 06/29 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Jazz Festival 06/30 �� Saratoga Springs, NY @ Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival 07/02 – Montreal, QC @ Festival International de Jazz de Montréal 07/05 – Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC 07/06 – Buffalo, NY @ Artpark Main Stage 07/08 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts 07/10 – Huber Heights, OH @ Rose Music Center at The Heights 07/11 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center 07/13 – Interlochen, MI @ Kresge Auditorium 07/14 – Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival 07/22 – Vail, CO @ Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater 07/23 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre 07/25 – Sandy, UT @ Sandy Amphitheater 07/26 – Boise, ID @ Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden 07/27 – Walla Walla, WA @ Wine Country Amphitheater 07/29 – Seattle, WA @ Woodland Park Zoo Amphitheater 07/30 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre 08/01 – Eugene, OR @ The Cuthbert Amphitheater 08/03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic 08/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre 08/06 – San Diego, CA @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/norah-jones-announces-summer-tour/

[negrolicity]

Singer Christie Dashiell is keeping her family's jazz legacy alive | WBGO

[ledenews]

Heritage Music Blues Fest is a Magical Recipe for Fun

Wheeling Heritage Music Blues Fest returns for its 22nd year with another weekend of high-caliber talent, great food, and always a twist of something new. In the two decades since its founding, the event has grown into one of the most appreciated blues festivals in the country. This year’s festival takes place August 11-13th, gates open at 4pm on Friday with the first musician taking the stage at 5pm.  Blues Magic For many people, Heritage Music Blues Fest is a magical experience, one that keeps them returning to Wheeling year after year. Indeed, founder Bruce Wheeler and family have found a magical recipe for an award-winning music festival. And after two decades of hard work and a few hurdles along the way it is a recipe that Wheeler refuses to tinker with much, “People always ask what’s new? And I always tell them if isn’t broken, why fix it?”  So, he doesn’t veer from the three-day + two-stage + after-hours party formula. Then add to that the rolling Ohio River, a national historic landmark bridge, amazing sunsets, peak summer weather, and the best blues musicians on the planet…you have a magical recipe.  Despite never seeking to change the recipe Wheeler admits something always pops up and over the years he and the Blues Fest crew have become adept at turning lemons into lemonade. This year’s change is nothing but pure lemonade as the after-hours party will be held at the newly opened Waterfront Hall—across the street from Heritage Port.  The Lineup It’s through his longstanding ties with The Blues Foundation and International Blues Challenge (IBC) that Wheeler connects to the tremendous talent that perform at each year’s festival. Looking back at past years one can see he has a knack for grabbing young performers just before they are about to hit primetime and become the biggest names in the industry. Their names show up again years later as a headliner, no doubt because of their initial magical experience at the Heritage Music Blues Fest and interaction with the Wheeler family. It is personal relationships like these that have driven Heritage Music Blues Fest to persist for over two decades. This year’s lineup will not disappoint. The festival opens Friday at 5pm with legendary hill country blues guitarist Duwayne Burnside. Burnside, a former member of the North Mississippi Allstars and son of the late R.L. Burnside, released his first album in 17 years in 2022. The evening will close with New Orleans piano player Jon Cleary, who has emerged as the Nawlins Piano Player in the wake of Dr. John’s death.  Those are some big shoes to fill but Cleary lives up to the challenge. Wheeler assures it will be a piano-pounding good time along with plenty of brass. He is particularly excited about the horn section he assembled to back-up Cleary. “Cleary’s last couple of albums had horns all over them. I wanted horns. A New Orleans horn section.” says Wheeler. However, flying a New Orleans brass section to Wheeling would be pricey. Still yet, Wheeler knew he could pull it off with local talent and worked with Cleary to assemble the Heritage Horns. This horn section will be led by Wheeling native and Pittsburgh’s leading trombonist Reggie Watkins. Watkins come by his blues and jazz roots honestly as his mother is famed Wheeling singer Olga Watkins.  Saturday kicks off with a performance unlike any seen before at Bluesfest as West Virginia’s First Lady of Soul, Lady D, performs a homage to Bessie Smith. “It will be part one-woman stage play and part vocal exploration of Bessie Smith’s life and career.” Wheeler saw her perform as part of a traveling series offered by the West Virginia Humanities Council, “I just knew we had to have her at Bluesfest. It should be an interesting way to kick off Saturday.” Another unexpected highlight for Saturday comes at dinner time as hard-rockin’ bluesman Tinsley Ellis sits down for a set that is perhaps a bit out-of-character for him. “It will be Tinsley, a guitar, and his stories,” says Wheeler, “you do not want to miss this.” The final day brings the rising stars from the International Blues Challenge to the stage. The day kicks off with the 2023 IBC Harmonica winner Deuce’n a Quarter. Then the 2023 guitarist and band of the year, Mattias Lattin, takes the stage next. Mid-afternoon sees Nashville sensation Yates McKendree rise to the Bluesfest stage. At just 21 McKendree is a seasoned musician with nearly a decade of performing and touring under his belt. Finally, the festival comes to a big finale with the belting voice and high energy of Sugaray Rayford. Rayford’s album In Too Deep is the winner of the 2023 Soul Blues Music Award’s Album of the Year. More Information Heritage Music Blues Fest 2023 is held August 11, 12, and 13 at Wheeling Heritage Port, 1201 Main Street. For the entire list of musical acts, schedule, and to purchase tickets online visit https://www.heritagemusicfest.com. Gates open on Friday at 4pm. Those with canopy permits to gain entry at 2pm for set-up. To purchase Waterfront Hall after-hours party tickets, visit https://waterfronthall.ticketleap.com. Read the full article

[blackkudos]

George Benson

George Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 21 as a jazz guitarist. Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz players such as Django Reinhardt.

A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His album Breezin' was certified triple-platinum, hitting no. 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1976. His concerts were well attended through the 1980s, and he still has a large following. Benson has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Biography

Early career

Benson was born and raised in the Hill District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of seven, he first played the ukulele in a corner drug store, for which he was paid a few dollars. At the age of eight, he played guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights, but the police soon closed the club down. At the age of 9, he started to record. Out of the four sides he cut, two were released: "She Makes Me Mad" backed with "It Should Have Been Me", with RCA-Victor in New York; although one source indicates this record was released under the name "Little Georgie", the 45rpm label is printed with the name George Benson. The single was produced by Leroy Kirkland for RCA's rhythm and blues label, Groove Records. As he has stated in an interview, Benson's introduction to showbusiness had an effect on his schooling. When this was discovered (tied with the failure of his single) his guitar was impounded. Luckily, after he spent time in a juvenile detention centre his stepfather made him a new guitar.

Benson attended and graduated from Schenley High School. As a youth he learned how to play straight-ahead instrumental jazz during a relationship performing for several years with organist Jack McDuff. One of his many early guitar heroes was country-jazz guitarist Hank Garland. At the age of 21, he recorded his first album as leader, The New Boss Guitar, featuring McDuff. Benson's next recording was It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet, including Lonnie Smith on organ and Ronnie Cuber on baritone saxophone. Benson followed it up with The George Benson Cookbook, also with Lonnie Smith and Ronnie Cuber on baritone and drummer Marion Booker. Miles Davis employed Benson in the mid-1960s, featuring his guitar on "Paraphernalia" on his 1968 Columbia release, Miles in the Sky before going to Verve Records.

Benson then signed with Creed Taylor's jazz label CTI Records, where he recorded several albums, with jazz heavyweights guesting, to some success, mainly in the jazz field. His 1974 release, Bad Benson, climbed to the top spot in the Billboard jazz chart, while the follow-ups, Good King Bad (#51 Pop album) and Benson and Farrell (with Joe Farrell), both reached the jazz top-three sellers. Benson also did a version of The Beatles's 1969 album Abbey Road called The Other Side of Abbey Road, also released in 1969, and a version of "White Rabbit", originally written and recorded by San Francisco rock group Great Society, and made famous by Jefferson Airplane. Benson played on numerous sessions for other CTI artists during this time, including Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine, notably on the latter's acclaimed album Sugar.

1970s and 1980s

By the mid-to-late 1970s, as he recorded for Warner Bros. Records, a whole new audience began to discover Benson. With the 1976 release Breezin', Benson sang a lead vocal on the track "This Masquerade" (notable also for the lush, romantic piano intro and solo by Jorge Dalto), which became a huge pop hit and won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. (He had sung vocals infrequently on albums earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" on the Other Side of Abbey Road album.) The rest of the album is instrumental, including his rendition of the 1975 Jose Feliciano composition "Affirmation".

In 1976, Benson toured with soul singer Minnie Riperton, who had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer earlier that year and, in addition, appeared as a guitarist and backup vocalist on Stevie Wonder's song "Another Star" from Wonder's album Songs in the Key of Life.

During the same year, 1976, the top selling album 'Breezin' was released on the Warner Brothers label featuring the Bobby Womack penned title track and the Leon Russell penned This Masquerade which is now a jazz standard. Both tracks won Grammy awards that year and the LP put Benson into the musical limelight both in the USA and in Europe. Ironically, Benson had been discouraged up until this time, from using his singing skills, mainly as the company decision makers felt he wasn't competent enough vocally, and he should stick to playing the guitar. It was here that he clearly proved them wrong.

He also recorded the original version of "The Greatest Love of All" for the 1977 Muhammad Ali bio-pic, The Greatest, which was later covered by Whitney Houston as "Greatest Love of All". During this time Benson recorded with the German conductor Claus Ogerman. The live take of "On Broadway", recorded a few months later from the 1978 release Weekend in L.A., also won a Grammy. He has worked with Freddie Hubbard on a number of his albums throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The Qwest record label (a subsidiary of Warner Bros., run by Quincy Jones) released Benson's breakthrough pop album Give Me The Night, produced by Jones. Benson made it into the pop and R&B top ten with the song "Give Me the Night" (written by former Heatwave keyboardist Rod Temperton). He had many hit singles such as "Love All the Hurt Away", "Turn Your Love Around", "Inside Love", "Lady Love Me", "20/20", "Shiver", "Kisses in the Moonlight". More importantly, Quincy Jones encouraged Benson to search his roots for further vocal inspiration, and he rediscovered his love for Nat Cole, Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway in the process, influencing a string of further vocal albums into the 1990s. Despite returning to his jazz and guitar playing most recently, this theme was reflected again much later in Benson's 2000 release Absolute Benson, featuring a cover of one of Hathaway's most notable songs, "The Ghetto". Benson accumulated three other platinum LPs and two gold albums.

1990s to present

In 1990, Benson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music.

To commemorate the long relationship between Benson and Ibanez and to celebrate 30 years of collaboration on the GB Signature Models, Ibanez created the GB30TH, a limited-edition model with a gold-foil finish inspired by the traditional Japanese Garahaku art form. In 2009, Benson was recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as a Jazz Master, the nation's highest honor in jazz. Benson performed at the 49th issue of the Ohrid Summer Festival in North Macedonia on July 25, 2009, and his tribute show to Nat King Cole An Unforgettable Tribute to Nat King Cole as part of the Istanbul International Jazz Festival in Turkey on July 27. In the fall of 2009, Benson finished recording an album entitled Songs and Stories with Marcus Miller, producer John Burk, and session musicians David Paich and Steve Lukather. As a part of the promotion for his album Songs and Stories, Benson has appeared or performed on The Tavis Smiley Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

He performed at the Java Jazz Festival March 4–6, 2011. In 2011, Benson released the album Guitar Man, revisiting his 1960s/early-1970s guitar-playing roots with a 12-song collection of covers of both jazz and pop standards produced by John Burk.

In June 2013, Benson released his fourth album for Concord, Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole, which included Wynton Marsalis, Idina Menzel, Till Brönner, and Judith Hill. In September, he returned to perform at Rock in Rio festival, in Rio de Janeiro, 35 years after his first performance at this festival, which was then the inaugural one.

In July 2016, Benson participated as a mentor in the Sky Arts program Guitar Star in the search for the UK and Republic of Ireland's most talented guitarist.

In May 2018, Benson was featured on the Gorillaz single "Humility".

On July 12, 2018, it was announced that Benson had signed to Mascot Label Group.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed George Benson among hundreds of musicians whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Personal life

Benson has been married to Johnnie Lee since 1965 and has seven children. Benson describes his music as focusing more on love and romance, and eschewing overt sexuality, due to his commitment to his family and religious practices, with Benson serving as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Benson has been a resident of Englewood, New Jersey.

[project-casting]

Kristen Stewart's 'Happiest Season' Casting Call for Musicians (Pay is $200/Day)

Kristen Stewart’s ‘Happiest Season’ Casting Call for Musicians (Pay is $200/Day)

Kristen Stewart‘s ‘Happiest Season‘ is now casting musicians in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Casting directors are now casting actors, models, and talent to work on scenes filming on February 12th through the 14th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Producers are seeking the following types:

MUSICIANS NEEDED! JAZZ BAND PLAYERS WITH THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS!

Upright Bass Player

Jazz drummer w/ kit

Saxophone…

[motherblue]

It is both hot and cool at the jazz fest. My shirt is keeping me from bursting into flames. #jazz #pittsburgh #milesdavistribute (at Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzEG_0fhAK-/?igshid=1ad4ohevi3nhr

[nyfacurrent]

Year in Review | Fiscal Sponsorship in 2018

To wrap up what has been an eventful year, NYFA is commemorating our artists’ blossoming achievements!

NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship is proud to support these projects by helping them fundraise and bring their work to wider audiences. Here are a few highlights from this past year:

Monika Fabijanska THE UN-HEROIC ACT: Representations of Rape in Contemporary Women’s Art in the U.S.

In September, art historian and curator, Monika Fabijanska, launched the impactful exhibition, THE UN-HEROIC ACT: Representations of Rape in Contemporary Women’s Art in the U.S., at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Fabijanska’s vision for the curated exhibition was sparked by seeing Carole Thea’s Sabine Woman sculpture in 2015. The exhibition was a milestone not only for female artists who aim to dismantle the romantic representations of rape in the media, but also for survivors whose voices and perspectives have been left out in contemporary art. The New York Times featured THE UN-HEROIC ACT as an exhibition in which “female artists delete rape’s ‘heroic’ underpinnings.”

The Luminal Theater

Founded by Curtis John, The Luminal Theater is a microcinema based in Central Brooklyn which provides a platform for filmmakers and film enthusiasts who exhibit media of the African diaspora. The Luminal Theater has catered to their growing audiences by screening films from emerging filmmakers and film enthusiasts through their Cinema Garden Parties and special film screening events. In June, The Luminal Theater’s short films Kafou and Tezen were shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of BAM’s Caribbean Film Series event. The organization also co-hosted Selebrasyon!, a film festival celebrating film made by the Caribbean diaspora, with Haiti Cultural Exchange, Caribbean Film Academy, and Hudson Guild. The Luminal Theater was awarded a 2018 NYSCA Grant.

Deanna Witkowski Nossa Senhora Suite

Pianist and Composer Deanna Witkowski has had a jam-packed year with Nossa Senhora Suite, a musical project which fuses Afro-Brazilian ritual music and jazz. The idea for Nossa Senhora Suite grew from Witkowski’s first visit to Brazil in 2006, where she returned as a performer in 2007 and 2010. Witkowski was selected as a 2018 NYSCA individual artist grant recipient and was also awarded a residency fellowship at the Sacatar Institute in Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil, where she met fellow pianists, held workshops, and continued doing research for Nossa Senhora Suite. Witkowski’s next performance is on Saturday, December 8 at The Hillman Center in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Zakir Thaver Salam - The First ****** Nobel Laureate

After a decade of research and compilation, Zakir Thaver premiered the documentary film Salam - The First ****** Nobel Laureate to audiences in the U.S. and abroad. The documentary follows the history of Nobel Prize-winning Pakistani Physicist Abdus Salam, who made a profound impact on modern science but who was shunned in his home country because of his religion. In 2018, Salam has managed to snag a plethora of awards and official selections from the Raw Science Film Festival, Washington, D.C. to Chicago’s South Asian Film Festival, and the Human Rights Film Festival, to name a few. The next screening of Salam will be on Saturday, December 15 at The South Asian International Film Festival in the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway in New York City.

Roger Grunwald The Obligation

Internationally-acclaimed actor Roger Grunwald premiered his one-man performance The Obligation at Potrero Stage in San Francisco, CA. The story follows the life of a Polish Jew living in Bialystok during World War II. The Obligation was a 2018 Theater Bay Awards Finalist for Outstanding Solo Production, Outstanding Lighting Design, and Outstanding Sound Design. Broadway World called Grunwald’s performance “a thoroughly compelling, thrilling experience.”

- Eleysha Sajous, Fiscal Sponsorship Intern

NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship’s next quarterly no-fee application deadlines are December 31, March 31, June 30, and September 30, with out-of-cycle reviews accepted year-round. You can learn more about NYFA’s Fiscal Sponsorship program here.

Images From Top: The Obligation, Courtesy of Roger Grunwald; The Coerced Contact, Roya Amigh, Courtesy of Monika Fabijanska; Act of Protest, Courtesy of The Luminal Theater; Sacatar Institute in Brazil, Courtesy of Deanna Witkowski; Abdus Salam, Courtesy of Zakir Thaver; The Obligation, Courtesy of Roger Grunwald.

[polarhee]

#pijf2017 design and #pjif2018 design on my journal 🎶 And my writing on that of last year - . #polarhee #calligraphy #pittsburgh #jazz #jazzfest2018 #pjif #music #journal #scrapbook #calligraphy #캘리그라피 #캘스타그램 #일기장 #손글씨 #일상 #데일리 (at Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival)

[mozgoderina]

Through a legend, darkly (The Globe and Mail) / Chet Baker

When Bruce Weber's Let's Get Lost had its world premiere in September, 1988, at the Venice International Film Festival, it was hailed by some as both a masterpiece -- and a masterpiece of good timing.

The reason: On May 13 of that same year, the subject of Weber's film, jazz legend Chet Baker, had plunged to his death from a hotel window in Amsterdam -- just a year after Weber had spent six months, off and on, filming Baker in various locales across Europe and the United States.

Not surprisingly, Let's Get Lost came to be seen less as a portrait of a talented, troubled artist than an invitation to read every crease in Baker's once-pretty face, every lovelorn lyric he sang and every moody melody he played as an intimation of doom. Was Baker's end a suicide? Murder? An accident precipitated by the drug abuse that, along with music, had been the major motif in Baker's life?

Visitors to this year's Toronto International Film Festival get to consider all the singer's highs and lows anew when Let's Get Lost is screened tomorrow as part of the festival's Dialogues series. Weber, now 60, will be there, talking with Canadian broadcaster Ross Porter (who prepared a Chet Baker documentary of his own for CBC Radio several years ago) and Douglas Brinkley, head of the Theodore Roosevelt Center for American Civilization at Tulane University in New Orleans. Weber is also bringing Scottish singer Angela McCluskey to perform the Baker classic, My Foolish Heart.

Weber's appearance is a homecoming of sorts: Let's Get Lost had its North American premiere, just a few days after its Venice launch, at what was then called the Toronto Festival of Festivals. The TIFF screening marks the start of a second commercial life for Let's Get Lost, for which Weber spent almost a year preparing a restored print. It's going to be re-released in theatres early next year, in tandem with the release of an expanded version (28 songs in total) of the soundtrack issued in 1989, followed by the DVD of the film.

The man who would go on to become a world-famous photographer first became interested in Baker when Weber was still a dreamy 16-year-old living in rural Pennsylvania, and spotted a photo of him in a Pittsburgh record store on the cover of the 1955 vinyl LP Chet Baker Sings and Plays with Bud Shank, Russ Freeman and Strings. Included among the 10 tracks was Baker's cover of the Jimmy McHugh-Frank Loesser composition Let's Get Lost.

Later, Weber would say that seeing Baker's chiselled features and muscular physique in a knit T-shirt "was sort of the way I always wished I had looked, or wished I had known somebody like that."

But it wasn't just Baker's looks that appealed to Weber: Playing Chet Baker Sings, he told James Gavin, author of a controversial 2002 biography of Baker called Deep in a Dream, "I heard a sound . . . that was beckoning me to go West. It was a sound you felt when you listened to the ocean, when you were at the beach late in the afternoon."

In 1986, Weber directed his first feature film Broken Noses, a documentary about a hunky Olympic hopeful named Andy Minsker and the troubled youngsters he coached in a boxing club in Oregon. When it came time to do the soundtrack, Weber went to the cool California sounds of his youth -- Joni James, Julie London, Gerry Mulligan and, of course, Baker.(It's now Weber's belief that "you can literally film anything and put Chet's music with it and it'll work, you know?" he said in our interview. "Someone will say to me, 'Bruce, I'm doing a film about my grandmother.' And I always say, 'Oh, why don't you put some Chet Baker music with it?' ")

It was while finishing Broken Noses that Weber finally connected with the object of his adolescent desire, at a club in New York. Except Weber was by then a bearish 40 and Baker a hollow man of 57 dreaming of speedballs and looking, in the words of one writer, "more like Jack Palance than Jimmy Dean."

Nevertheless, Weber was enamoured. After persuading the trumpeter to do a photo session, then a three-minute "documentary" in a vermin-infested tenement, he suggested the two of them do a longer film and Baker assented. Shooting began the following January. That May, when Weber premiered Broken Noses (whose sole opening credit reads "To Chet Baker") at Cannes, he brought Baker and Minsker along with him -- and shot footage for Let's Get Lost along the way.

Today Weber describes Let's Get Lost as "a very ad hoc film. When we had some money and some time, we'd just go and do it." By the end, he had poured more than $1-million (U.S.) of his own money into the film, which he now calls "my grad-school project."

Working with an often cranky junkie who had an ill-fitting set of dentures and "no concept of holding onto 10 cents for tomorrow," was occasionally a strain. But 20 years later, Weber confesses that he kind of misses him.

"Chet was really fun when he was in a good frame of mind," he says. "He saw the world like a kid. There was this strange kind of innocence about him. . . . He really took pleasure in simple things. He had this kind of backyard mentality, 'I'm just happy sitting under the apple tree.' When the waves are spraying just so, the wind's nice, I still like to say, 'It's a Chet kind of day.' "

One of the most striking conceits of Let's Get Lost has also proved to be its most controversial: Weber staged numerous events -- such as the visit to Cannes, a reunion with photographer William Claxton (who had immortalized the young Chet), and cruises in a convertible down Santa Monica Boulevard.

Weber also convinced Baker to don some posh threads and have himself worked on by a hairstylist, makeup artist and dresser. Occasionally, he surrounded the trumpeter with attractive young women -- the sort Baker no doubt had partied with 35 years earlier -- and men (Minsker, singer Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Chris Isaak) whose unlined good looks Weber contrasted with Baker's cadaverous visage.

Later, the filmmaker brought that same blend of fantasy and reality to bear on Baker's estranged third wife, Carol, and their three children, Dean, Paul and Melissa (all of whom are now in their 40s), when he filmed them at their home in Stillwater, Okla.

"I don't think Bruce Weber's a true documentary maker," Baker's widow told me in a recent interview. Now in her mid-60s, she met Chet in 1960 when she was a 19-year-old English showgirl in Italy, married him in 1964, and never divorced. Since this past June, she has been living in Toronto, where she is considering settling for good after meeting local promoter-artist Jhames Lee and naming him executive director of something called the Chet Baker Foundation, which recently put on a three-day tribute to the artist in the city.

"Giving you haircuts and telling you what clothes to put on and driving you around in an expensive convertible isn't about making a documentary," said Baker's widow. "A documentary, to me, is about what you are."

She is writing her own story of life with her famous husband and, Lee promises, "It'll be the definitive book . . . since there's nothing definitive about Chet out there at all," including, she says, the Gavin biography, which she characterizes as "a trash job, so disgusting -- negative, negative, negative."

Weber is quietly unapologetic. "I kind of like films where they're kind of like a project on how to live your life. . . . They're not like a tunnel view of the subject where, you know, you're locked in a chronology or you just talk with the people you're supposed to talk to and it's all about the old days."

It's likely Weber's go-with-the-flow approach will be fully in evidence in another upcoming feature: a documentary about Robert Mitchum, which Weber started filming in the mid-1990s, but put on hold when the actor died in 1997, and, he says, "I got hauled off into other stuff."

Now Weber says he's going to have that doc finished for a 2007 release and -- get ready for it -- there are going to be scenes of Mitchum singing with Marianne Faithful, Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones. For Weber, it seems, the stranger the bedfellows, the better the biopic.

  Source: The Globe and Mail / Written by James Adams. Link: Through a legend, darkly Illustration: William Claxton. 'Chet Baker at the piano, Hollywood', 1954. Moderator: ART HuNTER. ✓ FAcEBook pAGE →  ✓ piNTEREsT BoARD → 

[haulix]

New openings:

Artist Marketing Manager (Red Bull - Santa Monica) 

Red Bull’s Artist Marketing department is a team of passionate, arts-driven creators and curators committed to inspiring artist development and innovation in music. The Artist Marketing Manager role in the West Business Unit contributes to the goals of the various Culture programs including Red Bull Sound Select, Red Bull Music Academy, Red Bull Studios and more. He/she is an excellent project manager first, an expert at converting creative ideas into realistic timelines with actionable tasks that deliver tangible results. Secondly, he/she is a creative manager with diverse music taste and a solid network of 1:1 music industry and artist relationships.

Music Marketing Intern (Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY) 

As a Marketing Intern for The Capitol Theatre and Garcia’s you will promote concerts, events and other aspects of the venues. Come contribute to the success of these musical landmarks!

The venues’ marketing teams develop and implement promotional strategies to increase online visibility that attracts and engages audiences. They plan, create content, and run advertising campaigns, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram promotions. We are promoters, listeners, and market researchers. We are looking for a marketing intern who wants to dive into the music scene!

This non-paid internship provides free tickets and behind-the-scenes access to shows at the participating venues, and an opportunity to gain and apply strategic marketing skills.

Associate, Portfolio Management, Artist Marketing (IPG Media - NYC) 

As our Associate, Portfolio Management, Artist Marketing, you will be responsible for leading all integrated planning and communications across an exciting portfolio of Spotify Brands. You are the driving force in building relationships at the highest level of the client and executing media strategies to drive results. You will provide leadership, strategic direction, and input for overall business solutions while ensuring client objective and expectations are exceeded. Your daily insights and creative strategies will keep UM and the full Spotify team - ahead of the game.

Manager of Digital Marketing (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) 

The Manager of Digital Marketing will develop a digital marketing strategy for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. This position will manage and implement all web content, digital marketing initiatives and email communications to support the PSO’s goals of strengthening the patron experience, increasing ticket sales, promoting the PSO brand, and sharing the PSO’s mission. The position works closely with the Marketing and Technology & Innovation departments to create an exceptional end-to-end customer experience across all digital channels.

Performance Marketing Specialist (EventBrite - San Francisco) 

The Performance Marketing Specialist will join the Marketing team and provide operational support for, and execution of, all paid customer acquisition activities. You’ll be a key member of our team, helping to manage a global advertising budget spanning multiple channels and countries. We are looking for someone highly analytical that is comfortable with data and enjoys testing new technologies and platforms.

Assistant, Urban Marketing (WMG - NYC) 

Responsible for supporting the senior marketing staff with  the development of comprehensive strategies for marketing our artists as well as coordinating all efforts (internally and with outside parties) on all projects.

Sales and Marketing Assistant (Cumulus Media - Des Moines, IA) 

Cumulus Media’s Des Moines location is offering a great opportunity to be a part of the sales side of the radio broadcasting industry as a Part Time Sales and Marketing Assistant. Our ideal candidate should possess an extremely good work ethic, be a self-starter, and highly organized with the ability to work in a fast-paced office environment. 

Divisional Creative Arts & Music Ministry Coordinator (Salvation Army - NYC) 

The primary purpose of this position is to conduct an ongoing and aggressive evangelical ministry with the specific purpose of introducing all children and youth at the Harlem Temple Corps to Jesus Christ. This includes but is not limited to: ongoing Salvation Army Outreach, Sunday school and various creative arts and music ministries. This individual will serve as an active member of the Corps Ministry team to train, encourage and develop future program leaders.

Brand Content Coordinator (BAM! - Birmingham, AL) 

As the Brand Content Coordinator you will be the voice of Books-A-Million and 2nd & Charles brand. This position will be responsible for creating, implementing, and executing the Company’s social media strategy.

On-Air Talent / Music Director (Alpha Media - West Palm Beach, FL) 

Alpha Media –West Palm Beach is looking for a talented, professional On-Air Talent/Music Director superstar for one of the top rated Urban Adult Contemporary stations in the country, X 102.3, WMBX. The ideal candidate is someone who has unique content generation skills to engage listeners on-air, online, and onsite.

Classical Music Marketing Assistant (Blown To Bits - Encino, CA) 

This position is for someone with training in marketing and and experience with the classical music community. I'm a successful classical composer-performer-lecturer and I'm looking for a self-motivated and creative marketing assistant with both business training and classical music knowledge to help me produce online product launches for my music lectures, recordings, and subscriptions to fans, as well as to help me promote and manage my upcoming concerts, commissions, and music catalogue. Responsibilities include website and social media growth and maintenance, inquiries and communications with performers and ensembles, concert publicity and management, and administrative work with score/part copying, binding, and mailing, music submissions, music registrations, etc.

Assistant, Music Licensing (CBS Careers - Los Angeles, CA) 

Heavy scanning and uploading of all licenses handled by the licensing group into the music database. Liaison between other departments in filing of the licenses and retrieving licenses or back up documentation for review.

Promotions Director (Westwood One - Denver, CO) 

Westwood One 24/7 Formats is looking for a Music/Promotions Director – Country.  Candidates must have a unique skill set that combines the love of the music and fulfilling the expectations of our affiliates and their listeners.

Older posts (7+ Days)

Marketing Coordinator (Sony - NYC)

The Marketing Coordinator provides administrative and office support activities for supervisor as well as general support for the marketing department, including financial tasks and vendor relations. Work alongside the Vice President of Marketing in brand partnerships and brand relations.

Activation and Communications Specialist, Culture (Red Bull -NYC)

The Activation & Communications Specialist, Culture will help drive connection and affinity for Red Bull through digital innovation, timely story-driven content and by staying current with the changing consumer landscape. This role will handle digital marketing, public relations, and creating and marketing content across Red Bull’s culture projects such as Red Bull Music Academy Festival New York, Red Bull Arts, Red Bull Radio, 30 Days in Chicago, Red Bull Sound Select platform, Influencers, and more. This is an ideal role for someone with passion for music, art, dance and/or nightlife scenes, as well as an ever-changing media landscape. The Activation & Communications Specialist, Culture, must be able to implement and work across a 360-degree, integrated planning model; help facilitate editorial campaigns across Earned, Shared and Owned channels; and amplify Paid initiatives for greater consumer engagement, with the objective of driving impact, engagement and conversation.

Day to Day Manager (Music Management company - Santa Monica, CA)

Day-to-day manager working as the sole point for a major label pop artist. The position requires astute attention to detail, a high level of organization, a big picture understanding of the ever-changing landscape of the music and entertainment industries, and a creative approach to problem solving.

Applicants should have at least 3+ years prior experience as a Day to Day Manager.

Administrative Assistant, Programming (The Kennedy Center - Washington DC)

This Administrative Assistant works with the Programming team, and the Office of Special Programming, Jazz, Hip Hop and Contemporary Music, Fortas and Classical New Music, and Comedy, to support the production of original programming and the presentation of touring artists.

Music Marketing Manager (TuneIn - San Francisco, CA)

The Music Marketing Manager handles the execution of TuneIn’s marketing campaigns in the music vertical, including content marketing initiatives, branded sponsored content and festival activation campaigns. The goal of the Music Marketing Manager is to secure marketing opportunities to drive new TuneIn users, work cross functionally to ensure campaigns are run in a smooth and measurable way, build performance reports that track campaign value delivered to TuneIn and our partners, promote the TuneIn brand within the music industry and maintain a positive working relationship between TuneIn and its music industry partners.

Artist Marketing Manager (Red Bull - NYC)

Red Bull’s Artist Marketing department is a team of passionate, arts-driven creators and curators committed to inspiring artist development and innovation in music. The Artist Marketing Manager role in the East Business Unit contributes to the goals of the various Culture programs including Red Bull Sound Select, Red Bull Music Academy, Red Bull Studios and more. He/she is a creative thought-leader with a deep knowledge of music; exposure to, and interest in, diverse genres and various groups within music; and, understands the importance of balancing “story”-based marketing initiatives with “reach”-based tactics.

EDM Booking Agent (Synthinel - Los Angeles)

I am a musician, producer and DJ, and I am looking for a booking agent for my electronic TRANCE live performances as SYNTHINEL. I am based in southern California, and look to have performances all the way from Los Angeles to San Diego, just to start, but nationwide later on. Compensation will be 20% from artist gig earnings. Must be a self-starter, excellent social media skills, very good at networking, committed and dedicated to building their own and artist’s career in the music industry. Previous work in the music business doing marketing, PR or booking is a plus. I’d appreciate it if you include a couple of references with contact information. Please, if interested, send resumé, and a link to your Instagram or Facebook ASAP.

Coordinator Music and Media Licensing (Viacom - NYC)

Negotiate favorable rates and secure rights to third party materials (music & other media) as needed for use across multiple Viacom Global Entertainment Group programming/projects.  Work closely and communicate regularly with production, production management and within the business and legal affairs department.  Finalize, record, and track rights information and all aspects related to licensing, including but not limited to drafting licenses and payment processing. Function as project leader on special.

Marketing Manager, Acquisition (iHeartMedia - NYC)

The Marketing Manager, Acquisition is responsible driving digital campaigns across all key media channels, including search/SEM, mobile, retargeting and paid social. These are campaigns that grow installs, registration, unique active listeners, total listening hours, and conversions. The position requires a person with an entrepreneurial mindset, a test and learn orientation, creativity and deep quantitative skillset.

Marketing Manager (Opry City Stage - NYC)

We are hiring a Marketing Manager to work with our exciting new venue opening in Times Square this fall. The Opry City Stage will be the first time the Opry name is presented outside of Nashville, Tennessee in partnership with Opry Entertainment. It is a 4 floor, 28,000 sq foot venue with 2 music venues in one building and multiple concerts happening at once. You will be accountable for all aspects of marketing hundreds of shows a year, working with top tier talent as well as local working musicians. This position is available to start in September.

The Marketing Manager reports directly to the venue Director of Programming. This person will be responsible for creating and executing marketing plans for hundreds of shows a year, including: in-house marketing, grassroots marketing, advertising, publicity, social media and media buying.

Music Manager/ Artist and Repertoire (Doyenne Management - Atlanta, GA)

We are seeking a creative person with good business skills and a solid understanding of the music marketplace. It is not enough to like the music, the music manager needs an excellent knowledge of the contemporary music scene and to understand what sells.

The main job is picking acts that will be successful and then working with the artist to produce a record. The process is very much a nurturing one to ensure the band or solo artist impacts at the right time with the right material.

Specifically, this person will help oversee the recording process, including helping the artist find the right record producer, scheduling time in a recording studio and advising the artist on all aspects of making a high-quality recording. This person will work with the artist to choose the best songs for the record.

Lastly, the individual will need to consult with marketing, promotion, the artist and their management to choose one or more singles to help promote the record.

Coordinator, Hispanic Music Programming (SiriusXM - Washington DC)

Works with members of the Music Programming team to create superior radio programs as needed. Supports creative processes, content development and production. Exercises both creative abilities and technical skills. Edits materials and operates an audio board. May be assigned to more than one program and perform slightly different functions across channels.

Marketing Manager (New York Youth Symphony - NYC)

The New York Youth Symphony (NYYS) is seeking a Marketing Manager to join its full-time staff of five. Reporting to the Executive Director, the successful candidate will be a creative thinker with excellent communication and design skills, a self-initiating, professional temperament, and 3-5 years of experience in marketing and/or public relations. This position is responsible for creation and implementation of the marketing plan, including design of marketing pieces, social media accounts, ticketing, public relations, website, and the mobile app.

Coordinator, Music Programming (SiriusXM - Nashville)

The entry level Music Programming Coordinator position provides radio programming support for music channels. Responsible for ensuring all music elements and programs are prepared, edited, loaded and ready to air.

Music Director/WKLB/Country 102.5 (Beasley Media Group - Boston)

Boston’s Country 102.5, WKLB, is looking for a Music Director who can implement the day-to-day music and imaging sound of the station. This is not an entry-level position.

Is a super passionate Country music fan and lives and breathes the format

Has 3-5 years of music scheduling experience (Using RCS Selector and/or G Selector)

Can juggle multiple duties, projects and deadlines

Can help create and execute exciting music experiences for listeners

Has fun working in a team environment

Can follow and execute a strategic plan

Has strong relationships within the Country music industry

Has production experience with Audiovault, Sound Forge, and/or Adobe Audition

Can fill in ON AIR when needed