<![CDATA[Jazzcorner.com's Speakeasy - JAZZ NEWS]]> http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/ Put notices of special jazz events, jazz news, press releases, etc. in here. en Tue, 21 May 2013 14:48:39 GMT vBulletin 10 http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/images/misc/rss.png <![CDATA[Jazzcorner.com's Speakeasy - JAZZ NEWS]]> http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/ Art Prize accepting music until June 6. $10,000 in prize money http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31884-Art-Prize-accepting-music-until-June-6-10-000-in-prize-money&goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 17:17:53 GMT Deadline for musicians to enter Art Prize, June 6th: MUSIC RETURNS TO ARTPRIZE AND $10,000 OF MUSIC PRIZES WILL BE GIVEN BY ST. CECILIA MUSIC CENTER IN FIVE GENRE CATEGORIES DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS June 6, 2013 St. Cecilia Music Center continues as ArtPrize Music Hub in 2013 with... Deadline for musicians to enter Art Prize, June 6th:

MUSIC RETURNS TO ARTPRIZE AND $10,000 OF MUSIC PRIZES
WILL BE GIVEN BY ST. CECILIA MUSIC CENTER
IN FIVE GENRE CATEGORIES

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS June 6, 2013

St. Cecilia Music Center continues as ArtPrize Music Hub
in 2013 with five special music prizes to be presented

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (May 2013) – St. Cecilia Music Center will continue its role as the music hub during ArtPrize 2013 and will once again award $10,000 in prize money specifically to musical entries.

St. Cecilia Music Center will be presenting five $2,000 awards in the categories of pop/electronic, rock/blues, folk/country, jazz and classical. The winners will be chosen by the popular vote on the ArtPrize website.

New this year will be the addition of official ArtPrize “busking stations” in five different locations throughout Grand Rapids during the first two weeks of the event. SCMC will schedule entered musicians for these various performance areas where they may perform live for the public at large. Musicians may display their voting number and perform multiple times if desired, based on time availability. Non-ArtPrize performances will not be permitted at these sites. There will also be performance opportunities at St. Cecilia Music Center and on Wood TV 8.

Listening stations will be available during the entire three weeks of ArtPrize (September 18-October 6) featuring musical entries and music will be featured on the ArtPrize website.

The grand prize given by ArtPrize is $200,000 and all music will be eligible for the performance/time-based juried award of $20,000.

FACT SHEET for entering a musical/performance piece:

• The song or piece must be an original piece of music written within the last three years.

• You must register on the ArtPrize website and create an artist profile by June 6. Enter at www.artprize.org. VERY IMPORTANT: List your form as “Performance” and your medium as “Music.”

• There must be a recording of the piece embedded on the ArtPrize website by the time ArtPrize begins. A recording of the piece must be provided to SCMC by September 1. You will need to use a media player from another website such as YouTube.com or Vimeo.com for video and SoundCloud.com for audio. You can create a free account on one of those type of sites and then paste the embed code in the space provided on the Work Entry form. Questions regarding embedding can be answered at artists@artprize.org.

• Once you create your profile musicians should “connect” to St. Cecilia Music Center so requests can be seen.

• You must pay the registration fee as needed. $50 for solo artist and $25 per additional collaborators.

• One musician may not have multiple chances to win through various projects so an artist may only enter once, either as a solo artist or part of a band or group.

• All groups will have the opportunity to perform live during the first two weeks at various official busking stations throughout the Grand Rapids area.


St. Cecilia Music Center will also have visual art in our Terryberry Gallery.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Cathy Holbrook
Executive Director
(616) 459-2224
cathy@scmc-online.org ]]> JAZZ NEWS Lazaro Vega http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31884-Art-Prize-accepting-music-until-June-6-10-000-in-prize-money JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ANNOUNCES WINNING HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BANDS http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31882-JAZZ-AT-LINCOLN-CENTER-ANNOUNCES-WINNING-HIGH-SCHOOL-JAZZ-BANDS&goto=newpost Mon, 13 May 2013 02:45:53 GMT Tonight, Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly announced the high school jazz bands in the nation who took the highest honors at the prestigious 18th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival (EE) at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

After a packed three days of mentoring, jam sessions, and workshops, EE culminated with tonight’s final concert, where the top-placing bands each performed with a Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) member. The second half of the final concert featured the world renowned JLCO with Wynton Marsalis – whose members served as mentors for the finalist bands throughout the weekend - performing a repertoire of tunes made famous by Duke Ellington.

Each band was chosen by a panel of judges composed of distinguished jazz musicians and historians: Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Artistic and Managing Director Wynton Marsalis; composer, conductor, and Ellington authority David Berger; composer and arranger Rich DeRosa; educator and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member Victor Goines; and bassist extraordinaire and educator Ron Carter.

At the awards ceremony, Wynton Marsalis presented awards to each of the 15 finalist high school jazz bands. Doug Tidaback, director of Tucson Jazz Institute, accepted the 1st place trophy and an award of $5,000. Julius Tolentino, director of Jazz House Kids, accepted the 2nd place trophy and an award of $2,500. Scott Brown, director of Roosevelt High School, accepted the 3rd place trophy and an award of $1,000. Dillard Center for the Arts, directed by Christopher Dorsey, received honorable mention and an award of $750. The remaining eleven bands were each awarded certificates of merit and cash awards of $500. All monetary awards are to be used for improving the jazz education programs of each respective high school.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 18th Annual
Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival Awards

First Place
Tucson Jazz Institute, Tucson, AZ

Second Place
Jazz House Kids, Montclair, NJ

Third Place
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA

Honorable Mention
Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL

SECTION AWARDS
Outstanding Sections
Rhythm
Jazz House Kids

Reeds
Outstanding Saxophone Section
Beloit Memorial High School
Garfield High School
Community Arts Program
Rio Americano High School
Roosevelt High School
Dillard Center for the Arts
Lexington High School
Honorable Mention
New World School of the Arts

Clarinet
Edmonds-Woodway High School

Brass
Outstanding Trombone Section
Roosevelt High School
Tucson Jazz Institute

Trumpet
Garfield High School
Badger High School
Roosevelt High School
Tucson Jazz Institute

Brass
Rio Americano High School

SOLOIST AWARDS
Piano
Outstanding Soloist
Kyra Silbernagel, Sun Prairie High School
Jack Swiggett, Garfield High School
Isaiah Thompson, Jazz House Kids
Franchesca Romera, New World School of the Arts
Evan Tarrh, Lexington High School
Alex Olsen, Foxboro High School
Joey Cozza, Rio Americano
Daniel Arthur, Roosevelt High School

Bass
Outstanding Soloist
Sam Olson, Sun Prairie High School
Alex Warshawsky, Jazz House Kids

Guitar
Outstanding Soloist
David Zyto, Jazz House Kids
Josh Bermudez, New World School of the Arts
Henry Lunetta, Rio Americano High School
Honorable Mention
Kevin Scollins, Foxboro High School

Drums
Outstanding Soloist
Aaron Crawford, Beloit Memorial High School
Luke Woodle, Roosevelt High School
Honorable Mention
Nick Adair, Foxboro High School
Paul Slater, Rio Americano High School

Clarinet
Outstanding Soloist
Kyle Brooks, Edmonds-Woodway High School
Dexter Callender III, Community Arts Program
Honorable Mention
Laura Kidder, Badger High School
Crissy Cavallaro, Foxboro High School

Alto Saxophone
Outstanding Soloist
Tim Leslie, Beloit Memorial High School
Aaron Reihs, American Music Program
Nathan Altman, Sun Prairie High School
Zoe Obadia, Jazz House Kids
Julian Lee, Jazz House Kids
Sarah Clausen, Badger High School
Emery Mesich, Rio Americano High School
Anna Dolde, Roosevelt High School
Alan Acosta, Tuscon Jazz Institute
Honorable Mention
Ariel Loud, Garfield High School
Markus Howell, Dillard Center for the Arts
Kira Daglio-Fine, Lexington High School

Tenor Saxophone
Outstanding Soloist
Rony Gimenez, Beloit Memorial High School
Jack Ferguson, Jazz House Kids
Nathan Rice, Jazz House Kids
Lucas Bere, Rio Americano High School

Doubler
Outstanding Doubler
Isak Washburn-Gaines, Garfield High School, on Clarinet and Tenor
Honorable Mention
Angie Jepsen, Foxboro High School, on Flute and Alto

Tripler
Outstanding Tripler
Robbie Lee, Tucson Jazz Institute, on Piano, Vocal, and Saxophone

Trombone
Outstanding Soloist
Charlie Sommers, Badger High School
David Ayala, Badger High School
Taylor Young, Dillard Center for the Arts
Sam Chess, Tucson Jazz Institute
Honorable Mention
Connor Hargus, Garfield High School
John Colan Bukowski, Community Arts Program

Trumpet
Outstanding Soloist
Noah Conrad, American Music Program
Wallace Roney, Jazz House Kids
Anthony Hervey, Dillard Center for the Arts
Fernando Ferrarone, Community Arts Program
Andrew Stephens, Rio Americano High School
John Otten, Roosevelt High School
Noah Halpern, Roosevelt High School
Jeffrey Gustaveson, Roosevelt High School
Alex Melnychuk, Tucson Jazz Institute
Honorable Mention
Carter Hall, New World School of the Arts

Vocal
Honorable Mention
Isabella Yanke, Badger High School

The Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award
Coleman Hughes, Jazz House Kids

In the spirit of creativity and continuing the jazz legacy, Jazz at Lincoln Center also recognized Devon Gillingham, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the winner of the first Essentially Ellington Gerhard W. Vosshall Student Composition/Arranging Contest. Each submission was critiqued by composer, arranger, and Ellington authority David Berger, and the winning selection was recorded by the JLCO at their annual Essentially Ellington recording session on May 9, 2013. In addition, the winning composer received a cash prize, a composition lesson with David Berger, and a trip to New York City to observe the JLCO recording session and the 2013 Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival. The Contest was made possible through a generous gift from the Vosshall family in honor of their father Gerhard W. Vosshall.

The three-day festival began on Friday, May 10, with the finalist bands’ arrival at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s home, Frederick P. Rose Hall. The students made their way to Rose Theater for a “One on One with Wynton Marsalis” through a congratulatory “cheer tunnel” of staff members, musicians, and press. Friday events included section workshops, rehearsals, a banquet dinner, and jam sessions with members of the JLCO. Saturday, May 11, kicked off with a JLCO open rehearsal, followed by Competition Part I. Competition Part II and Competition Part III took place on Sunday morning, May 12. On Sunday night, at the Concert and Awards Ceremony in Rose Theater, the three top-placing bands performed two tunes, with their choice of a JLCO member as guest soloist. The JLCO then performed the 2013-14 Essentially Ellington repertoire: the music of Duke Ellington and Gerald Wilson. The concert culminated with the awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists and sections, and the top-placing bands.

In celebration of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 25th anniversary, the 18th annual Essentially Ellington repertoire honored the music made famous by Duke Ellington. The 2012-13 Essentially Ellington repertoire included Billy Strayhorn’s “Blood Count,” Clarence and Spencer Williams’ “Royal Garden Blues,” and Duke Ellington’s “Bonga,” “Echoes of Harlem,” “Lightnin’,” and “Second Line.”

The 2013 Essentially Ellington Finalists: American Music Program, Portland, OR; Badger High School, Lake Geneva, WI; Beloit Memorial High School, Beloit, WI; Community Arts Program, Coral Gables, FL; Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL; Edmonds-Woodway High School, Edmonds, WA; Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA; Garfield High School, Seattle, WA; Jazz House Kids, Montclair, NJ; Lexington High School, Lexington, MA; New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL; Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, CA; Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA; Sun Prairie High School, Sun Prairie, WI; Tucson Jazz Institute, Tucson, AZ.

As part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s goal to make the organization’s productions as globally accessible as possible, the entire Essentially Ellington 2013 Competition and Festival was live webcast at jalc.org/ee.

An Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival photo gallery and recordings of the competition performances will be available on jalc.org/essentiallyellington.

Background/Statistics:
The Competition & Festival is the culmination of the year round Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program (EE), which also includes regional festivals, teaching resources, a summer Band Director Academy, newsletters, and more.

This year, for the first time, band directors received access to charts and other JALC resources available through instant digital download.
By the end of this year, JALC will have distributed 15,000 newly transcribed scores.
JALC has sent over 135,000 free copies of 104 previously unavailable big band scores by Duke Ellington and other seminal composers.
Throughout March and April, JALC sends, free of charge, a professional jazz musician to each of the 15 finalist band schools to lead an intensive day-long workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes. The free clinics are part of the rich 18-year history of this unique music education program, which, by the end of this school year, will have reached more than 450,000 students in more than 4,000 high schools across all 50 United States, Canada, and American schools abroad.
252 finalist bands have traveled to New York City to participate in the annual Competition & Festival.
This year 2,000 high schools in the United States, Canada, and American schools in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom will receive Essentially Ellington materials.
This year, 96 bands entered the competition by submitting a recorded performance of three tunes performed from JALC's Essentially Ellington library.
For more information including background, history, photos, and audio recordings of the Essentially Ellington 2013 repertoire, and more, visit: www.jalc.org/ee ]]> JAZZ NEWS Lois Gilbert http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31882-JAZZ-AT-LINCOLN-CENTER-ANNOUNCES-WINNING-HIGH-SCHOOL-JAZZ-BANDS Jazz stars and family celebrate legend Dave Brubeck’s life and music at special tribu http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31881-Jazz-stars-and-family-celebrate-legend-Dave-Brubeck’s-life-and-music-at-special-tribu&goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 23:02:40 GMT A celebration of Dave Brubeck’s life and music turned into an ode to joy as family, friends and fans paid tribute to the groundbreaking pianist and composer who became the best known ambassador of jazz to the world. Brubeck died Dec. 5, a day before his 92nd birthday, and a private funeral was... A celebration of Dave Brubeck’s life and music turned into an ode to joy as family, friends and fans paid tribute to the groundbreaking pianist and composer who became the best known ambassador of jazz to the world.

Brubeck died Dec. 5, a day before his 92nd birthday, and a private funeral was held near his home in Wilton, Conn., shortly afterward. On Saturday afternoon, the only Brubeck family sponsored tribute took place before more than 2,000 people at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine featuring performances by Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gambarini, Hilary Kole and other jazz stars.


Former President Bill Clinton, in a statement read by Brubeck’s longtime manager Russell Gloyd, recalled being “utterly captivated” at age 15 after hearing Brubeck’s quartet in concert and then going home to play “Take Five” until his lips gave out. “I consider myself lucky to have known Dave and to have experienced his music in such a profound way,” Clinton said.

Iola Brubeck, the pianist’s wife of 70 years and lyricist, opened the tribute by acknowledging the hundreds of letters she had received from people throughout the word in the five months since her husband’s death.

“I noticed that one word ‘joy’ kept coming into those letters over and over,” she said. “They expressed the deep joy his music had brought to their lives. I hope that this afternoon we can capture some of that joy.”

Daughter Catherine Brubeck Yaghsizian shared warm memories of how her tired father would return home from a tour and relax by holding a jam session with his growing sons. She’d take part as a toddler by wriggling into a blue tutu her mother had given her and “twirling around trying to dance to the crazy time signatures.”

Her dancing inspired her father to write “Kathy’s Waltz,” which ended up on his double-platinum 1959 album, “Time Out,” which experimented with using odd time signatures in jazz. She then introduced her four musician brothers — Darius (piano), Chris (electric bass), Dan (drums) and Michael (cello), who performed “Kathy’s Waltz” and would appear in different configurations throughout the program.

Darius Brubeck recalled his father’s 1958 State Department tour that he said “inspired a lasting interest in music from other cultures.” Alto saxophonist Paul Winter and flutist Deepak Ram then performed Brubeck’s “Koto Song” based on a Japanese scale, and later trumpeter Randy Brecker and saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera were the soloists on “The Golden Horn,” which used a modal-like theme characteristic of Turkish music.

The most emotional moment came when bassist Eugene Wright, who turns 90 this month and is the last surviving member of the classic Brubeck quartet with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and drummer Joe Morello — took the stage. Host Mark Ruffin of Sirius XM recalled the dignity displayed by the African-American bassist as the Brubeck quartet challenged racial segregation in the 1950s.

Wright performed a duet with Darius Brubeck on “King For A Day,” a song written by Dave and Iola Brubeck for Louis Armstrong for their 1962 musical “The Real Ambassadors,” which dealt with allegations of hypocrisy for the State Department using jazz musicians as symbols of democracy while the civil rights struggle was raging at home. Brubeck and Wright performed that same tune during a performance at the 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Moscow, which U.S. diplomats credited with helping break the ice at a tense moment in arms control negotiations.

The audience was also treated to a sneak preview of a recently discovered tape of Tony Bennett and Brubeck performing the standard “There Will Never Be Another You” at a 1962 White House-sponsored concert that will be released on CD this month. Bennett told the audience that on those few occasions he performed with Brubeck, “it was always spontaneous, always unexpected and never to be forgotten.”

Other musical highlights included husband-and-wife pianists Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes doing a four-handed version of “The Duke,” Brubeck’s tribute to mentors Duke Ellington and French composer Darius Milhaud; saxophonist Marsalis tenderly performing the romantic ballad “For Iola”; and pianist Corea doing a solo version of “Strange Meadowlark,” a lesser-known tune from the “Time Out” album that Corea recorded with Gary Burton on their Grammy-winning “Hot House” CD.

Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein, whose ties with Brubeck go back to 1952 when he introduced the unknown West Coast band at his Boston jazz club, closed the tribute by noting that Brubeck “had respect for everyone” and thanked Iola Brubeck for giving her husband “the support, love and strength that every great man needs.”

Starting in 1955, Brubeck ended up playing the Newport festival more than any other musician, and the celebration ended with trumpeter Jon Faddis and Chris Brubeck on trombone blowing up a storm on “Blues For Newport,” a tune Brubeck composed backstage at the festival.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...f7c_story.html ]]> JAZZ NEWS Lois Gilbert http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31881-Jazz-stars-and-family-celebrate-legend-Dave-Brubeck’s-life-and-music-at-special-tribu NEW TONY ADAMO CD PRODUCED BY Legendary Drummer MIKE CLARK/Miles of Blu http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31879-NEW-TONY-ADAMO-CD-PRODUCED-BY-Legendary-Drummer-MIKE-CLARK-Miles-of-Blu&goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 16:47:52 GMT 5/8/2013 – NEW TONY ADAMO CD PRODUCED BY MIKE CLARK

“Chock full of funky grooves, TONY ADAMO’s new release MILES OF BLU features Tony taking his trademark style, “Vocal-HipSpokenWord”, to a new level of hipness.”

Produced by legendary drummer MIKE CLARK (Headhunters) and featuring world-class musicians, this CD lays the grooves deep and wide. Check it out today!!! Random Act Record Artist Tony Adamo’s CD, MILES OF BLU has a street date of May 21, 2013. Due to the high demand for his new CD, MILES OF BLU is being sold early on Doc Kupka’s Strokeland Records site. Doc is one of the founding members of Tower of Power. All major outlets for CD sales will be carrying MILES OF BLUE after May 21st. Steve Finch/Strokeland Records
http://strokeland.com/StrokelandJazz...MilesOfBlu.htm
http://www.randomactrecords.com/

TonyAdamoMilesofBlu150Feat.jpg
Attached Images
]]> JAZZ NEWS jazzalot http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31879-NEW-TONY-ADAMO-CD-PRODUCED-BY-Legendary-Drummer-MIKE-CLARK-Miles-of-Blu <![CDATA[Brand new, 2013 Giuseppi Logan album "And They Were Cool" out now!!!]]> http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31876-Brand-new-2013-Giuseppi-Logan-album-quot-And-They-Were-Cool-quot-out-now!!!&goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 09:05:47 GMT Through the grace of God and the forward thinking Improvising Beings label in France we were able to make a new, and frankly IMO, brilliant album with GL last June called "And They Were Cool" with GL, Jessica Lurie (sax, flute), Larry Roland (bass) and myself (guitar, effects). Bernard Stollman himself has proclaimed "It's the best he's played since the 60's!!" and he's right. GL was ON and inspired. We have very limited copies here in the States but you can get them at my web store until they run out:www.edpettersen.com Just click on the store tab and it should be very straightforward. We sold a few so far so as they say on TV "don't wait long" .

Thanks for your indulgence. We're very proud of the record (with art by the wonderful Michael Reilly again) and we hope you dig it too.

:)

Ed ]]> JAZZ NEWS shikawkee http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31876-Brand-new-2013-Giuseppi-Logan-album-quot-And-They-Were-Cool-quot-out-now!!! FREE album mp3 download! Nawlins/London recorded http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31875-FREE-album-mp3-download!-Nawlins-London-recorded&goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 20:06:31 GMT Superbad, soulfood, jazzy funk high octane tank beats! The debut album produced by moi – ya heard! Not straight up jazz, but got Geoff Gasgoyne and Ed Jones on a track - more New Orleans infused street sound. ‘reole – ya heard me www.reolemusic.com tweet the love @reolemusic Superbad, soulfood, jazzy funk high octane tank beats!

The debut album produced by moi – ya heard!

Not straight up jazz, but got Geoff Gasgoyne and Ed Jones on a track - more New Orleans infused street sound.

‘reole – ya heard me

www.reolemusic.com
tweet the love @reolemusic

Let me know what ya think!? ]]> JAZZ NEWS reole http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31875-FREE-album-mp3-download!-Nawlins-London-recorded Presente mi disco favorito! http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31846-Presente-mi-disco-favorito!&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:03:54 GMT Escuchenlo aqui :D https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/presente/id598796498 Escuchenlo aqui :D https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/presente/id598796498 ]]> JAZZ NEWS dgboy http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31846-Presente-mi-disco-favorito! Wayne Shorter Documentary in Production - Please Support http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31840-Wayne-Shorter-Documentary-in-Production-Please-Support&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:30:34 GMT A new Wayne Shorter documentary called Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is in production and your help is needed to rally support for this film.

The film will feature behind the scenes looks at Wayne's life, time in Weather Report and the Miles Davis Quartet, composition process, and music, as well as interviews from friends and contemporaries including Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Carlos Santana, and Esperanza Spaulding.

Why is this film important?
"This film is for everyone who knows, loves and plays music. Our message moves beyond Wayne Shorter and what we know as Jazz. When we sought funding for the documentary from conventional sources, we were told over and over again that there wasn’t an audience for Jazz that people don’t buy albums or care to watch documentaries on Jazz musicians. Of course this just gave us more fuel to do this on our own because we know there is an audience and Jazz isn’t just a boxed in genre associated with 5 decades of music from the 20th century. And this isn’t just a biopic about a legendary Jazz musician. The reason Wayne Shorter’s life and music is important is that he opens your perception to the infinite possibilities of creating music and is interested in redefining any genre or term associated with jazz. He is jazz history beaming into the future. This is very important for emerging and future generations of musicians to have someone like WayneShorter to lead by example. Theobstacles he has faced throughout his career, how he broke free from them and what he has achieved as a by product is not only inspiring but worthy of documenting as music history. " Dorsay Alavi, director of Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity

The project however can not be finished without the support of Wayne's fans. A Pledge Music campaign is now live to raise funding for the independent documentary. For pledging you receive rewards such as autographed music and cds from Wayne, Wayne's artwork, a voice mail message recorded by Wayne and Esperanza, tickets to Wayne's star studded 80th birthday party and even the opportunity to have dinner with Wayne and Herbie. Please watch the teaser video and pledge at: http://www.pledgemusic.com/wayneshorter ]]> JAZZ NEWS jemorme http://speakeasy.jazzcorner.com/speakeasy/showthread.php?31840-Wayne-Shorter-Documentary-in-Production-Please-Support