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- Articles minus a journalist

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- A blog

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CONTRIBUTORS:

Joe Acheson

Gerald Alston 

Arielle

Yuval Avital

Kevin Barnes

Sam Barsh 2

Simon Bartholomew 2

Kent Beatty 2 3 4

Bryan Beller

T.K. Blue 2 3

Monica Borrfors

Jean-Paul Bourelly 2 3

Kris Bowers

Randy Brecker 

Vera Brown

Blair Bryant

Will Calhoun 2

Ben Caplan 

Jean Chardavoine

Mino Cinelu

George Clinton 

Steve Coleman

Lige Curry 2

Joey DeFrancesco

Hamid Drake 

Ronny Drayton

Kat Dyson

Ian Ethan Case 2 

Nick Finzer

Joel Forrester

Marcus Foster

Melvin Gibbs

Noel Gourdin 2 

Tony Green

Bob Hemenger

Cory Henry 2 3

Terence Higgins 2

Tom Hodge

Luke Holmes

Mark Holub 

Brian Jackson

Vasti Jackson

Jennifer Johns 2 

Larry Johnson

Zam Johnson

Phillip Johnston

Paul Joseph

Miriam Kaul 2 3

Dave Kelly

Mfa Kera 2

Jan Kincaid

Franz Kirmann

Motoshi Kosako 2

Steven Kroon

Emma Larsson 2

Philip Lassiter

JT Lewis

Didier Lockwood

Sarah Longfield

Chris LoPorto

Baaba Maal

Marilyn Mazur

Makaya McCraven

Johnny McKelvey 

Kenneth Meredith 2

Leo Mintek 2

Imad Mohabek

Moto Boy

David Murray 2

Oz Noy

Omar

Brian Owens

Markus Pajakkala

Carol Pemberton

Amy Petty 

Laranah Phipps-Ray

Tito Puente Jr

Alvin Queen 

Michael Ray 2

L.J. Reynolds

Brandon Ross

Stevie Salas

Knoel Scott 2

Kelvin Sholar

Magnus Skavhaug Neergard

Bria Skonberg 2

Lonnie Liston Smith 

Rhonda Smith

Miles Solay

Andrew Steen

Mike Stern 

T.M. Stevens 2

Laura Stevenson

Niko Stoessl

Zhenya Strigalev 2

Adam Tensta

Jonas Waaben

Georg "Jojje" Wadenius

Liv Warfield

Randy Weston

Ron Westray 2 

Ragan Whiteside

Evert Wilbrink

Nicole Willis 

Eric Wyatt

...More Contributors

 





Sorry about keeping you waiting!

Image:LucasFZ70/pixabay


So, a lot has happened. A lot has changed. There was the case of a pandemic. And so much of the music that we truly care about is gone. Also, there was personal loss. And simply stuff going on.

To all of you who have kept coming here: We see you and we thank you.

Let's continue!




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Great Reads



This platform is full of great reads, and we are happy to see large numbers of visitors for most of our articles. You will not be disappointed if you look around yourself. Here are a mere few great reads:


GERALD ALSTON


JOEY DEFRANCESCO


LONNIE LISTON SMITH


PHILIP LASSITER

We are so happy about the Mega Music Quiz!

It's been a few days since we launched the Mega Music Quiz. Since, over 2000 people have played it, and we have been getting some great reviews. We are delighted to hear that our selection of questions, our choice of music, and even our artwork is so appreciated!


Click here to play the Quiz!

Remembering Illinois Jacquet


Illinois Jacquet is one of the artists who got a hit early on in his career, which he then had to play at every gig, or the crowd might have been disappointed. His hit was "Flying Home", which he recorded at 19 years of age.





Jacquet originally played his famous solo on the Hampton Orchestra's recording. During his career he was in Cab Calloway's Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra, and also had a smaller band with Charles Mingus and his own brother, Russell.


Illinois Jacquet flew home in 2004.




Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004)


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Remembering Isaac Hayes



A might that was to be taken seriously, that was Tennessee native Isaac Hayes, raised by his grandparents in a sharecropper family. One of the creative forces behind Stax Records, the co-writer of timeless classics such as "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Coming" with David Porter, the composer of "Theme for Shaft" - for which he won an Oscar, a talented and unique performer and recording artist, and a successful actor on top of all the rest - Isaac Hayes achieved more in his professional life - in several artistic fields - than most could ever envision for themselves. We remember Hayes on his birthday, and wish that we could take a drive on the Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway in honor of the day.




I never can say goodbye, Isaac Hayes




An interview on Conan



ISAAC HAYES, August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008

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Michael S Doyle: - If you are working on what you know you are not practicing


Michael S Doyle


Music is life. It is to be able to take a material and make something artistic out of it. It is knowing how to reach people’s emotions through sound. It is the ability to present something on stage and reach people.




Evidence Jazz Group live in 2014


Growing up in New York I was exposed to music. My parents had a record collection of over 3000 LP recordings. So, I heard a lot of Jazz, Classical, and also Caribbean music – representing my Caribbean background on my father’s side of the family. My mother, who was also an avid Jazz fan, came from the rural south, but through her I mainly heard R&B, Gospel and the Blues.

I grew up in the Disco era. During that time many of the Jazz greats were still with us, so I had frequent opportunities to see and meet Dizzy Gillespie and Dexter Gordon, et cetera.

I knew that music was what I wanted to do in life as early as the 2nd grade. Originally it was a Miles Davis-album that inspired it. I wanted to play trumpet because I heard Miles Davis, and especially his Sketches of Spain recording. Then I heard Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane on other recordings with Miles Davis. That is what made me want to play saxophone. But at the time, being a 2nd grader, I was too small to play, so I had to wait until 4th grade to start on saxophone.



What I liked about Jazz music was that is was not the same, repetitive thing. Every time I heard this music there was always something different and something unexpected.

I was in the All-City High School Jazz Band under the direction of Justin DiCioccio. I am fortunate to have worked with many greats such as Milt Hinton, Frank Foster, et cetera.


I wound up in Michigan through my military service.

Right now I am working with a band called Stone Soul Rhythm Band. We play R&B and popular music.

I have been working with the Evidence Jazz Group for 25 years, and we have three recordings out. One great thing about that is that there has been individual name mention of all the musicians in both Downbeat and Jazztimes Magazines.


You have to be dedicated. You have to be willing to really study, and I mean to study all kinds of music. You can’t have a one track mind. When I studied with Donald Byrd he really had a good talk with me about the importance of versatility.

It is important that you practice and learn your craft well. You have to work on things that you don’t know. If you work on things that you know you are not really practicing.


At this time we really have to be ready to play. With the re-openings people and venues are not going to wait. They want live music now. People don’t realize that it takes us a lot of work to put things together.

One of the things, that I believe is more present now, is a deeper appreciation for life within people.



MICHAEL S DOYLE is a saxophonist and a native New Yorker, who is based in Michigan. With a university degree in music, a background in the Army, and an impressive CV to his name, Doyle has performed with the Evidence Jazz Group for 25 years, while also working with other musical projects.

Find out more HERE

Michael Ray talks about Ronald Khalis Bell

Michael Ray has been busy writing a thesis during the pandemic. Now he talks about his longtime friend and colleague Ronald Khalis Bell.


Pursuit of Happiness is the last song that Khalis wrote. He is one of the principal writers. There are a couple of versions of it.  He’s got a rap version of it and some other stuff. It’s good you know. He wrote it for America because a lot of people kind of didn’t get it. My favorite line is “I want to live in a world full of peace. If you do then pull up a seat”.




Pursuit of Happiness



I think that it’s one thing that Khalis felt that you need to pay attention to. This country was really being torn apart. But music has always been the message. Khalis has always been a great writer. And George Brown - he wrote a lot of the songs. They took it to the studio, and then everybody put their touch on it. The concept that Khalis had was stacking and taking out what wasn’t working. It’s a good process.




Kool & The Gang playing an intimate show at BB King's



There are many songs in the can. We have all this material, but if they don’t hear Celebration or something like that… From the first album Khalis has always kept his ear to the mainstream. Khalis was a jazz musician. He has written some of the most beautiful music I ever heard, and we never even played it. Khalis did certain equations. They had to change with the times. We recorded so much music through the years. What they do with it is up to the studio. There is so much material. We’ve got enough for about two or three albums.

I never got bored with playing the Kool & The Gang hits. It’s a happy feeling because a lot of these songs have reached people all around the world, and seeing the response is exhilarating.  It’s a real purpose of music, and how it effects different people. That is always a positive thing. I reflect back on how music has inspired my life and I’m happy that it inspires somebody else.

I don’t know what’s going on with an album release because there is some restructuring with Kool & The Gang to make everything workable. With Khalis transitioned a lot of things have changed. He is actually the captain. He’s been holding down the fort. A lot of things were really going on with the pandemic, you know. We are trying to get back into the swing of things.
I should mention ShawnyMac McQuiller. He always brings his A-game to the stage. Always. He should be the poster child of Kool & The Gang.

Charles Smith was the most eccentric guy in the group. Khalis also. It’s what we did and so it was normal. With the business it’s a whole other thing.  The music industry is a long, plastic hallway where thieves and murderers run free, and good men and women die like dogs – and then there’s the negative side.

We are planning on doing a tribute to Khalis sometime next year, with Kool’s son Prince Hakim, who’s been making a lot of noise. He has written so much music that people have never heard. It’s work in progress.



A later version of that horn section...


I’m writing a thesis on vibrational music. Some of it is common knowledge, but a lot of people don’t know the connection between vibrations and tones. I do that to keep my mind busy. When the pandemic hit both my knees were taken out. I feel improvements now. I’m not ready to fly yet, but I feel like walking fast. My energy is a mix of God and adrenaline. I thank God for the energy that he has given me.






MICHAEL RAY is a highly successful musician since decades with Kool & The Gang, Sun Ra Arkestra and Cosmic Krewe. Mr. Ray has kindly contributed pieces to this platform previously. Read them HERE and HERE. Read more pieces on Sun Ra Arkestra HERE and HERE, and on Cosmic Krewe HERE.

As this piece is made there are currently items on the internet suggesting that a new album with previously recorded material with Kool & The Gang is on the way. Here is an example of that.

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Remembering Cuba Gooding Sr.


Lead singer of The Main Ingredient, Cuba Gooding Sr, was born in Harlem and moved to California as an adult. Starting out as a backing singer for The Main Ingredient, he took over as the lead after Donald McPherson died of leukemia. Several top-10 hits followed. A voice on and off the stage Cuba Gooding Sr is remembered as one of the great personalities in music.



A backstage interview



Everybody Plays The Fool live 2013



CUBA GOODING SR, April 27, 1944 – April 20, 2017

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Remembering Nat King Cole

Musicians Corner remembers Nat King Cole


Artists with such a brilliantly distinct, signature way of playing an instrument as Nat King Cole are in fact so few. And artists with such a uniquely distinct, signature way of singing as Nat King Cole are in fact so rare.

Any time you listen to music with Nat King Cole you let some beauty into your life, and not some flat, constructed beauty - but clear, crisp, natural and refreshing beauty.

Anyone can complicate things. These days anyone can distort and fake things. But to do that one thing, make that one choice, and let it stand alone in an expression where anything extra would be ridiculous, to have it at the fingertips and constantly rolling off the tongue - that is music - and that was Nat King Cole.



Nat King Cole skipped the unnecessary in interviews too...





NAT KING COLE, March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965

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Remembering Eugene Record


Let's give it up for the memory of Eugene Record! This legendary song-writer, singer and lead-vocalist of The Chi-Lites, between 1953 and 1979, and 1980 and 1988,  who also released solo-albums, was born in Chicago on Decemner 23, 1940.

It is an obligation, frankly, to expose the young generation growing up now to the amazing sounds of "Have You See Her?" and "Oh Girl". Let's play them both...








EUGENE RECORD, December 23, 1940 – July 22, 2005

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Remembering Dr. John


Oh, what a sad day it was when Dr. John left us, and oh how the world has turned since.

Our beloved Malcolm Rebennack was...a New Orleans native and a student of Doctor Longhair. Carrying and embodying the great traditions of Nola, encompassing wisdom, wit and class - and living his very own story - a true gift to music.

That rolling piano grew quiet, but we can still hear the echo.



There Must Be A Better World Somewhere



MALCOLM REBENNACK, November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019

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Remembering Buck Clayton


Musicians' Corner remembers Buck Clayton


Trumpet-player Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton was a Kansas native, who after having briefly worked with Duke Ellington's Orchestra, and living in Shanghai for a while to avoid racism, became a member of Count Basie's Orchestra, and played on recordings with Billie Holliday. Buck Clayton was drafted for the II:n WW, and was discharged with honors from the army in 1946, after which he worked with Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker. Buck Clayton was a legendary bandleader and arranger. Problems with his lips forced Clayton to take a break from playing in the 70s, while he continued to work as an arranger into the 80s. The book "Buck Clayton's Jazz World", co-authored by Nancy Miller Elliot, spans 70 years of music history and American social history in general.








BUCK CLAYTON, November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991

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Remembering Scott Weiland

Musicians' Corner remembers Scott Weiland






Beautiful song...



Stone Temple Pilot, Velvet Revolver and solo performer Scott Weiland brought his own personality to the live stages for three decades. A very talented singer indeed left us at the age of 48, on December 3, 2015.



SCOTT WEILAND, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015

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Remembering Howie Epstein


Gone too soon.



Howie Epstein "Is It Love?"



Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "I Won't Back Down"



HOWIE EPSTEIN, July 21, 1955 – February 23, 2003



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The lost recordings with The Dramatics

Willie Ford


The Dramatics featuring Willie Ford made some recordings in 2017. And, that Willie Ford had the intention of releasing these was made clear, among other things in this interview.




After Willie Ford had made his transition last year, we connected with Tony Green, who was hired to do these recordings, to ask how they are kept safe.

Perhaps we hadn’t expected Mr. Green to respond, but he indeed did, and was most jovial and patient with us in a very long conversation, that included many a thing and also lead to a nice article here, suggested by Green, but the information about the Dramatics recordings never fell out during any of all this.


We do understand. Green – a long time member of The Dramatics' backing band, in the 70s and 80s, has been helping many out with a lot in Detroit, and was a given individual for Willie Ford to turn to with recording ambitions. Green also has a very large ‘’vault’’ with a lot of music. But. But! Very little of it is probably with an act with a fifty year long career and thirty-five something hits. The Dramatics however is such an act! And Willie Ford was an original member of The Dramatics, who was part of their massive breakthrough, with their hits "What You See Is What You Get" and "In The Rain". Willie Ford was part of this act for five full decades! And these Dramatics recordings are in the vault of Tony Green. As we also understand it, someone who hires someone else for recordings is the legal owner of the recordings (see the 6th paragraph). So, maybe "old" compadres don't think about the legalese too much, at times, between each other, but now that Willie Ford is no longer here, and this is work that he in fact left behind, his rights concerning work that he did is a thing. And further, where it comes to The Dramatics specifically, legally working out what is what in terms of rights is not of unknown importance to anyone involved with this act. There are different sides here.


Tony Green has put Dramatics’ sounds to collages of clips from the internet on YouTube. It is definitely our opinion that these recordings are too important to be handled like that. 

Yes, it is a challenge to release music in this day and age. But these recordings deserve their proper release, probably after some editing by a top-notch producer and editor. There would no doubt be an interest in Dramatics’ recordings, and for people to finally, for example, at long last hear Willie Ford sing longer solos, which he does on some of these cuts.  It is unbelievable that Willie Ford didn’t lead on more songs than he did with The Dramatics. He had a unique bass voice, that truly was something few other acts could begin to match, and if you are shrewd as a music maker you sometimes go with what you have that no one else can top. 

What was a little worrying during our conversations with Tony Green, was, that at one point we sent him a clip where The Dramatics featuring Willie Ford performed the single that they did release, a couple of years prior, ‘’Victoria’’, which was on a link on Fox2 (fox2detroit.com/mornings/54099142-video) – and that this clip disappeared from the link the day after we had sent it to Green. It was the most peculiar coincidence. It had obviously been up for a couple of years. It was a couple of years old. We asked about this, but there was no reply as to this.


 

Our original sending of the clip, inside our getting back to it for the clip disappearing


What that link looks since



There is little doubt that the loyal soul music fans out there would cherish the recordings with The Dramatics featuring Willie Ford.




We have reached out to Tony Green again, before writing this piece, asking for his comments if he cared to share them, but Green has chosen not to respond.






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Remembering Herman Ace Wallace




HERMAN ACE WALLACE 1925.06.18-1996.02.28


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Beware of the autograph market - every which way




Living off people is a big business. One side of this is the autograph "market’’. We have all seen the men in sweaty t-shirts waiting to try to get what they have in their hands signed by a famous artist. 

The idea to do something of the kind for a living might be seen as rather strange by many. This might even be the tier beneath paparazzi. People scavenging off other people, who have achieved a lot in life.


 



Then this market has the problem of forgeries being sold, in abundance, no doubt. So authentication of these scribblings has become a market as well. People have become "experts’’ at the above.

A few days ago we put two signatures up on auction, and what happened after was a sight to see.  We were of course very confident about saying to people to check the signatures out a bit before placing a bid, as we know that they are real and had every reason to assume that whoever checked them out would run into people who would be able to tell them so, or at the very least say there was a good chance they are real. We just assumed that would happen.


 



Our two signatures were swiftly posted on a platform called Autograph Live, by an anonymous poster with a clown face for profile picture, who asked if the signatures were real, something which was as quickly deemed as a "no’’ by another user. We tried to join the forum to comment, making it clear in the application to join that this was what we intended to do, and were denied access to comment. Our auction of these signatures didn’t take place on eBay, which this platform is affiliated to, a strange choice for an autograph authentication public service platform. But perhaps for this reason, these two signatures weren’t commented on further or linked to, as this platform had nothing to gain from sending its users to another auction platform, where it’s not affiliated (and where, btw, we have the highest possible user score, for selling other things, mind). Generally posts seems to spark more commenting, if it is to do with dismissing signatures claimed to be by the same artist, on eBay. So 1) Our signatures were quickly dismissed 2) We weren’t allowed to comment 3) There was no discussion about the signatures.

 


There is no one to contact on this platform, so we wrote its supervisor on Facebook, and had no comment as to this.

What is this Autograph Live? Is it a public service where people are being spared the misfortune of buying a forged signature? Certainly that must have happened frequently, that is, that this platform spotted fakes and had no reason why not to help people? But, is it a platform sponsored by autograph selling companies – that protects these companies' interests? Say, by perhaps dismissing anything that doesn’t look like what they happen to have or have had at some point – real or fake? Say, by perhaps getting that which is real off the market, so that it doesn’t lower the value of their clients' purchases, by being accessible in higher numbers than ideal for a high valuation of a rarity? Say, by…? In any case, this platform is sponsored by a few autograph selling companies. And companies have their interests, and certainly wouldn't sponsor something that didn't benefit them.




 


The supervisor can't explain why we haven't been approved by the platform and says we are. When shown an image of what the platform looks like as we write this piece he is quick to say that he isn't liable for what people express on the platform. Of course he isn't! There is absolutely no way for someone who runs a big platform like this to be everywhere, and incidentally, this chap seems like a nice enough fella and we like him, so we will throw no shade in this man's direction. The autograph world perhaps is a bit of high chaparral and paved with good intentions at times. Tread carefully - everywhere - seems to be the best advice, and, if you have a few signatures of value, only ever sell them to people you know if you are selling them at some point. That way you spare yourself grief. 

This is an experience that replicates a previous experience, years ago, when we tried to sell a rare promotion single and were told that we couldn't have that single. Yes we could, we are music journalists here. Before and in between these instances we haven't tried to sell any music memorabilia, and this teaches us to never try again. So - to you who might want to buy an autograph one day - maybe think about not deterring everyone anywhere who has one from selling, because they might be given such a hard time. The only thing that has happened to us for putting these up for sale is we have been insulted. Apart from what we have mentioned already there has been a number of insinuating messages about our signatures. It has been outright nasty. They are no longer on the market, and we recommend anyone with music memorabilia to NOT offer it for sale, ever, to the general public.

And, we, who for example have run a non-profit music platform for seven years (with original material from a long list of some of the most successful and amazing instrumentalists in the industry), have now promptly been deemed as dodgy by a few who do the above for a living.

 



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Nick Cannon I Can't Breathe - Again

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It has been a confusing time


We need to try to move on.



Musicians' Corner moves with music... And music pretty much got to a standstill. Where does it all go from here?

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<3 ~ Remembering Sir Miles Davis ~ <3

Remembering Sir Miles Davis, seen here on stage at Gröna Lund in Stockholm in the summer of 1987 (photo: KG Asplund)


What can we say about remembering Sir Miles? Music has not been the same since he left. It lost a whole lot of something something, that was in fact about him.

We can all wonder what he would have been doing, had he been here today. And we all know that we can't quite know what that would have been. And that is even one of the things that are so special with Miles Davis. People just had to see where he was going to know where he was going. They couldn't go some place and wait for him there artistically, because there was no way of knowing if he would show up there. And, alongside his leaving a mighty musical journey behind as he left, he left a world of wise things he said, which is a bit strange indeed, as he wasn't always so talkative. "It can take a lifetime to learn to play like yourself". Quote Miles Davis. You can so often interpret some things he said in wider terms, and you often even must. At any height of his legendary career he was still searching for his tone. Knowing what he wanted from others, and from himself too, in the nano moment, what he uttered wasn't something fluffy for an article, but a real thing. And that is so it. Miles Davis was so cool. And it was a real cool, not a pose. "It can take a lifetime to learn to play like yourself" really means It can take a lifetime to learn to be yourself

Those ears... One of the most magical pairs of ears in music. They could tie so much together with two notes. The way Miles Davis HEARD music... We can only leave that to silence.



Miles Davis, May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991

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BET Covid-19 relief fund



BET has started a relief fund in collaboration with the NAACP and United Way Worldwide to provide help to the Black communities in the USA hit the hardest by the ongoing crisis. There will be a special broadcast, SavingOurSelves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort, on April 22 at 8pm ET, which will feature many celebrities, and aims to raise funds and provide current information. 

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Remembering Luther Vandross


Musicians' Corner remembers Luther Vandross


Thinking of that special voice. In a world full of singers, imagine that a voice can be as unique and as easily recognizable...

Luther Vandross.

What can we say? 

He spoke for himself, and he only needed a note to do that.

The king of covers, Luther Vandross, would make any song his own. Starting out as backup to another velvety voice, Roberta Flack, and becoming an in-demand backup singer, before he went on to being the much loved and heavily Grammy-decorated lead that he was, after the breakthrough with his group Change, Vandross also penned hit songs. He further found himself in many duet collabs.


One of us recalls seeing him at Royal Albert Hall, where he had a residence for a few shows, one of the many highlights in the career of a very talented performer indeed.





LUTHER VANDROSS, April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005

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Sound of Music Covid-19 Parody

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A Covid-19 relief fund



The Recording Academy and MusiCares have established a Covid-19 relief fund.

See a bit on that here: https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief-fund

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UK musicians have already lost £13,9 in earnings due to Covid-19



A musicians' union survey finds that musicians based in the UK have lost £ 13,9 million in earnings to date, after the closing of venues and a drop in teaching work, The Guardian reports.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/23/uk-musicians-lose-139m-earnings-coronavirus

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#TogetherAtHome



The hashtag #TogetherAtHome has quickly become one to look for, for live streams of music in this covid-19 crisis, and to use for artists who intend on doing live streams, perhaps adding their own hashtag to differentiate, as this hashtag will be seen a lot.

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Remembering Ornette Coleman

 




Remembering Ornette Coleman.


We don't know much about the shape of jazz to come, today. But we remember the Pulitzer Prize winner and Doctor of music, Ornette Coleman, around the time of the 90th birthday, which he celebrates up high.


The 1st part of an interview with Coleman from Bonnaroo.




ORNETTE COLEMAN, March 9, 1930-June 11, 2015 



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The coronavirus might seriously affect artists' income



The reports about Covid-19, the coronavirus, will affect society in many ways. One of them will be the cancellation of many public events. Several artists have canceled their planned tours in Asia, and the South By Southwest festival in Texas, that was going to take place in March, has been canceled. The calling off of several more events is bound to follow, and where shows are to take place it's likely that ticket sales might drop.


As we are in a crisis and don't know for how long this will continue, we need for artists and venues to consider the situation. Musicians' Corner is the last to want to see the live scene go... Live music is what counts to us. That's where it happens. And people need to gather and experience live music. It's an important element in the well-being and quality of life. However, right now... Right now, and given that we are all agreed that we go back to normal in every sense of the word, that is to the live format to a hundred percent once this is over, so that we don't propel ourselves into an Orwellian state here...where many are sitting at home and there is little human contact, we need to call upon the possibilities that modern technology offers, and have artists, venues and festivals for example consider a pay-per-view live stream option for their shows in the second half of 2020. People need to move quickly here. The technologies are there and available. And maybe we can't ask for the best quality everything in the haste with which this option should ideally be put in place. The truth is we might be in a hurry here. We do hope that Musicians' Corner isn't one of few who see this, but that many have realized this and are working on it. If this isn't happening, if measures aren't being taken, many many performers might, in a worst-case scenario, lose a lot of income this year. And they still might with this plan B. Perhaps people won't buy streamings if we need them and if there are any. Still, if events are forced to cancel, and if the customers aren't buying tickets to what will go ahead, this solution offers at least the chance to try and do shows, perhaps to empty rooms and to cameras in some places. We don't know.


This development is hazardous to many people's livelihood, but artists are especially vulnerable in what is transpiring. For many who might be forced to stay at home from work there will be insurances and societal benefits alleviating some of the financial burdens of that. Artists generally don't have the kind of safety-net required for this extreme type of force majeure. And if this situation takes years to sort out, and if festivals won't be booking further as they don't plan on running and concert venues will be prevented from staying open, etcetera, you realize that measures need to be taken.


Hopefully we are wrong in thinking this could be an outlook. But before we know that we are wrong and can all say that this is over, we need for this industry and its artists and players to try to prepare with backup plans. 

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Rest in Heavenly Peace, Ronny Drayton

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Reorganizing!



Very much hoping that the new decade has begun in a splendid way for our visitors and friends here at Musicians' Corner, Musicians On Music - we are currently doing a bit of reorganizing behind the scenes, and look forward to being back with you in March!

In the meantime there is a lot - A LOT - of material without any kind of use by-date here to look at, listen to, read and enjoy!




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