Drummer Charlie Watts likely to miss Rolling Stones’ tour

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will likely miss the band’s upcoming U.S. tour to allow him to recover from an unspecified medical procedure.

A spokesperson for the musician said the procedure was “completely successful” but that Watts needs time to recuperate. The Stones are set to resume their No Filter tour with a stadium show on Sept. 26 in St. Louis.

“With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming,” a spokesperson for Watts said in a statement.

Watts, 80, said in a statement he did not want his recovery to further delay the tour, which is set to visit several U.S. cities including Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“For once my timing has been a little off. I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while,” Watts said.

Watts successfully underwent treatment for throat cancer in 2004. He will be replaced by understudy Steve Jordan, who has played with Keith Richards for years.

-Associated Press

‘Miles Ahead’ plumbs mute years of jazz icon Miles Davis

LOS ANGELES | Miles Davis, one of America’s most iconic and prolific musicians, went musically mute for several years in the 1970s, and actor Don Cheadle plumbed that silence in his visually jazzy directorial film debut “Miles Ahead.”

“We wanted to find a way to tell the story that would give us the latitude and the license to show a creative person trying to figure out how to be creative again,” said Cheadle, who also stars in and co-wrote the independent film.

In “Miles Ahead,” opening in New York and Los Angeles movie theaters on Friday, Cheadle’s Davis is stuck in creative block.

Set roughly a decade after the 1959 release of Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” which remains the best-selling jazz album of all time, the film finds the mercurial trumpeter burrowed in his New York home following the demise of his marriage to his muse, dancer Frances Taylor, played by Emayatzy Corinealdi.

He’s at war with his record company, hobbled by a deteriorating hip, alternately fueled and numbed by street and prescription drugs, and haunted by history when a reporter of dubious skill (Ewan McGregor) literally bursts through his front door.

Honed during the decade it took to raise the $8.5 million budget, the film’s narrative is a lean, tumbling mix of present, past and reverie punctuated by cocaine and testosterone-fueled high jinks, historical events and Davis’ iconic horn.

“He didn’t know what he was going to say, if he was going to say it, what it was going to sound like when he said it,” Cheadle said of Davis, who worked with musicians from Dizzy Gillespie to Prince before his death in 1991.

Cheadle, who nabbed a best actor Oscar nomination for 2004′s “Hotel Rwanda” and stars in Showtime’s satire “House of Lies,” said he aimed to make a film with “free form and good flow.”

He channeled the musician, known for prodding bandmates to “play what’s not there,” devoting years to learning the trumpet so his fingering would be a match when Davis’ music was dubbed into the film, and choosing actors in the same way that Davis would put together a band.

“It’s like Don Cheadle cast Miles Davis in a movie that Miles Davis might have liked to have been in,” said co-star McGregor. “As a result, the film feels like Miles Davis, it feels like a piece of his music.”

source: interaksyon.com

Jim Ayson, PH Internet champion, logs off at 53

MANILA, Philippines — Local Internet pioneer, startup advocate, and prolific chronicler of the Philippine IT history Jim Ayson has succumbed to heart attack evening of November 9, at age 53.

His wife Chette Soriano-Ayson confirmed on Tuesday morning the news on her Facebook page saying: “My husband, my best friend and love of my life Jim Ayson joined our creator last night.”

Local social media communities lit up up with shock and grief after news spread of the unexpected passing of Ayson, who is an active and outspoken voice online and has forged various digital partnerships, both local and foreign, in his work for Smart DevNet.

Ayson’s record of the pivotal moments in local IT history, such as the time when the Philippines first went online, is often cited in various publications as key source material.

A man of many hats, Ayson also championed the cause of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and was partial in particular to Pinoy Rock and alternative independent musicians. To this end, he founded PhilMusic.com, a website devoted to articles about emerging and established OPM acts.

PhilMusic was a strong online presence in the pre-social media days and later embraced social media network sites like Facebook and Twitter which Ayson tirelessly maintained until his death.

Ayson personally covered several musical events armed with his laptop and handheld cameras as he immediately uploaded photos to PhilMusic just shortly after taking them. A musician himself who played drums, Jim was also invited to write about both music and technology for several online and print publications, most notably the now defunct, The Reviewer where he was a columnist and music editor.

Ayson is survived by his wife Chette and their baby daughter Gabby.

More from NEWSBYTES.PH

source: interaksyon.com

Jazz great Dave Brubeck dies at 91

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, 91, died Wednesday from heart failure, his manager, Russell Gloyd, told CNN.

Brubeck's heart stopped while he was en route to the hospital with his eldest son for a regular checkup, Gloyd said. His son became alarmed about his father and called 911, Gloyd said.


"(Paramedics) came out and said, 'We just can't keep the heart going,' " Gloyd told CNN.

Gloyd, who also was a producer with Brubeck, said the musician was rushed to Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, where he was declared dead.

According to his website, Brubeck was born into a musical family in Concord, California, and had two older brothers who were also professional musicians. As a teen, he began playing in local dance bands after his family moved to a cattle ranch in the foothills of the Sierra mountains.

Intent on pursuing a career in veterinary medicine, Brubeck worked his way through college as a pianist in jazz bands. He soon switched his major to music and went on to pursue a career, releasing music as part of the Dave Brubeck Trio in 1949. He formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 following a near fatal car crash.

Songs such as "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Take Five" helped the jazz artist find crossover success in the pop world.

Designated a "living legend" by the Library of Congress, Brubeck was still actively pursuing his career in music. Gloyd said the pianist continued to practice every day and was contemplating recording a new song.

But his longtime manager/publicist said he and the musician's family hope that Brubeck is also remembered for his political activism.

"I don’t think people realize his commitment to civil rights and justice," Gloyd said. "At the height of his stardom, he canceled 23 out of 24 concerts in the South at Southern universities when they would not allow him to bring his black bass player."

President of The Recording Academy Neil Portnow called Brubeck an "iconic jazz and classical pianist."

"Throughout his six decade-long career, his unique time signatures and distinct rhythms were highlights of his innovative style," Portnow continued. "As one of the prime architects of the sophisticated West Coast jazz sound, Brubeck showed that jazz could be artistically challenging yet accessible to large audiences. His recordings have received both commercial and critical success, and will be remembered and celebrated for generations to come. We have lost a great legend in our community, and our thoughts and condolences go to his family, friends and all those he inspired."

Brubeck would have celebrated his 92nd birthday on Thursday.

source: CNN

She’s got the voice, now Christina Aguilera looks for hits

LOS ANGELES – Christina Aguilera has the vocal chops, the look, the strut and millions of new fans thanks to her stint as a judge on TV singing contest “The Voice.”

But can she still sell records?

The singer, who had global hits with “Genie in a Bottle” and the female empowerment ballad “Beautiful” more than 10 years ago, bids to reclaim her status as one of the world’s biggest pop stars with her new album, “Lotus,” released on Tuesday.

Aguilera, 31, says the title and the mixture of dance-pop, ballads and rock-tinged tracks reflect the hopes and disappointments of recent years that saw her 2010 tour for album “Bionic” canceled, a divorce and the box-office flop of her debut feature film, the musical “Burlesque.”

“Lotus represents the unbreakable flower that stands the test of time. No matter the roughest of weather conditions, it remains strong and continues to thrive. (The album) is a nod to my fans who have been here with me the whole journey, and a nod to myself,” she said.

“It is a record of freedom and embracing that…It is very artistic at times, it is very fun at times, it is very free. I think that’s how music and life should be, away from all the negativity,” the four-time Grammy winner said in an appearance at a Billboard Film and TV Music conference in Los Angeles last month.

Aguilera will perform one of the tracks – “Make the World Move” – with her fellow judge Cee Lo Green live on “The Voice” this week for the show’s more than 10 million viewers.

But music industry experts say Aguilera’s popularity on “The Voice” – where her powerhouse performances leave aspiring pop stars in the dust – may not guarantee huge album sales and won’t give the singer a No. 1 hit.

This week also sees new releases from British boy band One Direction and singer Susan Boyle as well as the new “Twilight” film soundtrack.

“I think ‘Lotus’ will certainly debut in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart. But we don’t see it as being a blockbuster out of the gate,” said Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard.

“It is a long road to rebuilding Christina as a brand and as a musician, after the last album didn’t so very well,” said Caulfield. “But it’s not always about first week sales.”

Much like Jennifer Lopez on “American Idol,” Aguilera has seen her star rocket in her 18 months on “The Voice.” Just a few months before the TV show made its debut in spring 2011, Aguilera was arrested for being drunk in public in West Hollywood, and her 2010 album “Bionic” had sold a disappointing 312,000 copies.

“‘The Voice’ has reinvigorated her entire career. A lot of people think she is the star of ‘The Voice’ – the judge you tune in for,” said Lyndsey Parker, managing editor at Yahoo! Music.

Yet the first single – “Your Body” – from the new album failed to make a big impact when it was released in September. It peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and never really caught fire on radio.

“It came and went, which surprised me because I think it is a very strong song. And pretty much everything I have heard on this album is strong. I think it’s a real return to form,” said Parker.

“There are very few people in pop who can sing like her. I do think there is a renewed appreciation for great singing that can be done live and that isn’t just about flash. And Christina is coming back to prove that. I think some people are looking at her to take back her crown,” Parker added.

“Lotus” includes duets with both Green and Aguilera’s fellow “Voice” judge, country singer Blake Shelton. It also features the piano-driven ballad “Blank Page,” which is reminiscent of her 2002 hit “Beautiful” and rock-tinged tracks like “Army of Me.”

Aguilera says she hopes to inspire a new generation of singers who were not around in 1999 for her first big hit “Genie in a Bottle.”

“It’s so exciting for me to show them what I do as an artist,” she said. “I’ve been through a lot over the past few years, going through ‘Burlesque,’ a divorce…having a few setbacks….Stuff happens! This is the business. It’s not going to be all cute and pretty and tied up in a bow.

“All of that combined is in ‘Lotus.’ It embraces the woman that I’ve become, and embracing myself coming full circle as a pop star,” she said.

source: interaksyon.com