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TEDGlobal Conference Brings Innovation to Oxford in July
Every year, 1,000 people from across the world gather in Long Beach, Calif. for a marathon of talks from some of today's most innovative thinkers. Started in 1984 to gather leaders and luminaries in the fields of technology, entertainment, and design, the TED Conference hosts presenters year after year whose ambitious resumes and eloquent 18-minute lectures demand admiration.... read more
Found in: Culture, NewsSix Gateway Jazz Albums for Rock Elitists
Growing up on a strict musical diet of pop and rock, I once viewed jazz as this formless gunk that intellectuals would roll around in to make themselves feel superior to the unkempt masses. It was art for intimidation’s sake: indulgent, self-congratulating and worst of all, boring.... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DayGrammy roundup: Herbie Hancock, Amy Winehouse, more
This year’s Grammy Awards sustained a few surprises and managed to get by without a WGA throwdown. Here are the liner notes: Alicia Keys opened the show with a post-partum Ol' Blue Eyes. John Mayer managed to escape cruise mayhem in time to pair up with Keys for duet number two. Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban performed a moving tribute to Pavarotti, which was preceded by a video montage highlighting the careers of the deceased tenor, Lucky Dube, Mstislav Rostropovich, Don Ho, Dan Fogelberg, Porter Wagoner, Beverly Sills, Carlos Valdez, Ike Turner, Oscar Peterson and Robert Goulet. Feist brought her... read more
Found in: Music, NewsHerbie Hancock touring West in November
Herbie Hancock is poised for a short, West Coast tour to promote River: The Joni Letters, an album of improvisational Joni Mitchell covers that debuted at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart in September. Hancock is enlisting the 18-year-old, coincidentally named Sonya Kitchell to handle vocal duties shared on the album itself by Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Sousa and Mitchell herself. Maybe she'll even take a stab at the Leonard Cohen bits. Some percentage of the audience will recognize that, despite the rhyme, Kitchell isn't some kind of knockoff, black market Mitchell that Hancock booked at... read more
Found in: Music, NewsHerbie leaves his Hancock on Joni interpretation
Pianist Herbie Hancock leaves his mark on Joni Mitchell's most famous songs on his upcoming release. River: The Joni Letters (due Sept. 25) prys open and interprets her lyrics with new music arrangements--but keeps the spinal melodies intact. Artists like Norah Jones and Leonard Cohen also wedge in some of their vocals among the instrumentals. Says Hancock: "There are places I decided would be resting places before I went to the next phrase, which Joni doesn't have on her recording of the song. Completely reharmonizing 'Both Sides Now' seemed appropriate to the lyrics." Stream "Both Sides Now" (PC) here. Stream... read more
Found in: Music, NewsHerbie Hancock
"Yo, son, I’ll tell you everything you wanna know about Herbie Hancock...” read more
Found in: Music, Features
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