Langfield
Entertainment
88
Bloor Street E., Suite 2908, Toronto, ON
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677-5883
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www.langfieldentertainment.com
NEWSLETTER
Updated: November 3, 2005
November already? There's
so much to talk about this week so I'll
get right to it. As far as events go, there are some hot ones below
including DeeKaye tomorrow night, Kanye
West (I bought my tickets, did you?) and a new alternative to
dating in Toronto at the launch of At First Sight. Also, one of Toronto's
own, Lyriq Bent stars in Saw II, see details under FILM NEWS.
Sony/BMG offers us a new gospel release in the form of Israel & New Breed - check it out below. And there's
a new Canadian documentary that airs in November on TVO - Black Coffee - see the details below.
Check out all categories - MUSIC NEWS, FILM NEWS, TV NEWS, THEATRE NEWS, and OTHER NEWS! Have a read and a scroll! This
newsletter is designed to give you some updated entertainment-related news and
provide you with our upcoming event listings. Welcome to those who are new
members. Want your events listed by date? Check out EVENTS. Want to be removed from
the distribution, click REMOVE.
::HOT EVENTS::
DeeKaye Ibomeka at Hugh’s Room – November 4, 2005
November 4 presents an opportunity to see rising jazz, soul and
blues baritone DeeKaye Ibomeka
headlining the prestigious Hugh’s Room in Toronto. The 25-year-old jazz
baritone with enormous stage presence and 3-octave range has just completed
the recording of his debut CD, co-written with and produced by jacksoul’s Haydain Neale. DeeKaye made an
impressive Montreal debut this summer at the Jazz Festival’s spectacular
“Voices of Soul” concert where he shared the stage with The Neville Brothers,
Patti Labelle, Ann Peebles, Deborah Cox and Jully Black. DeeKaye’s debut
CD is scheduled for release in early 2006 and features his unique blend of
jazz, soul and the blues. Don’t miss this opportunity to check out the
vocal stylings of DeeKaye Ibomeka who
will be backed by a hot band featuring Andrew
Craig on keyboards and Roger Travassos on drums!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2005
DEEKAYE IBOMEKA IN CONCERT
Hugh’s Room
2261 Dundas St. West
Special Guest performance at 8:30pm
Tickets $20 in advance $22 at the door.
Call for tickets: 416.531.6604
www.wychwoodparkproductions.com
www.hughsroom.com
Kanye West In Concert – November 9, 2005
No
matter who you are or where you lived - if you owned a radio, television,
computer or CD player, you felt Kanye West’s
presence. Since the release of his 3 million selling, critically
acclaimed-debut The College Dropout, the Chicago-born 28 year old
rapper/producer/hip-hop icon has been at the top of the charts and at the top
of his game. From the red carpet of the 47th Grammys - where he topped all
nominees with a historic ten nods and took home awards for Best Rap Album, Best
Rap Song and Best R&B song - to the millions of albums sold, a sold-out
stadium tour with Usher, and his ubiquitous presence on MTV, BET, CNN, and
radio stations nationwide, West grew from being an artist to watch to an artist
you experience. This tour also features special guests Fantasia and Keyshia
Cole.
WEDNESDAY,
NOVEMBER 9, 2005
KANYE
WEST LIVE IN CONCERT
with special guests
Fantasia and Keyshia
Cole
Air Canada Centre
40 Bay St.
ALL AGES SHOW!
Doors: 6:30pm
Show: 7:30pm
Tickets ON SALE NOW
Tickets (incl. GST)
$69.50, $59.50 and $45.50 (plus convenience fees and CRF)
8 ticket limit
Tickets available
at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the Air Canada Centre Box Office
Call 416-870-8000
to charge by phone
Or order online at www.ticketmaster.ca
At First Sight presents The Lock and Key
Launch Party!
Ever wish for an alternative to the club scene to meet people? Well, now
it's here! Come and check out At First
Sight’s Lock and Key Launch
Party on Saturday, November 12 at
Tantric Martini Lounge!
Our mission statement At First Sight is to offer a casual and relaxed
alternative to the traditional dating scene. Our goal is to provide Canadian
Black Singles the best way to establish relationships that add meaning to their
lives. At First Sight Events provide a quick, fun, safe and comfortable
way for singles to meet one another. At First Sight hosts Speed Dating Events
and Social Gatherings in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and Scarborough.
In this casual atmosphere, we offer upscale Canadian Black Singles aged
30-45 male and female (limited spots available)
interactive games, light starters, a cash bar and there are lots of prizes to
be won! As well, we offer the smooth grooves of: DiJital Productions.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
The Lock and Key Launch Party!
(Followed by Tantric 25 Plus Saturdays)
Tantric Martini Lounge
422 Adelaide St (1 block west of Spadina)
Registration: *$19 (limited spots available)
*$15 when you register two more friends!
Available Online: www.atfirstsightonline.com or
Phone: 416-253-2164
Sign in at 9:00 pm. Mingling begins at 9:30 pm sharp!
For more info: info@atfirstsightonline.com
**Also coming up**
Speed Dating - Register NOW for any and receive 10% off regular admission! Go
to www.atfirstsightonline.com for further
information.
Come out and meet other Afro Canadian singles at the best speed dating party in
Toronto! This event takes place at Irie Food
Joint (745 Queen Street West). The evening features one age
group and will include up to 15 - four-minute dates, light starters, prize
giveaways! Sign-in begins at 7:00 pm, dating at 7:30 pm sharp! Please
note - Advance registration is required for events.
::SONY/BMG SCOOP::
Israel & New
Breed - New Release
Source: Sony/BMG Music Canada
The most-awarded Gospel Artist of 2005 returns with a live worship experience
captured in an amazing 2 nights in Capetown! Alive
In South Africa
is the inspiring follow-up to the
exploding Live From Another Level and takes the musical passion of
the genre to a whole new level. Get ready for the voyage of a lifetime as
ISRAEL & NEW BREED take you on an international
journey of Worship with no limits or boundaries! This ground-breaking recording
was captured over two nights of powerful and moving worship in Cape Town, South
Africa. As ISRAEL & NEW BREED minister to the masses, you’ll get a first
hand experience at what makes this group true worship leaders from deep within
their hearts! You’ll get caught up in bountiful songs of praise such as the
song for the nations “Not Forgotten,” the worshipful sounds of “It’s Raining,”
and a song of healing and deliverance, “Favor of the Lord.” Get ready to feel
the true power of Worship as you experience ALIVE IN SOUTH AFRICA with ISRAEL
& NEW BREED, to be released on November 1, 2005!
::HOT TV::
"Black Coffee"
– Three-Hour Documentary Caffeine Fix On TVO
Airs In Three Parts Beginning Wednesday, November 16, 2005 At 10:00pm EST
October 31, 2005 (Toronto)—Cuppa joe. Java. Coffee. Millions of java-addicted consumers make a
beeline for local coffee shops every morning, willingly shelling out as much as
$4 for one of the "specialty coffees," such as a tall, non-fat latte.
Coffee represents the second-most-traded legal commodity in the world, after
oil. But what lies behind our romance with the bean?
BLACK COFFEE, a new Canadian three-hour
documentary on the social and cultural history of coffee, airs on TVO's "The View From Here" in three parts, beginning Wednesday, November 16 and continues on the following two
Wednesdays. BLACK COFFEE was written and directed by Irene Angelico and produced by Ina
Fichman, both
Montreal-based. Fichman produced the 2004 YTV series "My
Brand New Life," as well as the acclaimed documentary about Dorothys in
Oz, Kansas, "Being Dorothy," seen on CBC in 2004. Angelico is best
known for her other caffeine-fuelled trilogy, "The Cola
Conquest." "These films took us around the world," said
Fichman, "to meet those involved in both the production and consumption of
coffee and production. It was extraordinary to see how coffee truly reflects
the complex relationship between North and South."
The cost
of a caffeine fix equals a day's wages for millions of
workers of harvest workers around the world. From a $2 cup of coffee, only one
cent goes to the grower. Many farmers have never tasted their own coffee. Since
its alleged discovery by goats in the Ethiopian hillside in the sixth century,
the beloved green bean hidden in the red cherry of the coffee bush has
represented a dominant force in shaping the economic and social structures of
entire nations. BLACK COFFEE provides a revealing portrait of the dark side of
the brew that was instrumental in promoting romance, revolution and the slave
trade. The series also sheds light on a human rights and ecological record that
remains tenuous at best, and links the morning ritual to the rise in café
culture as well as the Fair Trade movement’s efforts to guarantee small growers
a decent price.
BLACK COFFEE was
produced by Ina Fichman and Productions La Fête (Coffee) Inc. in association
with TVOntario with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund created
by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Cable Industry, Telefilm Canada:
Equity Investment Program, CTF: Licence Fee Program, Government of Quebec Tax
Credit Program, Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit Program, National Film Board
of Canada, The Harold Greenberg Fund, Historia, TFO.
::MUSIC NEWS::
Out Of The Fire,
Itching For Glory
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By Joshua Ostroff
(Oct. 31, 2005) The music industry is almost as notorious a career breaker as a
career maker. Toronto hip-hop hero Kardinal Offishall — home for the climax of a
cross-country buzz-building tour presaging the mid-November release of his
too-long-anticipated LP Fire & Glory — knows this all too well.
"In order to get to the glory, I think you have to go through the
fire," the tall rapper says, serenely perched on a couch in a downtown
lounge. "You also can't appreciate the glory unless you've really been
through tough times, rough times." In which case, Kardinal is ready to be
awfully appreciative. Around the turn of the millennium, the Scarborough,
Ont.-born rapper also known as Jason Harrow was one of Canada's most respected
MCs and the recipient of a rare U.S. record deal to release his 2001 major
label debut Firestarter Vol. 1: Quest for Fire. A collection of largely older
material to whet the palette of unfamiliar audiences —including Money Jane, a
remixed Baby Blue Soundcrew joint he co-wrote with then-unknown Sean Paul — it
helped Kardinal establish an underground fan base stretching from Jamaica,
Queens, to Jamaica proper. His patois-punctuated flow and dancehall
reggae-influenced productions — in place since his 1996 debut single Naughty
Dread — made Kardinal stand out in a crowded marketplace. He went gold in
Canada and though mainstream America was still sleeping, his international
profile grew following an appearance on BET's flagship show Rap City and
remixes with famous fans like Busta Rhymes and dancehall artist Bounty Killer.
He always made a point of representing his T-Dot hometown — hit single BaKardi
Slang was a lesson in local lingo — and it was even hoped that he could
establish a beachhead for northern hip hop. At least until music-industry
machinations conspired against him. In 2003, he watched the dissolution of his
L.A. label MCA, his executive supporters get fired and his completed album
Firestarter Vol. 2: The F-Word Theory put on the shelf, despite beats from
Timbaland and an already-released soon-to-be classic single with The Neptunes
called Bellydancer. "With the crumbling of MCA, all of a sudden nobody at
the label was interested. They all started to lose focus," he recalls.
Kardinal wasn't dropped, but put into a lengthy limbo when he was shuffled over
to Geffen/Interscope and unhappily took a backseat to 50 Cent and G-Unit.
"Obviously Kardinal Offishall is not going to be the top priority. That's
the reality. So we came to an agreement and fled the scene. We were lucky we
left before the album came out and that we were able to leave, not in good
spirits, but with the masters." Nevertheless, momentum was lost and
Kardinal was understandably angry. Rather than sit back and be bitter, he grabbed
a mike and got ferocious. Written and recorded in three weeks, last year's Kill
Bloodclot Bill Vol. 1 was a blistering attack on the music industry. Intended
as a stop-gap to keep his name out while he retrenched for his full-length, the
self-released mixtape quickly became a cult classic, winning over hip-hop heads
across the continent, being named 2004's best Toronto recording by NOW magazine
and even getting a surprise Juno nomination from the very industry he was
denouncing.
"That was hilarious to me," Kardinal says with a booming laugh.
"I was like sure, whatever. But really I'm just happy people felt the
music and vibe of the mixtape. It did come at a time when I was physically
burned out." Afraid of being forgotten, Kardinal had become a cameo fiend,
appearing on records with underground rap producers Pete Rock and Prince Paul,
Wu-Tang member Method Man and rising British grime star Lethal Bizzle. He also
decided not to risk releasing the now-aging F-Word and only three songs from
that album, including a Busta Rhymes collaboration, made it onto Fire &
Glory. Still deeply inspired by dancehall, Kardinal self-produced the vast
majority of the new tracks ("9.5 out of 14") and the album proves
that consciousness-raising, story-telling and hip-shaking need not be mutually
exclusive. With his post-MCA wariness and post-Bloodclot clout, Kardinal struck
a "co-venture" deal between his own Black Jays label and Virgin
Canada that provides major label backing without as many strings attached.
"The contract is sales-driven so if they don't hold up to their part of
the deal, then we're free to do what we want to do," he says, noting he's
currently negotiating separate releases in other territories. But despite
talent and a high-calibre album in hand, Kardinal knows finding that glory will
still be a struggle. At Toronto's Getting Up hip-hop festival in August,
Kardinal didn't just impress the hard-to-please crowd; he also smashed a guitar
onstage. Though interpreted by some as a direct diss to Toronto's
rock-influenced rapper k-os, Kardinal says it was intended to be an
anti-industry rail against closed-minded radio programmers. "If one person
is having success being a certain way, they're not paying attention unless you
fit into that mode. If it doesn't, they won't play it," Kardinal explains.
"So for someone to win right now, they have to fit into that whole k-os
thing or else it ain't cool. "That's no fault of k-os and I'm sure that if
I'm able to have success with this album, the next person is going to be like,
'Aw, man, what's all this Kardinal stuff? Can't I be me?'."
Consequence Drops New
Mixtape: The Cons Vol. 3 "Da Comeback Kid"
New
York, New York – Consequence, the
G.O.O.D. Music emcee behind the movement along side Kanye
West, John Legend and Common,
drops a new mixtape. The Cons Vol. 3: "Da
Comeback Kid" features more of the emcee's stellar rhymes
including with collaborations with Kanye West, Mike
Jones, Common, John Legend, Dwele,
Bun B and others. Additionally,
Consequence appears on "Gone" along with Cam'ron
on Kanye West's sophomore album Late Registration and is currently
on the Touch the Sky Tour with Kanye West,
Fantasia and Keyshia Cole. The tour kicked off on
October 11th in Miami and continues through December 11th in
Vancouver. Consequence is also finishing his forthcoming G.O.O.D.
Music/Columbia Records release Don't Quit Your Day Job due out in 2006.
Consequence,
a Queens native, appeared on A Tribe Called
Quest's Beats Rhymes and Life which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard
Album Charts in 1996. In the years to follow, Consequence has
worked diligently on his craft, establishing his identity as an emcee separate
from A Tribe Called Quest. The prolific artist emerged with several mixtapes:
The Cons Vol. 1: “All Sales Are Final" (which was featured on MTV's
Mixtape Mondays on December of 2002, and in April 2003 was #1 Show Prove in XXL
and #1 Off The Radar in The Source), The Cons Vol. 2: “Make the Game Come to
You" and Take Em To The Cleaners (voted in the top ten independent
releases of 2004 by AllHipHop.com). Consequence released A Tribe Called Quence
on Draft Records in 2005. A Tribe Called Quence is the chronological
timeline of the career of Consequence starting from his introduction to the
world on the classic LP "Beats, Rhymes and Life" to his present works
with Kanye West and the G.O.O.D. Music family.
Consequence recently reunited with his cousin Q
Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) on the track "Sexy", which
also features Andre 3000 of Outkast,
for Q Tip's forthcoming Universal/Motown release. He also appeared in State
Property 2 (Lions Gate Films) and appeared in an episode of Season Five of
HBO's Def Poetry Jam (air date August 5th). Currently his main focus remains on
his forthcoming G.O.O.D. Music/Columbia release Don't Quit Your Day Job,
"what I rhyme about is what I see around me, I'm a result of the hood, my
rhymes are a reflection of what I see.”
6 Questions With Alicia Keys
Excerpt from www.billboard.com -
Jonathan Cohen
(Oct. 20, 2005) In less than five years, Alicia Keys has accomplished more
than seasoned performers twice her age, from releasing two multiplatinum albums
and winning nine Grammy Awards to consistently selling out concerts. Keys'
performance chops are spotlighted on her new CD/DVD, "MTV Unplugged,"
which J Records released Oct. 11. The project features new single "Unbreakable,"
which is No. 48 this issue on The
Billboard Hot 100, plus collaborations with Common, Mos Def, Damian Marley and
Maroon5's Adam Levine.
Q: Why do you think doing an "Unplugged" session was a good fit
for your music?
A: Before I even got signed, I'd play these small clubs, or hotels even. When I
did get signed and I was going around letting people know what I was about,
that's exactly how I did it: me on the piano, playing a couple of songs I'd
written and talking to the people in between. That's how I got my performance
chops up. Now, when I perform in front of large audiences, I'm much more
comfortable, because I've already performed in front of tiny audiences—which is
much harder, honestly. The smaller you strip things down, the more you depend
on the songs and yourself, as opposed to arrangements. To go back to this
style is one of the reasons why I really wanted to do this
"Unplugged." Obviously it was a little different than me and my
little Kurzweil keyboard, but it was that feeling. I could look at every face
in the audience.
Q: What is the origin of "Unbreakable"?
A: It has been around since the sessions for the last record [2003's "The
Diary of Alicia Keys"], and it was one of the favourites for the album.
But when we started putting the album together, it just wasn't right for it.
The style is so perfect for "Unplugged," so I decided to put it in
there.
Q: Are you planning to tour anymore this year?
A: I was just talking to Bono the other day, and he was like, "Are you
doing shows?" I've just been off the road for a month-and-a-half, and he
was like, "You lucky girl." Something I've learned from people like
U2, the Stones and Lenny Kravitz is that the grind of live shows is so
necessary [to build your career]. We were on the road for two years straight
doing shows. But for now, I'm not really doing anymore shows. I might do a
couple of spontaneous, small, "Unplugged"-style things.
Q: Has any new material for your next studio album sprung forth lately?
A: Oh, there's been a lot of things springing forth from me. [laughs] I have
this new direction I'm feeling I will go in for the next album. I've been
playing around, experimenting and vibing on different styles. I have about four
or five songs I've been working with, but I'm constantly writing all the time.
I'll be really focusing on my next album at the top of this next year.
Q: In the midst of all these other projects, have you found time to do any writing
with other artists in mind?
A: Well, there are a couple of things I'm working on, but they're not official.
There are some really great collaborations that myself and my partner Crucial
are working on. We like to write for artists we connect with, even though it's
all different styles of music.
Q: Has your next book begun to take shape?
A: It is percolating. It will be based off my journals I've kept since I was 9.
But it won't be an autobiography. It will be more like a novel, using the
likeness of a young girl with big dreams and all the normal, everyday things
from when you first can write them down to when you're 21. There's no date yet.
I think this one is going to take me a little bit of time.
From the Oct. 22, 2005, issue of Billboard.
Also available to Billboard.com subscribers.
For information about ordering a copy of the issue, click here.
Rap B.I.G. Whigs To Appear On Biggie CD
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Oct. 28, 2005) *Due Dec. 20 via Bad Boy, “The
Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter” allows a number of top recording
artists – both dead
and alive – the means to flow alongside the legendary Brooklyn rapper.
Among the set’s 22 tracks are “Hold Ya Head,” which debuted last September on
AOL Music and features a sample of the late Bob Marley's "Johnny Was”; and
the disc’s first single, “Nasty Girl,” featuring Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge and
Avery Storm. The track will be shipped to radio on Nov. 14. "The Final Chapter"
also features Fat Joe and the late Big Pun on "Get Your Grind On,"
while R. Kelly and Charlie Wilson guest on "Mi Casa." Twista and
Krayzie Bone team up for "Spit Your Game," while Biggie's mother,
Voletta Wallace, closes the disc with a poem, "Love Is Everlasting."
Other artists confirmed to appear on the project include Mary J. Blige, Obie
Trice, Nate Dogg, Missy, Redman, Freeway, Ludacris, Faith Evans, the Game, Slim
Thug, T.I., KoRn and Bobby Valentino. Sean "Diddy" Combs said in a
statement: "This movement has been both an emotional and therapeutic
experience, one that finds us at the end of the road in terms of original
releases for a great man and at the threshold of a sound and a quality which
may have fallen by the wayside after losing him." The music tracks
are all brand-new, were created by: Eminem, Swizz Beatz, Danja, Timbaland,
Jazze Pha, Sean C "Sean Cane," Diddy, LV, Coptic, Lesette Wilson,
Andre Harris, Vidal Davis, Just Blaze, Havoc, Stevie J, D. Dot, Reefa, Mike
"Suga Mike" Allen, Mario Winans, J-Dub, Scott Storch, DJ Green
Lantern, Clinton Sparks, Jonathan Davis, and Atticus Roff.
From The Shtetl To The Streets
Excerpt from The
Globe and Mail
(Nov. 2, 2005) If the phrase "Jewish hip-hop"
suggests little more than
novelty recordings, that's because for a long time that's all it was. Even
though the first prominent whites in rap music were Jews -- including the
Beastie Boys, producer and entrepreneur Rick Rubin and members of the group 3rd
Bass -- their Jewishness was never much a part of their artistic identity.
"It just so happened that they were Jewish," says Bill Adler, who as
the founding publicist for Def Jam Recordings worked with the Beasties, 3rd
Bass and Rubin. "They weren't Jewish rappers in the sense that they were
publicly Jewish." Instead, the first rappers to play up their Jewish identity
did so mainly as shtick. In 1990, a duo calling itself 2 Live Jews released a
parody of 2 Live Crew's As Nasty as They Wanna Be called As Kosher as They
Wanna Be, which included such tracks as Oy! It's So Humid. Over time, 2 Live
Jews were followed by M.O.T. (Members of the Tribe), whose oeuvre included
Kosher Nostra, the Woody Allen-ish MC Paul Barman, and a 50 Cent knock-off
called 50 Shekel, whose answer to In Da Club was called (what else?) In Da
Shul.
Oy, indeed. Lately, though, things have begun to change. Staten Island-born
rapper Remedy, an affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan, had a minor hit in 2001 with
Never Again, a rap dealing with his family and the Holocaust. There are Israeli
acts, such as Sagol 59 and the group Hadag Nahash, who rap in Hebrew. There's
the Los Angeles rapper Etan G, who dubbed his debut South Side of the
Synagogue, and a Brooklyn crew called the Hip-Hop Hoodios whose lyrics play off
their dual ethnicities as Jewish Latinos. Yet for all their verbal signifying,
there's little of Jewish musical tradition in what these rappers do, apart from
the occasional sample of Hava Negila. That's one of the reasons Socalled -- the
nom de rap of Montrealer Josh Dolgin -- stands apart from the field, for his
music relies as heavily on the klezmer tradition of Yiddish folk music as it
does on hip-hop rhymes, samples and looped beats. "It's hip-hop music,
it's klezmer music, and it's a combination," Dolgin says of his sound.
"My real folk music is hip-hop -- that's what I grew up with as a kid, and
danced to and feel at ease and musical and groovy with. And that's what I made
for, like, 15 years, just straight-up rap music using machines and loops and
samples and drum machines."
Like many kids interested in concocting their own beats from sampled material,
Dolgin is an inveterate record collector, and trawled for interesting sounds
wherever he could. But when he stumbled onto "these incredible old Yiddish
records," his attitude toward music changed dramatically. Centuries old,
Klezmer music arrived in North America with the immigration of Eastern European
Jews. It was briefly in vogue during the swing era, earning attention mainly
through crossover hits such as the Andrews Sisters' Bei Mir Bist Du Schon -- an
adaptation of the Yiddish hit Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn -- and Benny Goodman's And
the Angels Sing, but it had been essentially forgotten by the mid-seventies,
when it began to revive on the folk circuit. Dolgin felt an immediate
connection with the music. "I never felt that with jazz, or funk or gospel
or salsa or whatever were the types of music that I played," he says.
"Even hip-hop. And [in hip-hop] you're trying to represent yourself, to
speak and present a reality to people. But I couldn't really represent with the
hip-hop, because I wasn't black -- I was this weird white kid from the
country." While discovering an ethnic identity through klezmer, Dolgin was
also forging a new musical framework. "Once I found those records, I just
wanted to chop them up, sample them, reference them," he says. "But
in so doing, it made me learn about how to play actual traditional music. I had
to learn how to be conversant in the style." He's succeeded admirably.
Taking the stage with an Akai sampler and an accordion, Dolgin confounds the
image of both rapper and klezmer musician, but his music is strong enough that
he has collaborated both with Wu-Tang rapper Killah Priest and virtuoso klezmer
clarinetist David Krakauer.
"He's a guy who's equally influenced by black-American urban music as well
as Jewish music," says mandolinist Eric Stein, a member of the Toronto
klezmer group Beyond the Pale and an occasional collaborator of Dolgin's.
"Josh's music is something that deserves a great amount of attention,
because it's something I think is totally accessible to people whether they're
interested in Jewish music or not. It's just good music." Socalled
performs tonight in Toronto with Beyond the Pale at the Drake Underground, 1150
Queen St. W. (416-531-5042).
Broken Social Scene
Excerpt from www.billboard.com
- Katy Kroll
(Oct. 26, 2005) The whole of Toronto-based Broken
Social Scene is
the sum of many -- most of whom stem from a host of popular Canadian indie
acts including Feist, Stars and Metric. In all, 17 members and four guest
performers appear on the group's recently released self-titled album, which
debuted the week of Oct. 22 at No. 2 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers
chart. The epicenter of Broken Social Scene is its label, Arts &
Crafts. Launched by member Kevin Drew, the imprint is home to many of the acts
that are part of the collective. And since BSS' 2003 U.S. debut,
"You Forgot It In People," generated interest in indie circles,
several members' individual projects have also taken off. One
that's certainly benefiting from the newfound notoriety is Metric, whose
members Jimmy Shaw and Emily Haines both also contribute to Broken Social
Scene. Their "Live It Out" (Last Gang) debuted at No. 37 on the Top
Heatseekers list the same week as the BSS album. "I have a lot
of faith in both projects," Shaw says. "Usually the music that I like
doesn't make it anywhere, or at least doesn't gain mass appeal. But it seems
like, for most of those bands that have come out of that area of Canada [and
Broken Social Scene], people like the music and talk about it and word travels
fast. A lot of kids know each other and like swapping records -- and that's the
best way to find [new] music."
As the buzz surrounding Broken Social Scene continues to grow, so does interest
in bands like Metric. "There's a lot of overlap," Shaw
says. "When I go to Social Scene shows, or when I'm on tour with those
guys, there's a lot Feist fans, a lot of [Apostle Of Hustle] fans, a lot of
Stars fans [in the audience because] it's all very much kind of the same thing.
It's hard to say whether the scene is directly responsible for any one band's
success or not, though." But which came first, the individual bands
or the collective? "A lot of people talk about it as if the bands
are offshoots of Social Scene, but it's actually the other way around -- Social
Scene is the offshoot of all the other bands. [All the members] were in all
these bands in Toronto at the same time when we decided to do these Social
Scene shows," Shaw notes. "Aside from three or four [core] members,
everyone else puts their own projects first and then whatever time is left over
they dedicate to Social Scene." With so many different bands and
such diverse musical influences converging, it took more than two years to
complete the latest album. And even for Shaw, it's hard to understand how it
all came together in the end. "If you were to ask everyone
involved, you would get 15 different perceptions of how that record was made.
But I could never tell who was in the studio when or what the hell was going
on. I went in the studio when someone called me up and asked me to come
in," he laughs. "I wasn't the only one left in the dark, everybody
was like that. The only two people who knew what was going on were Kevin and
[producer] Dave [Newfeld]." As hard as it was to get everyone in the
studio, it was even harder to coordinate a tour. That's why Metric's Shaw and
Haines will be sitting this one out. "We're learning the evils
of releasing simultaneous records," Shaw says. "The only way for both
projects to be promoted at the same time is for me to be on tour with Metric.
Metric can't exist without me, but Social Scene can." Both bands are
currently touring North America.
Fiona Apple: Label Conflict Was This Singer's Best Friend
Excerpt from The
Toronto Star - Ben Rayner, Pop
Music Critic
(Oct. 31, 2005) Let's be honest here: while it exists in a perpetual state of
tormented symbiosis with the record companies, the critical press loves to run
with a good "Die, music industry! Die!" story if it thinks it's found
one. So when persistent rumours of conflict between young singer/songwriter Fiona Apple and the higher-ups at Sony Music
over the direction her third album would take gave way to its abrupt yanking
from the release schedule last year, an onslaught of outraged column inches was
foreordained. The Internet age, however, has granted fans a powerful weapon
with which to join the fight for art over commerce. A vociferous online
campaign thus erupted at FreeFiona.com earlier this year when a couple of
tracks from the scrapped version of Extraordinary Machine recorded with
longtime Apple friend and producer Jon Brion were leaked to the Net amid
reports Sony had stalled the project over lack of an identifiable hit single.
Free Fiona's grassroots crusade yielded great copy and, given Extraordinary
Machine's recent Top 10 debut on Billboard's album chart, an extraordinary
pre-release anti-marketing campaign. But Apple, who returned to the studio to
rework most of the record with hip-hop/R&B hitmaker Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre,
50 Cent), is these days stressing a more positive side of her struggle with Sony.
"I didn't get to live with the songs like I usually do," says Apple,
28, chatting candidly and with easy, self-deprecating humour about the Machine
drama whilst curled into the corner of a couch at Sony/BMG's Toronto office.
"Jon does so much stuff and then you kind of pick through it and find the
stuff that you like. And when we did When the Pawn ..., I knew right
away what I liked and didn't like. But this time, I had no idea what I liked or
I didn't like and I felt completely helpless. So I didn't end up satisfied with
the recordings.
"Everybody thought that I'd handed in this done record and Sony shelved it
because they didn't think there was a hit. They didn't think there was a hit,
that was true, but I have no idea whether they would have shelved it because I
was already saying to them I wanted to try the songs a different way." Few
doubts lingered over Apple's legitimacy as an artist after she celebrated Tidal's
2.7-million-selling success with public declamations of celebrity ("This
world is bullsh--," she infamously declared in 1997 from the global podium
of the MTV Music Awards) and the cryptic complications of its follow-up, whose
exaggeratedly long title starts with the words When the Pawn Hits the
Conflicts ... Still, the six tortuous years it took to produce Extraordinary
Machine affirm her claims of debilitating perfectionism. Apple concedes the
long vanishing act was largely of her own design, motivated in part by aversion
to stardom and seeing the details of her life (a horrific childhood rape in New
York figured prominently in early press) thrown around dispassionately by the
media. She also felt she had nothing to say and, following her last tour,
bought a house in Venice, Calif., where she sank into a routine of not
"doing much of any consequence at all.'' "It's the truth. I think if
I'd known I was going to have this much time from the beginning, I might have
planned a goal to achieve or gone back to school or written a book or
something," she says. "But as it is, I really didn't do anything.
"Ever since I started playing and writing music, I've always gone through
periods of even a couple of years where I don't even touch the piano or think
of writing. And I believe that's how it should be. I don't really believe in
writer's block because if I start to write something and I'm not feeling it, I
just stop. I'm not a writer that day. I really do feel it's out of my hands and
I have to let it happen when it happens, no matter how long it takes. That's
why every time I finish an album I'm not sure that I'll make another one."
It was at Brion's urging that Apple eventually roused herself to begin work on Extraordinary
Machine, breaking a personal rule to not "force" songs before
they take complete shape in her head after "a lot of walking and a lot of
thinking." Yet while worries that Brion's baroque production didn't sit
right with the torchy swing of her new tunes led her at the 11th hour to pursue
a more stripped-down avenue with Elizondo, she allows that some of her
overseers at Sony (now departed thanks to a business merger) had a hand in the
drama. Once she started working with Elizondo, Apple says, she received word
from her budget-conscious handlers that she would have to finish "one song
at a time, then they would hear it and then give me money for the next
one." Sony/BMG now insists Apple was the victim of
"miscommunication," but she was insulted enough by the prospect of
being told by a boardroom how to write a song that she threatened to "quit
altogether if I couldn't do it my way" and shut production down completely
for several months. Fortunately, the Free Fiona campaign stepped in at the
right time to prompt a change of heart, allowing Apple and Elizondo to complete
a swaggeringly mature work that has turned out to be one of 2005's best-reviewed
albums. "Even though they set out to save the day in one way — to get Sony
to release an album they thought was shelved — they actually did save me from
that," she says. "It was never told to me, `Well, because of Free
Fiona, we're gonna let you do it your own way.' But I'm sure it was because of
them."
New
Yorker Has Toronto Moment: Dominique Keegan
Excerpt from The
Toronto Star - Ben Rayner, Pop Music Critic
(Oct. 27, 2005) Poor, insecure Toronto has an almost tragic yearning to be mentioned in the same breath as
New York as a global hotbed of hipsterdom, so it stands to reason Dominique Keegan will be embraced as a sort of local hero for
elevating our city to marquee status in the latest volume of his The Sound of Young
New York mix-disc series. Not to say The Sound of Young New York and Toronto — the third dance-rock/electro-punk/whatever
throwdown compiled by Keegan and his Glass bandmate, Glen "DJ Wool"
Brady — represents the Dublin-born DJ, producer and promoter's first
acknowledgement of this town's thriving underground. A standout track on the
last volume was "Sure Thing," a brooding collaboration between local
house DJ/producer Steve Yanko and expat-Toronto indie-rocker Chris Field, done under
the name The Voices. But since Keegan this time decided to include
another Voices track, the melancholy comedown cut "Street Commander,"
on the new disc alongside Death From Above 1979's slamming "Romantic
Rights" and a disco-fired remix of Panthers' "Thank Me With Your
Hands" by DFA's Jesse Keeler in his MSTRKRFT guise, he felt it only fair
to give Toronto co-billing in the title. "I thought that having a
`Volume 3' would start to be a bit Now That's What I Call Music — and a bit crap," he
chuckles. "And I really wanted to put that Death From Above 1979 track on
there because I think it's great. And I wanted to put the Steve Yanko track on
there not just because it's on my label (Plant Music) and he's my boy, but
because I really like it and I feel that what he's doing isn't getting enough
exposure. It was kind of a piss-take, too. I know when I get up (to Toronto),
people are gonna be, like, `You didn't represent us properly.'"
Keegan can confidently lay claim to knowing more about Toronto than the average
New York resident. An "ex-ex-girlfriend" from these parts lured him
up regularly for DJ dates and general hangin' out for several years. More
recently, he's struck up a friendship with Synchro masterminds Denise Benson
and Andrew Allsgood, who are bringing him back to play the club night's
second-anniversary party at Andy Poolhall tomorrow night. In any case,
however small the gesture, The Sound of Young New York and
Toronto is a
small badge of honour for the city's scene. Over the years, Keegan — through
his defunct Plant Bar, the Plant Music label and the TSOYNY
series — has proved an astute arbiter of what's "in" at any given
time.
The original Sound of Young New York mix, after all, played a
reasonably significant role in taking the ongoing rock-meets-dance-music
revival embodied by the likes of Radio 4 and the "other" Death From
Above (the record company and production team whose legal threats prompted the
addition of "1979" to the Toronto duo's name) out of Brooklyn lofts
and onto the world stage. "The origin of the series was, when I had
Plant Bar up and running, I saw all these indie and rock kids getting into
old-school house and acid-house and stuff and then making music based on that,
starting to write guitar songs over a big kick drum," says Keegan.
"And those people, in turn, turned all these dance kids that I knew who
were suddenly, like, `F--- this instrumental shit, let's have a bit of a song
again' and finding common ground in stuff like the Stone Roses. "Everyone
was making these records and there was this huge hype around it, but no one
could actually get them. There wasn't a CD coming out, so I thought, `F---, I
should do a mix.' I wasn't trying to lay claim to anything with the name. They
were just tunes I liked." The two later editions have been less
"relevant" as snapshots of an emergent zeitgeist, Keegan concedes, and more about
showcasing the work of friends, artists on Plant and tunes of which he's simply
a fan. Rock's increasing dominance over electronic music in the mix,
meanwhile, reflects his belief that "to a certain extent, all the great
instrumental techno and house records have been made" — a belief backed up
by his own recent retreat from his 1990s stint as a house DJ to a more
rock-oriented (though still electronically tinged) gig as bass player and
vocalist in The Glass. The Glass is on The Sound of Young
New York and Toronto with the fine shoegazers-gone-clubbing ditty "Fourteen
Again," begging the question of when the band's first full-length album
might finally appear. "We're just constantly recording and making
sh-- and trying to make as good an album as we can," says Keegan. "It
has been a long time coming, but the way we make music isn't like most bands,
who write their songs, go into the studio and record everything and it's
done. "We record like dance producers. We go into the studio, roll a
joint, make a beat and start f---in' around. It takes a long time. We have an
album's worth of material, but we're always, like: `Ah, you could do better.
Keep going.' There's so much noodling with dance music and modern software
that, when dance producers try to make an album, it always takes a long time.
Although we're really not big noodlers."
Everyone's Playing It, But Don't Call It
A Trend
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail -
By Mark Miller
(Oct. 29, 2005) The trend in jazz at
the moment is simply that there is no trend. The music's all over the place.
Make no mistake, this is a healthy state of affairs. Trends are for people who
like rhyme and reason in their lives, while jazz at its best offers neither.
Jazz goes where the musicians take it, from one note -- one solo, one tune, one
record, one year, one decade -- to the next. When it does appear to be following
a pattern, chances are good that the pattern has been imposed artificially from
outside. Something just happens to catch the public's fancy, and the recording
industry naturally responds with something else exactly like it, further
encouraged by the potential profit to add the sort of promotion that it would
otherwise never have received in the first place. Add some sympathetic
resonance in a suggestible media on a slow news day, et voilà, a trend.
We're not simply talking about the Swing revival of the 1990s, the "jam
bands" of three or four years back or Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum and the
rest of the current jazz-lite, vocalist-pianist crowd. Back in 1920, when the
success of Mamie Smith's recording of Crazy Blues for OKeh took everyone
by surprise, African-American women singing the blues to jazz accompaniment
suddenly flourished on the Banner, Black Swan, Columbia and Paramount labels.
(African-American women named Smith, in fact: Bessie, Clara, Clementine, Laura
and Trixie among them. Now that's a trend.) A few years later, when
Louis Armstrong made the same company a tidy sum with his Hot Fives and Hot
Sevens, his fellow trumpeters River Reeves, Jabbo Smith and Red Allen were all
groomed for similar success by OKeh's rivals.
Sixty years on, history repeated itself when the emergence of Wynton Marsalis
inspired the major labels to support his fellow young trumpeters Terence
Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Marlon Jordan, Nicholas Payton and Marcus Printup, as
well as his fellow young neo-conservatives more generally. Consider, though,
that Hargrove and Payton have moved on in more recent years from
neo-conservatism to embrace, in whole or in part, the funk-fusion of
late-period Miles Davis, an era also explored in recent years by trumpeters
Dave Douglas and Brian Lynch, saxophonist Chris Potter, Canadian drummers Jean
Martin and Barry Romberg, and the wild and crazy Frenchman Médéric Collignon,
whose band Collective Slang played the Canadian festival circuit recently. This
might be a trend, save for the fact that it's really just another
example of jazz going where the musicians wish to take it. They'll be off on a
different tangent soon enough. In this particular instance -- this Miles-ian
spree -- jazz is going somewhere raw, assertive and impulsive, too much so on
all counts to be endorsed in the boardrooms of a recording industry beholden to
the premise that jazz offering the least emotional offense promises the
greatest commercial return. It's this kind of conservative corporate thinking
that has inspired a growing number of important American players to take their
fate on CD into their own hands. Dave Douglas, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Dave
Holland, saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Jane Ira Bloom and composer Maria
Schneider have all sidestepped the industry to some degree, Douglas, Holland
and Marsalis with labels of their own -- Greenleaf Music, Dare2 and Marsalis
Music, respectively -- and Hall, Bloom and Schneider through their affiliation
with ArtistShare. These exercises in self-determination are nothing new to
Canadian musicians, who have been doing it themselves for years, beginning with
Unity Records in 1987 and continuing more recently with Ambiances Magnétiques,
Cornerstone, Effendi, Cellar Live and Romhog. Ditto the Europeans, and for even
longer, with FMP, ICP, Incus and BVHaast. Not to forget the Americans Charles
Mingus and Max Roach, who formed Debut Records back in 1952, responding -- like
the Canadians and the avant-Europeans after them --- to the monolithic
indifference of the mainstream recording industry. It's unreasonable, though,
to expect that Douglas, Holland, Marsalis and Schneider will burst forth
creatively now that they've thrown off the yoke of commercial imperatives. (For
that matter, the new Douglas, Holland and Marsalis labels still rely on the
majors for distribution; ArtistShare is available only on-line.) Their new
releases are more of whatever they've been doing all along, none of it
revolutionary. But the very fact that they've felt it necessary to step out on
their own just to keep on doing it is, in itself, telling.
What they've been doing all along is stretching the perimeters of jazz by
pushing out from the centre. Douglas, for one, has integrated elements from
other musical traditions, while Holland has upped the rhythmic and melodic ante
of improvisation and Schneider has expanded the orchestral reach and resources
of the composer. In each case, though, the perimeters of jazz remain intact. It
has been a long time since anyone has actually breached them, at least from the
inside. Perhaps that's why there has been as much of a buzz lately about two
long-lost concert recordings -- one from 1957 by Thelonious Monk with John
Coltrane from Blue Note and the other (unreleased in Canada) from 1945 by Dizzy
Gillespie and Charlie Parker from Uptown -- as there has been about anything
conceived in the last year or so. Fair enough: These two releases are a
reminder of what modern jazz sounded like at those points in its history when
it was absolutely fresh. Of late, only Dave Holland's quintet has come close to
offering us a similar sensation. It's worth noting that neither Gillespie and
Parker nor Monk and Coltrane started any trends in their time. (Okay, Dizzy's
sartorial resplendence inspired a run in the late 1940s on berets, horn-rimmed
glasses and goatees.) They established and refined an entirely new language,
bebop, which became the very foundation of all that followed in modern jazz.
But no trends. Trends pass; record sales tail off, media attention wanders and
the artificiality of it all is forgotten as quickly as its revealed. What's
real -- the sort of jazz that goes where the musicians, not the industry, take
it -- is what endures.
Miri Ben-Ari
Excerpt from www.billboard.com
- Katy Kroll
(Oct. 5, 2005) Israeli-born Miri Ben-Ari came to the United States in
the late 1990s with no money, no friends and unable to speak English. But the classically trained violinist was determined to make her mark on
the music industry. With the release of her album "The Hip-Hop
Violinist," Ben-Ari saw her years of hard work pay off. The album debuted
at No. 10 last week on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. Ben-Ari was
literally raised on classical music, but found a new musical direction in her late
teens. "My parents only listened to classical, so I was never
exposed to anything else," Ben-Ari says. "I had to discover things on
my own. One day by accident I bought a jazz album by Charlie Parker and I
realized there was another form of improvisation, and that was it. Classical
don't groove like jazz or hip-hop, and I'm very groove oriented. It was very
difficult [to leave classical behind], but it was something I had to
do." After serving a mandatory two-year stink in the Israeli Army,
the violinist moved to New York to study jazz. It was there that she found her
true calling. While working the club circuit, she began making friends with the
likes of Wynton Marsalis and Wyclef Jean. Those connections quickly snowballed
and she found herself arranging and playing strings for such artists as Alicia
Keys and Kanye West. Ben-Ari credits her time in the army as giving her
the motivation to learn the skills that got her to where she is today.
"The army gave me the strength to leave the classical world behind,"
she says. "All the discipline and the whole concept of being one with such
a great and powerful machine, I wasn't Miri Ben-Ari the violinist, I was just
another soldier. It really humbles you but when you get out of there you have
the illusion that you can do anything. Coming out of the army gives you the
power to think you're the s***." That attitude helped her
build many partnerships in the industry, so it was easy for her to assemble a
high-profile hip-hop roster for "The Hip-Hop Violinist." Ben-Ari
doesn't sing on any of the album's tracks, but instead features a rotating cast
of performers, including West, Akon and Style P, among others.
"It was very organic, since I worked with many of the people before,"
she says of the collaborations. "Certain people were perfect for certain
songs. Like I wanted Styles P to be on [the first single, 'We Gonna Win']. It's
the first song in hip-hop history where a violinist is taking a verse like a
rapper -- Styles takes his verse and then I take my verse." Although
Ben-Ari loves being in the spotlight, the idea of stepping out from behind the
violin and singing isn't very appealing to her. "I believe that
everything you do needs to be your forte," she says. "Therefore, just
singing because I want to sing doesn't mean that I'll be the greatest vocalist
ever. I have a musical ear and I'm not going to do anything that's not my
forte. Besides, no one has ever said to me, 'Yo, I wish you sang.' I made the
violin my voice." Along with just a DJ and an MC, Ben-Ari's unusual
stage presence has been captivating hip-hop audiences across the country.
"I blew up because of my live show," she notes. "It's something
that you have to see to believe. People always come out of my show and say it's
the best thing they have ever seen. Then people learn about me being so
original and so different -- I'm the first hip-hop violinist. It's just so
unique and it takes a lot of guts to have a career that breaks all the rules
about how you're supposed to play as a violinist." Miri Ben-Ari is
currently on tour with Busta Rhymes.
Understanding One Of
The Greatest: Steve Reich
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By Robert Everett-Green
(Oct. 29, 2005) In the Zohar, the central book of the Kabbalah, the dawning of
day is said to prompt a huge chorus of hymns in Heaven, and an increase in
divine mercy. As the light of day wanes, however, the singing turns to howling,
and contention spreads over the Earth, and judgment becomes more severe. You
could interpret that to mean that there is music for all states of peace and
conflict, and also that music has some effect on the moral universe. Or at
least, that music can intensify our reflections on what we should and should
not do, as seems to be the case in the recent works of Steve Reich. This 69-year-old American is one of the most influential living
composers, and possibly the easiest to misunderstand. In many people's minds,
Reich is identified with a handful of buoyant pieces from the sixties whose
expansion of simple phrases into complex pulsing organisms became part of the
textbook definition of minimalism. His canonic shifting of voices in and out of
synchronization made "phasing" a common term of art, and his use of
loops and patterns had an influence on new music and art rock that continues to
this day. All that is in the history books, and rightly so. But even while he
sharpened his skills at posing and working out purely musical problems, Reich
was becoming a composer guided by a keen social and religious curiosity. Over
the past two decades, he has created works that engage with the central moral
dramas of our time. Different Trains (1988) touched on the Holocaust, Three Tales
(2002) grappled with nuclear testing and genetic cloning, and his forthcoming Book of Daniel is a meditation on the fate of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, with
constant reference to Biblical narratives. "Very early on, people
conceived of me as a very systematic, quasi-mathematical composer," Reich
said during a lively conversation prior to his appearance at the University of
Toronto for a lecture and concert, and for tomorrow's all-Reich program by
Soundstreams Canada. "It was a mistake even then."
Even It's Gonna Rain (1965), the piece that first established his
reputation, shows something of Reich's intuitive, socially engaged side. The
piece's technical innovation lay in the way he used divergent tape speeds and
editing to produce a multilayered work (a process largely guided by ear, he
insists), but the substance of the piece all came from a few prophetic words by
an ecstatic street preacher. "Musical intuition is at the rock bottom of
everything I've ever done," Reich says. But it took the former philosophy
student another decade to understand where his intuitions about life and its
higher meaning were leading him, after a typical late-sixties tour of Hatha
yoga and several forms of Eastern meditation. "I'm a high-metabolism New
Yorker, and it was very focusing, steadying and useful," he said of those
explorations. "But I felt something was missing. And I suddenly got this
thought that maybe I could find something in my own backyard, which I knew
nothing about." He began studying all the things he had missed as a Reform
Jew, including the Torah and Biblical Hebrew. He began keeping kosher,
and observing the Sabbath. Inevitably, this new theme of his life came into his
music, which during the seventies had flowered far beyond his didactic early
works to absorb shifts in harmony and a more fluid type of counterpoint than
that of his "phasing" pieces. Tehillim (1981) brought Hebrew texts (from
the Psalms) into his music, which for years had featured human voices only for
their instrumental qualities. The recovery of words brought a new set of
opportunities into view, and propelled him toward the socially engaged works of
recent years.
"I decided I was going to finally do what every composer before me has
done, which is to set text," he says. "Words force you to do things
you wouldn't do otherwise, because of their rhythm and their meaning." You Are (Variations), his newest major work and the centrepiece of his latest CD on
Nonesuch, is an austere and beautiful setting of four short statements, three
from Hebrew texts and one from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The rhythm
of the words is reflected in the whole structure of the piece, whose canonic
repetitions of the texts is a form of active meditation on what they mean and
also how they feel as verbal or ritual actions. You Are (Variations)
is also the main
music on Soundstreams's concert tomorrow. The recorded version, by the Los
Angeles Master Chorale, features six singers and 28 instrumentalists -- an
immense ensemble for Reich, who has always preferred small groups, and who quit
writing for orchestras in 1987. "I stopped for the same reason that Bach
sounds terrible with a large orchestra, because in contrapuntal music you need
clarity and definition, and you can't get that with 18 first [violins] and 16
seconds," he says. "When you need a gazelle, an elephant won't
do." Reich is writing The Book of Daniel for a revised version of the band
he assembled for Music for 18 Players, a pivotal piece from the
mid-seventies that greatly expanded his audience (the ECM recording sold over
100,000 copies, and Reich's ensemble performed it live at New York's legendary
Bottom Line club). He has made more room this time for violins, because Daniel
Pearl was an enthusiastic bluegrass and jazz fiddler.
The main impetus behind the work is the desire to mark Pearl's passing both as
a personal tragedy, and as a symbol of the impact of 9/11, which touched Reich
directly. His New York apartment is four blocks from the World Trade Center
site. He and his wife, the video artist Beryl Korot (who has collaborated with
him on all his music-theatre pieces), were in Vermont, but their son and
granddaughter were in the Manhattan apartment during the attack. "You talk
about terror, it was absolutely terrifying," Reich said, his fast-talking
composure beginning to wane as he remembers. "My son called at about 8:30
a.m., we turned on the TV, and as we were watching, the second plane hit. . . .
When the first tower went down, my son was still on the phone -- we kept the
line open for six hours -- and he was screaming, 'It's black, it's pitch
black!'. . . There was a radio tower on the top of the northern tower, and if
it had fallen north instead of collapsing, there would have been nothing left
of our building at all." Eventually the younger Reichs escaped the city,
the darkness lifted, and the howling in Heaven came to a temporary halt. We're
still waiting for the resumption of the celebratory hymns of dawn, echoes of
which may be heard, by those prepared to listen, in the music of Steve Reich. The University of Toronto's Faculty of Music presents a free concert of
Steve Reich's music at Walter Hall today at 2 p.m. Soundstreams Canada gives
the Canadian premiere of You Are (Variations) at the University of Toronto's
MacMillan Theatre tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Pérez Takes Traditional Sounds To The Street
Excerpt from www.billboard.com -
Leila Cobo
(Oct. 27, 2005) Yolanda Pérez is not
the first bilingual, bicultural artist to
blend traditional Mexican with urban American sounds. But Pérez, 22,
may have an edge over her competitors. Unlike most of her counterparts, she is
female and -- judging by past success on radio -- she sings about topics her
contemporaries want to hear. Counting on that youth appeal, Pérez
is pushing her genre mix one step further by adding not only hip-hop but also
reggaetón to her banda. "Esto Es Amor," due Nov. 1 on
Fonovisa Records, leads off with the single "Cómo Quieras, Cuando
Quieras," a reggaetón/banda blend featuring Pérez trading verses with
reggaetón songstress Adassa. The contrast is striking, because banda is a
traditional genre played only with acoustic instruments, predominantly brass.
The bass line is played by the tuba, which in Pérez's banda/reggaetón mix also
takes over the distinctive reggaetón bass line. "We were
looking for a new sound," Pérez says. "We thought it'd be a good idea
because of how the fans like to listen to both styles of music."
Pérez readily admits that she goes "whichever way the fans pull me"
because she embodies her fans. Born in Los Angeles to Mexican
parents (who hail from banda music hotbed Zacatecas), Pérez grew up listening
only to music in Spanish by the likes of ranchero stars Graciela Beltrán, Pepe
Aguilar and Ana Bárbara. "I didn't think about it, but a lot of my
friends didn't listen to what I listened to," she says. That was the case
even when she started singing banda professionally, when she was only 11 years
old. Things changed, she says, when she went to high school and
sought out friends who knew nothing about her nascent fame. "I
started hanging out with people who didn't know me, who didn't know that I
sang, and that's when [my music] turned around." In 2003,
Pérez inked with Fonovisa and released "Déjenme Llorar," which peaked
at No. 29 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, driven largely by the single
"Estoy Enamorada." The hilarious track was a bilingual
mishmash of banda and rap featuring an English-speaking Pérez verbally sparring
with her old-fashioned, Spanish-speaking "dad" -- Los Angeles radio
personality Don Cheto of KBUE -- about her dating choices. The song reached No.
7 on the Billboard regional Mexican airplay chart. But promotion of
Pérez's follow-up album, "Aquí Me Tienes," stalled after she got
pregnant. Now, following the birth of her daughter, she is back with "Eso
Es Amor," which includes a mixture of styles, with reggaetón on some
tracks, hip-hop on others and banda as the dominant presence. For
Pérez, the mixture is simply part of her persona. "Reggaetón
is just an ingredient," she says. "I did it because it's one of the
styles of music I like to listen to."
Excerpted from the Oct. 29, 2005, issue of Billboard. The full original text
is available to Billboard.com subscribers.
For information about ordering a copy of the issue, click here.
Wallace Roney:
Becoming Part of the Whole
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - By Deardra
Shuler
(Nov. 1, 2005) The hush on stage at Joe’s Pub was circumvented with the squeal of brass. It’s
piercing shrill evolved into a cacophony of instruments screaming, wailing,
writhing, throbbing, breaching the silence with a language and tonality that
took on a musical expression all its own. It had an intelligence that
created and recreated itself while giving order to chaos. The Wallace Roney Band was playing pure jazz. They were
playing the songs within their new CD Mystikal. And indeed, an aura
of the mystical was apparent as the music struck upon the essence of form
without form in search of the enigma that is true jazz. The blissful faces
of the musicians were enraptured by some musical high that elevated their souls
beyond time. Harmonies emerged touching levels of vibrations too high to be
discerned by mind, understood only at the heart level. As the melodies,
harmonies and vibrations crescendo and converged without restraint, it was
reborn and sought to be free. Once released, it merely stopped, leaving
behind the power of its expression with all in the room. This was the
music of Wallace Roney. There is no doubt that Miles Davis influenced Wallace
Roney. In fact, Miles was Roney’s mentor. While some may say that
Mr. Roney is an imitator, I would say, not so. While there is certainly
an essence of Miles in Roney’s music, the trumpeter has managed to carve out
his own nitch keeping Miles alive through his trumpet while remaining true to
his own considerable talents. Wallace set off on his musical odyssey at
the age of 4. He grew up in Philadelphia but attended high school in
Washington, D.C. “My father, who was a boxer and United States Marshall, used
to mess around with the trumpet. I used to sneak and play my father’s
trumpet until my grandmother bought me my own,” claimed Roney who later
attended Howard University for a year and then Berklee College of Music for
another year. Roney likes to experiment with his music and thus
includes turntablist, DJ Val Jeanty, among those who play with his band. He
collaborated with her on his record “No Room For Argument” and continues to add
a little turntable spice to the mix. His band consists of his brother
Antoine Roney on sax; Eric Allen on the drums; Ugonna Okegwo on bass; and Adam
Holtzman on piano.
“I hear a lot of music in my head but I listen to other musicians to
inspire me. If there is something that is happening that I can incorporate
and take further, I am very open to that. I think at this point it’s not
about trying to copy anyone but seeing if I can take something and express it
in my own way while adding to it. I try not to lose the greatness of what
jazz is but rather make it relevant to what’s going on with me as well”
explained Roney. There are occasions when jazz musicians comment that
individuals who haven’t explored jazz often pass on jazz because they have
formed a preconceived idea of what jazz is about. They may not realize
that jazz is comprised of many forms. “I think these misconceptions are
two-fold. I think in many ways the record companies don’t get behind jazz
music. If they took one-third of the PR budget that they use for rock,
pop and hip hop music, jazz would definitely flourish. Hip hop I have
respect for because these artists did the music even when they had no
support. Once it garnered support the record companies jumped in and put
money behind it. I think R&B and hip hop are relevant because its
black music and it speaks to our people. However, I think to the overall
intellectual music community that type of music is non-threatening. Jazz
is more than threatening. Jazz has the ability to be the superior
music. Unfortunately, this is still a racist world. Thus, those in power
would hate to say that Charlie Parker, Dizzy or John Coltrane is greater than
classical Paganni. Thus, the support is not there,” remarked the astute
trumpeter who is married to pianist Gerri Allen. “I see my music as an
extension of what is great about jazz music” said the occasional
pugilist. “I hope to extend and broaden the music of the people whom I
had the privilege of learning from, such as Miles Davis. I think Miles
picked me because out of all the people he trusted, he felt that maybe, I would
do something with what he gave me. That is what I like to believe I am
doing. I am very influenced by the music of Miles, John Coltrane and Ornette
Coleman. I believe when an artist contributes something it should be continued.
I see myself as taking the best of it all and utilizing and regurgitating it
via how it sounds within me” explained Roney who also released the album
Prototype on High Note Records. Roney’s band has recently toured Minneapolis,
Chicago and Dayton. He will be playing the upcoming Duke Ellington Jazz
Festival in Washington, D.C. He toured Europe. “The Europeans are a
receptive audience. If it wasn’t for Europe we probably wouldn’t have
many jazz forums in which to perform” remarked the attractive musician.
Roney is proud of his new CD Mystikal. “Mystikal is an extension of the
last record I made. It’s my favourite recording so far. I feel that
everything I wanted to say or do was fulfilled in this CD. This CD has mystical,
spiritual forces as I see it. I took this CD much further than all the
others. My wife, Gerri Allen, one of the great piano players of today,
also played on this album.” “I like to feel I live by truth,” stated
Roney of his music and life. “I try to find truth in every way possible
and be honest to it. I don’t wake up in the morning and say I am
great. I wake up in the morning and ask how can I be better? And if
I become better than I ask how can I go further? I reflect on what’s my
purpose in being better? What’s my goal? I ask myself whether the
goal is to be part of a whole. I ponder this and just keep going forward
knowing I am acknowledging something greater. Far greater than I can ever
imagine and I let if drive me. I then allow my music to honour that goal.”
Where's the Santana in Santana?
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Guy Dixon
(Nov. 1, 2005) His playing is possibly the most recognizable in rock today,
carrying the same warmth just on the cusp of distortion that it had at his
earliest gigs at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Helping to carry West Coast
rock into the Woodstock era (with his legendary performance -- on acid -- under
the overcast sky of upstate New York), he later branched out into 1970s fusion
and various other styles with so-so success before settling into his current
role as a standard-bearer of the American Latino groove. But with the release
today of All That I Am, another
album of pop collaborations, is Carlos Santana
turning himself into a superstar session man, a mere accompanist for
radio-friendly hits? It's a dispiriting question to have to ask. The guitarist
evokes such good intentions and general hippie spirituality, particularly in
concert, that to question him almost suggests something wrong with the person
doing the asking. One solution could be to try to see it in the same light as
Santana himself. "My whole life has been around people. It's not a shtick,
a gimmick, a gadget or a gizmo or a formula," Santana said in his
ultra-serene way during a stopover in Toronto. "My thing is all about
being kind of like a maitre d'. I like complementing and serving people, and
especially [serving] the songs. "So it's not like it's a formula," he
added, wearing a black skullcap and speaking with monk-like calm. "For me,
it's God's grace, and also I give a lot of credit to Mr. Clive Davis" --
Santana is careful to say the honorific and the full name of those he holds in
esteem -- " 'cause he has big ears and we stick to something. We stick to
a plan of what the song is supposed to do."
Following the same commercial format as 1999's multi-Grammy-winning Supernatural
and 2002's Shaman, All That I Am was overseen by industry mogul
Davis. The new album includes singers from Michelle Branch and Mary J. Blige to
Aerosmith's Steve Tyler and Joss Stone, as if trying to one-up the previous CDs
with big-name acts. Its release has also been delayed at least twice as tracks
were tweaked and the marketing muscle of Sony BMG properly flexed. Yet it's
impossible to imagine that older Santana fans won't view the new discmostly as
a reminder of his older material. Even some in his own record company, those
paid to plug the new material, will say how much more they relate to 1969's
eponymous Santana or 1970's Abraxas rather than the new stuff.
Older songs such as Jingo and Evil Ways created entire schools of
Latin fusion and what was then dubbed "Chicano rock." And they remain
more than mere crowd-pleasers today; Santana still plays the older material in
concert with as much emotion as ever. Few rockers could muster the vibe of the
bongo-playing hippies of San Francisco's Aquatic Park, where Santana says the
impulse for his amalgam of sounds originated, with the same level of
legitimacy. During concerts this summer, Santana made long speeches about being
a child of the sixties. And the main topic of conversation among those leaving
a show in Toronto was reminiscences about where they were when Abraxas was
released.
How, then, should older Santana fans approach the new material -- pop tunes
such as I'm Feeling You, with Santana trying hard to be heard over
Branch's voice and the song's sugary production, or My Man, on which the
guitarist noodles over rapper Big Boi? As it turns out, the collaborations on
the new album weren't always a meeting of two artistic minds. The original
vocals for Just Feeling Better, for instance, were performed by Puddle
of Mudd's Wes Scantlin, but were replaced by vocals from Tyler. The track Brown
Skin Girl was originally sung by Uncle Kracker, but the album version
features American Idol runner-up Bo Bice. As Santana explained, the
songs took precedence over the performers, himself included. One
exception is the album's instrumental track, made with Metallica's Kirk Hammett
and pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph, which features true interplay
between the musicians -- something once central to Santana. But then, he
has always demurred for the sake of the music. Santana's bands in the early
years were never simply guitar-driven; his playing was always a voice mingling
with the percussion or countering Gregg Rolie's organ lines. "I'm still a
17-year-old child inside who is really hungry to learn, to express and
articulate emotion, sound, frequency," Santana explained, ever philosophical.
"I do a lot of research, listen to a lot of people, specifically a
lot of African musicians. But I don't sound like them. I take and I give back.
I listen to Peter Green, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, everybody," he said. "To
me, every day is new.” He then veered to the spiritual. "Here's the big
key for you people to understand, man: Learn to feel the light inside you.
Learn to feel the cries of the Buddha, Krishna, Rama and Jehovah. They're all
in your heart. . . . Once you feel that light, I guarantee you can will things
to happen."
That is what a conversation with Santana is like: the purity of a note, finding
the light and the "frequency" between us all. For someone who
practises alone late into the night, endlessly bending emotion out of his
guitar, thinking in terms of purity and light must make sense. "If you
don't feel it, they're not going to feel it," he says of his playing.
"So you should practise learning how to feel the air in your lungs, like
how you can feel the water rising when the moon is in a certain way. You should
be able to feel when you get aroused. You know, sexually aroused. You can feel
the blood. You should feel that with the notes." It's all part of
Santana's positive vibe, something so tangible it could almost be bottled and
sold. (In fact, it is, with his new line of perfume.) The vibe began
partly with a bad LSD trip in the height of his hippie days, he explained,
which took him from being an average player to one able to unify disparate
genres. "It was actually a jolt," he recalls, "me stepping out
of my existence of being this little Mexican who washed dishes and becoming a
person in the same arena as the Grateful Dead and Michael Bloomfield and Eric
Clapton -- and having something to say musically and consciously for the
highest good of the planet. "A lot of Mexicans walk around with guilt,
shame, judgment, condemnation and fear. It's the indoctrination of the Catholic
way of thinking. [But] when a Mexican wakes up, you become a multidimensional
being, instead of just a Mexican, you know. I pledge allegiance to no
flag." True to that ethic, Santana avoids any label, whether it's
"commercial" or "anti-establishment." If it feels right,
then it's right. Even to a jaded listener, Santana is working hard on the new
songs, adapting his emotive playing to both the crossover hits and the album's
straight-ahead Latin numbers. At 58, he sounds as engaged -- and joyous -- as
he has ever been. "Get your intentions, your motives and your purpose in
the same note . . . you can will things to happen, man," Santana said,
still taking the spiritual high road. And with All That I Am, many fans
will no doubt follow. Even if some would still rather listen to the old stuff.
Essential Santana
Carlos Santana has been a presence on the international rock music scene
for more than 35 years. But Carlos connoisseurs generally agree his most potent
work -- as opposed to most commercially successful -- occurred in the early
1970s. Some choice cuts:
Abraxas (1970). A monumental leap forward from the band's 1969 debut,
and still an essential Latin-rock template. The great music was nicely matched
by the famous, sexy cover art by surrealist Mati Klarwein.
Caravanserai (1972). Probably the greatest Santana band record. Exultant
guitar playing, driving percussion: a musical journey into the mystic.
Welcome (1973). Carlos at his most cosmic (and jazziest) as he discovers
(and covers) John Coltrane and engages in duelling guitars with Mahavishnu John
McLaughlin.
Lotus (1974). A brilliant live recording, taped at a blistering series
of concerts in Japan. Offers an effective mix of the old (Black Magic Woman;
Incident at Neshabur) and the jazz fusion he was embracing at the time.
Amigos (1976). Santana comes back to earth, at the behest of then-manager
Bill Graham, and produces a strong recording that harks back to the Abraxas/Santana
III heyday. After this, it was a descent into the banal, formulaic
Latin-tinged pop that, with a few exceptions (Silver Creams--Golden Reality;
The Swing of Delight; Blues for Salvador) has been his hallmark ever since.
Singer Ninja A Force
Of Nature
Excerpt from The
Toronto Star - Tabassum Siddiqui
(Nov. 1, 2005) In the current indie-rock sweepstakes, where joyfulness is a
hot commodity (see Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, et al.), UK buzz band The
Go! Team takes
the prize hands down. The multi-culti Brighton brigade may have burst out
of nowhere last year with their universally acclaimed, sample-happy debut album
Thunder, Lightning, Strike but arrived at the beyond-packed Phoenix Concert Theatre Sunday night
to a heroes' welcome, selling out the 1,000-plus venue just three months after
their first visit to Toronto at the much smaller Lee's Palace (which holds 450
on a good night). What makes The Go! Team's rise even more remarkable is
that Thunder, Lightning, Strike wasn't even available
domestically on these shores until earlier this month. Though several
North American labels were interested in signing the band based on strong word
of mouth and a few scattered showcase gigs on this side of the pond, many
balked at dealing with clearing the hundreds of samples Go! Team mastermind Ian
Parton had used in piecing together the album's densely layered sound.
Columbia Records, an offshoot of Sony/BMG, won out, and Parton remixed
the record for its North American release and added two bonus tracks. The new
version finally hit the shelves two weeks ago and, luckily for fans who'd
already grown attached to the original tracks, the changes are subtle enough that
you'd miss them completely if you weren't listening extremely closely.
Thanks to the digital age, however, musical borders don't really exist
any more. And so somehow in the year since the record came out in the U.K.,
Toronto has fallen in love with the Team's sunny cheerleader indie-pop.
"Did anyone here have the illegal version?" the team's
hyper-energized front woman, singer/rapper Ninja, teased towards the middle of
Sunday's set at the Phoenix. "Criminals, criminals, criminals!"
Noting that she was the only member of the six-strong troupe dressed for
Halloween — looking like a bumblebee in a yellow top and black skirt and
sporting a headband with fuzzy antennae — Ninja later acknowledged that Toronto
had played a big part in the band's success. "You guys have been
emailing us the most, shown us the most support," she said.
But Toronto crowds are never easy to please, and so it wasn't until the
ferocious grinding guitars signalled the opening bars of Team favourite
"The Power Is On" that the crammed-in bodies finally began to move.
They pogoed. They danced. They ducked whenever Ninja flung handfuls of
Halloween candy into the throng. And you haven't lived until you've seen a
roomful of cooler-than-thou indie kids throw their arms in the air and cheer
"Go Team!" in unison with utter abandon. But the best part
about The Go! Team is that the folks on stage look like they're having just as
much fun as the audience. Smartly alternating between promising new
material and nuggets from the album as colourful animated projections unspooled
on a large screen behind them, Team members constantly switched instruments and
played their cheerful, shiny-bright anthems hard, fast and loud. Aside
from the sheer elation of their music, what helps set The Go! Team apart from
the rest of the current indie pack is Ninja, a diminutive force of nature; she
could bottle that energy and sell it, or at the very least teach lessons in how
to get a crowd going. The Team's hour-long set seemed to be over before
it had begun. But by the time the disco ball was turned on during their encore,
illuminating the grins plastered to faces, the chorus of their final tune,
"Ladyflash," seemed apt: "We came here to rock the
microphone," Ninja sang. Mission accomplished.
Ornette Coleman: A Historic Event From An Original
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By Mark Miller
Ornette Coleman at Massey Hall in Toronto on Saturday
(Oct. 31, 2005) There are concerts in the world of jazz, plenty of concerts,
and then there are events. Ornette
Coleman's appearance in Toronto on the weekend
was both. The event first. Coleman at 75 is the last surviving pivotal figure
in the history of jazz, a self-invented alto saxophonist and composer from
Texas whose preference for freedom over structure changed the way the more
open-minded of his fellow musicians thought about improvisation. They may not
have embraced his ideas in whole, or even in part, but after Coleman, there was
no looking back. Coleman doesn't perform anywhere very often these days, and
hasn't played in Canada since the 1988 Festival International de Jazz de
Montréal; about 20 years have passed since his last visit to Toronto. Between
his historical significance generally and his long absence locally, you might
think that the Toronto jazz community could muster up more than just two-thirds
of a house for his quartet's appearance at Massey Hall on Saturday. Apparently
not. At that, some part of this Toronto audience was in fact made up of jazz
fans who had travelled from Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and no doubt other points
as far or further afield just for the occasion -- jazz fans quick to recognize
an event when they see one. To the concert, then. Actually, as events go, this
was a rather modest though altogether agreeable performance, running to roughly
a dozen tunes in just over 90 minutes, inclusive of Coleman's stunning
signature piece, Lonely Woman, as an encore. The concert's length was
about right given the distilled nature of the quartet's resources: Coleman's
saxophone (and briefly, once each, his trumpet and violin), Tony Falanga's
bowed bass, Greg Cohen's "walking" bass and Denardo Coleman's drums.
Variety was largely a function of mood, and mood in turn of tempo; Coleman's
highly stylized alto was invariably stirring -- such tone, such vibrancy, such
humanity -- but there was a certain sameness of texture and intensity from one
piece to the next.
Coleman fashioned his solos around a patchwork of slippery licks, familiar
leaps, quotes from old tunes and occasional bursts of fresh ideas. These were
of course his licks, his leaps, his old tunes and his fresh ideas. Once
an original, always an original, and if this original has taken to repeating
himself, well, surely he's allowed. Coleman's alter ego in this current band is
bassist Falanga, who takes a role previously held by trumpeter Don Cherry and
then saxophonist Dewey Redman when it was held by anyone. With Greg Cohen
covering off the traditional function of the bass in any modern jazz band,
Falanga was free to bow sobbing counterlines to Coleman's lead and add lovely,
dark-hued solos of his own, effectively -- and perhaps unexpectedly -- giving
the saxophonist's music a second compelling voice. The team of Cohen and
Denardo Coleman was industrious in support, and the drummer, for all of his
busy work, was quite nuanced. They left the band floating freely on a wash of
rhythms more often than they had it swinging explicitly, thereby affording
Coleman Sr. and Falanga that much more freedom to take the music wherever they
wanted. And if Coleman Sr. wasn't taking it anywhere he hasn't taken it many
times before, the chance to hear him take it there again was still, as these
exceedingly rare occasions come along in jazz, an event among events.
Skitch Henderson, 87
Associated Press - By Matt Apuzzo
(Nov. 2, 2005) New Haven, Conn. — Skitch
Henderson, the Grammy-winning conductor who lent his musical
expertise to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby
before founding the New York Pops and becoming the first Tonight Show
bandleader, died Tuesday. He was 87. Henderson died at his home in New Milford
of natural causes, said Barbara Burnside, director of marketing and public relations
at New Milford Hospital. Born in England, Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson moved
to the United States in the 1930s, eking out a living as a pianist, playing
vaudeville and movie music in Minnesota and Montana roadhouses. He got his big
break in 1937, when he filled in for a sick pianist touring with Judy Garland
and Mickey Rooney. When the tour wrapped up in Chicago, he used the original
pianist's ticket and went to Hollywood. There he joined the music department at
MGM and played piano for Bob Hope's The Pepsodent Show. His friendship with
Hope put him in touch with other stars of the day, including Crosby, who became
a mentor to Henderson.
He studied with the noted composer Arnold Schoenberg, and Henderson's talented
ear brought him renown from some of the era's most successful musicians. “I
could sketch out a score in different keys, a new way each time,” Henderson
said earlier this year. That quicksilver ability earned him the nickname “the
sketch kid,” which Crosby urged him to adapt to “Skitch.” It stuck. During the
Second World War, Henderson flew for both the Royal Air Force and the United
States Army Air Corps. At his estate in New Milford, which he shared with his
wife, Ruth, Henderson kept a collection of aviation memorabilia. Even at 87, he
had said he hoped to fly the Atlantic once more. After the war, Henderson
toured as Sinatra's musical director and lived what he called a “gypsy
lifestyle,” touring the country with various bands. It was Sinatra's phone call
that lured Henderson to New York. “Frank said, ‘I'm moving the Lucky Strike
Show to New York. Get rid of those gypsies and get back here where you
belong,”' Henderson recalled in 1985. He served as musical director for the
Lucky Strike radio show and The Philco Hour with Crosby. And when NBC moved to
television, the studio brought Henderson along as musical director.
In 1954, NBC pegged him as the bandleader for Steve Allen's Tonight Show, which
brought Henderson into U.S. living rooms every night. Even as the hosts changed
from Allen to Jack Paar to Johnny Carson, Henderson was a constant. He founded
the New York Pops in 1983, using popular tunes to make orchestral music
exciting. “People come to hear music that's accessible to them -- old songs
that are powerful and don't go away,” he said. Even in his late 80s, Henderson
maintained a tireless work schedule as music director for the Pops, where he
regularly served as conductor. He also was a frequent guest conductor at a
number of orchestras around the world. “I watch the public like a hawk. If I
see boredom, I worry,” Henderson said. “You can tell by the applause: There's
perfunctory applause, there's light applause, and then there's real applause.
When it's right, applause sounds like vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.”
MUSIC TIDBITS
Hot New Dancehall Reggae Star Idonia Debuts On VP Records
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
– By Kevin Jackson
(Oct. 28, 2005) Hot new deejay on the rise, Idonia
has seen his chart hit Lolly
from the Irish Dance rhythm included on VP Records’ annual Strictly the Best
Volume 33 compilation. The compilation is regarded as one of VP Records’ top
selling discs and has consistently dented the Billboard R&B Hip Hop and
Reggae Album charts. Lolly which is sitting pretty in the Top 10 of the Reggae
charts in Jamaica, was produced by Cordell ‘Skatta’ Burrell for Kings of Kings.
Burrell was ecstatic about the inclusion of the song on the compilation
disc. Earlier this week he told this column ‘I feel good to know that
Idonia is finally getting some recognition for his work. At the end of the day
it’s the work that you put out that people will remember you for’, said Mr.
Burrell. This isn’t the first time that any of his projects has been
included on the VP Records compilation. The Strictly the Best series debuted in
1992 with one disc. A few years later two volumes (lovers rock and dancehall)
were became part of the annual release. Chris Schlarb, Director of Publicity of
VP Records said “Strictly the Best is our premier compilation release behind
Reggae Gold. Unlike Reggae Gold which focuses on the crossover market, Strictly
the Best focuses on the tracks that we feel are burning up on the streets of
Jamaica, with no regard to what will be ‘the next big thing’. This year we have
decided to return to the original format of releasing two volumes
simultaneously, one volume dancehall and one volume roots/lovers rock. There
are so many hits out right now that we had to return to the traditional
format’. Strictly the Best 31 which was released in 2003 remains the biggest
selling series to date. It has moved 80,923 copies in the US according to sales
tracker Soundscan.
Snoop's Label Inks Deal With Koch
Excerpt
from www.billboard.com - Clover Hope,
N.Y.
(Oct. 27, 2005) Snoop Dogg and his
Doggystyle Records have entered
into a joint partnership with Koch Records.
The first release as part of the multi-album deal, "Snoop Dogg Presents
Welcome To Tha Chuuch Tha Album," will hit stores Dec. 13. The disc
is an expansion of Snoop's "Welcome to Da Chuuch" seven-volume
mixtape series and includes new music from The Dogg Pound Fam, Nate Dogg,
Kurupt, Lady Rage, and Daz Dillinger, as well as newcomers Tiffany Foxxx, RBX,
Soopafly, Half-Dead, Mira-Mira, Mykestro. Doggystle was previously
affiliated with TVT and most recently with MCA, with whom Snoop Dogg signed in
2001. His most recent solo album, 2004's "Snoop Dogg R&G: Rhythm &
Gangsta -- The Masterpiece," was released by Geffen, to whom he remains
signed. Snoop also recently formed the Snoop Youth Football League,
which aims to involve underprivileged children in competitive sports.
LL Cool J Gets Busy On New Album
Excerpt
from www.billboard.com - Gail Mitchell,
L.A.
(Oct. 27, 2005) LL Cool J is at work
on his as-yet-untitled next Def Jam
album, which is expected to be released sometime in 2006. Backstage last night
(Oct. 26) at the BET 25th anniversary celebration in Los Angeles, the rapper
said the set will feature guest appearances from Mary J. Blige, 112 and Teairra
Mari. The album will be the follow-up to 2004's "The
DEFinition," which debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 and has sold
743,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Meanwhile, the rapper said he has signed a nine-picture deal with Lions Gate
Film to produce movies, and also has the option of acting in the
projects. LL Cool J will next be seen in "Last Holiday," which
stars Queen Latifah and is due Jan. 13 in U.S. theatres. He also appears in
"Edison," which marks the film debut for pop star Justin Timberlake.
Previously Unreleased Marley Single
Source: Carrie Tolles, Shore Fire Media,
ctolles@shorefire.com,
http://www.shorefire.com , http://www.bobmarley.com/
(Oct. 31, 2005) The first new official Bob
Marley track to be released in
decades, "Slogans" is a song with a message of freedom and
righteousness that transcends generations. It is believed that Marley recorded
the song in a Miami bedroom in 1979. The acoustic demo was revisited by the
reggae legend's sons Stephen and Ziggy with overdubbed instruments, including
guitar by Eric Clapton. "Slogans" is a bright and mighty anthem
reminiscent of classic Marley. Click the link below to watch the new "Slogans"
video available online for a limited time. The captivating cinematography is
full of classic Marley footage, explosive live concert visuals and poignant
images from the 1960's and 1970's to the present era. The video provides a
relevant backdrop to Marley's timeless and powerful lyrics that speak to the
world we inhabit today as they did in 1979 when the song was written. The
release of Bob Marley's "Slogans" is proof that a true artistic
spirit never dies. The first greatest hits package to include both his early
sides and his Island Records hits, Africa Unite: The Singles Collection
commemorates Marley's life on record. In addition to the early classics the
album also includes the new single "Slogans" and 2 new remixes:
"Stand Up Jamrock (Ashley Beedle Remix)," a mash-up of Bob's classic
and "Welcome To Jamrock," the 2005 hit from youngest son Damian; and
the wil.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) remix of "Africa Unite." Other songs
include 'Soul Rebel," "Lively Up Yourself," "Trenchtown Rock"
and "Concrete Jungle" alongside the Island hits "I Shot The
Sheriff," "Get Up, Stand Up," "No Woman, No Cry,"
"Exodus," "Jamming," "Could You Be Loved,"
"One Love/People Get Ready," "Roots, Rock, Reggae," "Waiting
In Vain," "The Sun Is Shining," "Is This Love,"
"Three Little Birds" and "Buffalo Soldier."
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE NEW "SLOGANS"
VIDEO
Clark Goes Back To Her Roots
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
Ronna Rubin
(Nov. 1, 2005) Terri Clark's new
album brings her back to the things that first drew her to country music.
"This album is a bit of an homage to why I fell in love
with country music in the first place," the Montreal-born singer said.
"Twin fiddles and steel guitar -- the stuff that makes you feel good when
you listen to it." Life Goes On, Clark's seventh album, is about
real life. The first single and video, She Didn't Have Time, is a bit of
autobiography, drawing on Clark's childhood with a single mother in Alberta.
And Clark, whose first success in Nashville was a publishing deal, wrote or
co-wrote three of the tracks on the new disc. "I have been fortunate to
have had success the past three years, which has kept me very busy but has also
taken away from my time spent writing songs," she said. "But this
record was certainly a labour of love: it's a good mix of the old
tried-and-true spunk along with some songs about the curveballs life throws
you." The multi-million-selling country star is the first Canadian female
artist to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. "I'm country to the
bone," Clark said about her honky-tonk style. "I learned from
listening to Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Reba -- the countriest of country."
She has also been honoured with nominations from the Country Music
Association and the Academy of Country Music. Clark acknowledges that Life
Goes On pretty much mirrors her own life. "I'm proud of the songs on
this new album and feel that they reflect many aspects of my personality and
the direction my life is headed," she said. Newly married to her
long-time tour manager, Greg Kaczor, the multi-tasking singer handled the
planning of her wedding in the Canadian Rockies while finishing her album and
making the music video for She Didn't Have Time. And did it all without
breaking a sweat. "You always seem to end up right where you belong
because life does go on," she said, "no matter what happens along the
way."
M.C. Hammer To Unload Music Publishing
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov. 1, 2005) *If he’s big enough to make fun of his financial freefall in the
Nationwide Insurance commercial, than it was probably a no-brainer that M.C. Hammer would eventually put his music
publishing and copyright assets up for sale. The rapper, who filed for
bankruptcy in 1996, had as much as $20 million during his successful career,
which saw his debut album “Let’s Get It Started” move 3 million units, and his
1990 follow up, “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em,” sell 10 million. Wixen
Music Publishing, the court-appointed publishing administrator for the
publishing assets of five Hammer companies, says that the catalogue is still
generating "substantial income." According to Billboard, the
sale will include a 50% interest in "U Can't Touch This," which hit
No. 1 in 1990 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart,
and a 90% interest in "2 Legit 2 Quit," which peaked at No. 5 on the
Hot 100. Among the copyright assets up for sale are clothing, dolls, lunchboxes
and his own Saturday morning cartoon. The bankruptcy trustee is currently
trying to locate 33 songwriters who had deals with the Hammer publishing
companies. They risk losing their royalties if they do not contact attorney
Terrance Stinnett with Goldberg, Stinnett, Meyers & Davis in San Francisco
by Dec. 31. After that date, the royalties will by paid to the state of
California as unclaimed property.
Two Urban Radio Giants To Launch New Network
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov. 1, 2005) *Radio One and Reach Media
are teaming to launch a new African-American talk-radio network, the
cornerstone of which will be a show hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, reports the
Boston Globe. Baltimore-based Radio One, the nation's seventh-largest radio
company, and Reach Media, which owns and syndicates the ''Tom Joyner Morning
Show," plan to launch the network on Boston’s WILD after the first of the
year. If all goes as planned, the fledgling talk network will begin
broadcasting on as many as 10 of Radio One's 70 stations, including AM outlets
in Baltimore, Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Washington D.C., and a handful of
other cities. The programming would also be offered to stations outside of
Radio One’s ownership. While programming has not been finalized, Radio One CEO
Alfred Liggins III said that the as-yet-unnamed network will provide
programming from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Sharpton’s show,
scheduled to air weekdays from 1 to 4 p.m., is expected to be topical, if not
entirely political. ''Life is political," Liggins told the Globe.
''Rush Limbaugh is political. Howard Stern has been political. That's the
nature of the human existence. We won't focus exclusively on politics. We'll
deal with the human existence of African-Americans in the broader landscape of
America."
Is Nas About To Sign With Def Jam?
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov. 1, 2005) *In the wake of the public beef squashing between Jay-Z
and Nas last week, rumours are rampant that God’s
Son is about to take things a step further and become an artist on Jigga’s Def
Jam label. The rapper has reportedly dropped hints that he’s ready to
leave Columbia/Sony Records where he's recorded his entire career. Island
Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid told MTV of the Nas rumour: "I don't know if I
have a comment for that. I'll tell you what, I absolutely love him. He's an
amazing artist. I have loved him and supported him for years. “He's
been a great supporter of mine. And obviously he and Jay-Z have a mutual
respect and love and admiration for each other. So let's just see. I really don't
know. Let's see what happens."
We Remember David Townsend Of Surface
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov.
2, 2005) *Singer/songwriter David Townsend,
a member of the 80's vocal trio Surface,
was found dead inside his Northridge, CA home Wednesday night by a close
friend. He was 50. The cause of death was unknown. Townsend wrote, produced and
performed with various artists over the past three decades, including The Isley
Brothers, Sister Sledge, New Edition, Rebbie Jackson, Jermaine Jackson and
Aretha Franklin. With Surface, Townsend recorded such hits as
"Happy," "Closer Than Friends," "Shower Me With Your
Love" and the "The First Time" Bernard Jackson and David
"Pic" Conley of Surface released the following statement Tuesday:
"We are both shocked and very saddened by the loss of our close friend,
David. He was a great producer, songwriter and a great friend. We will miss
him. We also want to say thank you to all our fans around the world for their
love and support during this difficult time." In 1987, the group's
self-entitled album peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard R&B Album chart. The
disc spawned two top ten R&B singles, "Happy" and
"Lately"; and a top 25 R&B single "Let's Try Again."
The group's 1989 follow-up sophomore album, "2nd Wave," was certified
platinum and peaked at No.5 on the R&B chart. The album generated five
singles, three of which went No. 1: "You Are My Everything" featuring
guest vocalist Regina Belle, "Closer Than Friends" and "Shower
Me With Your Love." The singles "Can We Spend Some Time
Together" and the up-tempo dance floor cut "I Missed" were also
top 5 hits. In 1991, the group's third album "3 Deep" was released
with the No. 1 R&B single, "The First Time." Townsend was
the son of the late legendary singer/songwriter/producer Ed Townsend, who was
responsible for co-writing "Let's Get It On" with Marvin
Gaye. At the time of David’s death, Surface was working on a new
album scheduled for release in late 2006. The surviving members are
scheduled to perform at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA on Dec,
29 and 30. A funeral for Townsend will be held near Los Angeles on
Thursday (Nov. 3) at the Inglewood Mortuary (3801 W. Manchester Blvd). The
service will begin at 3 p.m. and is open to the public.
Ciara Prepares For Second Album
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov.
2, 2005) *Before the year is out, Ciara
says she’ll return to the studio to begin work on a follow-up to her 2004 Jive
debut, "Goodies." The singer is also
booked to work 11 dates of Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers 2005 tour in
December, and has just wrapped her first starring role in MTV Films'
"Rumble," due out in early 2006. The film, co-starring Adrienne
Bailon of 3LW and Marques Houston, is a coming-of-age story about high school
volleyball players. Ciara plays a 16-year-old student whose dad plays
professional basketball. "He never comes to any of her volleyball
games to support her, so you can kind of see her go through the emotions of
that and try to figure out what she wants to do with her life," she says.
"Acting is something I always wanted to do, so of course when the
opportunity presented itself, I said this is a chance for me to get started."
Here are Ciara's tour dates with Gwen Stefani:
Dec. 3: Las Vegas (Aladdin Hotel)
Dec. 4: San Diego (Cox Arena)
Dec. 8: Cleveland (Wolstein Center)
Dec. 9: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Dec. 12: Uncasville, Conn. (Mohegan Sun)
Dec. 14: Verona, N.Y. (Turning Stone Casino)
Dec. 15: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Dec. 17: Columbus, Ohio (Schottenstein Center)
Dec. 18: Nashville (Gaylord Entertainment Center)
Dec. 20: Orlando, Fla. (TD Waterhouse Centre)
Dec. 21: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Bank Atlantic Center)
New Kindred CD Inspired By Ossie & Ruby
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov.
2, 2005) In following up their critically-acclaimed 2003 Hidden Beach
Recordings debut Surrender to Love, Graydon
and Dantzler were inspired by the collaborative relationship and marriage of
another powerful couple, actors/activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Before
Davis’ death earlier this year, the celebrated pair successfully balanced work
and love for more than 50 years. Their marriage and working relationship was
chronicled in their dual autobiography, In This Life Together, which also
serves as the title of Kindred’s
latest release. “We’re enamored of the relationship Davis and Dee
created together, and everything they were able to accomplish,” says Dantzler.
“Seeing these shining examples is the only way to let people truly know you can
get to a place like that. We wanted to shed light on the black family and
relationships in general.” Adds Graydon, “There’s no music that
represents that kind of strong, committed couple relationship. It’s not about
having a handbook or being experts; but more so about a free exchange of ideas
– being open, talking and relating to one another honestly. This was our goal with
this new album – to explore the relationship between couples who are truly
friends, and share this with our fans.” Building on the sentiments
touched on by its predecessor, IN THIS LIFE TOGETHER is a more intimate and
candid look at what happens when life intrudes on love. Grown and sexy is one
thing; juggling work, our personal lives, and additional obligations is quite
another. Sharing the wisdom gleaned from being married for seven years and with
three young children, Kindred is crafting its own contemporary, urban love
story for the 21st Century, one that many couples will relate to.
::FILM NEWS::
Bent, Not Stapled Or Mutilated
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Rita
Zekas
(Oct. 29, 2005) When I sat down to screen the scary film Saw II, I
thought I was going to have to watch the entire thing through my scarf.
The establishing shot
was a man with his head encased in A Man in the Iron Mask contraption,
which didn't obscure his gouged-out eye. Turned out Saw II (which
opened yesterday) was creepy but gripping without the standard slasher/demented
sicko-behind-the-hockey-mask storyline. A handful of hostages must find their
way out of a creaky old house booby-trapped by the sadistic serial killer
Jigsaw before they expire from exposure to a lethal nerve gas. Donnie Wahlberg plays the lead, a police
detective whose son is one of the hostages. Allegedly, the Miramax
brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein saw the first three minutes of Saw
II and signed its director Darren Lynn Bousman up for a
three-picture deal. Or so we are told by several handlers for actor Lyriq Bent (his real name), one of the
co-stars of the film. Bent is not particularly a fan of the horror genre,
he admits over herbal tea at Bistro 990. "It's a scary film and that's
not a problem," he explains. "This is disturbing because it is not
supernatural, it could happen in fact. It's when you don't know, that the fear
occurs." And he is even less
enamoured of needles. There is a scene in which hypodermic needles figure
prominently and painfully. "I hate needles from every direction —
I'd be a bad junkie," he allows. Good thing he's playing the leader of a
S.W.A.T. team, instead, in the film. His character, Rigg, is not easily
categorized. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? "He's on the edge,"
Bent says. "You are not sure what is going on with him. He's not good or
bad; he'll fix the situation the best way he knows how. He depends on natural
instincts and his training as a cop. "I'm feeling what Donnie is
feeling. Rigg's got family and understood the importance of family. He does
what he has to do to make sure (Donnie's) family is safe, even if it means
crossing the line."
Bent hadn't seen the original Saw. When he saw the script for Saw II,
he was intrigued. "It's my first horror psychological
thriller," he admits. "Before I went on set, I rented the first one
in which 75 per cent of the film took place in that
one room, where two guys were trapped in an old room and one has to die to get
out. I thought it was well done and that the storyline was
incredible." Saw II stars Donnie Wahlberg, and Bent
co-starred with Donnie's brother, Mark Wahlberg,
in Four Brothers. "The Wahlbergs can't get enough of
me," he jokes. In Four Brothers, Bent plays Damian.
"He's a rogue character, someone not pleasant," he specifies.
"He misled the police while the brothers were searching for their mother's
killer. They come looking for this running, gun-shooting, dog-siccing Damian. I
sic two Rottweilers on Mark's character and they bite his ass. I was the dog
wrangler and I fear dogs; I've had bad experiences with dogs. "I did
my own stunts and I tried to be at risk with my character but I left the
life-threatening stunts to the stunt guy. But I was hanging six storeys by a
rope and it was gruelling. It was shot last January, in —33C degrees, and —40C
with wind chill. My character was one of those cool guys with no coat. Which
was an improvement — originally my character was in shorts."
Bent's been in the biz for only 5 1/2 years. His credits include Kojak;
Street Time; Platinum; The Caveman's Valentine; The Life and Hard
Times of Guy Terrifico, a hit at this year's Toronto International Film
Festival; and the Antonio Banderas film
Take the Lead, in which Banderas plays a former professional dancer who
volunteers to teach inner-city kids how to dance à la Mad Hot Ballroom.
"I don't dance in the film," Bent demurs. "I play a
character who finds himself in interesting situations. He tries to get the
school kids involved in illegal acts." But he's not a pusher.
"I'm more of a menace to society," he qualifies. "Like things
that fall off trucks." He did work with Banderas. "He's a
nice guy," Bent says. In Guy Terrifico, he plays Mr. Stuff,
whom he describes as "edgy." "It's a parody," he explains.
"It's a mockumentary about a country superstar." Working with
A-list stars is not too shabby for a guy who had no intention of becoming an
actor. Bent, who is a Torontonian of Jamaican descent, graduated with
honours from the Computer Graphic Technician's program at Seneca College.
"After my final year in computer graphics, I was out of work," he
recalls. "So I did work going door-to-door, selling long distance plans,
and got complimented: `Were you ever modelling?'" (Indeed, Bent is
extremely photogenic and stylin' in his way cool T-shirt. "He is so
gorgeous, I can't look at him," confessed an appreciative crew member on Saw
II.)
"Or I'd get `You look familiar. Were you on TV? You might want to look
into it.'" So he did. He studied acting in New York and his first
gig was a student film. "I'm available for student films," he
insists. That said, he chooses his roles carefully. "I try to
be as eclectic as possible," he says. "I refused to be stereotyped as
the angry, young, black actor. We pick and choose. I'm not waiting to be a
celebrity. I'm starting from grass roots." Instead of grass/pot
roles. "I like to straddle both bad and good guys. I like to view my
characters as people I'd see on the street or on a bus. If not, I try to play
the bad guy so that he doesn't have to be a maniac." Bent is
currently shooting the werewolf thriller Skinwalkers, though is sworn to
secrecy. "I can't say anything except that it's another horror
film," he says. As if on cue, the P.R. woman for the film calls him on his
cell phone at this precise point in the interview to tell him not to talk about
it. "No comment on Skinwalkers," he echoes. (For actual
comments on Skinwalkers, see page H7). His handlers tell him it's
time for the next interview. He gulps down his tea and bolts.
"Whoooo was that?" demand Bistro staffers of both sexual
orientations. "And how old is he?" Didn't get a chance to ask but
we'd say he was old enough.
Profits Need To Trickle Down: Study
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By James Adams
(Oct. 31, 2005) Canada's independent television producers are calling for
"significant changes" to federal broadcast policy following the
release today
of a study that shows the country's big broadcasters are reaping huge revenues
while the production sector languishes. The study, prepared by Nordicity Group
for the Canadian Film and Television Production
Association, which represents about 400 companies, looks at
relations between producers and the country's eight largest broadcasters and TV
services, including BCE Inc. (which owns The Globe and Mail), CanWest Global
and CHUM Ltd., in the years 1999 through 2004. CFTPA president and CEO Guy
Mayson is using the study as leverage in his organization's demand that
Heritage Minister Liza Frulla start to spearhead a "new policy
framework" for the country's TV industry, including more money to
producers from broadcasters, improved tax credits, a redesigned Canadian
Television Fund and programming expenditure requirements for conventional
broadcasters. Among the Nordicity findings: In 2003 the earnings-before-taxes
margin for Canada's largest broadcasters was 9.7 per cent, well above the 5.8
per cent average for the Canadian economy as a whole. In 2002 that margin for
broadcasters was 6.1 per cent, while for film and TV producers, it was just 1.6
per cent. In 2003 the country's largest broadcasters earned $4.8-billion from
their conventional, pay and specialty divisions. However, with the exception of
mandated contributions to Canadian content in their specialty divisions, their
contributions to production supported by the Canadian Television Fund declined
by 14 per cent between 1999 and 2004. (For example, foreign programming
acquisitions for pay and specialty services cost broadcasters $251-million in
2003 compared with the $315-million spent on Canadian programming, a difference
of 26 per cent.)
In 2004 Canada's private conventional broadcasters spent four times more on
buying foreign programming, largely of U.S. origin, than they did on acquiring
independent Canadian shows: $535-million versus $124-million. Of this,
$354-million was spent on foreign dramas, with only $68-million going to
Canadian-made equivalents — a difference of more than 500 per cent. In a
release issued today, Mayson places much of the blame on the divergence between
the broadcast and production sectors on the TV policy that was announced in
1999 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. That
policy required large broadcasters like CTV and Global to put more Canadian
content in their programming and to help them do so, the CRTC expanded the
definition of Canadian "priority programming" to include
entertainment magazines, variety shows and documentaries. At the same time, the
federal broadcast regulator increased the definition of prime time to include
the hours 7 to 11 p.m. seven days a week (previously it was 8 to 11 p.m. Monday
through Friday), and tossed out the requirement that broadcasters had to spend
a percentage of their revenues on Canadian content. The findings of the
Nordicity study echo a report issued in July by the Coalition of Canadian
Audio-visual Unions, which includes the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television
and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of Canada. That report, titled The Need
for a Regulatory Safety Net, calls on Canadian broadcasters to spend at least
seven per cent of their annual gross advertising income on Canadian drama. It
says that in 1998, before the introduction of the CRTC's new TV policy, private
broadcasters spent almost $75-million on English-language drama; six years
later, this expenditure had "bottomed out" at about $53-million, a
decline of about 30 per cent.
Lara Flynn Boyle: Born to be Barbara Amiel
Excerpt from The
Globe and Mail - By Gayle Macdonald
(Nov. 2, 2005) She nails the requisite air of haughty disdain. Imperious,
impeccably groomed, supremely confident -- with brains and a rapier wit to boot
-- Lara Flynn Boyle was clearly born
to play Barbara Amiel, the couturier-clad
better half of Conrad Black, whose ignominious corporate fall is the focus of
an upcoming CTV movie, Shades of Black. Boyle isn't crazy about doing
interviews, so getting an audience with the 35-year-old, reed-thin actress, who
is in Toronto and environs shooting the $5-million film, takes some
perseverance. A meeting is finally set up in Cambridge, Ont., a bucolic
spot in what was once the stomping ground of Southern Ontario's farming gentry
-- specifically at the Cruickston Estate, an 1858 mansion built by relatives of
the wealthy American family the Astors. For this film -- based on the
book Shades of Black by New York Times journalist Richard Siklos, and starring
Canadian thespian Albert Schultz as Black -- the Cruickston manor subs for Black's
grand family home. Here, Boyle made it clear from the outset that she will not
be met by a reporter until she is in full makeup -- so there's a huddle outside
in a parking lot until a publicist comes out to announce that the maquillage
is complete. One braces for a steel edge. But inside, Boyle is seated in
a chair in jeans, a brown cardigan, Ugg-boot-clad feet curled under her. She is
far softer and girlish-looking close up, an incongruous image given that recent
TV and film roles present her as a hard-ass (the evil Serleena in Men in Black
II; the flint-eyed prosecutor in The Practice; a tough-as-nails casino owner in
Las Vegas).
Her violet-blue eyes are pinpoint direct, but not without a glint of humour.
And when she speaks -- in dulcet, buttery tones -- she's far more friendly than
the hullabaloo that swirls around her suggests. Make no mistake, Boyle -- like
the strong-willed Amiel -- does not suffer fools gladly. She loves to be contrarian,
likes to make bold statements, and stoutly refuses to toe any politically
correct line. Before reading this script, Boyle admits, she'd never heard
of Lady and Lord Black of Crossharbour. But she says she felt immediate empathy
for four-times married Amiel, a right-wing columnist with a penchant for
pushing people's buttons. "I think anyone who takes the time to have an
opinion, and then goes one step further and voices it, has a lot of guts. And I
respect that," she says. "It doesn't necessarily mean I have to agree
with someone's opinion, but I've always been fond of women who aren't afraid to
think about something, and express what they're thinking." It was several
weeks after she agreed to take the part that she finally clued in to how eerily
she resembles her subject. "I was like, my goodness, she's quite a
beautiful woman," Boyle says with a naughty smirk. "Not to blow my
own horn, of course." A fan of method acting, Boyle says she is
finding her inner Amiel by trying to delve into the "familiarities shared
between my character and hers."
Pressed to elaborate on the common traits, Boyle pauses and tugs on her plump
upper lip: "Well, you know, it's as simple as take no prisoners," she
adds slyly. "That basically sums it up." While Amiel is portrayed
here as a doting spouse, Boyle also plays her as a hard-driving columnist.
"Her career was something that needs to be explored because it definitely
shows up in the strong, charismatic scenes with her and Conrad," says
Boyle, who once dated actor Jack Nicholson. "Ignorance is bliss. And this
woman is not ignorant. "There is always an added responsibility to showing
a side of someone who has actually put footsteps on the planet," says
Boyle, who had been in 15 TV and film roles before finally landing in 1990 the
career breakthrough role as the enigmatic Donna Hayward in David Lynch's cult
soap, Twin Peaks. "So you sort of have to minimize when it comes to
going into a scene. I've always said for years, [my job] is about entertaining.
It's not my job to explain. It's just to entertain. And to try to take care of
the people that I'm playing," Shades of Black executive producer Mary
Young Leckie said she thought of casting Boyle as Amiel "the minute we
thought of this movie two years ago. "The part was meant for her. Barbara
Amiel is a very smart, very powerful, very talented woman. And she knows how to
use both her brains and her beauty. Lara Flynn Boyle is brilliant and
incredibly articulate. And she knows how to use her beauty. It wasn't a
stretch."
Unlike in years past when Boyle was snapped by photographers looking shockingly
thin, she's still uber-slim but not alarmingly so. The only child of divorced
parents -- "my dad did a whole lot of nothing" -- Boyle says she was
raised in Chicago by her mother, Sally. She enrolled in an improv acting
class as a youngster, primarily to get over almost debilitating shyness.
"My mom was trying to find ways to bring me out of my shell," she
says. She signed up with a school run by the father of actor Jeremy Piven (up
for an Emmy for his work on Entourage). "Me, John Cusack, a whole bunch of
us came out of there." She graduated from Chicago's Academy of the
Arts, got on a plane to Los Angeles when she was 18, and two weeks later, had
an audition with Lynch. "He's such a savant," she says. "He was
amazing." Since then, she's worked non-stop -- she's a self-described
workaholic who thrives on a frenzied pace. Shades of Black, which was
written by Andrew Wreggitt and is directed by Alex Chapple, was partly shot
across the Atlantic in London, where the Blacks reside. Its Cruickston
Estate location in Southern Ontario, however, may be the most exotic: It's
apparently haunted by a historic clan of previous owners, namely Miss Wilks,
Mrs. Keefer, two children, and a guy named Ed, a spirit the locals say hangs
out on the third floor and likes to drink rye. Boyle admits she's heard all the
wild tales, but has yet to personally be visited by one of these
third-dimensional characters on set. "No, I haven't seen a ghost but
I was in one room where one apparently likes to hang out," she says.
"The chandelier did go on and off. And that was good enough for me to go
running out of the room." (The crew apparently has caught sweeping sounds
from the uninhabited third floor). Extraterrestrial weirdness, aside, Boyle
adds the experience shooting in Canada has been hard work, but
fulfilling. "It's been great having someone as wonderful as Albert
[Schultz] to work with," says Boyle. "You know, I always enjoy
complaining about things like, oh it's too hot. Or it's too cold. Or what time
are we done? But I'm really lucky I can complain, and to have done all that
I've done over the years.
"I'm lucky, too, to still be able to be on set, in this amazing place. I
don't take anything for granted once the camera is rolling. There is total
commitment there. And it's nice Albert is the same way." She's asked if
there is any romantic attachment? "You know that depends on the
hour," says Boyle, narrowing her cat eyes. Her publicist politely coughs.
It's clear the interview has run its course.
Lara on the loose: a history
The tutu (2003). Sashayed down the Golden Globes red carpet in a pink
ballerina maillot and tutu. Only her matching stilettos (with ribbons tied in
bows under both knees) would have looked out of place on a five year old. Boyle
told Joan Rivers that she was a prima ballerina or a prima donna. Jack
Nicholson, her boyfriend at the time, said: "Lara's tutu was startling,
but she's a very colourful actress."
Jack Nicholson (1998-2000). Before Demi and Ashton, this was the
May-December romance the gossip pages couldn't get enough of. She was 30, he
was 63 when they finally split in 2000. It was an on-again, off-again match
that lingers still: Last year, tabloids reported that he still gives her
fatherly advice and plies her with food. In 1998, before their relationship was
public (Boyle was still dating David Spade), the lovers were in a car crash,
but Boyle reportedly took off to avoid being seen with him.
The flight (January, 2005). Somewhere between Los Angeles and London,
Boyle took off her clothes and climbed into the bed of a fellow first-class
passenger, reported the British tabloid The Mail on Sunday. A British Airways
spokeswoman confirms first-class passengers "reported that a female
passenger in the cabin was behaving strangely." Weeks later, when asked if
the reports were true, Boyle said: "My job is to entertain and not to
explain." The living skeleton
(mid-1990s-present). Anorexia? Bulimia? Overzealous metabolism? It's hard
to tell, but her emaciated look alarms even the most slavish celebrity press.
Boyle in 1998: "I'm the kind of person who at 11 o'clock at night can be
pouring ranch dressing on my pizza. I eat four slices, go to bed and wake up
the next morning and look the same. People want to kill me." In 2005:
"I don't want to talk about [my weight]. We give it way too much
publicity."
::TV NEWS::
CBC Faces Some Dramatic Dilemmas
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail -
By Gayle Macdonald
(Oct. 29, 2005) It goes to show what a three-year hiatus -- and a nasty
eight-week lockout -- can do to a show. In the spring of 2002,
writer-producer
Wayne Grigsby's acclaimed miniseries Trudeau blew the socks off Canada's
public broadcaster, garnering a remarkable 2 million viewers on its first night
and 1.75 million the following evening. Fast-forward to the early part of last
week. Grigsby's long-awaited, $8-million prequel to his prime-ministerial hit
is set to hit the airwaves. Early buzz on Trudeau II: Maverick in the
Making is good. Critics are gushing, particularly about the performance of
young Quebec theatre actor Stéphane Demers. CBC's
hopes are high. But the four-hour show, which aired Oct. 23 and 24, drew
roughly a quarter of its predecessor's audience share -- about 500,000 viewers
each night. "It's fair to say we're disappointed," says Chuck Thompson,
director of communications for CBC Television, holding down the fort in Toronto
this week while his bosses were pleading for more funding before the Standing
Committee on Canadian Heritage. "It was a critically acclaimed miniseries,
and a lot of people thought it was very well done. But it was up against some
very stiff competition -- the World Series and CTV's Desperate Housewives,
which did 3 million viewers (in Canada) that Sunday. "We put it out and
we're very proud of where we put it in the schedule," Thompson continues.
"But the broadcast landscape is fragmented, competitive and fickle."
Welcome to the drama dilemma of the CBC. Still recovering from the lockout, the
public network has been trying to stagger the release of its dramatic shows, holding
back some (like Trudeau II and two upcoming biopics on Shania Twain and
Walter Gretzky, father of Wayne) to give the broadcaster enough time to
properly promote and hype the programs. It's been anything but an easy
road. During the work stoppage, The National with Peter Mansbridge was
largely replaced with BBC News and drama was non-existent; viewers departed in
droves. Sunni Boot, president and chief executive of media buyer Zenith Optimedia,
says the public broadcaster has paid for the labour freeze. The CBC, she
says, now corners about 13 per cent of English-speaking conventional TV viewing
(of viewers aged two-plus), down from 15 per cent prior to the lockout. Boot
points out, however, that all is not doom and gloom at the public broadcaster. Hockey
Night in Canada came back firing on all cylinders after the NHL's year-long
labour dispute. HNIC's first game averaged 1.65 million viewers, and the
second, 1.22 million. "Both averages are considerably higher this year
than in 2003," points out CBC director of research Ken LeClair. Thompson
says the CBC is "ecstatic" with the hockey numbers, adding,
"We'd like to take credit, but to be fair, there was a huge appetite in
this country for the return of hockey." Boot adds that in the critical
adult-viewing category (aged 25 to 54), hockey-watching is up 15 per cent
compared with 2003. Also, the CBC broadcast of the Canadian Football League's
Thanksgiving Day classic drew a respectable 673,000 viewers for its 1 p.m.
game, and 909,000 football fans at 4 p.m.
And on the news front, LeClair says The National has basically
maintained its market share. "Since the lockout ended," he says,
"The National is back to its viewer level in the fall of 2004 . . .
tracking an average of 670,000 viewers." Clearly, it's the riskier,
dramatic programming that's been tougher to sell to the couch crowd, as well as
advertisers. For example, the first night of Il Duce Canadese, a
miniseries about a first-generation Canadian-Italian family suspected of
fascist sympathies, fell miserably flat, drawing 172,000 viewers on its first
night (Oct. 16) and 217,000 the next. Thompson says the show was a casualty of
a compressed schedule due to the lockout, which meant he and his team
"weren't in a position to give it the promotional campaign we otherwise
would have. We weren't back to full capacity, and a lot of Canadians were still
tuning elsewhere." The Turin Olympics, which will air on CBC in February,
has added to the schedule squeeze, which is felt by shows such as Da Vinci's
City Hall. The takeoff of the popular coroner show starring Nicholas
Campbell, which debuted this past Tuesday, drew 564,000 viewers. "It was
delayed one week," explains Thompson, adding "we wanted to ensure we
gave it as much promotion leading up to the premier date as we could." But
the series bowed opposite the barn-burner third game of the World Series. Was
the CBC brass happy with the ratings the new Da Vinci's ratings?
"It's premature to comment," says Thompson. "We think we need to
give it a few more weeks, and then we can have a more informed discussion than
we can right now."
Thompson points out that there is a bevy of CBC shows returning to the schedule
within the next 10 days, including the Friday-night comedy line-up (This
Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Red Green Show, Just for Laughs and Royal
Canadian Air Farce), The Fifth Estate, Rick Mercer's Monday
Report, This is Wonderland, the hockey drama The Tournament
and the CFL playoffs, and later, the Grey Cup. Needless to say, he adds,
expectations are high for the two "big-ticket" entertainment
specials, The Walter Gretzky Story: Waking up Wally (Nov. 6) and Shania
Twain's rags-to-riches tale (Nov. 7). "Coming out of the lockout, our
primary focus was to ensure Canadians knew about three key areas: Hockey
Night in Canada, The National and our big-ticket series," says
Thompson, referring to Trudeau, Shania, Gretzky, a biopic
on René Lévesque, and a series on the great Canada-Russian hockey series of
1972, to name a few. "As you can tell it's a very staggered
launch," says Thompson, "but it gives us opportunities to launch
shows so we're not putting the spotlight on them all at the same time."
Boot, meanwhile, predicts the CBC will recover its traditional 15-per-cent
share: "The news and current-affairs shows, combined with their solid
comedy night on Fridays, and the specials, will bring its share of viewing
back." Adds Boot, "I, for one, believe the CBC has a strong role to
play in the fabric of our broadcast industry." It remains to be seen if
viewers agree.
::THEATRE NEWS::
THEATRE TIDBITS
Stratford Reveals Its Leading Women
Excerpt from The
Toronto Star - Richard Ouzounian, Theatre
Critic
(Nov. 2, 2005) It looks like a great season for strong women at the Stratford Festival. The major portion of
next year's casting was announced
yesterday and revealed the presence in the company of Martha Henry, Seana McKenna, Blythe
Wilson, Karen Robinson, Domini Blythe, Lucy Peacock, Cynthia Dale and Sara
Topham. There was also a surprise addition to the schedule: Harlem Duet,
Djanet Sears Governor General's Award-winning play, will open at the Studio
Theatre on June 29. A modern re-examination of Othello, Sears' play will
cast Robinson opposite Nigel Shawn Williams and Walter Borden. Henry will
appear as the mother of all mothers, Volumnia in Coriolanus, opposite Colm
Feore, as well as playing the haunted Mrs. Alving in Ibsen's Ghosts. It's
a busy season for McKenna, who will star opposite Brian Bedford in two shows:
Twelfth Night, playing Olivia and Malvolio, and London Assurance, as Lady Gay
Spanker and Sir Harcourt Courtly. McKenna will also be seen as Amanda in The
Glass Menagerie. Topham will appear as Laura in that play as well as
Grace Harkaway in London Assurance and Dona Elvira in Don Juan. Blythe
Wilson will be seen opposite Feore in the musical Oliver! as the doomed
Nancy. Domini Blythe will play Mistress Quickly in Henry IV, Part I as
well as the title role in Peter Hinton's Fanny Kemble. Peacock will be
seen as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing as well as in the title role in The
Duchess of Malfi and the one-woman show The Blonde, The Brunette and the
Vengeful Redhead. Dale was previously announced as Nellie Forbush in
South Pacific, and yesterday revealed that her leading man will be Theodore
Baerg.
::OTHER NEWS::
Isn't It About Time To Break In A Whole New Set Of Celebs
Excerpt from The Toronto Star
(Oct. 30, 2005) There was a frenzy of excitement at the Starbucks at
Richmond and Spadina location on Wednesday afternoon where there was a reported
sighting of Brad Pitt having a cappuccino. Alas, it turned out to
be a faux Pitt. Perhaps it was Aris Kontos, who was mistaken for Pitt in
Greece during the Olympics. The real Pitt was in Malibu taking flying
lessons. It's high season for fakes. Remember that faux Bono crashing
the VIP areas at the Toronto International Film Festival? Segue, segue,
segue. Can someone please mint a whole new set of celebs? Aren't we
getting tired of the same old, same old? Aren't we sick of seeing Brad
and Angelina, Nicole and Paris, Demi and Ashton, Tom and Katie,
Nick and Jessica and Eva Longoria on the covers of every mag
on the newsstand? We like the rules of media celebrity engagement as
posted in Gawker: "You fluff a boldface name, you smack them down and
repeat until said individual's celebrity can no long withstand another
cycle." Hello Martha Stewart, who is being royally dissed by The
Donald. Longoria is threatening to move to Texas to get away from the
paps. As if. Ever notice that whenever Paris Hilton is getting low on
ink, another sexcapade surfaces? And how long is it going to be before
she runs out of Greek trust fund babies? Shouldn't she be leaving them to Athina
Onassis?
Side dish
Mickey Rourke dined at Opus last Saturday night and was on his best
behaviour. Rourke did lunch at Trattoria Vaticano next day, as did Vivica
A. Fox. Colm Meany, in town shooting The Hades Factor, stocked
up on stogies at Thomas Hinds Tobacconist this week. Barenaked Lady
Gord Downie had a club sandwich at the Bloor Street Diner on Wednesday
before catching a movie. Cast and producers from the CTV MOW Shades of
Black, including Jason Priestley and director Alex Chapple, dined
at Bistro 990 last Sunday. Albert Schultz, who plays Conrad
Black in Shades, Bistro'd on Wednesday. Steven Culp,
son of Robert, who plays Rex Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives,
has been a regular at Bistro. Last weekend, director Sturla Gunnarson took
his wife to dinner there to celebrate her birthday. Last Thursday, Louis
Negin celebrated his at Bistro with pal Maxim Roy (ReGensis).
Mos Def Bistro'd on Sunday; Gordon Pinsent and Charmion King on
Monday; Dave Thomas, Sharon Gless and Sherry Miller on Wednesday;
Don McManus on Thursday; and David Morse on Friday. Dave
Thomas showed up to cheer on the cast at Second City Reloaded Tuesday
night. The guests at Melanie Durrant's CD release party for her CD
Where I'm Goin' at Revival on Tuesday included Glenn Lewis, J-Diggz and
video director X.
Split decision
In the same week that Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn were
tonguing each other at Jon Favreau's birthday party in the L.A. Friars
Club, Nicollette Sheridan decided not to be a real life wife, splitting
from Nicklas Soderblom.
Shuffleboard & a movie
The 9th Floating Film Festival sets sail on Feb. 7 from Costa Rica for 11
days on the six-star luxury vessel Crystal Symphony. Ports of call include St.
Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, Grand Turk and the Panama Canal. The
festival will screen over 20 films and feature an all-star special tribute to a
legendary actor or director. To book, call Rosemary Durham at
905-475-3667, ext. 230 or 1-800-268-0900.
Gucci coo
It had to happen. In This Little Piggy Went to Prada, Amy Allen has
come up with new nursery rhymes for mini-me consumers. To the tune of
"Frere Jacques": "Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton, Burberry,
Burberry. Nappy bag dilemma — Lulu, Kate or Anya? Shopping spree, buy all
three."
Confessions Of An Extreme Survivor: Sharon Osbourne
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail -
By Stephen Hunt (Canadian Press)
(Oct. 29, 2005) LOS ANGELES — Morning people wake up so improbably perky, so
relentlessly dialled into the day that non-morning people want to
strangle them. One world, however, where morning people are almost nonexistent
-- unless you count going to bed at dawn -- is rock 'n' roll. Unless, that is,
you're Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne. "My husband and I are very
conventional," says Sharon Osbourne,
sitting in the posh living room of her quasi-posh (if a little eclectic)
Beverly Hills estate, familiar to fans of MTV's The Osbournes, where she
is chatting about her new memoir, Extreme,
which hits bookstores today. "As far as relationships go, as far as sex
goes, as far as we run our lives socially -- we are very boring." Sharon
Osbourne is not an artist. She's not the talent. She's married to it. Through
the quirks of popular culture, however, she has become her own unique brand of
recognizable. "I'm not a star, I'm just a celebrity," she says, in a
tone that sounds like a backhand slap to a town -- Los Angeles, where she has
lived on and off for the past 29 years -- in which being a celebrity of any
sort beats the other guy's hand, whatever that hand might be (billionaire,
world heavyweight champ, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize). And in the
rough-and-tumble world of rock and roll, where the chances of ending up a
bloated corpse in a hotel room seem to be about 50-50, she's survived 35 years
living in the teeth of it.
And she looks marvellous. Her hair is dyed auburn, she's wearing a brown
silk shirt and beige slacks, and she's thin, thanks in equal parts to
"massive" -- her word -- amounts of cosmetic surgery and a bout with
colon cancer. But this is Los Angeles, and all of that is just back story. What
matters is that she looks great. "I've been fat and thin so many
times in my life," she says. "People aren't allowed to be fat any
more. You can be an addict or go to prison, and that's socially acceptable, but
being fat? That's not socially acceptable." Extreme is written in
the voice of one of those rock-chick characters from Almost Famous --
relentless, frequently enraged, hilarious and profane, about as subtle as a
Black Sabbath concert, as understated as a hotel suite full of musicians, cocaine,
Jack Daniel's and groupies, with a late-breaking dose of international
celebrity, terminal illness and personal redemption thrown in. "It's
insane, isn't it?" she asks, somewhat rhetorically. "Isn't it amazing
that so much can happen in our lives? I've had the drama and then, boom!:
Something even more dramatic happens, and you think, my God. 'Everything in
moderation' -- it should be -- but unfortunately, moderation has not been a
part of my life in any way." What separates the woman from every other
rock chick is that she didn't just climb aboard a bandwagon when it passed
through town. Sharon Osbourne was born into rock and roll. Her father was Don
Arden, one of the all-time legendary music promoters and managers, present at
the dawn of rock and roll in the early sixties.
Growing up in the late 1950s and early sixties, Osbourne lived in a house in
Brixton that was populated first by variety artists -- they rented rooms from
Arden when they were doing a show in town -- and then by musicians whom Arden
managed. Among them were Gene Vincent, Little Richard and Connie Francis, and
other musicians Arden brought to the U.K. because he was certain that the
future of popular music was American and black -- an unfortunate bit of timing
when John Lennon, a huge fan of Vincent, asked Arden if he'd be interested in
managing his group the Beatles. He took a pass. ("It was like, 'English
rock 'n' roll? Don't make me laugh,' " Osbourne writes). "I had an
unbelievable childhood, in the fact that my eyes were open to so much
incredible talent that has now become rock-and-roll history," Osbourne
says. "I think about how blessed I am to have rock-and-roll knowledge,
because so few people who work in this industry know rock and roll's history.
They don't! They don't know anything past Motley Crue." Reading Extreme
is like sitting through Die Hard or Speed -- it's
action-adventure as autobiography. There is almost no letup in the drama:
Arden's fortunes veer wildly, and the family lurches from life in a mansion to
regularly finding the power shut off. "My father never believed in saving
for a rainy day," Osbourne writes. "So when the coffers were full,
he'd be throwing money around, buying my mother jewellery and fur coats, taking
us to the Talk of the Town in Leicester Square, for a slap-up meal and Judy
Garland, but then I'd overhear them talking and he'd be saying things like,
'Christ Pads, 10 grand. Where am I going to get that from?' And so the jewels
would go down to the pawn shop, until eventually she learnt to hide them where
he couldn't find them." There is a youthful pregnancy of Sharon's that
ends in miscarriage; Ozzy's astonishing substance abuse; Sharon being battered
by her husband (and battering him right back -- "The general pattern was
that Ozzy would hit and I would throw, anything that I could pick up, from
lamps to tables to telephones"); his casual and frequent infidelities;
Ozzy's firing from Black Sabbath in 1978; Sharon taking over his flagging
career and helping it bloom all over again in the eighties.
And of course, biting the head off that bat. "Ozzy thought it was
rubber," she writes, "put it in his mouth and ripped its head off.
But not only was it real, it was alive." The book also details Sharon's
12-year courtship with Ozzy, their 1982 marriage, her briefly leaving him, the
transformation of The Osbournes into the ultimate dysfunctional TV
family, Sharon's diagnosis of colon cancer, the couple's children going through
rehab and surviving it all. If Sharon Osbourne is a testament to anything, it's
the ability to remain married through anything, and to have emerged as an icon
for women who recognize a survivor when they see one. During the nearly
hour-long interview, Osbourne casually lobs off scathing blasts as
matter-of-factly as the Queen spouts cheery platitudes. But nothing really
seems to grab her attention until we start dishing about how Renée Zellweger
filed for divorce from her country-and-western musician husband of five months,
Kenny Chesney, citing fraud. "That's sad," she says. "I feel
very sad for her." And then she starts to ignite. "Because what is it
that so many people in the entertainment industry rush into this marriage
thing? They love the parties, they love the excitement, star couples make such
great press together -- but then they get married." And how did
Osbourne make it through 23 years with one husband, in a business where most
marriages have shorter shelf lives than reality-show reruns? "I totally
believe in marriage," she says. "I've been awful to my husband, my
husband has been awful to me," she says, "but you work through it.
There wasn't anyone I fell in lust with or love with other than my husband, and
we have our children." Divorce, she says, "is, like, unthinkable to
me. It's like totally unthinkable." She pauses for a moment.
"The longer you know somebody, the more you know about them and -- your
love changes," she says. "You love them, but then you love them for
different things. And it just gets better." Spoken like a true survivor.
Cronenberg To Help Stage Warhol Show
Excerpt from The Globe and Mail - By
James Adams
(Nov. 1, 2005) Acclaimed Canadian filmmaker David
Cronenberg has signed on as a kind of co-curator for an important
selection of works by the late pop
artist Andy Warhol that will be
exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario next year. Mr. Cronenberg, 62,
confirmed yesterday that he'll be involved in all aspects of the show, titled Andy
Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters 1962-1964, including the
installation of its 20 silkscreen paintings, the preparation of an audio guide
and the selection of a series of Warhol films from the early 1960s. The
exhibition -- which will feature Warhol's iconic images of Marilyn Monroe,
Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley as well as his images of car wrecks, race
riots and electric chairs -- is being organized by the Walker Art Center in
Minneapolis, Minn., and will have its only Canadian appearance at the AGO July
8 through Oct. 1. Its showcase in Ontario marks Mr. Cronenberg's first
collaboration with an art institution -- unless, he said during an interview
yesterday, "you include the programming I did for a sci-fi festival years
ago." Mr. Cronenberg, currently enjoying both commercial and
critical success with his latest feature A History of Violence, said he
was approached in the spring by AGO chief curator Dennis Reid to help with the
Warhol show.
Mr. Cronenberg said he was intrigued by the offer, but told Mr. Reid, "I'm
not sure what I can bring to it." Later, in discussions with David
Moos, the AGO's curator of contemporary art, it was decided he would help
install the works and find a way to "integrate some of Mr. Warhol's films
within the actual exhibition." Mr. Cronenberg plans to visit the Andy
Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pa., this year to see some of Warhol's early
movies, including such "classics" as Empire, Sleep, Vinyl and Chelsea
Girls, to see "the cross-connections" between them and the
silkscreen works he was making at the same time. The Toronto-born director
never met Mr. Warhol, who died at age 59 in 1987, but he said "[his] film
career really started with the New York underground," of which the artist
was a vital part, "not Hollywood." He recalled seeing films by Mr.
Warhol and attending lectures by such other underground filmmaking pioneers as
Jonas Mekas and Kenneth Anger at a cinematheque near Yorkville in the early and
mid-60s. "Here was this parallel universe to Hollywood," he said. "It
made me want to grab a camera and just start shooting, rather than get involved
in the so-called official industry." Indeed, the titles alone of some of
Mr. Cronenberg's earliest short films, from the late 1960s and early 1970s, are
decidedly Warholesque: Don Valley, Tourettes, Scarborough Bluffs, In the
Dirt, Stereo. "Of course," Mr. Cronenberg noted,
"Andy's sensibility was pretty irresistible in those days. I mean, it was
funny, it was trenchant. . . . Andy said the most brilliant things about Andy,
so I felt we needed to hear his voice in this show."
Lindsey Williams' Neo Soul: Taking Soul Food To A Whole 'Nutha
Level
Source: Lissa Brown, Penguin Group, Lissa.Brown@us.penguingroup.com
(Oct.
31, 2005) From the grandson of Harlem's queen of soul food, Sylvia Woods, Neo Soul is the first book to bring readers
soul food with a healthy twist - - old favourites as well as new recipes that
improve upon old family classics ... Collard greens, macaroni & cheese,
corn bread...just the thought of these foods makes our mouths water. However,
while soul food is associated with good taste it's also known to lead to extra
pounds and questionable nutrition. Lindsey
Williams know all about this first hand. He grew up in the kitchen
of his grandmother's legendary restaurant, where he learned the art of
authentic soul food cooking. But he was also always overweight, and when he
tipped the scales at 400 pounds, he knew he had to make some drastic changes.
So he completely changed his lifestyle and his diet, lost more than half his
weight, and eventually created his own brand of healthy soul food cooking,
which he serves today through his wildly successful event planning and catering
business, Neo Soul Events and Catering. NEO SOUL differs from other cookbooks
because Lindsey is a witness to what he discusses in his book. He knows what it
is like to weigh over 400 pounds, and through extreme lifestyle changes, he was
able to lose the weight. This is not only a cookbook, but a testimony to what
healthy eating can do when done correctly. It does not mean that you stop
eating your favourite foods-being the grandson of one of the world-famous
soul-food pioneers, Lindsey knew this would not happen. It is about eating
those favourite foods in a healthy way and this is what NEO SOUL is all about.
NEO SOUL features more than 100 of Williams' delectable recipes, including
Grandma's Roasted Turkey, Lenzo's Trout Stuffed with Collard Greens, Okra
Gumbo, Neo Sweet Potato Pie, and Blueberry Buckle. These mouth-watering recipes
are so good, you'll never miss the fat! For those who love soul food, who were
hesitant to eat it because of the fat and calories or those who just enjoy
cooking tasty, healthy foods, this is THE book you'll love and turn to again
and again. Readers can indulge their soul-food appetite with healthy dishes
that taste just like they came from a Grandma's kitchen.
About the Author:
Lindsey Williams is the owner of Neo Soul Events and Catering, a complete
event planning and catering company. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show,
and many other TV talk shows, and his amazing story of weight loss has been
featured in People magazine.
Foxx Wants Governator To Grant Clemency For Tookie
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Nov. 1, 2005) *Stan “Tookie” Williams,
the founder of the Crips gang who is scheduled to be executed next month, is
getting some support from the
Oscar-winning actor who portrayed him in a 2004 television movie. Jamie Foxx, who turns 38 on Williams’
execution date (Dec. 13), wants California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to
grant clemency for the convicted murderer-turned-author. A Web site has been
created to collect signatures in hopes of convincing Schwarzenegger to spare
Tookie’s life. "We can't let [the execution] happen," Foxx told Fox
411 columnist Roger Freidman at the New York premiere of his new film,
“Jarhead.” "We've got to do everything we can to get the word out. Do you
know they've collected nearly 30,000 signatures so far?" Williams, who is
the author of nine children’s books that promote peace, was sentenced to death
in 1981 for the 1979 murder of a Los Angeles area 7-Eleven manager, and,
shortly thereafter, three other people at a motel. In 1992, a judge
recommended clemency for Tookie after he received two Nobel Peace Prize
nominations.
Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams To Be Executed
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(Oct. 28, 2005) *A judge signed a death warrant Monday for Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the
co-founder of the notorious Crips gang who became a children’s author in jail
and the subject of a 2004 biopic on FX. With the signing of the
death warrant, Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders has rejected requests
from Williams’ attorneys for a delay in the execution date to give them more
time to seek clemency from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tookie’s execution
date has been set for Dec. 13. His lawyers had asked that the date be delayed
for nine days, to Dec. 22. The Dec. 13 date means they have only until Nov. 8
to submit a clemency request to the governor. "This case has taken over 24
years to get to this point," Judge Pounders said. "That is a long
delay in itself and I would hate to add to that delay." Earlier this
month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider Williams' case. Williams,
53, was sentenced to death in 1981 for fatally shooting Albert Owens, a
Whittier convenience store worker, in 1979. He also was convicted of killing
two Los Angeles motel owners and their daughter during a robbery that same
year.
::FITNESS::
The Myth Of Fat Burning
By Greg Landry, M.S., eFitness Guest Columnist
(Oct. 31, 2005) You've probably heard it before: "You have to exercise at
a lower
intensity to burn more fat... to get in the "fat-burning zone." Guess
what, it's a myth!
Here's how it got started. Your body is always "burning" a mixture of
carbohydrates and fat for fuel. This mixture tends to contain a little more fat
during lower intensity exercise. Somebody took this to mean that a lower
intensity workout was best for losing weight... not so! It all
comes from the same "pot." It doesn't matter if you're burning a
little more fat or a little more carbohydrate at any particular time in your
fuel mix. It all comes from the same calorie pool. The bottom line is, how many
calories are you burning. Moderate intensity exercise actually burns more
calories in a given time period. For example, you may burn 200 calories during
a 30 minute low intensity exercise session and 300 calories during a 30 minute
moderate intensity exercise session. Bottom line... burning more calories is
better for weight
loss.
Moderate intensity exercise increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR) more than
lower intensity exercise. This means that you'll burn more calories 24
hours-a-day. Here's the one I like! Moderate intensity exercise gives you a
better high! You know, the exercise high you get when your body releases
endorphins and adrenaline. This can really elevate your mood and is great for
people who are depressed. So, how can you know how intense your exercise is?
Your heart rate is your body's "speedometer" and an excellent gauge
of exercise intensity. Here's how to calculate your target heart rate range for
moderate to high intensity exercise: The most accurate way to determine what
your heart rate range should be while your exercising is to use the Karvonen
equation, First, determine your theoretical max heart rate (Max HR) by
subtracting your age from 220.
Next, determine your resting heart rate (Rest HR) by measuring it first thing
in the morning in a seated, resting position. Then, determine the lower end and
upper end of your target heart rate range:
(Max HR - Rest HR) X .50 + Rest HR = lower end
(Max HR - Rest HR) X .80 + Rest HR = upper end
For example, if you are 40 years old with a resting heart rate of 60:
Lower end of range
220 - 40 = 180 (Max HR)
(180 - 60) X .5 + 60 = 120 lower end of range
Upper end of range
220 - 40 = 180 (Max HR)
(180 - 60) X .8 + 60 = 156 (upper end of range)
So, in this example, your "aerobic training zone" or "target
heart rate range" would be 120 to 156 beats per minute. That means that
for the majority of your exercise session, your goal should be to maintain your
heart rate within that range. If you are just starting your exercise program,
you should be at the lower end of the range. As you become more conditioned,
you can move up in the range. This will help you get the most benefit from the
exercise you do. Note: Be sure to check with your doctor before starting or
making changes to your exercise program. Author and exercise physiologist,
Greg Landry, offers free, unique, weight loss and fitness articles and his Fast
and Healthy Weight Loss Newsletter at his site, www.Landry.com.
::MOTIVATION::
Motivational Note: Left Brain Domain
Excerpt
from www.eurweb.com
- by Motivational Speaker and Author, Jewel Diamond Taylor www.DoNotGiveUp.net
e-mail - JewelMotivates@aol.com
Your goal setting skills are greatly improved and empowered the more you are
specific about what you desire. What is the date? What color? Where? When? How
much? Who? You're more likely to reach your target and experience satisfaction
by tapping into your left brain. Your left brain domain is where you think
about details, strategy, planning, logic, time, reading, writing, arithmetic,
sequential procedures and focused thinking. If you tend to be more right brain
dominant, which is abstract and less focused, you could spend a lot of time
daydreaming instead doing what's necessary to achieve your goals and dreams. If
you are left brain dominant the downside is that you could become to rigid in
your thinking and not trust your intuition. You more likely to stress when
plans are delayed or changed. The ultimate goal achiever learns how to use
their whole brain balancing their creativity with planning and emotions with
logic.
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