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LE NEWSLETTER
May 24, 2007
Hope everyone had a great Victoria Day
weekend - I know that I certainly did! Happy Memorial Day to my American subscribers!
June 6th is right around the corner and so is the CD release of Kayte Burgess' sophomore album, Checked Baggage!
The opening act of Voices Of The Underground featuring Wade O. Brown, Ammoye,
Henrii, Thomas Reynolds and Dane Hartsell performing their original material as
only they can, don’t miss it!
::HOT EVENTS::
Kayte Burgess CD Release Party – June 6,
2007
After lots of hard work, Kayte Burgess has finished her sophomore
album Checked Baggage. Working with various great producers like
Nu Vintage, Adrian Eccleston, 2 Rude, Buddah Brothers and Ali Shaheed Muhammad,
this album is a variety of sounds and textures to provide a little something
for everybody. Kayte Burgess is one of the hardest working
independent artists here in Toronto, and it shows in the new album, so don’t
miss the unveiling of this new album, a great live show and a chance to catch
Kayte before she heads south. Also be sure to catch the opening act of
Voices Of The Underground featuring Wade O. Brown, Ammoye, Henrii, Thomas
Reynolds and Dane Hartsell performing their original material as only they can,
don’t miss it!
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2007
KAYTE BURGESS CD RELEASE PARTY
Revival Bar
783 College St. (College and Shaw)
10:00 pm opening act - The voices of the underground
11:00 pm Kayte Burgess
$5 @ Door
$15 for admission and CD
Tel: 416-535-7888
www.revivalbar.com
::JUST MY OPINION::
Shrek - Is There Hope for Us?
I saw that the opening of Shrek the Third (starring Canadian lad Mike Myers) had the largest monetary
opening last week at almost US$122 million. Shrek the Third is also the third-biggest
debut ever, coming in behind the $151.1 million haul of this month's
"Spider-Man 3" and the $135.6 million gross of last summer's
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." I must say that I
was stirred by this. Why? Because with all the doom and gloom, gore
and violent movies all trying to outdo each other, this sentimental, funny and
animated film still rose to the top, closely followed by other films based on
children's stories.
It made me wonder if we all are secretly craving the simplicity of a
childlike humour. Now I'm not naive enough to ignore that this is a film
attended by many children who must convince their parents or guardians to
accompany them and therefore perhaps the numbers rise but I don't really
care. I prefer to think of it as an opportunity to have hope for our
future as a society - with those of every colour and creed living amongst each
other in harmony - as in the Land of Far Far Away. I love these
impetuous, optimistic and perhaps idealistic thoughts!
And that's just my opinion.
::TOP STORIES::
Ferguson,
Mandel Lead Comedy Festival
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com - Entertainment Reporter
(May 23, 2007) Across the ocean, south of the
border and back at home
in Hogtown. Toronto’s first Just For Laughs festival will feature three gala events from July 26 to 28,
featuring headliners like Scotland-born Craig Ferguson, host of CBS’s The
Late Late Show, Latino-American comedian George Lopez and homegrown talent
Howie Mandel, star of Deal Or No Deal. Organizers also promise two
days of free “European-style” street theatre set in and around Dundas Square
featuring 80 performers and live shows, including a performance by Brampton
native Russell Peters, the first comedian ever to
sell out the Air Canada Centre. Circus Orange, a Canadian troupe, will also
perform a brand new show called The Aviator, featuring pyrotechnics,
dance and stunt performances. The festival will also feature programming geared
towards the city’s vast multicultural mix, including the Ethnic Heroes of
Comedy show, starring Toronto native Frank Spadone and Montreal native Angelo
Tsarouchas. Laughingly referring to the show as the “food court of comedy,”
Spadone said it will highlight the backgrounds and experiences comics “from the
four corners of the world” bring to the table, including his own upbringing in
North York. “It’s the struggle to try to be come a Canadian kid while dealing
with old traditions. We want to go out and play hockey but we’ve got to press
the wine,” said Spadone. Other Canadian talent includes Elvira Kurt, Derek
Edwards and Jeremy Hotz.
Proudly
His Father's Son
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com - Pop & Jazz Critic
(May 18, 2007) You expect to hear Bob Marley songs at a reggae
concert, whether it's the DJ spinning them during intermission or covers by the
headliner; 26 years after his death, the King of Reggae still resonates. When
the performer in question is his widow, former bandmate or offspring, the
nostalgic medley is typically relegated to the bottom half of the show, after
the crowd (and there is always one, even when the Marley connection is tenuous)
has been dazzled by their material. Though he took the stage an hour late for
his Tuesday night gig at the Phoenix, Stephen
Marley didn't waste time. The first song from the second of Bob's seven
sons was the late great's "Roots, Rock, Reggae." With a guitar
strapped across his torso and that mid-reverie tendency to hold his left hand
to his forehead, locks swinging, 35-year-old Marley was in full dad mode. He
followed with "Chase Dem" from his acclaimed solo debut Mind
Control and continued alternating his tunes with his father's gems for the
first half of the 90-minute set.
Accompanied by an 11-piece Wailers-style band and two fierce back-up dancers
updating the I-Three's moves (despite one with a distracting, oh-so-impolitic
hair weave) his works are rootsier than eldest brother Ziggy's current fusion
fare and more traditional than youngest brother Damian's dancehall reggae-rap
oeuvre. But like those better known brothers, Stephen Marley executes the
King's originals with aplomb, branding them with precision endings and modern
grooves. With his own lyrics echoing the family's trademark call for unity, he
halted the music to lecture: "They use politics and race and religion to
divide us, (but) we are one people." A more contemporary vibe
emerged once he brought out little brother Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley,
28, to perform several of the hits from his Grammy-winning disc Welcome to
Jamrock. That album was produced by Stephen, who has been criticized for
dipping into his dad's catalogue to fashion dance remixes and rap collaborations
for his brothers and others. But with a sold-out Phoenix audience of 1,100 frat
boys, Rastas, hipsters and Boomers, and his own young son onstage dancing and
waving a flag throughout the gig, which ended past midnight, it would appear
the father of eight has the Marley legacy well in hand.
Slow Times Force Casting Agency To Shut Its Doors For Now
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Danny Gallagher, Special to The Globe and Mail
(May 21, 2007) In what could be an ominous sign of a business in
decline, the largest talent agency in Toronto catering to the movie and
television industries has decided to close down for at least 18 months. The
highly respected Toronto Casting Talent Agency, which was established in 1989 and boasts a roster of close to
2,000 background extras, has issued a letter to all of its clients, explaining
the demise of the business. "We are currently on hiatus and plan to
re-open some time after the summer of 2008," the agency says in a statement
posted on its website. In her letter to clients, who complement the main actors
in productions by performing background roles, Toronto Casting owner Anne Marie
Stewart referred to the beginning of the industry's demise after the 9/11
terrorist attacks and the SARS epidemic, which prompted many U.S. production
companies to stay at home rather than shoot here. Stewart also lamented the
first-ever strike by ACTRA members earlier this year, although they were
allowed to continue to work in productions that were being shot here. What has
been hurting the local industry most of late and prompting American producers
to stay below the border is the high value of the Canadian dollar which hovered
around 92 cents U.S. at the close of currency trading on Friday.
Stewart, who declined calls requesting an interview, said in her letter that
she is getting an insufficient number of calls from casting directors for
placing extras in productions so she had to tell her clients that it wasn't
worth continuing the agency until business picks up. She wrote she hopes to
resume operations in the fall of 2008, if two mammoth production facilities
scheduled for the Port Lands district and the Bloor-Davenport areas of the city
are constructed. She feels that U.S. production houses will shoot here, if
these sophisticated facilities are available. Toronto Casting had been so
successful for many years that Stewart could afford to operate out of an office
in the high-rent neighbourhood of Yonge and Eglinton, while most agency operators
work out of their residences to save costs. Stewart's agency was essentially
staffed by herself and assistant Elaine Byrne, charging clients 10 to 15 per
cent in commission fees. On her website, Stewart said the biggest risk she ever
took in life was forming Toronto Casting almost 20 years ago. She says she's
had a great run and now that she has downsized her operations, maybe she will
pursue her secret ambition to be a pilot.
Time Canadians Stood Up To The CRTC
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Antonia Zerbisias
(May 22, 2007) Last Thursday at the University of Windsor, where I attended the
20 Years of Propaganda? conference, I
drank in all the youth and idealism juice of the media activists around me.
Here were communications students, bloggers, pirate radio operators,
alternative media journalists and independent filmmakers doing revolutionary
things to report the truth. They were there to revisit the Edward S. Herman and
Noam Chomsky Propaganda Model, which posits that the mass media filter the news
through their ownership interests, advertiser concerns, the nature of their
sources, the flak they get and the acceptable political ideology. Twenty years
later, the model is more applicable than ever. We still don't get the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth from the mass media. Or, as Al Gore
puts it in his new book, The Assault on Reason, "In the world of
television, the massive flows of information are largely in only one direction,
which makes it virtually impossible for individuals to take part in what passes
for a national conversation. Individuals receive, but they cannot send. They
hear, but they do not speak. The `well-informed citizenry' is in danger of
becoming the `well-amused audience.' Moreover, the high capital investment
required for the ownership and operation of a television station and the
centralized nature of broadcast, cable and satellite networks have led to the
increasing concentration of ownership by an ever smaller number of larger
corporations ..."
You can say the same of Canada where we have CTVGlobemedia, which just
swallowed CHUM, and CanWest Global, that just ate Alliance Atlantis, and their
reliance on U.S. simulcasts. Meanwhile CBC weakens by the year. What to do
about it? The mass media are massive. They have the power and, most important,
the capital to call the shots and the stories. What's more, despite all the
ooh-ing and ah-ing about the new media, TV remains our primary source of news
and information. Canadians watch, on average, 25 hours a week.
That's why what the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC) matters. It matters a
lot. But, according to my informal but relentless survey, none of the
conference delegates in Windsor gets it – even though, on the day I polled
them, the federal broadcast regulator dropped a great big gift into the lap of
the private broadcasters: the elimination of all time restrictions on ads by
2009. This will not only place, by my rough guess, an additional $2 million a
week in their coffers, it will do nothing for the promotion or production of
Canadian TV, either drama or news. Now before you eyeballs get all uppity about
your viewing pleasure, remember you have already made your deal with these
devils.
You get the shows for free. In return, you watch their ads. That's how it works
– and if you pay Ted Rogers to be in the middle, that's your choice. Both the
CTV-owned Globe and Mail and the CanWest-owned National Post reported
all this in their business pages because, after all, this is their business,
even though it is conducted on public airwaves. And while they were celebrating
their windfall, they didn't do much to tell you that the CRTC has also ordered
the end of over-the-air analog TV by 2011. That means those without a digital
set will have to fork out for a new TV – or pay Ted Rogers, your
"choice" – to watch any TV at all. Nothing like the CRTC standing on
guard for Canadians. Which brings us back to Windsor. Media activists
like to do their thing and run their websites and make their films. Mostly
though, they are preaching to the converted. They have to fight fire with fire
and turn the propaganda model against the mass media in order to reach the
masses: by organizing grassroots campaigns against the CRTC, for starters. If
you don't control the medium, you can't dictate the message. And wouldn't all
you eyeballs join in, if only to see those U.S. Super Bowl ads instead of the
simulcast commercials?
American Idol: Jordin Sparks Wins!
Source: By Kelly West, TV Blend
(May 23, 2007) Ladies and Gentleman, America voted and the majority
chose Jordin Sparks as
this season’s American Idol. Last night, Jordin and Blake each performed three
songs and with the exception of the signature ‘Idol’ song at the end, it was
definitely difficult to predict tonight’s winner. Blake’s beat-box performance
during his rendition of “You Give Love A Bad Name” was by far the most
entertaining portion of the night but Jordin definitely showed her vocal skills
when she sang “Broken Wing.” It was in the final song that Jordin took the lead
in the home stretch of the sixth season of ‘Idol’ and it was enough to earn her
the win.
In the two-hour ‘Idol’ finale, original Idol, Kelly Clarkson performed her new
single “Never Again.” There were also a number of other celebrity performers
including Doug E. Fresh and Gwen Stefani, the African Children’s Choir and
former Idols, Taylor Hicks, Carrie Underwood and Rubin Studdard. And then there
were some completely ridiculous and not very funny Golden Idol segments in
which the worst of the worst auditioners were awarded for making fools of
themselves on national television. Even Sanjaya returned to perform as
Aerosmith’s Joe Perry rocked out on the guitar. That was truly surreal. The
producers were gracious enough to chase that performance with Green Day’s
performance of the John Lennon classic, “Working Class Hero.” Two hours of
hoopla just to announce the winner.
Last night, Jordin and Blake each took a turn singing an original song. The
sixth edition of the Idol-original song was titled “This Is My Now” and I have
to say, it was just as cheesy, if not cheesier than Aiken’s “This Is The Night”
and last season’s “Do I Make You Proud.” I’ll be honest, I was a big fan of “A
Moment Like This” and since that first season, I don’t think the show has been
able to produce another single that’s anywhere near as catchy. With pop-music,
there’s a very fine line between instant-hit and just plain cheesy and
forgettable. I feel like “This Is My Now” falls into the latter category.
I will say this; Jordin sung the hell out of that song. Blake, on the other
hand, looked and sounded completely out of place when he performed it. I don’t
fault him for this all that much. You can tell the song wasn’t written for a
guy like him. He did the best he could with it but I doubt his first album will
include that song (or any other song that sounds anything like it).
Though Jordin took the grand prize, both she and Blake are likely to have
successful careers in the music industry. They’re both
young, attractive, talented people who’ve already been discovered. The same
could also be said for some of the other Idols in this season’s top 12. As
‘Idol’ has become more of a popularity contest than a singing contest, it’s
likely that some of the favourites will slip back into obscurity not long after
this season ends while others will manage to find the right song-writers and
record producers to help launch them to stardom.
::MUSIC NEWS::
Robin Thicke Tells All To Giant
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(May 18, 2007) *R&B singer Robin Thicke – the son of actors Alan
Thicke and Gloria Loring and fixture atop Billboard’s R&B charts with his
single, “Lost Without U” – is the featured cover story in the June/July issue
of Giant magazine, due on newsstands June 5. Inside, the artist speaks freely
about his once waning self-esteem, issues in his marriage to actress Paula
Patton, and his fourteen year ride to overnight stardom. Here are a
few excerpts from Thicke’s interview with Giant contributor Celia San Miguel:
• ON HIS PERSONAL DEMONS: “I understand struggle because I’ve struggled with my
own demons, my own ability to love myself. I might have grown up in an
aesthetically larger building, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t felt pain.
That’s what the whole (expletive) album is about. It’s about a dude who
needed to believe in himself when the world said, ‘We don’t love you.’”
• ON STRAINS IN HIS MARRIAGE TO PAULA PATTON: “She was having sex scenes with
the guy who won Album of the Year (Andre 3000), and I pretty much had no record
deal. She didn’t come home during the three months of filming (Idlewild)
because she was so focused. I started believing she didn’t need me
anymore, and when she came home, I started projecting that onto her and pushing
her away. That’s what ‘Complicated’ (a song from his album) is about – me
saying, ‘I wish I could stop thinking I’m not good enough because, otherwise, I
won’t be able to get this girl back.”
• ON BEING JEALOUS OF JESUS: “I was seven years old hearing about how wonderful
Jesus is, and I was like, ‘I’m special. I’m able to be righteous.
How come Jesus gets to be the Son of God and not me? Why don’t I get to
be as loved by God as Jesus was? I believe we should all get to be the
sons of God.”
• ON THE VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE: “I started writing this song last night about
the guy who did the shooting. I figured if anybody needed love, it was
him. He was reaching out, but nobody listened. And, you know,
everyone said he was quiet. I started writing about feeling like you’re a
shadow. And even though I’m not him, I know what that feels like.
There is so much hurt and struggle, so many people who need hope.”
Celine Dion Plans World Tour
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Helen Moka, Canadian Press
(May 22, 2007)LAS VEGAS — Canadian fans of singer
Celine Dion can finally breathe a sigh of
relief. The Quebec-born diva confirmed Monday that she will tour for the first
time in nine years to promote her new album, D'elles, and will stop in
Montreal and Toronto. While details of the shows, including dates, still have
to be worked out, Dion told The Canadian Press she expects to be back in
Montreal by August, 2008. “It's certain that I'll do shows in Montreal,” she
said during an interview at an exclusive golf club in Lake Las Vegas. “You
know, I've travelled a lot, I've done many shows, but I haven't seen the world
much. I'm going to take advantage of this world tour and my son gives a good
opportunity.” Her tour will include concerts in Europe, Asia and Africa. Dion,
who also didn't rule out additional concerts in other Canadian cities as well,
leaked the news about the Canadian content of her tour during the launch of D'elles.
With 13 tracks penned by female writers from Quebec and France, the album is
being billed as a tribute to women. It is also her first album of new
French-language material since the 2003 release of 1 fille & 4 types.
Indeed the much-awaited album comes as the 39-year-old singer embarks on a new
phase in her career. This December, Dion will wrap up a successful five-year
run at the Las Vegas hotel Caesar's Palace. “You know, having done a project
for five years, it's like wearing the same bathrobe for five years,” Dion said.
“It was a security zone for me to wear this same bathrobe because it was a zone
where I felt good.” Dion has sold more than 175 million albums across the
world, making her the No. 1-selling female artist of all time. She has 22
albums to her credit, including compilations. Her only break from performing
came in 2000 when she was pregnant with son Rene-Charles. Along with D'elles,
which hits stores in Canada on Tuesday, Dion already has an English album in
the works, which she expects to be released before Christmas. “I have four
recorded,” she said. “But this one won't be a concept album.” Her new French
album is a follow up to her 1995 release D'eux, which sold around seven
million copies worldwide. With the huge success of D'eux, producer
Jean-Jacques Goldman was brought back as musical supervisor for D'elles.
Among the songwriters on the album is Nathalie Nechtschein, a young French
woman with Down syndrome. “I can't say which song I like best, but I find it
extraordinary to sing Nathalie Nechtschein,” Dion said. And if recording albums
and embarking on a major world tour weren't enough for the working mother, Dion
said she and her husband would like to have another child. “That's the
best thing still to happen to me,” Dion said. “I've known 25 years of the
artistic life, I still have to blossom as a woman.”
Music Fans Hot For Virgin Festival
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Kerry Gold, Special To The Star
(May 22, 2007) VANCOUVER–Richard Branson knew that if
he built it, they would come. And despite the downpour, they did – about 25,000
of them, to the first Virgin Festival in Vancouver. Unlike the Toronto version last year, where scheduling
problems pulled the plug on headlining act the Flaming Lips, the two-day event
went off without a hitch. The mostly teenage audience packed the
University of B.C.'s Thunderbird Stadium to check out headlining acts Rise
Against, Billy Talent, My Chemical Romance, AFI and The Killers. Other draws
included Hot Hot Heat, Stars of Track and Field, The Bled, Metric and You Say
Party! We Say Die! In total, 42 acts played Sunday and yesterday, including a
busy DJ tent. The festival returns to the Toronto Islands Sept. 8 and 9,
featuring headliners Bjork, The Killers and the Smashing Pumpkins. (The only
other North American date is Baltimore, on Aug. 4 and 5.) So far, Branson's
ambitious project looks like it might have legs. Despite bad weather
Sunday, the fans turned out in droves because of an easy-to-swallow $40-a-day
ticket price and came away pleased with solid performances. And the spot-on
sound system and strict schedule made for a well-oiled production.
By yesterday morning, the sun had broken through, making it easier for a legion
of girls to camp out all day, stage-front, in anticipation of their heartthrob,
The Killers' Brandon Flowers. Days before, there was fear the band
wouldn't even make it. Flowers' voice failed him during a gig in Colorado last
week, so he cancelled a Sunday night show in Seattle to allow himself time to
recover for Vancouver. The Monday shows were a better mix compared to the
punk-heavy themes of the day before. With acts like all-girl-youngsters Smoosh,
popular Toronto band Metric and the much buzzed about You Say Party! We Say
Die!, there was more of a female presence. And unlike the heavier sound that
prevailed on Sunday, there was a bigger emphasis on alternative pop, with bands
like Hot Hot Heat and The Killers holding court. Backstage, the rock stars came
out of their luxury buses to bask in the sun. Before going onstage, AFI bass
player Hunter Burgan disclosed that he's been writing a side project with Tegan
Quin of Calgary duo Tegan and Sara. "It's really a unique
collaboration," said Hunter.
"It's largely electronic-based, it has some '80s influences, and some
songs are fun, quirky, almost video-game influenced, if that makes sense?"
The side project is the multi-instrumentalist's way of dealing with the boredom
that can arise from playing the same songs every night. But AFI fans no
doubt feel differently when it comes to staples like "Girls Not
Grey." The audience may have mostly been The Killers' fans, but AFI
supporters, known as the Despair Faction, were in abundance yesterday.
On Sunday, Chicago's hardcore punk act Rise Against delivered a powerful,
adrenaline-fuelled performance. Sporting an overgrown Mohawk, Tim McIlrath was
a comfortable performer, clearly enamoured of the job. Toronto's own
Billy Talent kicked off its set with hit "Devil In a Midnight Mass,"
and singer Ben Kowalewicz was quickly sweating up a storm despite the chilly
rain. He had his shirt off for early hit "Try Honesty," crouched over
his microphone, sharing vocal duty with Ian D'Sa, the guitarist known for his
sky-high hairdo. They may as well have shared billing with My Chemical Romance,
because it seemed half the crowd was there for them. But My Chemical Romance
caused its own frenzy. The New Jersey alternative rock act is, at heart, a pop
band, complete with hook-riddled songs, pretty boys with cool haircuts and
groupie girls who cry throughout their sets. Lead singer Gerard Way is as
theatrical and flamboyant as the music, pacing across the stage in a black
suit, enunciating like an actor the words "You wear me out," on
"I'm Not Okay." At the end of the cabaret rocker "Mama," he
pretended to cry. "A surprise party for me?" he gasped, with
the spotlight on him. "You shouldn't have."
Jackiem Joyner: New Smooth Jazz Artist Delivers ‘Baby’
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
(May 23, 2007) The smooth jazz genre has been
expecting for some
time. The music that used to be considered ‘elevator music’ has definitely come
into it’s own over the past decade – as has its latest star, Jackiem (Jac-keem) Joyner.
Joyner was just four years old when one of his idols, Kenny G, brought smooth
jazz to the forefront with his classic “Songbird,” but now the 27 year-old is
introducing the rebirth with his debut disc “Babysoul.”
Called “an instantly engaging, soulful release,” Joyner’s offering melds jazz
and R&B creating a musical accessibility that has jazz radio on its
ear. But although Joyner’s road to radio began at a young age, his travel
has been long. “It’s really difficult to get working – to become a busy
musician,” Joyner admitted to EUR’s Lee Bailey. “I’ve done it. I’ve been on the
music scene and tried to get the gigs. And when I get the gigs, they’re not
really paying much and it’s hard to get a band together when they’re not paying
much.” Fortunately for smooth jazz, Joyner persevered. He grew up in Norfolk,
Virginia, working on his craft and eventually headed to Los Angeles to work on
his career. “I’ve always believed that I had what it takes, I just didn’t
believe that I was in the right environment,” Joyner said in reference to his
move to L.A. “That’s why I came to California. And the first thing I wanted to
do was to let everyone know that I existed. I would hit the jam sessions, go
out and network with musicians, see what was going on in Los Angeles. I was
like, ‘Let me play.’” For Joyner, his sandbox request worked. He backed
up artists such as India.Arie, Boney James, Spyro Gyra, and George Benson, and
picked up instruments and jammed with genre greats Gerald Albright, Richard
Elliot, Jeff Golub and Peter White. However, the gigs weren’t entirely fulfilling,
Joyner said.
“I’d been writing music for a while. When I moved out to California in late
2004, I wasn’t really focused on recording a record,” he said. “But right
around January of 2005, I decided to put my mind to it and that’s when the
initial writing started for ‘Baby Soul.’ I just wanted to do this album to
really let people know who I am. It’s really easy to write a song and play a
sax to, but it’s difficult to write a song that tells who you really are.” The
artist said that for that reason, he took his time on every track. The first
single, “Stay
With Me Tonight,” featuring Peter White, moved up the charts,
debuting at #32. Now fans of the disc have flocked to a soul-laced song called
“In Love Again.” Though particularly popular, Joyner said that “In Love Again”
wasn’t actually supposed to be on the disc. The album had been recorded and was
in the final mixing stages when the chorus just kept playing in Joyner’s mind.
(You can check out samples of his super smooth-soulful sound HERE.)
“It’s just one of those songs that comes to you,” he recalled. “So I said, I
know we’re already in the mixing process, but let me go and record this song.
And then I said, ‘Let me go ahead and add some flute.’” Joyner is more than a
saxophonist, a songwriter, a composer, and a producer. He is an instrumentalist
and played most of the parts on the disc. The intermixed sounds of sax and
flute on “In Love Again” is a prime example of his talents. “At first it was
just going to be a saxophone chorus,” Joyner explained. “But I put the flute in
and it just really worked out. Even though I’m not playing flute on a lead
song, I’m a flute player, as well as a saxophone player. And I wanted people to
know that and I wanted to let them know that they can work together.”
Furthermore, Joyner plays all the saxophone, flute, bass, keyboards – pretty
much all of the instruments on the album, except for the music of the guesting
artists. In addition, all of the instruments were recorded at Joyner’s home
studio. However, there is even more to Joyner taking his career into his own
hands. In addition to writing the music, playing the instruments, and recording
the disc in his studio, Joyner even scored his recording contract.
“I signed with Artizen
[Music Group] after sending ‘Babysoul’ – packaged and everything – to the label
looking for representation,” he said. The execs listened to the disc, loved it and
asked if he wanted a deal. “They really gave me a lot of creative control. I
mean, the album was already complete,” he continued. “Hopefully everybody takes
to the album well and likes it.” Joyner has delivered a disc that is making the
smooth jazz and R&B take notice, but it’s more than his music that is
making him a household name in music circles; it’s also his passion. “Wherever
there are great musicians, I wanna be there,” he said. According to the latest
music charts, he is. For more on Jackiem Joyner, check out his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/jackiemsoul
and stay tuned for his official website, www.jackiemjoyner.com.
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Bay Street Rockers Ready To Cut Loose
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Patricia Best
(May 22, 2007) About 500 revellers are expected May 31 at the ninth
instalment of the Battle of the Bands, the yearly rock fest that simultaneously allows amateur Bay
Street rock stars to come out of the closet for one night and raises big dough
for youth charities. It all unfolds at the Steam Whistle Brewery in
downtown Toronto, complete with cold beverages and BBQ. The money raised this
year will go to the Royal Conservatory of Music's outreach program, called A
Bridge to Toronto's Communities (which mysteriously guarantees its programs are
within an "anti-oppressive framework"), as well as juvenile diabetes
and SickKids Foundation. The battle, dubbed Baystock, was originally
established by Norm Shiner, director of institutional sales for RBC
Dominion Securities and his first Bay Street band, the G Notes. "It's like
the movie Field of Dreams. We built it and they keep coming," he is
quoted as saying in publicity bumf. Since the first year, the event has raised
$700,000. This year's judging panel for the competition is particularly
impressive. In the line-up is Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies; Alan
Frew, lead singer of Glass Tiger; John Capek, who wrote hit songs
for Bonnie Raitt and Rod Stewart; Terry Moshenberg from the League of
Rock; and Erica Ehm, a former MuchMusic VJ.
So who are the groups battling it out this year for the title of best band?
There's Hedge Fun (CIBC), Biznoids (Bank of Montreal), Black Monday (Fidelity
Investments), Dynamic Range (Dynamic Funds) and the Webtones (Telus). Hedge Fun
should at least win the title for best name. And speaking of upcoming fun
fests, on June 6 the Ontario NDP is holding a "special election year"
fundraiser at the Liberty Grand event hall in Toronto for leader Howard
Hampton. Unfortunately, as some of the meaner-spirited recipients of the
invite have noted, "Ontario" is misspelled in the cover e-mail. But
in the invitation itself, all is well - though political rivals note that $800
donors win entry to a VIP reception. "Make the rich pay and then give them
a VIP reception?" said one correspondent to Nobody's Business. "Thought
there was only one class - working families!"
Her Voice Unites The Indian Diaspora
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Prithi Yelaja, Staff Reporter
(May 19, 2007) I can hardly believe my ears: the iconic Asha Bhosle is serenading me over the
phone from Vancouver. The tune is one of her favourites: "Aiye
meherbaan" from the movie Howarh Bridge . "Do you think they
(fans) will like me to sing that one?" she asks. "Everyone seems to
go for fast songs these days, so I don't know." She spontaneously
starts crooning after I ask her what songs her fans might expect to hear in
Toronto at the Rogers Centre tomorrow. The concert – Bhosle's fifth in Toronto
since 1976 – is part of an 18-city international tour, which includes singers
Sonu Niigaam, Kailash Kher and Kunal Ganjawala. Bhosle's voice is melodic
and sounds decades younger than her 74 years, despite her picking up a cold
since landing here. As for the rest of her line-up, she is mum. "I won't
reveal everything because that takes away the surprise. Let's just say, I'll be
singing the old favourites as well as some of the newer numbers." The
interview is being conducted in Marathi at Bhosle's request. It's the language
of Maharashtra State in western India , where both Bhosle and this reporter are
from. As a playback singer – Bhosle's the voice behind the songs that
Bollywood stars lip-sync in films – she sings in 19 languages, including Urdu,
Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Telegu, Nepali, English, Russian and Hindi. With a
career stretching six decades and reportedly more than 12,000 songs ranging
from pop, qawwalis, ghazals, bhajans and Bollywood fare, Bhosle is versatility
personified. On her latest album, Asha and Friends, released last year,
she sings with Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt, actress Urmila Matondkar and
Australian cricketer Brett Lee, among others. She has done duets with Boy
George, Stephen Lauscombe and Michael Stipe. Bhosle's loyal fan base has grown
up with her and spans four generations.
"When I first started singing, that generation were little children. Their
parents were my fans and those children heard me through their parents. Now
they've grown up and many have immigrated to North America , but they haven't
forgotten the songs from their childhood, from their college years. So they
listen and now their children are also listening." Part of her enduring
appeal with the Indian diaspora, she believes, is her ability to evoke their
emotional attachment to India through song. "Indians here are more Indian
than people back home. They hang on to our traditions and customs more tightly.
I saw this in London , ( England ) where they wear saris, they do puja (a
religious ceremony) every day at home. The new generation here has a great love
and nostalgia for their homeland, whereas in India the craze is for everything
western." Just back from music festivals in Australia and France and
with another album due out this year, Bhosle shows no signs of slowing down. When
I say her somewhat turbulent life reads like a Bollywood script, she laughs.
"Everyone's life has its ups and downs." Born in Sangli,
Maharashtra , into a musical family, she and her elder sister – the legendary
Lata Mangeshkar – started singing in films to help support the family after
their father died when Bhosle was 9. At 16, Bhosle eloped with Mangeshkar's
personal secretary, a man twice her age. After the marriage failed, she
returned to the family home with two young children and pregnant with a third.
Her big break came with the movie Naya Daur in 1957. In 1980, she
married top music director R.D. Burman, whom she called "Bubs." He
died in 1994. If she hadn't been a singer, she would have been a chef, says
Bhosle, who owns three restaurants in Dubai , Kuwait , and Birmingham , England
. The menus include her specialty dishes: fish biryani and kadai gosht.
Home these days is Peddar Road in south Mumbai, where Bhosle lives in an
extended family set-up with a dozen relatives, including Mangeshkar, 78. The
family's singing dynasty looks set to continue. Bhosle's 5-year-old
granddaughter Zanai has started singing. "We're not training her. She's
naturally talented and just picks it up from listening to me," Bhosle
says. With a knock on her hotel door, the interview comes to an end. The pizza
she ordered has arrived. "I do miss the food back home," she says,
adding she has to track down red chili flakes to make the pizza more palatable.
Chris 'Kazi' Rolle: The Hip Hop Project
Interview With Kam Williams
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - Kam Williams
(May 17, 2007) *Chris “Kazi” Rolle was born in Nassau , Bahamas and
abandoned by his mother as a young child. He
grew up in foster care and orphanages before coming to New York at the age of
fourteen to reconnect with his biological mother. A turbulent reunion led
to his living homeless on the streets of Brooklyn where he began hustling at
night to survive though he did continue to stay in school. In 1996, after
graduating from PSRC Performing Arts High School, Kazi began writing, directing
and acting with an urban theatre company called Tomorrow’s Future, fusing
hip-hop and drama to relate tales of everyday experiences in the inner city. Three
years later, he created Art Start’s Hip-Hop Project, an outreach program which
connects troubled teens to music industry professionals with the goal of
producing their own rap album reflecting real-life issues. He’s also the
architect of Momentum, a hip-hop music label that puts the emphasis on the
education and empowerment of its artists. Plus, he’s a co-founder of A.P.E.X.,
a non-profit organization that hosts monthly college preparation workshops and
offers a tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Kazi has been featured by Oprah Winfrey on a show with the theme “People Who
Are Using Their Lives,” as he now travels around the country as both a
motivational speaker and a performer. Presently, he’s working on his highly
anticipated debut album, “Many Faces.” Here, he talks about The Hip Hop
Project, an uplifting bio-pic which chronicles his overcoming the odds of an
orphan surviving on the streets and his then going on to serve as a mentor to
other unfortunate kids who find themselves in equally-challenging predicaments.
Kam Williams: What’d you think of the Hip Hop Project?
Kazi: I love the film. I love it!
KW: Do you think it gives the audience an accurate idea of what your
program is trying to accomplish?
Kazi: Definitely.
KW: Hey, you grew up in the Bahamas until you were about 14. How come
you don’t have a West Indian accent?
Kazi: You know what I think it was? It was the fact that I’ve always
dreamed about coming to America, and I used to rap as a little kid, mimicking
all the rappers from America. And there was no Bahamian community in the
Bahamas that I was aware of or connected to. I think constantly being around
Americans, I just wanted to talk like them, I guess, and maybe lose the accent
quicker. And I didn’t go home for a very long time.
KW: Speaking of home, probably, the most poignant scene in the movie
is your reunion with your mom after many years of being estranged. You
obviously were eager to bond with her, but she still seemed somewhat distant.
How is your relationship with her today?
Kazi: It’s good, it’s evolving. I can walk into the house, if I’m ever
around on a holiday, and get a nice hug. We talk once in a while, though I’m
very busy, and so is she. The relationship has evolved a whole lot since that
point, and it continues to evolve.
KW: At the end of the movie we learn that you’re no longer running the
day-to-day operations of the Hip Hop Project. That must be a big loss, because
you were its driving force.
Kazi: I’m still on the board. We’re working towards having the program be
its own independent organization, aside from Art Start.
KW: So, what are you up to, then?
Kazi: I just finished my album, “Many Faces,” and I’m working on getting
it out there.
KW: Who is your album with, an independent label?
Kazi: I’m talking to a few different distributors. But my main focus
right now is trying to get people to see the movie. After that, I’ll make some
decisions.
KW: In the film, you stress the idea of writing lyrics which honestly
reflect what’s going on in your life. This ought to be excellent timing given
the recent backlash against gangsta rap in the wake of the Don Imus
controversy.
Kazi: Yeah, I guess it might be divine intervention, but I also think
things just go out of style. Some of those rappers will continue to sell, but
people are more open and are looking for more from hip-hop right now, and we’re
ready to feed that appetite. I couldn’t have planned it any better.
For the full interview by Kam Williams, go HERE.
Rena Scott: Showing Her ‘Love’
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
(May 21, 2007) Sultry singer Rena Scott has a performance
résumé that would rival any industry icon. The Detroit native, currently
working her “Let Me Love You" project, has a history of impressive gigs
and projects under her belt. She’s sung with soul legends such as Aretha
Franklin and Michael Henderson; appeared with Natalie Cole, Patti Labelle, and
Ashford & Simpson; has sung to sold-out concert goers, toured Europe, and
sang at Carnegie Hall. She’s even been the voice of jingles for Levi’s 501
Jeans and Sunny Delight. It’s almost ironic that she found out she could sing
by accident. It happened at a very young age, when Scott found solace from the
fear and sadness of her parents’ tumultuous relationship, in the church. “When
I was about five or six, I used to sing in the mirror and cry,” she recalled.
“The fear and hurt and all those things were going through my mind and my
heart, so I’d sing church songs and cry. So when I was 12 I joined the Baptist
church choir after I saw my cousin singing in it.” One Sunday, in between
services, Scott said she began to sing along with the choir director who was
playing a song called “Walking Around Heaven.” “I started to sing a little of
the song and he stopped and said, ‘Oh my gosh, you can sing.’ I didn’t know I
could sing. That evening, he put me up [front]. And from then on they started
giving me the lead in songs,” Scott explained.
From there, at about 13 years of age, Scott began her musical journey
performing at the Fox Theater in Detroit, and singing in nightclubs on Saturday
and in the church on Sundays. Scott attributes her spirituality and soulfulness
to working through those young years when she dealt daily with domestic
violence between her parents, and, as she told EUR’s Lee Bailey, while her look
may throw listeners off, she’s definitely got soul. “I’m from Detroit,” she
said identifying her soulful roots, “and I grew up singing in a Baptist church
choir. That’s part of where I got my soulfulness.” Also, Scott, though quite
fair-skinned, is an African-American. Only ten years ago did she even discover
that she was biracial. She found out that the black man she thought was her
father, was not. “I always questioned the way I looked. I didn’t see anybody
that looked like me. I was called Chiquita banana and half-white girl and all
kinds of things. But people always wondered where all that soul came from. This
big voice coming from this small high-yellow girl.” However, there’s even more
to the cultivation of her sound than that. Scott shared that her very
terrorizing home life as a young child accounts for deepening her spirituality.
“I’m very spiritual. My parents had a very violent marriage. And it had a very
profound effect on my life… I Sang out of a lot of love and a lot of pain, and
the emotion comes out in my songs. It’s taught me to be very loving; to be very
humble; and that life has not been promised to anybody. It is a gift from God.”
Additionally, as an advocate against domestic violence and abuse, Scott plans
to tale what’s she’s been through to perhaps one day write about her story and
the experiences that have shaped her. “Maybe it will help somebody else,” she
said. I had to live it in order for me to tell it. I talk about the profound
effect [domestic violence] has on children. I do not recommend that you stay
together for the children in you have a violent marriage.” Her current disc,
“Let Me Love You” was released on her own independent label Amor Records. After
three failed label deals, the singer opted to invest in herself. The title
track is featured in the HBO/Cinemax film “Love and Action in Chicago,”
starring Courtney Vance, Regina King, Kathleen Turner and Ed Asner. As Scott
explained, as a little girl, music was her outlet, and it she said it continues
to be an important part of her emotional survival. For now, Scott says she’s
working her way back to Carnegie Hall. “Performing is just in my blood,” she
said. Meanwhile, the Southern California transplant is still singing in one of
the most impressive venues – the church. For more on the Scott and the new
album, visit www.renascott.net
or on MySpace at www.myspace.com/renascott.
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EMI Deal With Terra Firma May Spark Bidding War
Source: Jane Wardell, Associated Press
(May 22, 2007) LONDON -- EMI Group PLC, home to the
Beatles and Coldplay, agreed to a £2.4-billion or $4.7-billion (U.S.) takeover
by a private equity group yesterday, but the deal raised speculation of an
all-out bidding war for the struggling music company. EMI, which has long
flirted with Warner Music Group Corp., said that Terra Firma Capital
Partners' offer was the best among a number of proposals it received.
However, analysts said that the £2.65-a-share offer from Terra Firma could
flush out a higher offer from Warner Music, already reportedly looking at EMI's
books, as well as other potential bidders. "The global music industry is
undergoing significant change and, whilst EMI is confident in its ability to
deliver its recently announced restructuring plans, significant uncertainty
exists as to the timing and extent of future market developments," EMI chairman
John Gildersleeve said. "Terra Firma's offer is the most attractive
proposal received and delivers cash now, without regulatory uncertainty and
with the minimum of operational risk to the company."
Unlike a tie-up with Warner Music, a private equity deal would be untroubled by
regulatory hurdles and could be completed much more quickly. Music companies
have been looking to consolidate as the market for compact discs declines
rapidly. EMI reported a loss of £288.5-million in its most recent earnings release,
following a profit of £86.1-million in 2006. The loss was caused by a charge of
£416-million related to restructuring costs, amortization and financing costs.
The company unveiled a raft of cost-cutting measures when it issued its first
of two profit warnings early this year. It confirmed those warnings yesterday,
posting a 15-per-cent drop in sales to £1.8-billion. EMI has blamed the overall
industry decline, but analysts say that does not entirely explain EMI's poor
performance, pointing out Warner and Universal have fared better. They
highlighted EMI's persistent weakness in the United States and internal control
problems. Warner Music and EMI have been in on-and-off merger discussions over
the past seven years. They abandoned talks last summer after a European Court
ruling scuttled another big merger between the music units of Sony Corp. and
Bertelsmann AG -- and the inability to agree on a price. Warner last made a
formal approach earlier this year, a £2.1-billion offer rejected by EMI in
March.
MUSIC TIDBITS
Changes Coming To CBC Radio Two On
Weekends
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Guy Dixon
(May 18, 2007) Toronto — The CBC has announced plans to further
revamp Radio Two with programming changes between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekends.
The changes are expected this fall and will include a new, yet-unnamed flagship
classical-music show coming in October on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5, the
same time of day as the previous day's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. A
new search is on for new hosts for both programs. The only two programs so far
due to be cancelled are Symphony Hall and On Stage.
Canada Still Absent From List Of Live
Earth Venues
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Guy Dixon
(May 16, 2007) Toronto — Istanbul is now the ninth city to host an official Live Earth concert on July 7. The concert event, also taking
place in London, New York, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Rio de
Janeiro and Hamburg, originally aimed to organize seven concerts around the
world on one day to further spur awareness of climate change. Toronto's mayor's
office had been in early talks with Live Earth organizers to host a Canadian
concert. However, according to a spokesman for the mayor's office, plans fell
through when organizers wanted to stick to the seven-concert format - though
that seems to have now fallen by the wayside.
Evanescence Hires 2 New Members
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Associated Press
(May 18, 2007) LOS ANGELES–Evanescence has added Dark New
Day drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn to the goth-rock band. The
new line-up was set to debut Saturday in Columbus , Ohio , at the Rock on the
Range Festival. Hunt and McLawhorn join vocalist-pianist Amy Lee, guitarist
Terry Balsamo and bass player Tim McCord. "I am a big fan of Dark New Day
and can't wait for the fans to see what the guys bring to our live show,"
Lee said today in a statement. Evanescence's latest album, The Open Door,
debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts last year. The band will move on to
Philadelphia on Sunday and then head overseas for shows in Belgium , France and
Russia before returning in July to begin touring with Korn.
Afeni Shakur Moves To Expand Son’s Music
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(May 17, 2007) *Afeni Shakur, mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur, has partnered with independent global music
publishing and marketing company EverGreen Copyrights to develop new
opportunities for his songs, including future releases of Tupac albums that
have never been heard. "I believe that after 10 years I have done as
much as I can on my own to further the creative aspect of Tupac's music, says
Afeni Shakur. “I'm looking forward to working with EverGreen's publishing and
creative marketing teams to reach a more global market and to expand the
opportunities for my son's music." EverGreen co-CEO David Schulhof
said that several projects are in the works to promote the music. Preston
Holmes ("Hustle & Flow," "Marvin: The Life Story of Marvin
Gaye") and Karolyn Ali ("Tupac: Resurrection") are producing a
feature film, "Live 2 Tell," from a script written by Shakur while in
prison, and there also is an unscripted biopic on Tupac's life. Mosaic Media
Group is developing a Broadway musical featuring Shakur's music, he adds. "Tupac
was one of the most prolific songwriters that ever lived,” Schulhof added. “He
had a tremendous impact both as a songwriter and social activist, and left
behind a body of work that will forever attract generations of fans. We are
honoured to be working with Afeni Shakur and helping to realize the full
potential of this catalogue." Schulhof’s company also publishes and
promotes songs written or recorded by MC Hammer ("You Can't Touch
This"), Teddy Riley ("My Prerogative"), Michael Jackson
("Remember The Time"), Joe Cocker ("You Are So Beautiful"),
Todd Rundgren ("Hello It's Me"), Nick Drake ("Pink Moon"),
Bill Monroe ("Blue Moon of Kentucky"), and Eric Clapton
("Cocaine").
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Voice Mail scores big with Let’s Go
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - By Kevin
Jackson
(May 17, 2007) *Dancehall reggae boy group Voice Mail’s latest album Let’s Go, which was released on April 18
in Japan
by Pony Cannon Records, has already sold more than 40,000 copies since its
release. This spells good news for the group, which sold over 100,000 copies of
its last album Hey, in Japan last year. Let’s Go features the three-member
group's scattered styles which have been woven together seamlessly. From the
buoyant Let's Dance, which topped the charts late last year to the sultry
Memories By the Score, the album is certainly a vast improvement from the
trio's debut, Hey, which VP Records released last summer. Voice Mail clearly
has its ears to the streets and have drummed up an album that certainly
connects with variety and percolating beats. Producers including Danny
Champagnie, Donovan 'Don Corleon' Bennett, Delano Thomas (Renaissance), and
Christopher 'Langmann' Birch assist in channelling the group's masculine grace
to the ears of the music-loving public. Other primed cuts on Let's Go include
the lovers' rock mid-tempo treat, Best Days Of My Life, the uptempo dance
numbers Dancing Fever (featuring Cool Face, and which is currently riding the
charts), Let's Dance; Flash Yuh Finger and I Need You. Let's Go deserves a fair
shake and it can only expand the group's growing fan base.
Yolanda Adams Signs With Columbia
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(May 22, 2007) *Grammy-winning gospel artist Yolanda
Adams is currently hunkered down in her Houston
hometown working on a new album of holiday songs that will be released under a
fresh new deal with Columbia Records. The label announced the news Monday,
stating Adams has just joined the roster and is working with producers Jimmy
Jam and Terry Lewis to release the holiday album on Oct. 16. "Yolanda
Adams is truly the 'first lady of modern gospel' and we are proud to have her
on the Columbia Records roster," said Steve Barnett, Chairman, Columbia
Records. "Her pioneering blend of R&B, pop and gospel continues to
inspire her fans and transform the musical landscape. Her music has brought me
a lot of joy over the years and we are all very excited to hear where Yolanda
is going next." Adams, Jam and Lewis will continue their creative
collaboration on a follow-up studio album for Columbia to be released in early
2008.
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Marvin Gaye’s ‘Lifetime’ Expanded
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(May 21, 2007) *Marvin Gaye's 1981 album "In Our
Lifetime?," his final studio album under Motown, will be re-released on
June 19 by Hip-O Select with lots of extra goodies, reports Billboard. In
addition to the original album, the new "Love Man" edition includes
three outtakes, the non-album "Ego Tripping Out" single and an
alternate, previously-unknown mix featuring a different running order. The set
also includes seven tracks Gaye intended for an earlier version of the album, a
party-themed effort he planned to call "Love Man." Only "Ego
Tripping Out" ever saw the light of day from those sessions, with Gaye
opting to tackle more personal issues on what eventually became "In Our
Lifetime?" "In Our Lifetime?" peaked at No. 32 on The Billboard
200, and spawned a lone top 20 hit on Billboard's R&B charts,
"Praise." It would be followed in 1982 by "Midnight Love,"
the last album Gaye released before his shocking 1984 murder.
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Billy
Talent Leads MMVA Noms
Excerpt
from www.billboard.com
(May 23, 2007) With five nominations, Billy
Talent and Nickelback lead
the pack of Canadian nominees at the 18th Annual MuchMusic Video Awards. The event, being held on June 17 at
MuchMusic's landmark headquarters in downtown Toronto, airs live in Canada on
MuchMusic and on broadband at MuchAXS. Billy Talent are nominated for best
video (``Fallen Leaves''), best director (Dean Karr & Ian D'sa for
"Red Flag), best Cinematography (Claudio Miranda for "Red Flag``),
best Rock Video ("Fallen Leaves``) and top group Nickelback is nominated
for best video ("If Everyone Cared``), best rock video ("If Everyone
Cared``), the MuchMoreMusic Award ("Far Away``), best international video
by a Canadian ("Far Away) and top group. Following up with four
nominations each are Canadian rappers Belly and K-OS. Among the acts nominated
for best international video are AFI, Blue October, Evanescence, Fall Out Boy,
My Chemical Romance, Pussycat Dolls, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Fray, the
Killers and the Used.
Bo Diddley Bounces From ICU
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(May 23, 2007) *Bo Diddley continues to recover from a stroke
suffered
after a performance eight days ago in Iowa. The 78-year-old
singer-songwriter was moved out of intensive care and into a regular room at
nearby Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. on Monday, according
to published reports. Faith Fusillo, Diddley's business manager, said the Rock
and Roll Hall of Famer has little or no physical limitations from the stroke
except difficulty with speech and speech recognition. "I was able to speak
with him by phone this morning," Fusillo told AP Monday. "He wanted
to know where his stuff was: his guitar and the money from the gig. I was so
happy because this is the Bo that I know and love, and a real indication that
Bo is on his way back." Diddley has been hospitalized since May 13, after
performing two shows at a casino in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is as yet
unknown when he’ll be well enough to return to his Gainesville, Fla., home,
where he is expected to continue treatment at the Shands Medical Center at the
University of Florida.
::FILM NEWS::
Mike Myers: The Shrek The Third
Interview With Kam Williams
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(May 21, 2007) *Born in Ontario, Canada on May 25,
1963,
Mike Myers first made a splash in the States in 1989 when he
joined the cast of Saturday Night Live. The chameleon-like comic created
a number of memorable characters on the show, including Linda Richman, Dieter,
Simon, Stuart Rankin, Pat Arnold, and most notably, wacky Wayne Campbell, who
he would spin off into the hit flicks Wayne's World 1 and 2. He's also played
other unforgettable screen icons, such as Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard,
Gold Member, The Cat in the Hat, and Shrek. Despite being known as a
brilliant improviser, the ordinarily loquacious funnyman was mute after being
caught off guard standing next to Kanye West when the hip-hop star ignored the
teleprompter to say "George Bush doesn't care about black people"
during an unforgettable moment on a nationally-televised fundraiser for victims
of Hurricane Katrina. (See a video clip at http://media.putfile.com/Kanye79)
Here, Myers talks about reprising his role as Shrek opposite Eddie Murphy and
Cameron Diaz for the third instalment of the animated franchise.
Kam Williams:
What is Shrek the Third about?
Mike Myers: Shrek is being asked to be the king, and he doesn't
think that ogres make good kings. And at the same time, he has a secret
surprise at his home, and he doesn't feel worthy of that either. He's still
feels that he's an ogre, and that ogres can't do certain things in the world.
The whole movie's about Shrek coming to understand that ogres can be a king,
ogres can be a father, and ogres can be anything they want to be.
KW: Did you enjoy returning to this character?
MM: I have a good time doing Shrek. You get to be silly, and you don't have to
put on makeup or a costume. Actually, part of what I love is being in that
whole world with Donkey, Fiona and Puss in Boots again. I get very happy when I
return to that world.
KW: How was it working with Eddie Murphy again?
MM: I'm a huge Eddie Murphy fan, but I actually don't even think of it as Eddie
Murphy anymore. I just really think of him as actually Donkey, and I love doing
my scenes with Donkey.
For full interview by Kam Williams, go HERE.
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Black Lightning Hits Tinseltown… A
Conversation with Idris Elba
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - The Robertson Treatment – Volume 10,
Edition 8
(May 17, 2007) *Like a streak of black lightning,
actor Idris Elba is
making his presence felt in Hollywood. Best known for his audacious portrayal
as Baltimore drug kin-pin Stringer Bell on HBO’s “The Wire,” the 34-year old
British export looks to quickly attain A-list status for his commanding
charisma, solid acting and good looks. With five films scheduled
for release in 2007, Elba heads the class and brings a decidedly different
flava to Hollywood’s current British wave of performers. The Robertson
Treatment recently spoke to the actor who is currently promoting his new film
“28 Weeks Later”. Stay tuned…
Robertson Treatment: How did you get involved in this
project?
Idris Elba: I thought the film was very smart, and
offered a new spin on the horror genre that attracted a new audience. For this
film the creative team who put the project together made a really great effort
to get me involved, so even though I am not a big fan of the genre, I decided
that I would be a part of it.
RT: Tell us a little bit about the character you are playing?
IE: I play a really hard nosed general from the US army named General Stone who
has been brought in as the law of the land. When I took the role on I thought I
was a bit young to play the part, so we tweaked it in a way to make
it more mine. My character goes to great lengths to make sure that London
remains safe and nobody gets infected with the virus. He’s very by the book;
and works very hard to keep his world on tack. Of course something happens and
unfortunately it does not work out for him, which leaves him devastated.
RT: Can you tell us a bit more maybe for those of us who are not familiar
with the film, can you just set it up for us?
IE: Basically London has been put into containment and locked off from the rest
of the world. General Stone leads a military team charged with setting things
up for people to return to London, but all hell breaks loose when they find out
that the virus has still not been fully contained. After the new outbreak
occurs, the General makes the decision to kill everyone, which is when the
action really gets stated.
RT: Tell us if you have scenes with the infected?
IE: The infected are some scary motherfuckers. I turned up today at 5:00
am to find some guys running around bloodied and looking lost. At first I
thought something had happened to him, but then I realized he was
infected. In most of my scenes I don’t have much to do with the infected
characters, so I was a little caught off guard. It was scary to see all of them
running around.
RT: What’s it like coming back to England to work?
IE: Coming back to England to work on a film has been a real treat. English
crews are some of the best of the world; we have a really good appreciation of
making film. I love NY and the crews in America, but I started off as an actor
in England so it was cool to come back. Interesting enough the first AD
and I did a production together years ago. In the States you get use to seeing
some of the same people over and over again, so it was good to come home and
see people from my past still working and doing their thing. Americans
loved 28 Days, so I am glad that we are making it here. The studio could
of decided to change locations and go somewhere else, but they brought it back
here and got a good European team. Making this film is like an art house film,
the photographer is amazing; the director’s stamp on it also gives it a real
enhancement from the first one. Audiences are going to see London in a
way like they never have before, which is going to really add to their movie
going experience.
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Seinfeld
Makes Beeline For Box Office
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com - Movie Critic
(May 18, 2007) CANNES–It gives a whole new
meaning to creating a
buzz about a movie. Comedian Jerry
Seinfeld yesterday donned an oversized bumblebee
suit for an acrobatic stunt that was remarkable even for a hive of activity
like the Cannes Film Festival. He went to the roof of the Carlton
hotel high above the Croisette promenade, and then rode a wire several hundred
metres down to the waterfront. All while exchanging wisecracks via radio and
loudspeaker with his friend and fellow comic Chris Rock, acting as emcee on the beach below. It was in aid of
Bee Movie, the animated comedy opening Nov. 2 that
will be one of the year's big releases for DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures.
"You know, Chris, one thing I hate is any kind of movie promotion that
smacks of desperation in any way," Seinfeld quipped as he stood between
the Carlton's distinctive double domes, preparing his own version of the flight
of the bumblebee. "I like to let the work speak for itself." Actions
speak louder than words, however. And for the hundreds of international press
and curious onlookers, nothing could top the sight of Seinfeld in a most
ridiculous outfit, flailing his arms and legs in the azure sky and bright sun
above.
"You can do it a little more masculine, Jerry!" said Rock, who plays
a philosopher mosquito in Bee Movie. With that, Seinfeld turned around
and promptly zipped back up to the wire to the Carlton roof and then came back
down to the beach. But he couldn't stop himself from flailing. "Didn't
Martin Scorsese do this for The Departed last year?" he asked,
sounding out of breath. "You know, even Borat just showed up in his
underwear," Rock said, referring to last year's big movie promo stunt at
Cannes. They were being more than just good sports. Seinfeld has a lot riding
on Bee Movie since it's his first major motion picture since his TV
series Seinfeld ended in 1998. He's obviously prepared to do whatever
it takes to get the word out. Journalists and other invited guests were shown
about a half-hour of clips from the film prior to the flying stunt. Seinfeld
plays a restless New York bee named Barry B. Benson, recently graduated from
college, who wants to leave the hive and explore Manhattan. He almost
immediately violates the cardinal rule of bees ("Rule No. 1: never talk to
humans") and falls for a human florist named Vanessa (voiced by Renée
Zellweger). He also discovers what he considers to be the crime of the
century: humans "steal" honey from bees and sell it in grocery
stores. Barry vows to put an end to the practice. Bee Movie brings to
mind several other insect-themed films, such as The Ant Bully, A
Bug's Life and Antz.
But Bee Movie one will be better than all the others because, as
Rock said during a post-screening Q & A emceed by DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey
Katzenberg, "this one has jokes!" Rock wasn't being completely
facetious. Unlike most animated movies, where individual voice actors read
their parts solo, Bee Movie's actors worked together. They
were encouraged to kibitz and to ad lib, allowing for what Rock called a
"singular vision" for the movie, different from the usual
scene-by-scene way of making cartoon comedies. "It's like a handmade suit,
like a great Woody Allen movie," he enthused. Seinfeld said he loved doing
an animated film, despite the three years of work it involved, because there
are no boundaries to the creativity. "This is the only medium where
there's nothing you can think of that can't be created. There's no limit."
All involved are bracing themselves for a slew of bad bee puns, such as the
query from a journalist about whether there will be a "To bee or not to
bee" gag in the movie. "That's a joke we also tried, and it got
the same reaction you just heard," Seinfeld answered, getting a much
greater laugh from the audience than the journalist. "The bee pun reflex
is something we've struggled with for three years now, and it's not good for
us." That's not to say Seinfeld and the others are above making cheap bee
gags, though. One of the scenes shown yesterday has a cameo by rock star Sting,
attempting to explaining why he has "appropriated bee culture."
And young Barry bee has to put up with nagging parents, very much like
Seinfeld's parents from his old TV show, who want to know when he's going to
settle down and find a nice "Bee-ish" girl. But there actually is a
serious side to all of this, which has Katzenberg and other studio honchos
worried. Bee Movie is coming out at a time when scientists are
expressing concern about how global warming is decimating the bee populations
everywhere, a sign that the planet could be under far greater stress than
anyone had imagined. A journalist asked Katzenberg if the crisis with real bees
affects the selling of Bee Movie. He allowed that it's very much on
his mind, but he's not sure yet what to do about it. “We were as horrified as
anybody else to hear about that," he said.
Film's New Comedy King Is Born
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Rachel
Abramowitz, Hollywood
(May 20, 2007) As an 11-year-old growing up on Long Island, Judd Apatow began each week by studying the newspaper's
TV section and highlighting all talk show guests of Mike Douglas, Dinah Shore
and company. He spent afternoons holed up in his room watching TV, hanging out
in his head with Charles Nelson Reilly. "I couldn't have had more fun in
the saddest, lonely way," Apatow says. "There was a period when I
would get home at 3 and watch TV until 11, and I couldn't be happier.'' Eventually
his parents became concerned. "In eighth grade I made some friends who
drove dirt bikes. My parents were deathly afraid of dirt bikes, but they were
so thrilled that I had a hobby outside of my room that they bought me a dirt
bike and got me out of Merv Griffin.'' Along the way, he learned to do
impressions of Henry Kissinger, kept notebooks of jokes like "How come all
the people on Gilligan's Island had so many clothes if they were just on
a three-hour cruise?" and transcribed tapes of Saturday Night Live.
He was consumed by show business – never more so than when his grandfather, who
owned a jazz record label, took him to see his pal, the zaftig comedian Totie
Fields, when Judd was 9. "Here was this woman – she had only one leg.
She's playing to a standing ovation because she's hilarious," Apatow says.
"I only wanted to be a comedian. Everything I've done happened because I
couldn't be a great comedian.''
Sitting in his Santa Monica office, the 39-year-old writer-director-producer
appears to be just another vaguely neurotic, schlubby, bearded comedy guy. But
perhaps that's part of the shtick. Actually, Apatow is known in town as the
Mayor of Comedy – the guy with a rare combination of talent, self-assurance and
the deft ability to handle big egos that has allowed him to befriend and
collaborate with every major comic of his generation, from former roommate Adam
Sandler to Garry Shandling (on The Larry Sanders Show), Jim Carrey and
Ben Stiller (both on The Cable Guy) and Will Ferrell, to a new
generation of comedians whose careers he has fostered, including Steve Carell
and Seth Rogen. With the success of 2005's sleeper hit The 40 Year Old Virgin,
his directorial debut, he also has become the town's leading comedy
entrepreneur. Apatow is producing and/or writing no fewer than seven films,
including the rock biopic parody Walk Hard, the Ferrell movie Step
Brothers, the ultra-profane teen comedy Superbad – starring Brampton
's Michael Cera – and the Sandler flick You Don't Mess With the Zohan.
That's not including his directorial follow-up to 40 Year Old Virgin: Knocked
Up, opening June 1, about an insensitive slacker who impregnates a girl
way, way, way out of his league. The film, backed by Universal, already has set
Hollywood buzzing.
Canadians Don't Care For Sicko
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Peter
Howell, Cannes
(May 20, 2007) Michael Moore is handing out fake bandages to promote
his new film Sicko, an exposé of the failings of
the U.S. health care system. But he may feel like applying a couple to himself
after the mauling he received yesterday from several Canadian journalists –
present company included – following the film's first viewing at the Cannes
Film Festival. "You Canadians! You used to be so funny!" an
exasperated Moore said at a press conference in the Palais des Festivals. "You
gave us all our best comedians. When did you turn so dark?" We Canucks
were taking issue with the large liberties Sicko takes with the facts,
with its lavish praise for Canada 's government-funded medicare system compared
with America 's for-profit alternative. While justifiably demonstrating the
evils of an American system where dollars are the major determinant of the
quality of medicare care a person receives, and where restoring a severed
finger could cost an American $60,000 compared to nothing at all for a
Canadian, Sicko makes it seems as if Canada's socialized medicine is
flawless and that Canadians are satisfied with the status quo. Moore makes the
eyebrow-raising assertion that Canadians live on average three years longer
than Americans because of their superior health care system. I suggested to
Moore that Sicko makes Canada 's health system look so great, it
wouldn't be surprising if Prime Minister Stephen Harper – of whom Moore is no
fan – handed out DVD copies of it as campaign material in a future election. Other
Canadian journalists spoke of the long wait times Canadians face for health
care, much longer than the few minutes Moore suggests in Sicko. Moore,
who has come under considerable fire for factual inaccuracies in his films,
parried back with more questionable claims.
"You're in a longer line than we're in because you get to live three years
longer than we do. Why is that?" Moore said. "Why is it that a baby
born in Toronto has a better chance of making it to its first birthday than a
baby born in Detroit ?" Moore later back-pedalled on some of his praise,
saying neither Harper nor regular Canadians should pat themselves on the back
too much. "It's not hard to do better than the U.S. ," Moore
cautioned. "The Canadian system, if you look on that list of the World
Health Organization, is not that far above us. It's not like the French system.
The French system is the best in the world." Sicko doles out
fulsome praise for the health care systems of France , Britain and Cuba , the
latter featured in a highly controversial part of the film that has landed
Moore in trouble with U.S. authorities. He took several 9/11 emergency
responders, all suffering chronic ailments they blame on their heroic tasks, to
Cuba by boat to receive high quality and nearly-free treatments they claim they
couldn't obtain in the U.S. Fidel Castro's government was only too happy to
oblige. First stop on the Cuban excursion, which is being investigated by the
U.S. Treasury Department as a possible breach of American law, was to
Guantanamo Bay , where suspected members of Al Qaeda and other terrorists
receive superior medical care while under U.S. incarceration. It looks like a
classic Moore stunt, but he sounded genuinely chastened yesterday when he said
that it could involve heavy fines or even a jail term for him, should the
government choose to get nasty about it. Sicko, to be released in North
America on June 29, is by turns enlightening and manipulative, humorous and
maudlin. It makes many valid and urgent points about the crisis of U.S. health
care, but they are blunted by Moore 's habit of playing fast and loose with the
facts. Whether it's a case of the end justifying the means will ultimately be
for individual viewers to decide. It's a somewhat different film for Moore –
although it looks a lot like Bowling for Columbine, his anti-gun screed
he brought to acclaim here five years ago, which suggested that Canadians are
so safe from gun nuts, they don't even bother to lock their front doors. But
the movie is missing the familiar scenes of Moore hectoring politicians and
business leaders, and he said that's no accident. "I became very tired of
all the yelling and screaming and not getting anywhere," Moore said.
He's also looking for a little bit of love – a big hug, perhaps? – for all the
work he's doing in his films exposing corporate chicanery, gun mania, terrorism
hysteria and now health care failings. "I would hope by now, especially as
I begin to enter the discourse on this new film, that I could catch a
break," Moore pleaded. Moore is a popular figure in Cannes . He was last
here to present Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004, which won that year's Palme
d'Or. Sicko is screening out of competition because Moore said he
doesn't need another Palme d'Or. Is this the dawn of a kinder, gentler
Michael Moore? Don't bet on it.
Filmmakers Enlist New Generation Of Montreal Street People In
Sequel
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com - Television
Columnist
(May 18, 2007) These are the faces of two
generations of Montreal street
people. Be prepared for major shocks. Yes, some look ravaged, painfully thin.
But others seem
