20
Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON
M5B 2H5
(416)
677-5883
langfieldent@rogers.com
www.langfieldentertainment.com
November 15, 2007
I celebrate Christmas and this year I'm looking forward to a
very special show. And I think that even if you don't
celebrate Christmas, you'll be inspired by the musical genius of the
arrangements and performances by some of the greatest Canadian talent.
You'll love it - trust me! It's the The Gospel Christmas Project - see the details below. And all of this is
captured on a CD too - a MUST have for your collection. Details under HOT EVENTS.
And I'm so pleased to announce the return of Craig David. Warner has generously given me five CDs to give away - if you can tell me where this project
was recorded under SCOOP. Enter the giveaway HERE and please include
your full name and mailing address.
Once again, there is plenty to read below so have a scroll and a read.
::HOT EVENTS::
Two Shows, One CD - The Gospel Christmas Project – December 21
(Ottawa) and December 22, 2007 (Toronto)
Source: Andrew Craig
You’re invited to the Christmas musical events of 2007: the Gospel Christmas Project, live at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre and Toronto’s Massey Hall!
Audiences are calling this show “fabulous”, “amazing”, “thrilling beyond
expectation”, “music to God's ears” and “a wonderfully joyful spiritual
evening”.
“The Gospel Christmas Project - LIVE!” is two hours of the world’s greatest
Christmas carols, in all-stunning new arrangements made by musician, producer
and broadcaster Andrew Craig. The
songs are rendered by some of our country’s greatest voices:
Jackie Richardson, Canada’s Queen of Jazz
and
Blues,
Alana Bridgewater, “Killer Queen” in the
Mirvish production of “We Will Rock You”
Kellylee Evans, 2007 Canadian Smooth Jazz
Female Vocalist of the Year
Chris Lowe, a tremendous new voice
recently-emerged from the Gospel community
and the Juno-award-winning Sharon Riley and Faith
Chorale
“The Gospel Christmas Project” is already a wildly-popular radio
show, a Gemini-nominated TV special, and a
brand-new CD, called “The Gospel Christmas Project”, available in all major
retail outlets right now, and on ITunes as of December 4.
“The Gospel Christmas Project” was originally performed in Ottawa in December 2006. It
returns to Ottawa this Christmas, joined by the National
Arts Centre Orchestra on December
21.
And the next night (December 22) The Gospel Christmas Project makes its Toronto debut at the legendary Massey
Hall!
Visit the website: www.gospelxmasproject.com
Purchase CD at CBC Records, HERE!
::WARNER SCOOP::
Craig David Returns with Trust Me
Source: Warner Music
With 13 million album sales worldwide and still only 26 years old, Craig David has earned a reputation as one of the UK’s foremost talents, as
well as one of the nation’s most successful musical exports. He’s now poised to
return with a new album "Trust Me" – including first single Hot Stuff (Let's Dance) - in
Canada on November 13th, already being heralded as his finest since the 2000
debut set "Born To Do It."
Recorded in Havana, Cuba with producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, James
Morrison) and writer/producer/mixer Fraser T. Smith (Craig David, Kano,
Beyonce, Plan B, Jamelia), the track ‘6 of 1 Thing’ emphasises how Cuban
musical culture influenced his new work, whilst the ballad ‘Awkward’
(highlighting guest vocals from a female west London star-to-be) features some
of his most evocative lyrics to date. Other highlights include the infectious
hook and insistent rhythms of the title track, and ‘She’s On Fire’ which
combines sublime bass with Craig’s fluid lyrical flow.
Since becoming a global phenomenon with
‘Born To Do It’, Craig David has become a huge UK superstar with two #1 singles
(‘Fill Me In’ and ‘7 Days’) and a further ten appearances in the Top 10. All
three of his albums have been chart hits: ‘Born To Do It’ (#1), 2002’s ‘Slicker
Than Your Average’ (#4) and 2005’s ‘The Story Goes…’ (#5).
A multiple-award winner who has earned
three Ivor Novello
Awards (including Songwriter of the Year and Best Contemporary Song), four
MOBOs (one of which was for Best UK Act) and two MTV Europe Awards, Craig David
has worked with a talented array of artists including Sting and Artful Dodger’s
Mark Hill and Pete Devereux. Craig David also recently featured on Kano’s
Top 20 single ‘This is The Girl’.
www.craigdavid.co.uk
www.myspace.com/craigdavid
::RECAP::
The
Gospel According to Stevie
See pics in my PHOTO GALLERY.
The Rev. Stevie Wonder invited us into his chapel and
oh my, what a worship service! Rev. Wonder masterfully and skillfully
orchestrated the congregation – dancing, clapping and singing were all vehicles
explored as we stood in awe of His Royal Greatness. (Yes, even I was
caught up and carrying on!) This man's vocal control and vocal
multiplicity is ... wonderful!
Waiting for the concert to begin on Monday night at the ACC was reminiscent of
Christmas mornings as a child with all the anxiety and anticipation of being
visited by a very special someone.
Stevie Wonder graced the stage in a brown tunic with his signature braids
and seashells and led a fluid, non-stop show - performing hit after
hit. It was almost dizzying - just when you recovered from one of your
favourite Stevie tunes, he dealt out another! From Overjoyed and
Ribbon in the Sky to Signed, Sealed, Delivered and Superstition,
the multi-generational crowd were entranced by the music legend, cooing and
all. His 10-piece band were obedient servants and followed every command
with apparent ease. Why this show was not sold out, is beyond me.
The emotion behind Send One Your Love compelled Stevie to fight back
tears with memories of his mother (Lula Mae Hardaway); the very woman who
inspired this tour. He said that she sent him a message from her grave,
having passed one year ago, "Boy, you better get your ass out there and
work!" Stevie thanked his fans for helping him through his
grief.
After receiving several standing ovations, Stevie closed the night by inviting
Toronto's own Glenn Lewis on stage to sing Superstition.
A triumph yet again!
Stevie left us with words of love to impact our daily lives and how we should
love those around us. This soul icon has influenced so many fans,
musicians and artists alike - to see him live was an unbelievable and unforgettable
experience.
A reminder that ‘wonder’ful music and it’s messenger will live forever.
::TOP STORIES::
Divine Brown Signs World-Wide Record
Deal With Warner Music Canada
Source: Warner Music Canada
(November 12, 2007) Warner Music Canada is thrilled to
announce the signing of R&B sensation singer Divine Brown to a world-wide record deal.
In making the announcement, Warner Music Canada President Steve Kane said,
“Divine Brown is an incredible modern songwriter and musician whose vision
captures all that is great in classic soul music. We look forward to
incredible success together.”
“I’m excited to be part of a new team – one that understands true
artistry,” said Divine at the contract signing. “It’s a great feeling to
have everyone on the same page with what I hope to accomplish with my career.”
In 2005, Divine Brown’s ubiquitous hit single “Old Skool
Love” could be heard blasting out of car stereos and packing dance floors right
across Canada. In those three and a half minutes, a brand new star was
born. The song propelled her album to gold status in Canada and landed
her on the cover of numerous magazines.
More than your average diva, Divine Brown is an accomplished
multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer. With an outstanding 5
octave range, Divine has soaked in the influence of Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker,
Chaka Khan and Tina Turner and created a sound she can call her own. She
began writing songs at the age of fourteen and honed her performing skills in
the highly competitive world of musical theatre.
Divine Brown is currently working on material for her new album which will be
released in 2008.
Attached photo (clockwise from top left): Steve Blair (Warner Music Canada);
Jay Sakowski (Lockout Management); Divine Brown; Steve Kane (Warner Music
Canada)
Donda
West, Mother of Kanye, Has Passed
Source: Vibe - By: Julianne Shepherd
(November 11, 2007) Donda West, mother of Kanye,
has died at
the age of 58, according to a spokesperson for Kanye West. The West family has
issued the following statement to VIBE: "The family respectfully asks for
privacy during this time of grief." No other information was released, but
sources say Kanye West was in England to rehearse for his upcoming tour, and
flew back to the states upon hearing the sad news.
For 31 years, Dr. West was a teacher and chairperson at the Chicago State
University's English Department. Two years ago, she relocated from Chicago to
Los Angeles to take over her son's business operations, where she served as
Chief Executive of West Brands LLC. She also chaired the Kanye West foundation,
an organization dedicated to decreasing the dropout rate in the nation's public
high schools.
In May, Dr. West published a book about her experiences as a mother entitled Raising
Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip Hop Star.
"When I wrote that song, 'Hey... Mama!' about my mom, I worked on it for
months. I wanted to make it as great as she is," Kanye West wrote in the
foreword to Raising Kanye. "I wanted to tell the whole world
about our friendship and how it came to be. I also wanted to talk about her in
the most artistic way I could. I wanted her to know how much I appreciate her
for the way she raised me... because of who she is, I am able to be who I
am."
In Raising Kanye, Dr. West expressed her love and pride for her son.
"I am fortunate to have a son like Kanye," she wrote. "And from
all indications, he feels fortunate to have a mother like me."
Dr. West was an academic, a mother, a businesswoman, valued and honoured for
her exemplary teaching skills. VIBE's thoughts and prayers are with all those
who loved her, and all those who were inspired by her.
Additional reporting by Jon Caramanica.
Celine
Dion Tour To Include 6 Canadian Cities
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- The Canadian Press
(November
08, 2007) Canadian singing diva Celine
Dion will kick off a
North American arena tour next August.
The 45-date show will begin Aug. 12 in Boston and wind through six Canadian cities
– Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg.
Promoters for the "Taking Chances World Tour" say tickets go on sale
Nov. 16.
The show will follow Dion's five-year run of sold-out performances at Caesars
Palace, Las Vegas, which ends in a little more than a month.
She'll be promoting her new English album, Taking Chances, which comes
out next week.
Dion is also set to tour Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe.
"These past five years of performing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas have been
an incredibly rewarding experience for myself and my family, but I'm ready to
hit the road again, with my husband and son by my side," Dion said
Thursday in a news release.
"It's going to be so exciting to tour the U.S. and Canada again, and
perform everything with a brand new show. I just can't wait!"
Stevie's Still Wonderful
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Ashante Infantry, Pop & Jazz Critic
(November 13, 2007) That the word artist has become synonymous
with entertainer seems fine until you see the former in action.
Pop and soul legend Stevie
Wonder brought joy and inspiration to Toronto
last night – and that was before he even sounded a note.
Accompanied by two backup vocalists, the 57-year-old Detroit native walked onto
the stage of the surprisingly not sold-out Air Canada Centre to a standing
ovation and delivered an eight-minute monologue replete with Bill Cosby
imitation.
He explained that this tour – his first in a decade – was borne of the desire
to give something back to fans on behalf of his mother who died last year.
"I want to thank all of you for supporting my music," he said.
"You made it possible for me to give my mother a far better life than she
would've had."
Wonder said Lula Mae Hardaway, who taught her son that "blindness doesn't
mean that you're blind; you do what you gotta do," delivered a
from-the-grave message as he mourned for her: "Boy, you better get your
ass out there and work!"
And so he did.
Last night was the second of two Canadian dates on the tour, which wraps up
this weekend at Madison Square Garden.
Clad in brown tunic and matching pants, his trademark braids adorned with
cowrie shells and working with a 10-piece band, Wonder sang hit after hit from
his extensive catalogue, and played piano, keyboards and harmonica.
He may not tour regularly, but Wonder is no static awards show and special
events performer. He is fluid, funny and keeps his ace crew of musicians on
their toes James Brown-style with unexpected cues.
Whether smooth jazz, funk, soul, R&B, gospel, or pop, his voice is a
resilient marvel. The evening's highlights included vocal gymnastics – from
soft mewls to guttural growls – showcased on "Ribbon In The Sky," his
emotional resonance during "Lately," and coming close to tears with
thoughts of his mother during "Send One Your Love."
He interspersed the two-and-a-half set with comments that reflected his dedication
to social change
"I can't believe we're still fighting wars in this world," lamented
the early champion of the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday and anti-apartheid
movements.
Decades from now, the likes of John Legend and Alicia Keys may close in on
Wonder's accomplishments as a singer/composer/instrumentalist with catchy
melodies and clever lyrics, but it's Wonder's commitment to using his talent as
a vehicle for spiritual and political enrichment that sets him apart.
::MUSIC NEWS::
Jully Black: Short On Skirt, Long On
Talent
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com - Brad
Wheeler
(November
08, 2007) I see London. I see France. I see Jully's not
wearing much in the way of pants. On the cover of her new album, Revival,
Toronto R & B singer Jully Black
is toweringly hot in high heels and what looks to be nothing more than an
ambitious blouse. With a low camera angle, her long, brown legs go on up
forever. It's very nice, but, one wonders, did she forget her trousers the
morning of the photo shoot or what?
"Ha-ha!" is Black's response, laughing on
the phone from Regina. "It's a dress, absolutely! A la Tina Turner, or Gladys
Knight - yeah, she wore a mini."
Often, when a woman is complimented on a frock, she will say, "What? This little thing? It's just something I threw on."
Of course, they don't actually mean that. But in Black's case, "this
little thing" is dead on. You can't imagine that she'd wear the
thigh-flashing baby doll on the street. "Sure I would, if I feel
good," she says quickly. "I'm 5 foot 11, and the reality is that I
have legs for days. I'm very comfortable with who I am. I'm a woman, very proud
to be."
Black (whose first name is pronounced JOO-lee) has the right to be feelin' tall
these days. A concert tour that brings her to Toronto's Mod Club tomorrow is
selling out shows, and Seven Day Fool, the album's retro-rocking first
single is a big hit, finding itself on the top 10 of downloaded iTunes last
week. It's a remake of an old Etta James hit, very much in the bumpy, rhythmic
style of Amy Winehouse's Rehab.
‘I’m very comfortable with who I am. I’m a woman, very proud to be,’ says
Jully Black.
Everybody's digging the tune, apparently, except a few women who don't
appreciate the subservient slant of the lyrics. "Nobody should be taking
it that seriously," Black says, shrugging off any feminist concerns.
"You know, it ain't that deep."
But still: "Do for you, baby, for the love that I seek/ Slave for you,
baby, every day of the week." A bit outdated, no? "I'm the youngest
of nine kids," says Black, who just turned 30. "My mom is in her 70s.
I watched her washing the dirty clothes and doing a whole lot more."
For Black, singing the song was an homage to both James ("my favourite
singer of all time") and her mother. "It was nice, to actually play
that role. And it still exists. I think the idea of standing by your man is
great."
Mind you, Black is nobody's fool. The album's name (Revival), and
another track (Queen), speak to things more serious. The singer's debut
album (2005's This is Me) was marred by the illegal downloading of its
content. As well, there was a romantic breakup, and a friend of hers died
young. At the end of her tour with the Black Eyed Peas two years ago, Black was
unsure of her future. "It was like the end of summer camp," she recalls.
"I was wondering if it was going to happen again."
It has. The former high-school athlete upped her workout regimen and recorded
an album (with the help of producer Keith Harris of the Black Eyed Peas) that
has her career in the same fine shape as her rich alto and admirable physique.
The song Queen speaks to Black's lofty goals - she sees herself as the
"face of the dream," of putting Canadian R & B on the map.
Ah, we can hear the shouts of her followers. "Long live the Queen,"
they will yell. And maybe, "the Queen, she's not wearing any pants!"
Jully Black plays Toronto's Mod Club tomorrow; Montreal, Saturday; Hamilton,
Sunday; Wakefield, Que., Nov. 15; Calgary, Nov. 16; and Ottawa, Nov. 17.
Remember
Wartime Duty, Folk Singer Says
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- The Canadian Press
(November 09, 2007) Canadian folk music is
failing its grand tradition of
truthful storytelling in times of war, says Ontario singer-songwriter Jon Brooks.
The straight-talking musician is nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for
his disc of Canadian war stories, Ours And The Shepherds, a stirring
collection of tales touching on the Korean War, the genocide in Rwanda and
Canadian peacekeepers in Afghanistan.
It includes songs about Jim Loney, the Ontario peacekeeper held hostage in Iraq
for 118 days; Romeo Dallaire, the former general who led an ill-fated United
Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda; and Sgt. Tommy Prince, the decorated
Canadian Indian veteran who died a forgotten hero in 1977.
"If we went back 40 years and I was a folk singer and it was 1967, I don't
think I would be able to call myself a folk singer if I didn't have a song about
Vietnam, you know?" he says.
"I wouldn't compare the two, but still, the idea of singing about wherever
there is violence and social inequity in the world, that to me is the essence
of folk songwriting and yet, it's not that common. There's a lot of people
uneasy about it."
While artists like Neil Young, Steve Earle, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen
have all produced albums critical of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and
Afghanistan, Brooks says the Canadian experience has been largely ignored.
The 39-year-old adds that he has even been turned down for gigs because of his
provocative portraits.
"They said, `We're not quite sure, we think you might be a bit intense for
our audience,'" he says of being rejected by some venues in northwestern
Ontario.
"It makes me angry and it also makes me laugh because I just think that
folk singing is not about writing in my diary about my last break-up. That's
pop. The folk singer should be singing about the problems of the world."
Fellow Folk Music Award nominee Bruce Cockburn, however, says he's been
inspired by what he sees as a healthy social awareness in music today.
Cockburn, whose catalogue of politically charged songs includes ``If I Had a
Rocket Launcher" and "Lovers In A Dangerous Time," says many of
today's protest songs are subtle in their approach.
"I'm hearing a lot of stuff lately that does seem to touch on the current
goings-on, I think I hear it in the Arcade Fire stuff, kind of across the
board," says Cockburn, who has a leading four folk nominations for his
disc, Life Short Call Now.
"The references I was thinking of are more oblique and seem to be more
springing from a recognition that we are faced with a period of conflict and
that the times are very volatile, and that there's reason to be fearful. And to
me that's very much like what was in the air in the '60s during the Vietnam
period."
Cockburn says his job as a musician is to simply describe his feelings about
real-life encounters.
"For some people it's not necessary to personally encounter something
before they write about it, but for me it generally is," says Cockburn,
The Canadian Folk Music Awards will be handed out Dec. 1 in Gatineau, Que.
Teddy Pendergrass On His New 'Essential'
Disc
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
November 9, 2007) "As
a physically challenged individual, there are
always physical challenges,” Pendergrass said, speaking very briefly about the
disadvantages or health problems he faces every day. “I have had a wonderful
quality of life. I don’t want for anything, I don’t need anything, and I’m
doing well,” he said. “I look at what I can do and not what I can't
do."
*R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass is a man of few words, but the
award-winning singer took a moment to talk about a very special CD and a very
special organization he's created.
The CD, "The Essential Teddy Pendergrass," was released earlier this
week with much anticipation, and its release marks the 35th anniversary of his
first recording as lead singer with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and 30
years since he emerged as a solo artist.
“This is not just a compilation of random songs picked just to keep
selling them,” Pendergrass relayed to EUR’s Lee Bailey. “This is a snapshot of
my recording career. It tells a story from the beginning. I think we captured
the gamut of the songs to show the audience the different material I’ve done;
how many different types – the meaning and the styles. It’s really a storybook
of my music.”
The 2-disc collection features the early hits and faves of the ‘80s and ‘90s,
including “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” “The Love I Lost,” “When Somebody Loves
You Back,” “Wake Up Everybody,” “Turn Off The Lights,” and his comeback
crossover duet with Whitney Houston, “Hold Me,” plus many more. Just listing
his hits and fan favourites would take quite a while, so it’s no wonder that it
was quite a chore picking which songs made the cut for the project.
“It was difficult and that’s a good thing,” he said. “That’s a good
problem to have. So when we looked through the list of songs from the many
years of recording and the many hit records that I’ve been afforded to have, we
kind of thought of those songs that were most requested and the ones we always
hear about, the ones that people ask for, the ones that did better on the
charts than others did.”
However, as Pendergrass admitted, as daunting as the task appeared to be at
first, he found it very enjoyable to work on selecting the best tracks for the
disc.
“It’s a lot of emotion involved, but it’s happy emotions,” he said in
describing how he felt in going through his library of songs. “It’s like
watching your children grow up over and over and over again. I’ve been a part
of those songs more than 30 years. So in this project, I’m thinking ‘Which
child am I going to pick for this task?’ It is agonizing. But I enjoyed the
process. I revisited songs that I hadn’t paid attention to in many years. I
don’t sit around the house listening to me, so it was quite an experience.”
Speaking of “an experience,” although Pendergrass last toured in 2003, he did
hit the stage this past summer for a special engagement – a concert event held
in Philadelphia called “Teddy 25 – A Celebration of Life, Hope and
Possibilities.” The commemorative star-studded event celebrated the singer’s
25th year of disability. He suffered a serious automobile accident in 1982 that
left him partially paralyzed from the waist down. The proceeds from the event
were donated to his philanthropic venture The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance.
“The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance is a non-profit organization that’s doing
a lot of work to assist wheelchair users and spinal injury individuals to
achieve a wonderful life [like] I’ve been afforded. This is something that I’m
very passionate about,” he said. “The Alliance is obligated to helping them
achieve the best life possible and live the way we want to live – through education,
through employment, through housing. Those things are essential to life for
anybody. I don’t believe that if you roll instead of walk that it should
prohibit you from a quality of life.”
The Teddy Pendergrass Alliance was established in 1987 and last year partnered
with the National Spinal Cord Injury Association to help people with injuries
during the early stages of recovery.
Celebs who came out to show support at the event included Patti LaBelle,
Ashford & Simpson, Melba Moore, Stephanie Mills, Mo’nique, and Bill Cosby,
just to name a few.
“It was incredible. It was wonderful,” Pendergrass said of the event.
As if that successful event weren’t enough, Pendergrass is overseeing the
script of a play about his life and career. The production, opening in Chicago
in the very near future, is called “I Am Who I Am,” which is also the title of
one of his songs as well as his philosophy on life.
“It really chronicles all of the aspects of my life. It’s such a
wonderful vehicle,” he said.
Pendergrass claims to be a man of few words, but clearly he is a man of action.
A new disc, a growing non-profit venture, and a stage play are just a few of
the things the artist is working on. One might consider such a hectic
project-load a bit overwhelming for someone with the health issues Pendergrass
faces. But the singer said that’s nonsense.
“As a physically challenged individual, there are always physical
challenges,” Pendergrass said, speaking very briefly about the disadvantages or
health problems he faces every day. “I have had a wonderful quality of life. I
don’t want for anything, I don’t need anything, and I’m doing well,” he said.
“I look at what I can do and not what I can’t do. And because of that
philosophy, I’m able to do things that those walking around can’t do and
haven’t done. I am not sitting by, living on what I used to do. Don’t play the
old records and think, ‘Oh, those were the days.’ Yeah, those were the days,
but these are the days, and tomorrow is another day for me to conquer.”
Well, you don’t even have to play the old records anyway. “The Essential Teddy
Pendergrass” 2-disc CD is in stores now.
For more on the disc, check out the very interactive website at www.teddypendergrass.com.
For more on the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, go to www.teddypendergrassalliance.com.
At
Home With Anne Murray
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com - Pop & Jazz Critic
(November 10, 2007) At a time when most
celebrities are trying to
keep prying eyes at bay, Anne
Murray didn't think twice about letting a bunch
of journalists into her home for an early peek at her new album.
"I think its one of those things where nobody's ever asked," Canada's
Songbird said of the listening party held at her Thornhill residence recently
at the suggestion of her record label.
"Once, I was up north with friends and, after dinner, one lady who was at
the table said, `Would you sing for me?' and I went `Well, sure.' And the other
women are looking and going, `You never sing for us.' Well, you never ask me.
"So, I have a lovely home and I'm proud of it and I see no reason not to
invite people into it. I have nothing to hide."
The Muskoka-style dwelling is country comfortable, with a few of the trappings
– indoor pool, grand piano – that let you know it's home to a 50-million-selling,
31-Juno-winning national icon known for shoeless strolls around the
neighbourhood.
"I'm always in bare feet," the genial 62-year-old Springhill, N.S.,
native said in an interview. "For a few years in the very beginning I even
performed in bare feet.
"I think I was rebelling against something, but everybody was rebelling in
those days. I was not going to succumb to the glamour thing – and how long did
it take me to succumb? Not very long; because you find out it is important what
you look like onstage.
"It is important what you look like, period. So, I grew up and realized,
`Just put on the shoes and wear some nice clothes and forget about it and try
to sing well.'"
The singer, who made her recording debut in 1968, has been scaling back in recent
years. Duets: Friends & Legends, which arrives in stores on
Tuesday, came at the behest of record company officials.
"They said, `We would like to do an album of duets of your music.' That
had never occurred to me. Then I said, `Would you consider that it might be
only women?' To a person, they said, `No, that won't work.' All men, of course.
So, I just tucked it back in my head and let them go on."
The executives' initial list included a host of male vocalists, such as Michael
Bublé.
"It was overwhelming to me to have so many people to choose from. And I
thought, with women, I would have more of a chance of having women who perhaps
saw me as a role model, that it narrowed down the playing field a little. And I
could concentrate more on whose voices would work."
Murray's vision of an all-female line-up won out. The 17-track effort
shepherded by legendary producer Phil Ramone includes Nelly Furtado, Carole
King, Céline Dion and Murray's daughter Dawn Langstroth.
The singer emailed back and forth with the proposed collaborators to pick tunes
from her greatest hits.
"Shania (Twain), she got right back to me. I sent her a bunch of MP3s and,
within days, she had chosen `You Needed Me.'
"Martina McBride actually invited herself to sing on the album and (requested)
`Danny's Song.'
"k.d. lang and I did `A Love Song' on a country gold show years ago and I
knew that was her favourite song, so that was set aside."
"I've always had in the back of my head that Jann Arden should do
`Somebody's Always Saying Goodbye,' because it's a tearjerker and she loves
those heart-wrenching songs."
Since 2004's I'll Be Seeing You was supposed to be her last album,
Murray is now reluctant to make definitive career statements, but she's pretty
sure her national tour next spring will be her last.
"Canadian tours are big and difficult, because of the large spaces between
cities. You can go to New York State and play 30 towns that all have theatres
and that's your Canadian tour."
But that doesn't mean she'll stop performing. "I could go to the Markham
Theatre, for instance, and play for a week. There are little theatres that hold
400-500 people where I can take three to four musicians. But not on the scale
that I do now – 22 to 25 people on the road, huge trucks, three buses.
"And I think it's time for me. I can still sing and I know that. And what
I can't sing to my satisfaction, I won't sing anymore. I've raised the bar
pretty high for myself."
Given the music industry's current woes, Murray is happy to be winding down.
Her advice to newcomers?
"The first thing you have to do is write songs. Dawn was told that years
ago and that's what she does.
"Then, you just have to believe in what you do and, if you're good, it
will happen, maybe. I say try and record some music somewhere, catch somebody's
eye and go for it."
Offstage, she plays golf with a 13 handicap and spends summers in Nova Scotia
near her five brothers and their families.
"I'm easing my way into doing less. If something's coming up, I will sing
for about 45 minutes a day for about 10 days to two weeks before. I don't go
for four months and not sing. It's the same as staying in shape. I have a
trainer twice a week and I go to aerobics twice a week and I swim every other
day."
What about romance for the divorced mother of two?
"No, nothing right now, but you never give up on that. My kids (visit) a
lot. Getting to know and spend time with them as adults is a wonderful thing. I
have a housekeeper and a dog. No grandchildren yet and none on the horizon as
far as I can see. I enjoy my own company. I feel quite good about my
life."
Q&A With The Aretha Franklin
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(November 13, 2007) *Billboard recently sat down with
Aretha Franklin
in advance of two new releases this month that examine her storied career:
"Rare & Unreleased Recordings From the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul"
and "Oh Me Oh My: Aretha
Franklin Live in Philly, 1972."
A third Aretha album, "Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the
Queen," is due in stores on Nov. 13 with such vocal partners as Annie
Lennox, George Michael, Mary J. Blige, John Legend and Fantasia, who appears on
the set's first single, "Put You Up On
Game."
Billboard caught up Franklin before a recent charity concert in New York.
1. WHAT ONE SPECIAL MEMORY SURFACED AFTER REVISITING THE "JEWELS"
DUETS?
The duet with Frank Sinatra, "What Now My Love," is one of my
favourites. It was 1969 and I went to Los Angeles to perform "Funny
Girl" on the Academy Awards. Frank introduced me that night; to be
introduced by the chairman of the board was a big moment for me. I had always
wanted to duet with him. Frank always had the best arrangers, and his song
selection and phrasing were impeccable.
2. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE ON YOUR DUET WISH LIST?
Absolutely. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan. And you never know,
Natalie Cole and I may do something. We've touched on that.
3. IS A NEW STUDIO ALBUM ON THE WAY?
It's called "Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love" on Aretha's
Records. I think we're going to go to the Internet with that album, probably in
the spring. Two fine young writer/producers, Troy Taylor and Gordon Chambers,
worked on the album, which is mostly R&B with some pop. I also did some of
the writing and production chores with Mike Powell and my son Kecalf.
4. WHERE DO THINGS STAND WITH YOUR STAGE PLAY, "ARETHA: FROM THESE ROOTS?"
That's coming along very well. Now we're talking about it as a follow-up to a
telefilm that I'm negotiating with one of the networks. I'm very disappointed,
though, that I haven't received the film proposals I would have loved to see
from Hollywood. I did get a couple but they were very poor offers. They don't
seem to respond to female celebrities in some ways as they do in others. So
negotiations for a film broke off.
But the play is still definite. I have a consortium of gentlemen who are going to
back it. I held auditions over five days and out of the 500 people we
auditioned, I selected one. That gives you an idea as to how scrutinizing I am
when it comes to this project.
5. HAVE YOU CONQUERED YOUR FEAR OF FLYING YET?
I'm driving out to L.A., but this is going to be my last time coming to the
coast until I'm flying again. I'm going to give it one more try. The last time
I took Fearless Flyers classes was about five years ago. If it doesn't happen,
at least I tried.
Actually, I'm kind of planning my semi-retirement. I will always be singing
somewhere but I won't be going on the road to the degree that I have before.
But I'll still do select things and still record. I'm more into supporting my
sons now and getting their careers out there.
Kecalf writes, produces and also has a degree in film. Eddie sings and I've
recorded some things with him. And Teddy has his own rock group that goes to
Europe three to four times a year to do the festivals.
6. IS AN "AMERICAN IDOL" APPEARANCE IN THE WORKS?
We've talked a number of times. Unfortunately, the show is on hiatus at the
time I'm usually coming out to the coast. But since I'm coming in February,
maybe I'll be able to do it this time.
Toronto Love-In For A Brazilian
Trickster
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com - Caetano Veloso
(November 13, 2007) Caetano
Veloso is a trickster - a master of "all
is not what it seems." He's a creator of inverted notions of what it is to
be alive and able to express that life through song - and of the meaning within
the songs themselves. Back in the (Tropicalismo) day, he was famous for it, a
revolutionary who along with (the soon-to-be-former Culture Minister of Brazil)
Gilberto Gil, so annoyed the government with his observations and cultural
pranks that he was turfed out of the country. Now, nearly 40 years later and in
his mid-60s, he's still exploring the realm of contradiction and clearly enjoys
having an audience that will happily follow him through the strands of that
double helix.
On Sunday, at his Toronto debut (incredible, given his stature as one of the
founders of contemporary Brazilian musical aesthetics, through the aforementioned
Tropicalismo movement), a full house enthusiastically went wherever he took
them, from old favourites to songs from his most recent recording, Ce.
Backed by the same excellent rock trio of much younger musicians who appear on
that recording, the music of Ce in itself is prime Veloso in trickster
mode. It's rock music that's a poke in the eye of "rockism," the
elevation of certain rock music to exalted elite status - something Veloso is
on record as loathing. So at times on stage he seemed to play at being the rock
god, with ungainly leaping and prancing, absurd flirting, openly grinning at
his own, grey-haired antics.
But the music, whether audacious and driving or achingly melancholic, and from
whatever period of his prolific songbook, was unfailingly stronger for any
inherent contradictions. With the former - songs like the angular Outro,
or the show closer, Rocks, he made them stronger still by brilliant use
of the searing yet controlled guitar playing of Pedro Sa. Veloso knows what he
can and cannot do, and though he was often (literally) strapped into his own
guitar harness, at one point he tellingly related what a Brazilian critic once
said - that "the only thing worse than having to listen to Veloso talk too
much was having to hear his guitar playing."
Maybe, but at times Veloso's guitar playing, though not virtuosic, seemed an
essential part of his appeal. This was well evidenced during the concert's solo
moments, with an exquisite performance of Cucurrucucu Paloma, a song
probably best known from his performance of it in the Pedro Almodovar movie Talk
to Her. And if when Veloso speaks it strays into potentially mystifying
tangents, that, too, is essential to who he is - at least as a performer.
Besides, at this point in his career, he seems to be slyly revealing his hand.
After a performance of Odeio, a fast-running train of a song with the
recurring chorus (in Portuguese), "I hate you, I hate you, I hate
you," Veloso talked about how "sweet and strange" he finds it
when people sing along with his music (something he encourages and something
his audience is not shy of).
He added that he found it "beautiful" to hear everyone singing those
particular lyrics, noting that as one friend of his had observed, if you repeat
the phrase enough, as he does in the song, sung as it is to a beautiful,
haunting melody, it almost becomes a way of saying, "I love you."
Does the audience get it? Do we critics get it? Impossible to truly know. But
although one segment of the audience chose to yell, "Caetano rocks,"
during one of his least-rockin' songs, the purifying desolation of Minhas
Lagrimas (My Tears), another, during the encore reprise of Odeio,
chose to yell, loudly and lovingly, "Caetano, we hate you!"
Special to The Globe and Mail
John Arpin, 70: McMichael Gallery
Pianist
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - John Terauds, Classical Music Critic
(November 13, 2007) Toronto lost a great popularizer of music when pianist
John Arpin died last Thursday of cancer at age 70.
People passing through Toronto's great hotels – the King Edward and the Sutton
Place, among others – in the 1960s, '70s and early '80s probably heard Arpin at
the piano.
"I opened up a lot of hotels. Thank God I didn't close any," he said
in a 1989 Star interview.
With the encouragement of Julian Rice, who had founded the now-defunct Fanfare
Records, Arpin began a prolific burst of studio recordings that included the
full output of ragtime composer Scott Joplin, as well as collaborations with
other artists, including singer Maureen Forrester. By 2000, he had recorded his
60th album and collected three Juno nominations.
During the last two decades, Arpin's name graced the programs of southern
Ontario's smaller orchestras, as well as summer festival events. One of his
final public concerts was at the Collingwood Music Festival on June 21.
He was also a popular Sunday afternoon regular in the McMichael Gallery's lobby
in Kleinburg for more than two decades.
Whether playing his signature ragtime, or venturing into jazz, Broadway show
tunes or even the great arias of opera, Arpin's playing was a model of poise
and elegance.
He was born on Dec. 6, 1936, in Port McNicoll, on Georgian Bay, which has an
Arpin St. not far from the centre of town.
The talented youngster attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto from
1950 to 1953. His first professional gigs were with fellow music popularizers
like Howard Cable and Leo Romanelli.
Besides steady hotel work, Arpin joined CTV as a regular music director in the
late 1960s. In 1984, he joined TVO's Polka Dot Door. Through the 1970s,
his composition "Jogging Along" opened CBC Radio's Morningside.
Arpin leaves his wife, Mary Jane Esplen, and three children from his first
marriage: Bob, Jennifer and Nadine. A mass will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m.,
at St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto.
Queen Latifah - 'I Gotta Go With What I
Love'
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
J.D. Considine
(November 14, 2007) Like a lot of people her age, Queen
Latifah grew up listening to jazz, even if it
wasn't always by choice. "My father always played jazz," she says of
her childhood in Newark, N.J. "Every time I got in the car, I knew I'd be
listening to someone - Coltrane, or Wes Montgomery, or Brubeck. Somebody. It
would always be a jazz instrumental. And usually it was set to Jazz 88, which
was the jazz station in New York since I was a kid."
"It was kind of mature for me when I was really young," she adds.
"It was easier to follow a lot of the melody stuff that my mom would play,
which would be anything from Elton John to the Jackson Five."
Later, as a teenaged aspiring rapper, she began to appreciate jazz as a form of
knowledge.
She was part of a crew called the Flavor Unit, which worked with producer DJ
Mark the 45 King. "I remember Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest coming over
to the 45 King, and they would go through record after record after
record," she says, over the phone from West Palm Beach, Fla. "They
studied the music. They didn't go to music school, per se, but they studied
jazz. They studied the horns, they studied the bass lines, they studied the
chords, and they figured out ways to make that work in a modern-day context, in
a modern-day, hip-hop generation context. And I think they did it really well."
Lately, Latifah herself has been doing her part to make jazz "work in a
modern-day context." After having branched out into acting and artist
management, the 37-year-old hip-hop star has moved into jazz singing, starting
with The Dana Owens Album in 2004 (Latifah's real name is Dana Owens),
and continuing with the just-released Trav'lin' Light.
At first glance, it may seem an ambitious move on her part, but she sees it as
just self-expression, one more way in which she's being true to who she really
is. "I gotta go with what I love, and what I feel," she says.
"And what I can sing. There are a lot of Aretha Franklin records that I
love, but I don't think I could sing them like she sang them." She laughs.
"I think I'll leave that alone, let Mary J. Blige do that.
"But when it comes to a song like Lush Life, which struck a chord
in me, I want to sing that," she says, referring to the Billy Strayhorn
standard included on The Dana Owens Album. "Or I'm Gonna Live
'Til I Die [from Trav'lin' Light], which I heard in Sarah Vaughan's
version, even though I know Frank Sinatra recorded it as well. I want to sing
that because I think I can sing that, and I feel it's more in my vein.
"What's important for me is to stay true to Queen Latifah," she adds.
"As long as I do what I do, it generally works for me. And that rule has
followed me in every aspect of my life. Whenever I've not been myself, or
stepped out of who I am, I usually get spanked. Or it's not successful.
Whatever it is, it doesn't work for me."
She started out as a "conscious" rapper, one who made a point of
expressing strength and a positive message in her music. "When I was just
starting out as a rapper, there were female rappers talking about all kinds of
stuff," she says. "But I'm raised a certain way. There's certain
things I'm not going to say on a record, you know? I want to be able to play
this record for my mother, so I'm going to limit the amount of curses I'm going
to put on it.
"Also, I'm aware of what's going on in the world, so I'm going to talk
about some of that stuff. And you know what? I think I need to be a lady in
certain ways, so I'm going to reflect that. And I also need to be a strong
woman, so I'm going to reflect that as well."
She made her movie debut in 1991, two years after the release of her first
album, All Hail the Queen, and has since appeared in films ranging from Living
Out Loud to Bringing Down the House to an Oscar-nominated turn in Chicago.
Unlike a lot of hip-hop artists, who fade into obscurity after a few years, Latifah
is still going strong two decades after cutting her first single.
"But if I came out and tried to be like everyone else, I wouldn't have had
the records that I made," she says. "I wouldn't have taken a chance
on acting, I wouldn't have opened up my own management company. There are so
many things I wouldn't have done if I'd tried to be someone else. And I
wouldn't be here right now."
Tony
Bennett Shows No Sign Of Slowing Down
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- Entertainment Columnist
(November 13, 2007) You have to wonder what Tony
Bennett has left to prove? Why, at 81, he remains
so driven, so obsessed with his work?
Maybe it's the work, the music, that drives him, not the other way round. Of
the hundreds of musicians I've known and interviewed over three decades, none
imparts such infectious joy at the mere prospect of talking about music, let
alone performing. It's as if Bennett can't wait for the next overture, the
tinkle of a piano intro, the next whispered four-count to begin. He lives and
breathes music, and he can't get enough.
His recent release, Tony Bennett Sings the Ultimate American Songbook Vol.
1, which came out in September, is a lush and commanding restatement of
some of the finest standards in the canon, with Bennett's rich bel canto
seductively sliding through the jazzy blues modes and stylish lyrics of his
favourite composers – including Cole Porter and Harold Arlen– in riveting
performances culled from a dozen recordings, both popular and obscure, dating
back to 1958.
The same month, Tony Bennett: An American Classic earned seven Emmy
Awards, making it the year's most honoured TV program. Bennett also performed
at the Emmys gala with Christina Aguilera and literally stole the show.
A few days later, PBS aired the comprehensive, intimate and deeply affectionate
documentary biography, Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends, produced by
Clint Eastwood and narrated by Anthony Hopkins.
With a revealing and expansive conversation between Eastwood, an inveterate
jazz fan, and Bennett at its core, the two-hour film also contains eloquent
testimonials from leading American writers, moviemakers, actors and critics, as
well as a wealth of illuminating archival footage.
It has just been released commercially, accompanied by a second disc featuring
Bennett's stunning performance at the 2005 Monterey Jazz Festival, which
Eastwood attended and which immediately inspired him to make the documentary.
For good measure, Sony-BMG has just re-released an enhanced version of the
live-in-the-studio DVD, Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged, the
groundbreaking 1994 concert special that introduced the timelessly hip crooner
to the video generation; reinvented him as a new-age star and yielded the
biggest-selling album of his career.
When we spoke last Friday, Bennett seemed bewildered by all this sudden
attention and characteristically humble.
Q: How did you feel being put under the microscope by Clint Eastwood?
A: I love the show. I was honoured that he wanted to make a
film about me. We met at the Monterey Jazz Festival two years ago ... I tried
to answer his questions honestly. He's a great music fan, and a good pianist,
so the conversation was easy. My son participated in the production ... he
helped find all the old concert footage and still photos. I think he delivered
most of what we were asked for.
Q: You're still doing 150 shows a year, still going strong ... do you
ever feel you should slow down?
A: I'm 81 and more accepted now than ever, and by five or six
generations. I don't worry about surviving. I've always been able to survive.
I'm still in good voice ... some people say in better voice than when I was younger.
It's baffling to me, but I'm such a contented person. I always promised myself
that if I ever started to wobble, I'd quit singing and just paint. I'd be happy
to do that. But my voice is still strong ... and I don't feel like retiring.
Q: You've virtually exhausted the American songbook ... are you ever
afraid you'll run out of material?
A: There was such an explosion of brilliant songwriting in the
1920s through the 1940s; I think the Depression and World War II had a lot to
do with that. I compare it to the Renaissance in France. It was very economical
to put on shows, and there were hundreds of them, thousands. Even shows that
didn't do well had one or two great songs. They were the art form of the time,
and composers jammed with each other, showing off their songs and getting new
ideas along the way. Fifty years from now I think that will be looked on as
America's classical period. I don't think I'll ever run out.... I have all of
Sinatra, my master, Nat King Cole's records, Ella (Fitzgerald) ... they're
never going to sound worse.
Jodi
Proznick - Music a Family Affair for Jazz Bassist
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- Pop
& Jazz Critic
(November 14, 2007) Musicians end up playing
the
instruments they do for all kinds of reasons, but Vancouver bassist Jodi Proznick, the daughter of a nationally acclaimed
high school band director, can cite a specific one.
"He didn't know anything about the bass, so as a tenacious 13-year-old I
thought that he couldn't look over my shoulder and tell me what to do,"
she said of her desire for musical independence from trumpeter/educator dad
Dave Proznick.
That's not to say both parents didn't inspire their three children's artistic
pursuits. Proznick also studied ballet for 10 years, while sister Kelly is a
trombonist/educator and brother Tim plays drums.
"I suppose if they were as into hockey as they were into us doing dance
and theatre and music I would have been on a hockey team," said Proznick,
32, who makes her Toronto headlining debut at the Rex tonight.
Her first national tour is also a family affair. The band, which played on her
first recording, Foundations, includes pianist Tilden Webb, Proznick's
husband of three years, his high school pal, tenor saxist Steve Kaldestad, and
her sister's beau, drummer Jesse Cahill.
"In terms of being a leader, it's kind of ideal in a way, because you're
dealing with people who care about each other," said the noted bassist.
Rooted in traditional swinging post bop, her group covered Duke Ellington, as
well as Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel on Foundations.
"I love pop," explained the performer, who started out on electric
bass and moved to upright at 16, "but jazz was a good fit, because it's
challenging. You're on the edge of your ability always and it's such an
in-the-moment way to make music. I love communicating with people and playing
jazz is this euphoric way of communicating with others: the musicians and the
audience.
On the disc's four original songs, Proznick said she was "trying to write
from a real sensory place."
"With `Duke of York,' for example, I wanted to embody my 28-pound cat,
York. Rhythmically, it's the soundtrack I would put to watching him lumber down
my hallway.
"I will often explain this (to the audience) when I'm playing that song
and people often respond because they have a visual. I think with instrumental
jazz it can be a little difficult for the average listener; they feel a bit
alienated from it, because it seems like there's so much going on. I've found
this song is kind of an invitation: everyone knows cats, everyone's seen
Garfield, they have something to hang their hat on it while listening to the
song."
MUSIC TIDBITS
Method Man Invades Canada
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(November 8, 2007) *Method Man will be north of the border tonight
to kick off his first-ever solo Canadian tour – a seven-show outing that will
also touch down in Alberta Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The jaunt is in
support of his fourth solo album, "4:21... The Day After," which
reached No. 8 on The Billboard 200 when it was released last year. The
record--produced by RZA, Scott Storch and Erick Sermon--features guest spots
from several fellow Wu-Tangers, as well as a cameo by the late Ol' Dirty
Bastard. The Wu-Tang Clan rapper is currently working on his next album,
titled "Crystal Method," according to Canadian music publication
ChartAttack. Meanwhile, Wu-Tang Clan's long-awaited set, "The 8
Diagrams," is scheduled to drop Dec. 4. Here is Method Man's tour
schedule:
November 2007
8 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Plush
10 - Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Events Centre
12 - Calgary, Alberta - Whiskey Night Club
14 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Odeon Events Centre
15 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - The Empire Cabaret
16 - Barrie, Ontario - The Roxx Nite Club
17 - Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
Wyclef Jean Helps Haiti One Person At A
Time
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(November 13, 2007) *Wyclef Jean says he has founded several
youth-based programs that are backed financially by Yele Haiti, the charity he
launched to benefit his Caribbean homeland. Yele Haiti will provide computer
labs, classrooms and counselling for jailed child gang members, help local
women's groups sell food in the seaside slum of Cite Soleil, and establish a
youth scholarship and soccer program, Jean said. "If you want to change a
country, unfortunately, you're not going to be able to help 8 million people at
one time," Jean told reporters Saturday after arriving in Port-au-Prince.
"But if you can get one or two or three and start to make that change,
that will make the difference." Jean, who wore a white linen jacket with
Haiti's shield embroidered in sparkling stones, spoke to reporters mostly in
Creole during his first visit to the city since being appointed its roving
ambassador in January.
::FILM NEWS::
Bollywood
Epics Go Toe-To-Toe At Box Office
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- Staff Reporter
(November 09, 2007) A song-and-dance showdown
between two
Bollywood films, Om Shanti Om and
Saawariya, is
set to take place today as the two hit the big screen in theatres across
Toronto.
After weeks of worldwide publicity, the films have been pitted against each
other partly due to the marketing tactics of distributors Eros International
and Sony Pictures, who have turned the releases into a battle of the old stars
of Bollywood versus industry newcomers.
"The outcome of this battle is important," said Mohit Rajhans, a film
reviewer and host of Bollywood Boulevard on OMNI. "It could
signal an entirely new generation of actors, since a lot of people have been
criticizing that the industry has been stuck with the same four or five stars
for years."
Om Shanti Om, produced and directed by Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan,
has been tempting fans since the release of its soundtrack in September, with a
number of its songs topping charts in India since then. Add to the mix a lead
role by Bollywood's current "It man," Shah Rukh Khan, and cameos by
more than 30 of the industry's top actors, and the film's publicity machine has
been able to generate enormous buzz months before its release.
Saawariya has used a slightly different tactic to generate hype. As
the first Hindi film to be released by Sony Pictures, it has also had the
luxury of being marketed in the same way as Hollywood films. Sony will release
the film in "almost every market it can tap into" in 85 theatres in
42 cities around the world.
But instead of using tried-and-tested Bollywood stars, producer Sanjay Leela
Bhansali is banking on the public being ready to see some new faces on the big
screen.
He has put all his chips on Sonam Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, two newcomers with
little film experience who are the children of famous Bollywood actors past and
present, Anil Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor.
Both films are expected to pack theatres in India and in Toronto throughout
this Diwali weekend, and could provide Bollywood a much-needed boost after what
has been a relatively lacklustre year.
Both films can be seen this weekend at Woodside Cinema in Scarborough, Albion
Cinema in Etobicoke or Bayfield Cinema in Barrie, and at AMC theatres across
the city.
Derek Luke: The Lions For Lambs
Interview With Kam Williams
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com - Kam Williams
November 9, 2007) *Born in
Jersey City on April 24, 1974, Derek
Luke took a most unusual route to fame and
fortune.
He did move to Los Angeles, but was discovered in 2002 while working at a gift
shop on the lot of Sony Studios.
And right out of the box he was cast in the title role as Antwone Fisher, the
bittersweet bio-pic which marked the directorial debut of Denzel Washington.
A critically-acclaimed performance led to Derek's landing leads in such
pictures as Catch a Fire, Glory Road, Pieces of April, Biker Boyz, Spartan and
Friday Night Lights. He's also recently finished work on his first romantic
comedy, Definitely, Maybe, and he's currently in Tuscany shooting Miracle at
St. Anna, an adaptation of the James McBride WWII saga about four black
soldiers who find themselves trapped behind enemy lines in a tiny Italian
village.
In 1998, Derek married Sophia Hernandez (Knockout) the attractive actress whom
he brought up on stage with him when he won an Independent Spirit Award for
Antwone Fisher. The couple is eagerly anticipating the arrival of their first
child in the Spring.
Here, Derek talks about Lions for Lambs, his new release, opening today, a war
flick in which he plays a college student who, along with an equally-idealistic
classmate (Michael Pena), drops out of school and enlists in the military in
order to serve in Afghanistan.
Kam Williams:
How'd you enjoy making Lions for Lambs?
Derek Luke: It was the most intense and the most insane, but
it was also the most fulfilling film I've done so far.
KW: How was it not only being directed by, but co-starring opposite Robert
Redford?
DL: What I loved about Mr. Redford was how he gave. He always gave in a scene.
And he was kind of teaching without teaching.
For full interview with Derek Luke by Kam Williams, go HERE.
Controversial
Pakistani Film On 9/11 Aftermath Not Screening In Canada, At Least Not Yet
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- Staff Reporter
(November 09, 2007) To see this year's hit
Pakistani film Khuda
Kay
Liye (In the Name of
God) in Toronto, Faisal Anwar had little choice
but to watch it illegally, after downloading it off a website.
It was the only way he and others in the local community could access one of
the first films from Pakistan in years that has garnered both controversy and
attention internationally.
"This is the first time we get a chance to see Pakistani perspective on
post-9/11 on the big screen," said Anwar, a new media artist originally
from Lahore. "It's just unfortunate that the only way to watch it was the
pirated way."
What's caused the stir is that unlike most films emerging from Pakistan's
love-story-obsessed film industry, known as Lollywood, In the Name of God addresses
issues burdening Pakistanis around the world: radicalization of their youth,
forced marriages in Pakistan and the wrongful detentions of Muslims in the
West. Directed by Shoaib Mansoor, In the Name of God centres on two
brothers. One changes from a jeans-wearing musician to a gun-toting fanatic, and
the other is arrested in the U.S. following 9/11, brutally tortured and
deported back to Pakistan.
That's why Anwar's trying to bring the film to Toronto. If successful, it would
be the first film out of Lollywood to be officially released in theatres in
North America.
"There's such a huge South Asian community here who would benefit from the
movie," said Anwar. "For the first time in Pakistan's history, a film
was made that made people think," said Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani
documentary filmmaker based in Toronto. "It's a story that resonated with
a lot of people because of what is happening in society."
Trying to explain the religious turmoil embroiling Pakistani society in a
post-9/11 world has been the goal of many in the Pakistani arts scene. A number
of documentaries and books such as Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant
Fundamentalist have attempted to broach the subject and have done so with
modest success, mostly within the large diasporic community. But the release of
In the Name of God marks the first time a commercially released
Pakistani film has attempted to bring the issue to the masses – with
considerable success.
"Before this film, Pakistani cinema has been dead," said
Obaid-Chinoy. "My generation has not ever gone to the movie theatre, but
this film saw cinema houses packed."
When the film was released in July, Pakistanis flocked to the movie in droves,
despite numerous bomb threats. In many theatres people stood up and cheered
during the closing credits, said Obaid-Chinoy, who watched the film at a
sold-out screening in Karachi in August.
Despite a limited release in a handful of theatres across the country, the film
is said to have grossed a record $500,000 in its first three weeks, according
to officials at Geo Films, the media distribution company that helped produce
the movie.
Numbers like those give hope to an industry that has slumped from producing 100
films a year in the 1980s to less than 40 a year in the 1990s. The last film to
achieve similar success was the love story Yeh Dil Aap Ka Huwa (This
Heart is Yours) more than five years ago, which was said to have grossed $2.4
million within months of its release, but which never managed global success.
International interest in Pakistani films has been virtually non-existent, largely
overshadowed by neighbouring Bollywood. That's why many of those in the
industry are hopeful this film will re-energize Lollywood.
"This film is definitely the kind of spark needed to revive our
industry," said Sameena Pirzada, a Pakistani actor and director, during a
recent visit to Toronto. "We have been lacking for years this kind of
homegrown innovation."
Anwar believes that part of the success of In the Name of God is that
for many Pakistanis the film and the fate of its main characters reflect their
reality.
"People see their own life experiences in the movie," said Anwar.
"Every family has either lost a son to this kind of extremism or knows
someone who has.
"The real issue is that Pakistani films just don't have the financial
backing and support to go international. But we have to start working on
creating a means for them to get here; otherwise we could be missing an
opportunity for understanding between the East and West."
Josh
Brolin A Late Bloomer
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- Movie Critic
(November 09, 2007) You know Josh Brolin is having a great year
when he casually mentions his on-set shenanigans while making No Country for Old Men for the Coen Bros.
Trying to get a rise out of Joel and Ethan Coen is like trying to pry a smirk
out of the Sphinx, if they're not in the mood to be kidded.
"I made fun of them a lot during filming," Brolin says, smiling as he
lights up one of his habitual Marlboros.
"I'd go, `This isn't funny – is this Coens? Do we have a wood chipper
around that we can use?'"
Not that long ago, Brolin, 39, might have been inclined to zipper his lips and
not push his luck. The son of actor James Brolin and stepson of singer Barbra
Streisand had toiled in the trenches for more than 20 years, making movies and
TV shows that did little to advance his obvious abilities.
Remember him in Hollow Man or the movie version of The Mod Squad?
He'd prefer you didn't, especially since the last two years have brought him
great gigs.
He has good supporting roles in Ridley Scott's American Gangster and
Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah, both in theatres. Even his
"B" movies are giving him "A" roles, as was the case in the
Planet Terror portion of Grindhouse and the sea drama Into
the Blue, both where he played interesting villains.
But he's happiest about Llewelyn Moss, the not-so-dumb hick who gives a serial
killer, a bounty hunter and a lawman a run for their money in No Country
for Old Men. It helps that Brolin actually does live on a ranch, along
with his wife, actor Diane Lane, and his two children from a previous marriage.
He almost missed getting to play Moss. Two days after being cast, he crashed
his
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