Prepares for Debut (Post-Covid) Worldwide Live Stream on Dec. 12, 2020 With His All-Star NorthEast Bandmates, The First of Several Quarterly Events
 
Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed songwriter, producer, NewUrbanJazz Radio host Bob Baldwin to a global publishing Administration deal. He's also getting ready to debut his monumental streaming platform with an all-star band on Dec. 12, 2020.
 
Bob is known for his music in the Contemporary Jazz field, which has heavy elements of Urban, Funk, Gospel and Brazilian idioms. He's famously known as one of the few artists who owns more than 80% of his music recordings and publishing, which allowed him to ink the deal.

Bob is working on disc #32, pushing him over 300 songs in his artist catalog. His latest production is a Urban-tinged vocal offering with compositions and performances by Lori Williams, Toni Redd, Dee Dee Davis, Monica Mason, Gigi, and Regina Troup.

Some of his collaborations include tracks as a writer with Paul Brown, Richard Elliot, Will Downing, Marion Meadows, Ragan Whiteside, Lori Williams, Pieces of a Dream and Grover Washington, Jr., to name a select few.  He's co-produced tracks for the aforementioned Flutist Whiteside, who has enjoyed more than 7 tracks in the top 10 Billboard Smooth Jazz charts over the last several years. Bob's composition "Backstage Pass" charted #1 a few years back with Paul Brown f/ Bob James. His streaming activity at Pandora and Spotify are modest, but steady and successful in the smooth and contemporary jazz genre.
 
"I've been preaching the same narrative for 30 years, as previously preached by James Brown, Prince and Ray Charles, and it's very simple...'own, own, own,'' says the New York Native. "If you don't own what you create, you're not really in the game."
-Bob Baldwin
 
"Don't be a rented artist where your deal is front-loaded and there's nothing on the back-end to grab. The fact is, the big 3 music labels have been thriving on catalog, well over 70% of their revenues. Why do you think they can afford to rent/own buildings in Gotham City? Artists gave up a lot on those deals and were content with doing shows and concerts, but now that the gigs have gone dry and Broadway has temporarily shuttered, live show revenues for artists is skeletal at best today. Even Live Nation revenues are down well over 95% from the year before, and that tells the full story."
 
Look for Bob Baldwin's debut live stream as he celebrates a milestone birthday (12/09). The stream airs on 12/12, with a re-air on 12/13/20. Next streaming stop for stream #2 is Atlanta, Ga. featuring the best artists in jazz and urban.
 
Links:

Artist webpage: bobbaldwin.com
Radio: NewUrbanJazz webpage
Retail Site: (City Sketches Records)

Country music singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, whom Willie Nelson once called “the greatest living songwriter,” died Wednesday in his native Texas at the age of 81.
Shaver is reported to suffered a massive stroke at Ascension Providence Hospital in Waco, Texas.
Shaver rose to acclaim in 1973 with his debut album, “Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” and was often referred to as part of the “outlaw country” movement of the 1970s along with figures like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, both of whom recorded his songs.
Jennings, in fact, recorded 10 songs of Shaver’s on one album alone, “Honky Tonk Heroes,” released the same year as Shaver’s debut. Shaver had previously had his break as a songwriter when Kris Kristofferson discovered him and recorded his song “Good Christian Soldier” on another landmark album, 1971’s “The Silver Tongued Devil and I.”

​His songs were recorded by Elvis Presley, David Allan Coe, Patty Loveless, Tom T. Hall, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Paycheck and Doug Kershaw, among others. One of his biggest songwriting successes was “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal,” a No. 4 country hit for John Anderson in 1981.
His own recording career encompassed 17 studio albums, the last of which was 2014’s “Long in the Tooth.” “Shaver’s always been a tough guy making trouble on the edges of a Nashville that values slickness,” Q magazine wrote at the time.
Shaver made an appearance in Robert Duvall’s 1996 film “The Apostle.” Duvall sang one of his songs, “Live Forever,” in another film, “Crazy Heart.” In 2004, a documentary about Shaver, “A Portrait of Billy Joe,” was released.

His personal live was the stuff of lore and legend. He wed and divorced the same woman, Brenda Tindell, three times. (He later married another woman, Wanda Lynn Canady, twice, the second time following an annulment.) He had a heart attack on stage. In 2007, he shot a man in the face outside a bar in Lorena, Texas. He was acquitted of aggravated assault after claiming self-defense and later said of the incident, “Hit him right between the mother and the f—er. Fixed him right up.”
Bob Dylan referenced him in a latter-day lyric, singing “I’m listening to Billy Joe Shaver and I’m reading James Joyce” in the 2009 song “I Feel a Change Comin’ On.”
“I know the power of words,” Shaver said in a 2014 Esquire profile. “I figure they’d be here forever. I’m hoping a lot of them are gonna make it.” In the same interview, he promised: “I’ll bop till I drop.”
Jennings wrote of Shaver, “His songs were of a piece, and the only way you could ever understand Billy Joe was to hear his whole body of work. That was how the concept for ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ came about. Billy Joe talked the way a modern cowboy would speak, if he stepped out of the West and lived today. He had a command of Texas lingo, his world as down to earth and real as the day is long, and he wore his Lone Star birthright like a badge. We all did.”
Shaver told his colorful story in a 2005 memoir, “Honky Tonk Hero.” Born in Corsicana, Texas, he grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry. Despite being a promising student, he dropped out of high school and took to hitchhiking and driving a truck.

He lost part of three fingers in a sawmill accident as a young man. “When I cut my fingers off, I made a deal with God,” Shaver said to CMT.com in 2012. “I said ’If you get me out of this, I will go on and do what I am supposed to do.’”
Tragedy struck Shaver when his son, Eddy Shaver, died of a heroin overdose in 2000.
Shaver’s songs continued to be recorded over the decades. Loveless made “When the Fallen Angels Fly” the title track of her CMA Award-winning album in 1994. The Highwaymen, consisting of Jennings, Nelson, Kristofferson and Johnny Cash, recorded his “Live Forever” in 1995.
On a 2007 album, Shaver released a duet he had recorded with Cash before that singer’s death, a gospel tune titled “You Can’t Beat Jesus Christ.”

Shaver was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. The following year he received his lone Grammy nomination, in the best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album category for “Everybody’s Brother.”
He was also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Americana Music Association gave Shaver its inaugural lifetime achievement award for songwriting in 2004.
Shaver appeared at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for the 2018 opening of an exhibit that featured his prominently, “Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s.” In 2019, the Academy of Country music gave him its Poets Award.
​

Sting to release new album 'Duets' on November 27 

Includes a selection of his most beloved collaborations
from throughout his illustrious career

LIVE
14.07.2021 | Gent Jazz

 
Always known as a musical explorer, pioneering genre-bending sounds and collaborations, 17-time Grammy Award winner STING will release a new album, entitled Duets, on November 27. The vinyl LP edition will also be available worldwide on December 18. Fans can pre-order this special collection now:  https://sting.lnk.to/Duets 

From the melismatic longing of “Desert Rose” with Rai music singer Cheb Mami and sultry groove of “It’s Probably Me” with Eric Clapton to the uplifting 44/876 with Shaggy, which yielded his most recent and 17th GRAMMY award, Sting’s collaborations have become nothing short of cornerstones in the canon of popular music. To celebrate some of these joint-works, he has compiled a special collection to include some of his most beloved duets with collaborators such as Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Eric Clapton, Annie Lennox, Charles Aznavour, Mylène Farmer, Shaggy, Melody Gardot, Gashi and more. The Duets album will also include the brand new, never-before-released song, “September” with Italian icon Zucchero, produced by Sting himself and mixed by 4-time Grammy Award winner Robert Orton.  Full album track listing is included below. 
 
Duets was Executive Produced and A&R’d by Guénaël “GG” Geay & Martin Kierszenbaum with all songs mastered by Gene Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering, Los Angeles, United States.

 
TRACKLISTING

 
Standard CD
1.      Little Something with Melody Gardot
2.      It’s Probably Me with Eric Clapton
3.      Stolen Car with Mylène Farmer
4.      Desert Rose with Cheb Mami
5.      Rise & Fall with Craig David
6.      Whenever I Say Your Name with Mary J. Blige
7.      Don’t Make Me Wait with Shaggy
8.      Reste with GIMS
9.      We'll Be Together with Annie Lennox
10.    L'amour C'est Comme Un Jour with Charles Aznavour
11.    My Funny Valentine with Herbie Hancock
12.    Fragile with Julio Iglesias
13.    Mama with Gashi
14.    September with Zucchero
15.    Practical Arrangement with Jo Lawry
16.    None Of Us Are Free with Sam Moore
17.    In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning with Chris Botti

Vinyl LP 1
A1.    Little Something with Melody Gardot
A2.    It’s Probably Me with Eric Clapton
A3.    Stolen Car with Mylène Farmer
A4.    Desert Rose with Cheb Mami
 
B1.    Rise & Fall with Craig David
B2.    Whenever I Say Your Name with Mary J. Blige
B3.    Don’t Make Me Wait with Shaggy
B4.    Reste with GIMS

Vinyl LP 2
A1.    We'll Be Together with Annie Lennox
A2.    L'amour C'est Comme Un Jour with Charles Aznavour
A3.    My Funny Valentine with Herbie Hancock
A4.    Fragile with Julio Iglesias
 
B1.    Mama with Gashi
B2.    September with Zucchero
B3.    Practical Arrangement with Jo Lawry
B4.    None Of Us Are Free with Sam Moore
B5.    In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning with Chris Botti
 

 
ABOUT STING
 
Composer, singer-songwriter, actor, author, and activist Sting was born in Newcastle, England before moving to London in 1977 to form The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. The band released five studio albums, earned six GRAMMY Awards® and two Brits, and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. 
                                                                                   
As one of the world’s most distinctive solo artists, Sting has received an additional 11 GRAMMY Awards®, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, four Oscar nominations, a TONY nomination, Billboard Magazine’s Century Award, and MusiCares 2004 Person of the Year.  In 2003, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his myriad of contributions to music. Also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he has received the Kennedy Center Honors, The American Music Award of Merit and The Polar Music Prize. Sting has been awarded Honorary Doctorates of Music by the University of Northumbria (1992), Berklee College of Music (1994), University of Newcastle upon Tyne (2006) and Brown University at its 250th Commencement ceremony (2018).

Throughout his illustrious career, Sting has sold 100 million albums from his combined work with The Police and as a solo artist.

Following his critically acclaimed album, 57th & 9th, his first rock/pop collection in over a decade, Sting and reggae icon, Shaggy, both managed by the Cherrytree Music Company, released a collaborative, island-influenced album, entitled 44/876, drawing from the many surprising connections at the heart of their music. With its title referencing their home country codes, 44/876 first and foremost honors the duo’s mutual love for Jamaica: Shaggy’s homeland, and the place where Sting penned such classics as The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” Their chart-topping release debuted at #1 in Germany and Top 10 in the UK. It spent over 20 weeks atop Billboard’s Reggae Album chart in the US, earned Gold certifications in Poland and France and received the GRAMMY Award® for Best Reggae Album.

Last year, Sting was honoured at the BMI Pop Awards for his enduring hit single “Every Breath You Take,” which has become the Most Performed Song, with 15 million radio plays, from BMI’s catalog of over 14 million musical works.

Also last year, a new album entitled My Songs, featuring contemporary interpretations of his most celebrated hits, was released and followed by a world tour of the same name. Sting’s ‘My Songs’ World Tour is a dynamic and exuberant show featuring his most beloved songs spanning the 17-time GRAMMY Award® winner’s prolific career with The Police and as a solo artist.

The special edition release of Sting’s album, My Songs was released November 8 and includes a bonus CD with new live recordings from the My Songs World Tour.  A digital album titled My Songs: Live containing 11 new live recordings captured along the My Songs World Tour is also available.

Next year, Sting will headline a Las Vegas residency, “My Songs,” set to open at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The show will present a compendium of Sting’s songs with dynamic, visual references to some of his most iconic videos and inspirations. 

He has appeared in more than 15 films, executive produced the critically acclaimed A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and in 1989 starred in The Threepenny Opera on Broadway.  His most recent theatre project is the Tony®-nominated musical The Last Ship, inspired by his memories of the shipbuilding community of Wallsend in the North East of England where he was born and raised. The show, with music and lyrics by Sting, ran on Broadway in 2014/2015 and completed a UK regional theatre tour which ran from March-July 2018. Thereafter, Sting starred as shipyard foreman Jackie White in the Toronto-based production of The Last Ship at the Princess of Wales Theatre. He reprised the role for productions in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre (January 14 – February 16, 2020), followed by San Francisco at the Golden Gate Theatre. Additional information on The Last Ship Tour can be found at www.thelastshipmusical.com
 
Sting’s support for human rights organizations such as the Rainforest Fund, Amnesty International, and Live Aid mirrors his art in its universal outreach.  Along with wife Trudie Styler, Sting founded the Rainforest Fund in 1989 to protect both the world’s rainforests and the indigenous people living there.  Together they have held 19 benefit concerts to raise funds and awareness for our planet’s endangered resources. Since its inception, the Rainforest Fund has expanded to a network of interconnected organizations working in more than 20 countries over three continents.

​Only days after earning herself the monumental feat of one billion views on the official video of ‘I Will Always Love You’, the late Whitney Houston’s legacy has added another feather to her coveted hat.
The diva has become the first black artist in history to have 3 diamond certified albums from RIAA to her name.
That means, 3 albums with sales of at least 10 million in the United States alone.
With the latest and long-overdue certification coming from the sales-update of her 1987-released sophomore album, ‘Whitney’, the songstress has earned herself another record, in the long list of achievements she’s already had. Her previous two diamond certified albums included – her 1985 self-titled debut album, ‘Whitney Houston’ – and her notorious soundtrack album for The Bodyguard.
She’s only the second female overall to have achieved this feat, right behind Shania Twain – who also boasts of 3 diamond albums.
These are the only two ladies in the short list of artists who’ve had 3 or more diamond certified albums in music history, with Whitney being the only black artist to do so.
A marvelous feat by one of the greatest singers to have touched the microphone.

​Diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2012, PETER LEITCH was forced to give up a decades long career as a a guitarist and band leader because of his treatment. Although he is unable to play his instrument, he is still driven to create music. Leitch has re-invented himself as a composer, arranger, and director of a 15-piece orchestra. Celebrating this transformation, he has released NEW LIFE, the debut, 2-disc recording by the eponymous PETER LEITCH NEW LIFE ORCHESTRA. It took Leitch two years to compose, arrange, and orchestrate the 17 pieces that comprise this project. In search of a personal voice in writing for a medium-sized ensemble, he was looking for something that sounded like a bigger band but had the freedom and looseness of a small group. The 2-disc set corresponds to 2 sets of music in a club or concert. Although Leitch misses the in-the-moment aspect of being an improvising musician, he has found a new outlet for his endless creativity. His original melodies range from hauntingly beautiful to classically inventive to playful. His orchestrations also have a wide range of colors and textures, from dense and dissonant to light, airy and contrapuntal. His music is fun and challenging for the musician, but more fun for the listener to absorb it all.
 
Disc 1
1. MOOD FOR MAX 6:25
2. PORTRAIT OF SYLVIA 8:28
3. SORTA, KINDA 8:45
4. MONK’S CIRCLE 2:00
5. ROUND MIDNIGHT 8:20
6. PENUMBRA 7:36
7. BRILLIANT BLUE, TWILIGHT BLUE 7:58
8. FULTON STREET SUITE 8:04
 
Disc 2
1. EXHILARATION 7:48
2. ELEVANSES 7:25
3. CLIFFORD JORDAN 6:03
4. BALLAD FOR CHARLES DAVIS 6:18
5. THE MINISTER’S SON 8:00
6. SPRING IS HERE 7:46
7. BACK STORY 8:02
8. TUTWILER 2001 2:15
9. THE LONG WALK HOME 11:16
 
Personnel
DUANE EUBANKS trumpet;  BILL MOBLEY trumpet, flugelhorn
TIM HARRISON flute;  JED LEVY tenor sax, flute, alto flute
STEVE WILSON alto & soprano sax   (Disc 1:  1,3,4,5,6,7   Disc 2:  1,2,5,8)
DAVE PIETRO alto & soprano sax  (Disc 1:  2,6   Disc 2: 3,4,6,9)
CARL MARAGHI baritone sax, bass clarinet;  MATT HAVILAND  trombone
MAX SEIGEL bass trombone;  PHIL ROBSON electric  guitar  
CHAD COE acoustic guitar;  PETER ZAK piano;  DENNIS JAMES arco bass
YOSHI WAKI bass;  JOE STRASSER drums
 
All compositions by Peter Leitch
Except “Round Midnight” (Thelonious Monk), “The Minister’s Son (Jed Levy), “Spring is Here” (Rodgers & Hart)

De Canadese zangeres, songwriter en danseres Tate McRae is popmuziek’s ‘Next Big Thing’ en staat op dinsdag 21 september 2021 in Trix in Antwerpen. De ticketverkoop start vrijdag 30 oktober om 10u via livenation.be.
 
Zowat elke song die Tate McRae releast, is een viraal succes. Haar debuut-EP 'all the things i never said' klopt momenteel af op 380 miljoen streams! Ze duikt regelmatig op in lijstjes als Artist On The Rise en strikte een felbegeerde nominatie voor de ‘PUSH Best New Artist’ award op MTV’s 2020 VMA’s, naast gevestigde waarden als Yungblud en Lewis Capaldi.
 
Tate McRae is klaar voor de internationale roem. Sinds haar single “you broke me first” op alle popradio’s en streaming platforms scoort, is ze in één klap gekatapulteerd naar haar grote doorbraak. 2021 is nu al haar jaar. Zelden zal je zo snel overtuigd zijn als in Trix op 21 september 2021.

 
START TICKETVERKOOP
VRIJDAG 30 OKTOBER, 10u

TICKETS VIA
PROXIMUSGOFORMUSIC.BE
LIVENATION.BE

TICKETPRIJS
€ 24,50
(incl. servicekosten)

Het is dit jaar 40 jaar geleden dat 'Er Is Iets' van Walter Verdin op nummer één stond in de Vlaamse top 10. Het nummer is sinds kort te horen op de radio in een herwerkte versie van zangeres RIET samen met Bart Peeters.
 
Ook in 1980 verscheen ‘Storingen’ van Walter Verdin zijn project Specimen & The Rizikoos op de belpopverzamelaar ‘Get Sprouts’. Het nummer - met een belangrijke vocale rol voor acteur Josse De Pauw - verkreeg een cultstatus doorheen de jaren en de originele vinyl single 'Storingen' is heel erg gegeerd onder verzamelaars. Specimen & The Rizikoos bestond verder ook uit Jean-Marie Aerts, Stoy Stoffelen en Karel Vereertbrugghen.

Ter ere van het dubbele jubileum vond BLP Records het een mooie gelegendheid om beide nummers opnieuw op vinyl uit te brengen in de vorm van een 12” maxi met op de A-kant 'Er Is Iets' en op de B-kant 'Storingen'. Het hoesontwerp (een mash-up van de originele hoezen) is van de hand van Walter Verdin zelf. De plaat verschijnt op 13 november in een gelimiteerde oplage van 300 exemplaren op rood transparant vinyl.
 
Walter Verdin is back. Eerder deze week raakte ook bekend dat het modehuis GUCCI voor de campagne van de 'Epilogue'-collectie gebruik zal maken van ‘Mani Meme’, een song van Walter Verdin zijn groep Pas De Deux.

​Frank Kohl has had a lifetime refining the art of jazz guitar. Born and raised in New York, Kohl began playing guitar at age eight. Initially drawn to the pop music of the day like the Beatles and then playing and learning from the rock and blues musicians of that period.

It was time for a change, and at age sixteen, Kohl discovered the music of Wes Montgomery and began his path into jazz guitar. Fortunately, Kohl’s high school had one of the nation’s top Jazz Big Bands, and he began playing and learning with them. During this time, Kohl had easy access to NYC and all the jazz clubs NY had to offer. One of the clubs Kohl frequented was Rapsins, which presented free-flowing cutting-edge jazz of the highest level. Players like guitarist Linc Chamberland, bassist Lynn Christie, and saxophonist Dave Liebman were regulars at Rapsins. Kohl eventually became a student of Linc’s and bandmate with Linn’s.

From 72’ - 76’ Kohl attended and graduated from Berklee College Of Music. At this time, Frank was exposed to fellow students like Pat Metheny and John Scofield and teachers like Gary Burton. After graduation, Frank headed back to NY and began performing regularly. In the mid-’80s, Kohl recorded his first album Reform with The Frank Kohl Quartet. The LP featured NY bassist Michael Moore. At the time, Michael was with pianist Bill Evans.

Kohl then packed up and headed west to California’s Bay Area. Always playing and staying musically active, Kohl landed a spot with Don McCaslin Senior’s band Warmth. He was with Don for seven years, and at the time, Don’s son Donny McCaslin, a young tenor player who was also on the bandstand.

In the early 90’s Kohl moved north to Seattle, where he lives with his wife and three daughters. Frank stays active in Seattle performing at many of the Northwest’s most prestigious jazz venues and festivals with many notable players. Kohl also spends time in New York and collaborates with his brother - pianist Tom Kohl and bassist Steve LaSpina. Kohl has headlined at such prominent NY clubs as Smalls, Mezzrow’s, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, The Triad Theatre, and The Beanrunner.

To date, Kohl has six CDs as a leader to his credit. Three of his CDs include NY bassist Steve LaSpina, who has played and recorded with Jim Hall, Pat Martino, Marian McPartland, and countless others. Kohl’s last CD, The Crossing, featured LaSpina and guitarist John Stowell, an internationally recognized guitarist, clinician, and jazz innovator. 

​Kohl’s latest offering, Solitude, is a lifelong goal of recording a solo guitar CD. Absorbing the solo guitar approaches of greats like Joe Pass, Martin Taylor, John Stowell, among others. Kohl has found his own voice in this challenging medium and pays reverence to the solo guitar idiom so cherished in the jazz canon.


Tracks
1. Dreams in Color 4:07 (Frank Kohl)
2. I Got It Bad 4:15 (Duke Ellington)
3. Imagine This 3:16 (Frank Kohl)
4. Solitude 3:30 (Frank Kohl)
5. Alone Together 5:09 (Jerome Kern)
6. A Call For Peace 4:34 (Frank Kohl)
7. Fly Way 4:08 (Frank Kohl)
8. Still Missing You 3:24 (Frank Kohl)
9. City Lights 2:51 (Oscar Peterson)
10. In Your Arms 3:48 (Frank Kohl)
11. My Shining Hour 4:00 (Harold Arlen)
12. Wide Open 3:23 (Frank Kohl)
13. Once I Loved 4:06 (AC Jobim)

Players & Instruments:
Frank Kohl: guitar

​Whitney Houston has yet again earned a feat, no other female performer of her time has – till now.
Her signature classic, ‘I Will Always Love You’, has touched the applause-worthy milestone of over 1 billion views on YouTube.
This makes it the very first pre-2000 song by a solo female artist to cross the “Big Billion” mark on YouTube, something her contemporaries in popular music like – Madonna, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, haven’t been able to achieve with any of their classics yet.
This also becomes the first 20th century music video by a solo artist, male or female, to cross one billion views on the video streaming service.
The David Foster-produced high-octane theatrical ballad , already ranks as the ‘bestselling song by a female artist in history’, with sales of over 20 million units worldwide.
Released in the year 1992, and featured on her motion picture debut as a leading actress in the Kevin Costner starrer romantic drama, The Bodyguard, this Dolly Parton-penned classic remained one of the most played songs on the radio for several years after its release.
The film, it’s accompanying soundtrack and this juggernaut-of-a-song, helped catapult Whitney’s legendary status across the stratosphere, making her the top selling artist in history around that time, topped over the excellent sales of her previous 3 studio albums.
Two years later, in 1994, the diva swept all major awards across multiple ceremonies in the world of music, including three Grammy’s won in the categories – ‘Record Of The Year’, ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance – Female’ and ‘Album Of The Year’.
Not only did it immediately become one of her most recognized signature songs, alongside ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, it still continues to attract listeners, even from a much younger generation of music-lovers, nearly 3 decades since its release.
So this ‘new feat’ is only one of the many feathers on this iconic soundtrack’s coveted hat.
Even in death, the Queen of Pop continues to set benchmarks.

​MGM and Bron's Aretha Franklin biopic Respect — starring Jennifer Hudson as the iconic performing artist — is delaying its release yet again amid the ongoing pandemic.
The film is being pushed from Jan. 15, 2021 to Aug. 13, 2021, meaning it will wait out this awards season in favor of a late-summer launch.
Respect's flight comes as the film industry grapples with continued challenges both in the U.S. and overseas, including theater reclosures in several international territories.
MGM on Sunday released the teaser trailer for Respect, which follows the rise of Franklin's career from a child singing in her father's church's choir to her international superstardom. Franklin died in 2018.
Helmed by Liesl Tommy in her feature directorial debut, Respect also stars Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Tituss Burgess, Marc Maron, Kimberly Scott, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Heather Headley, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan and Mary J. Blige.

Katarina Pejak is pleased to announce that she will be releasing the Outside Looking In EP on November 20th. In discussing this collection of songs, Katarina says, “I just want people to bask in the romanticism and the melancholy. If there is anything you long for or feel sad about, embrace the sadness and move on, because it’s all a part of the glory of existence.”
​
​Outside Looking In contains compositions created and curated purely by emotions. These are impressionist songs, momentarily reflections on life, beauty, love and frustrations of daily relationships. The tracks were written in the past two years while Pejak’s Ruf Records debut, Roads That Cross, was in preparation. Some were written on the road, and some by the window in her bedroom in Belgrade, Serbia.

About the EP, Katarina muses, “I’ve been living with these songs for a couple of years, playing them at the more low-key gigs, often with my singing partner, Ana Protulipac. The changes that this year has brought have made it very difficult to think far ahead, and in a way, I find that very liberating. Thanks to my dear collaborator, Romain Guillot, I was able to record them in the comfort of my home, which was a learning experience and good fun. This EP is a step outside of the blues box, not too big a step though, since ‘Shoot Me, Baby’ is a bluesy western romantic drama.”

Pejak, a blues singer, songwriter, and piano player is best known for her eclectic musical approach – her style lives on the crossroads of American music genres such as blues, soul, folk and jazz. She started performing in her late teens, playing blues clubs in her hometown of Belgrade, and other cities in Serbia. She put out three albums in her home country, Perfume & Luck, 2010, and First Hand Stories, 2012 and Old, New Borrowed and Blues, 2016, a live mini album recorded in 2015.

​Though classically trained at the piano, Pejak found her passion for songwriting and improvised music while in High School. Through her father’s music collection, she discovered her main influences: Otis Spann, Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Nina Simone and Norah Jones, just to name a few.

Katarina graduated with a major in songwriting from Berklee College Of Music in Boston (class of 2014) where she studied with Dave Limina, Pat Pattison, David Maxwell, Lisa Thorson and many other great American musicians and educators. In 2014, the Berklee Songwriting department awarded her the Songwriting Achievement award. After graduating, Katarina moved to Nashville, Tennesse where she lived for a couple of years. In the summer of 2018, Katarina signed with Ruf Records, a German blues label, where she joined the long list of internationally acclaimed artists such as Samantha Fish, Victor Wainwright, Mike Zito, Ana Popovic and Bernard Allison.  In 2019, Katarina toured as part of the Blues Caravan 2019, a Ruf records show, performing 60 European concerts.
​
Her fourth and most recent full-length, Roads That Cross, produced by Mike Zito and featuring guitarist Laura Chavez, came out in February 2019.
Katarina muses that, “In a time when we are advised to stay inside looking out, all we can do is get in touch with our inner selves, and I sincerely hope they find that to be as interesting a journey as any in the physical world. These songs are my offering for a soundtrack for those travels.”

​When Junior Wells shed his mortal coil in 1998, the music world lost one of the most iconic blues artists of a generation. Wells was a phenomenal songwriter, an unmatched performer, and a passionate, irreplaceable vocalist the likes of which haven’t been seen since. But that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to celebrate Wells’ legacy even as a whole new generation of music fans continue to discover his incredible catalog. A new collaborative album seeks to do exactly that - to both keep the Wells flame burning bright for all of the longtime fans as well as introduce him to a whole new world of blues lovers. The album is Blues Brothers and it brings together a whole host of talented guitarists, harmonica players and vocalists united in fraternal love for both Wells and the Chicago blues style that Wells epitomized. 
 
Hear the great Joe Louis Walker fill Buddy Guy’s role as backing guitarist for Wells on not one but two JW classics “Hoodoo Man Blues” and “Snatch It Back and Hold It.” Listen as James Montgomery, himself a widely hailed figure in the Chicago blues scene, blows harmonica on “Worried Life Blues” and other tracks. And be amazed at how the young Tyler Bryant bends his style just enough so that it blends perfectly with Wells’ classic sound. Bryant even cut together a stylish video of himself performing along with Wells for the superb “Messin’ With The Kid.”
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Blues Brothers also features guest performances by such phenomenal players as Eric Gales, Colin James, Kirk Fletcher, Popa Chubby, Guitar Shorty, Pat Travers and many more! The album will be available on both digipak CD and limited-edition colored vinyl.

​​Track List
1. Blues Hit Big Town feat. Colin James
2. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl feat. Pat Travers
3. Messin’ With The Kid feat. Tyler Bryant
4. Baby, Scratch My Back feat. Albert Castiglia
5. Worried Life Blues feat. Mike Zito & James Montgomery
6. When The Cat’s Gone The Mice Play feat. Harvey Mandel
7. Lovey Dovey Lovey One feat. Eric Gales
8. You Gotta Love Her With A Feeling feat. Kirk Fletcher
9. Two-Headed Woman feat. Guitar Shorty
10. Snatch It Back And Hold It feat. Joe Louis Walker
11. You Don’t Care feat. Popa Chubby
12. It’s A Man Down There feat. Bernard Allison
13. Hoodoo Man Blues feat. Joe Louis Walker

With the current success of this single alongside the release of an empowerment lyric video which featured her fans taking the spotlight, Molly was wanting this music video to capture the essence of the unrestrained One Woman Show perfectly. Produced by Lauren Hayes Media, “the song is about being your own person and being independent, so I wanted to translate that over to the music video, too,” says Molly.
 
After securing industry feedback including “Molly is a true songwriter who takes her experiences and crafts them into a song,” as well as “artists rarely catch me on the first shot. It took all of two seconds to realize Molly wasn’t just good, but great,” it is safe to say that she is taking the world by storm and winning the hearts of not only journalists but country listeners everywhere.
 
“This video shoot was so special because we filmed it in my high school’s theater. I spent most of my high school years performing on that stage, so it was kind of a full circle moment.” Drawing from the lyric video which included her fans, Molly got some help from her friends and family for this video. “I wanted to incorporate them into the video as much as possible. You can see my sister on the keys, one of my best friends on the bass, and so many of my friends and family members watching me on the stage.” 
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​About Molly Lovette: Honest heartfelt lyrics and an unyielding passion to create real music makes up the vibrant country artist that is Molly Lovette. This St. Louis native has combined her childhood love of country music with her talent for writing relatable lyrics to create a mature and refreshing sound within the country genre. With musical influences including Taylor Swift, Maren Morris, and Carrie Underwood, Molly aspires to embody the beauty, power and grace her idols have so effortlessly portrayed to their fans. Growing up in a household where music was always playing, Molly took piano lessons at a young age and in high school was taught how to play the guitar by her dad. It turns out, learning guitar was the inspiration she needed to start writing her own music and she hasn’t stopped since. With over half a million combined streams just on Spotify, her debut album was a collection of songs she wrote through her high school years. She is now moving forward with her own sound and a more mature approach to writing due to the inevitable fact that she is growing up and experiencing more of life. With her natural gift for writing real and raw lyrics, a supportive team behind her, and the confidence to put her all into her music, Molly is ready to take the world by storm and win the hearts of country listeners everywhere.

​For more information on Molly Lovette, visit her website and follow along with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

​In the 1930s, Viola Smith was billed as the “world's fastest girl drummer,” and she went on to see other female drummers follow her trailblazing path over the next nine decades.
A native of Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, near Fond Du Lac, died Oct. 21 in her sleep at her home in Costa Mesa, California, according to The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. Her 108th birthday would have been next month. 
“I am very, very thankful that I’m accepted as a girl drummer,” Smith said in a video interview with Tom Tom Magazine in 2012. “One time there was no such thing.”
Smith got her start in the late 20s playing in her family band, the Schmitz Sisters Family Orchestra, with five older sisters. 
“(My sisters) had the rest of the instruments, and by the time there was a sixth one added to the family orchestra, my dad decided it should be drums which was great for me. What better instrument to play than the drums,” Smith told Tom Tom. 
“It was all practice, practice, practice in my childhood,” Smith said. “Every school vacation, we practiced two hours a day. Dad say we cannot waste children’s energies on anything but music, music, music.”
The practice paid off, with the family orchestra playing gigs around the region before Smith and a sister formed the Coquettes, an all-female orchestra, in 1938. They traveled the country for four years; on stage, Smith dazzled audiences from behind a massive set that included two double bass drums. 
In 1940, Smith appeared on the cover of Billboard magazine. The following year, she wrote an editorial for Down Beat magazine, “Give Girl Musicians a Break!”
“In these times of national emergency, many of the star instrumentalists of the big name bands are being drafted,” she wrote. “Instead of replacing them with what may be mediocre talent, why not let some of the great girl musicians of the country take their place? … Think it over, boys.”
In 1942, the Coquettes ended and Smith settled in New York. Famed Radio City Music Hall percussionist Billy Gladstone gave her lessons and made her a custom drum set. She studied timpani one summer at Juilliard and played in the NBC orchestra.
Smith played drums alongside Billie Holiday, in the 1945 Abbott & Costello film “Here Come the Co-Eds,” five times on "The Ed Sullivan Show,” and at President Harry Truman’s inauguration in 1949. She told Tom Tom the highlight of her music career was playing in the Kit Kat Band in the original Broadway production of “Cabaret” in 1966. 
Earlier this year, Smith was inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame. Because of the pandemic, the ceremony, which will celebrate Smith’s accomplishments, will now take place at Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee on May 16.
“I really had a charmed life. I can’t believe it,” Smith told Tom Tom. “Unless people call drumming work, then I worked hard in my life.” 

De Amerikaanse zangeres Tina Turner heeft een boek geschreven waarin ze haar belangrijkste levenslessen en inzichten neerpende. Met het boek 'Geluk staat je goed', wil de 'Queen of Rock And Roll' haar belangrijkste lessen en inzichten delen met fans.
Volgens de zangeres wou ze het boek al meer dan dertig jaar schrijven. "De timing leek echter nooit te kloppen", vertelt Turner aan het Nederlandse NU.nl. "Ik hoop nu anderen te inspireren en te tonen hoe ik een positiever persoon ben geworden, zelfs onder de meest moeilijke omstandigheden," aldus Turner.

Ondanks Turners plannen was het boek er bijna niet gekomen. Dat getuigt ook co-auteur Taro Gold: "Tina kreeg een beroerte, kreeg darmkanker en moest een niertransplantatie ondergaan. Ze kwam gelukkig overal weer bovenop en toen het wat beter ging besloten we dat het tijd was voor het boek", aldus Gold.

Geluk staat je goed – spiritueel handboek voor een beter leven verschijnt op 27 oktober 2020 ​

HE & ME, the newest project by singer and lyricist ADA BIRD WOLFE, is a duo album featuring the esteemed pianist and arranger JAMIESON TROTTER performing jazz standards and original tunes. He & Me follows Wolfe’s 2018 release, Birdie, named one of the top 10 albums of 2018 by C. Michael Bailey in All About Jazz.  Dick Metcalf of Contemporary Fusion Reviews called Birdie "a superb jazz vocal adventure." And Dodie Miller-Gould of Lemonwire said: "Birdie is a joyous compilation of songs that shows off the singer’s vocal range and scope of moods." Wolfe has a rich, alto voice with a warm, intimate timbre. She eschews melisma and vocal gymnastics to tell her stories through inventive phrasing and subtle variations on melody. Trotter is a first-call accompanist for vocalists who are serious about their craft.  He possesses an expansive musical vocabulary and the ability to listen closely and react with his own imaginative turns of phrase. He and Me provides a glimpse into the creative process of two musicians whose tastes and aesthetics are completely in synch. They build tunes organically by listening closely to one another and weaving tapestries of sound that create new and unexpected aural images.
 
Tracks
1. MIND TO MIND 4:41
2. NIGHT IN TUNISIA 4:49
3. SWEET NARDIS 2:46
4. YOU’RE EVERYTHING 4:25
5. LOGO EU 3:14
6. TOO MUCH STUFF 3:40
7. ANY WOMAN’S BLUES 4:27
8. BLUE IN GREEN/ALL BLUES 5:38
9. BLACKBIRD 5:25
10. BUT BEAUTIFUL 4:32
11. GET IT STRAIGHT (STRAIGHT NO CHASER)  4:12
12. DONE WITH THAT 2:49
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As the Halloween season kicks into full swing, and all of the ghoulish girls and demon dudes are beginning to emerge from their dusty graves, there’s only one band whose resurrection is sure to be greeted with blood-curdling howls of delight - the gothic-themed rockabilly project The 69 Cats! Formed by The 69 Eyes frontman Jyrki 69 and rockabilly guitar legend & Headcat Danny B. Harvey back in 2013, the project exploded in notoriety with the release of their debut full-length Transylvanian Tapes that featured superb cover versions of creepy classics such as “People Are Strange,” “Werewolves Of London,” and “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” Now, the group has returned from the hallowed crypt with a new line-up that includes longtime drummer of The Damned, Rat Scabies, and Nekromantix founder Kim Nekroman. The group’s first single, “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” a track originally performed by mega pop icon Post Malone, is a perfect re-introduction to this newly reanimated version of the band, featuring the distinctive growl of Jyrki’s 69 baritone voice backed by Harvey’s ripping guitars, Nekroman’s slinky bass playing and Scabies’ dead-on drumming. The quartet even filmed a haunting video for the track as a special treat for all those rock loving monsters and fiends. 
 
Jyrki says “This is the best rock’n’roll band of 2020 - you really can’t argue about that after hearing the new single. Post Malone is like a modern-day Elton John and David Bowie rolled into one, and this song is my favorite from his new album, which strangely he didn’t release as a single - so we will!”
​

Singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, vooral bekend als schrijver van het bekende nummer ‘Mr. Bojangles’, is vrijdag op 78-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat melden Amerikaanse media. Walker werd in 2017 gediagnosticeerd met keelkanker.
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Walker schreef ‘Mr. Bojangles’ in de jaren zestig en nam het nummer ook op voor zijn gelijknamige album uit 1968. Het liedje werd echter pas een hit toen het werd gecoverd door Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970 en Sammy David Jr. in 1972 en later door vele andere artiesten.

De countryzanger werd in 1942 geboren in Oneonta (New York) en leerde muziek spelen als tiener. Al gauw kwam Walker terecht in de folkscene van New York. Hij reisde het land door voordat hij zich in de jaren zeventig in Austin vestigde en zich meer op country richtte.
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Walker bracht tientallen albums uit en was jaren de frontman van de Lost Gonzo Band. Ook vormde hij een inspiratiebron voor verschillende collega’s. Zo zei Jimmy Buffett dat de zanger een belangrijke rol had in zijn carrière.

​Don McLean is a Grammy award honoree, a Songwriter Hall of Fame member, a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and his smash hit “American Pie” resides in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry and was named by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) a top 5 song of the 20th Century. A New York native, Don McLean is one of the most revered and respected songwriters in American history. After paying his dues in the New York club scene in the late ‘60s, he went on to score mega-hits like “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night),” “Castles in the Air” and many more. His catalog of songs has been recorded by Madonna, Garth Brooks, Josh Groban, Drake, Weird “Al” Yankovic, and countless others. In 2015, one of McLean’s four handwritten manuscripts of the lyrics to “American Pie” was auctioned by Christies, selling for just over $1.2 Million. 2019 honored Don with a star on the Las Vegas Walkway of Stars and his song “And I Love You So” was the theme for Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding. Now in 2020, Don signed a recording contract with Time Life to release his catalog of recordings as well as the highly anticipated new album Still Playin’ Favorites, releasing October 23rd. “American Pie” will be featured in the Avengers Black Widow and the Tom Hanks movie BIOS and much more to be announced. And when you think things are slowing down, not so for Don McLean! 2021 will mark the 50th anniversary of American Pie with a world tour to follow.

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​Ilana Rovina (February 10, 1934 – October 18, 2020) was born in Israel. In the early 1990s, Ilana went to London, where she remained for 14 years, returning home in 2006 at the age of 73. Ilana was the love child of theater legend Hanna Rovina and poet Alexander Penn. Ilana, who was ill with bone cancer in the final years of her life, also contracted coronavirus. Ilana passed away at the Shoham Medical Center in Pardes Hannah, after being infected with the coronavirus at the age of 86. She leaves behind a daughter, Maya.
Ilana was both a singer and an actress but focused more on singing. After not singing professionally for some 30 years, she attempted a comeback at the smaller auditorium at Tzavta in Tel Aviv, but few members of the public remembered her. In her absence abroad, her recordings were occasionally played on the radio in programs dedicated to golden oldies, but unlike some others of her generation who succeeded in maintaining a following, she did not, although she did renew acquaintances and revive old friendships with other singers and musicians.
Ilana was extremely popular in the 1960s and 1970s, especially during the Yom Kippur War when she traveled constantly to the front lines to sing to the troops. If you say the name Rovina in Israel, the immediate association is with the great Russian-born actress Hanna Rovina, who was a member of the Habimah Theater in Moscow, which she joined in 1917, and was subsequently among the founders of Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv in the second half of the 1940s. Hanna had a passionate romance with a fellow Russian immigrant and celebrated poet Alexander Penn, who was married at the time and the father of two children, a factor that did not prevent him from sharing his manhood with other women.
While still a young woman, Ilana Rovina was married to actor and director Uri Zohar, but the marriage did not last. Zohar, who was the second of her four husbands, later became religious and abandoned the entertainment industry. Ilana also left her profession.

​Tributes from local musicians have been pouring in after it was announced that Dorset singer-songwriter Gordon Haskell has died aged 74.
Haskell, the pub singer turned superstar who shot to fame in 2001 with his love song How Wonderful You Are, died on October 16.
The song missed out on being the Christmas number one after it was pipped to the top spot by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman's Somethin' Stupid.
But his smash hit surpassed the Beatles' Hey Jude and Frank Sinatra's My Way to become the most requested song on BBC Radio 2.
News of Haskell's passing was announced in a Facebook post.
The post said: "It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Gordon, a great musician and a wonderful person who will be sadly missed by so many."
Haskell was originally from Verwood and spent much of his life living in Shaftesbury.
The blues singer and musician gained recognition as a bass player for Southampton group The Fleur des Lys, after which he spend a short period in King Crimson, a band formed by his school friend Robert Fripp.
After departing the band, he continued his career as a solo artist.
He played at a number of local venues, including the Kingswood Hotel in Weymouth, and village halls.
Guitarist and close friend of Mr Haskell, Robbie McIntosh, from Weymouth, said: "I hold him in very high regard and I would put him up there as one of the great songwriters - his talent was rare.
"He was a fantastic lyricist and a clever wordsmith. Sometimes we had such a laugh together we couldn't play because we were laughing so much and then when we would play one of his ballads and I'd almost be in tears. Great artists can do that to you.
Mr McIntosh, who performed on Mr Haskell's last album which was released earlier this year, added: "He was a good guy and very funny and talented. He shall be missed."
Another Weymouth musician, Ken Watkins, said: "It was awful hearing the news about Gordon's passing. We were good friends for about 20 years.
"Gordon was very funny and had a whacky sense of humour. He was intelligent, had a very creative imagination and was a terrific songwriter.
"He was a caring man who enjoyed life."
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​Decca Records has announced the signing of one of the great British stars of the past seven decades, Dame Shirley Bassey. Under the exclusive deal, she is currently making a new, “grand finale” album as a thank you to her fans and for her career.
The album, which will be released by Decca later this year, is being recorded in London, Prague, Monaco and the South of France. The company notes that the team involved are all operating under the relevant travel and recording restrictions.
“70 years of music!”
The as-yet untitled record will consist of brand new songs written especially for the entertainer, as well as material that she has hand-picked to reflect her life and career. Dame Shirley, now 83, explains: “My new album is a celebration of 70 years in showbiz. Seventy years of support from my fans and 70 years of music!
“I’ve trodden the boards of many stages and kicked up many a diamante heel! The songs I have chosen all feel very personal and connected to my life. I hope they will do the same for my fans.”
Sixty-four years of recording
The new set will be Bassey’s first since 2014’s Hello Like Before; her first LP was 1957’s Born To Sing The Blues, released the year after her debut single “Burn My Candle.” Her first hit was the 1957 UK top tenner “The Banana Boat Song” and in 1959, she became the first Welsh singer ever to top the British charts with “As I Love You.”
Another No.1 followed in 1961 with “Reach For The Stars,” and as Dame Shirley developed a career and an image that was the height of old-fashioned showbusiness glamour, she recorded such enduring signature songs as “What Now My Love,” “Goldfinger,” “Diamonds Are forever” and her version of George Harrison’s “Something.”
An almost endless list of awards has included the accolade of receiving the first-ever BRIT Award (before they were so named) for Best British Female Solo Artist in 1977. Dame Shirley won France’s highest honour, the Legion d’Honneur, in 2003, and a Silver Clef Award in 2017. She was made a Dame in 2000 and last year, became the first musician to be awarded the Freedom of The City of Cardiff.
The new album is set for release on November 6.

​
​2020 marks 50 years since Paul McCartney released his self-titled first solo album. Featuring Paul playing every instrument and writing and recording every song, McCartney’s effortless charms have only grown in stature and influence over time. The chart-topping album would signify not only a creative rebirth for Paul, but also as a template for generations of indie and lo-fi musicians seeking to emulate its warm homespun vibe and timeless tunes including Maybe I’m Amazed, Every Night and The Lovely Linda.
 
The 1970s saw Paul forming his second band Wings and dominating the charts, stages and airwaves of the world, with multiple #1 singles, sold-out world tours, multi-million-selling albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars, Wings at the Speed of Sound, London Town and more. In 1980,10 years from the release of McCartney, Paul wrapped up the decade of Wings with the surprise release of his second solo album, the electronic-tinged McCartney II. Once again featuring Paul entirely on his own, McCartney II would come to be regarded as a leftfield classic, with classic cuts such as Coming Up, Temporary Secretary and Waterfalls.
 
The 1980s saw Paul start again, this time kicking off an unprecedented solo run. The following four decades would see Paul’s iconic and legendary status grow exponentially, with solo masterpieces including Tug of War, Flowers in the Dirt, Pipes of Peace, Flaming Pie, Memory Almost Full and New, and massive live shows the world over — actually setting the World Record for the largest attendance at a concert. In 2018, 54 years since The Beatles first hit #1 on the Billboard Album Charts – Paul’s Egypt Station would be yet another historic #1 McCartney album.
 
Hard as it is to believe, it’s only been two years since Egypt Station went #1--and it was only last year that Paul’s Freshen Up tour played its last show before Covid hit pause on live music, a legendary blowout at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
 
Paul hadn’t planned to release an album in 2020, but in the isolation of “Rockdown,” he soon found himself fleshing out some existing musical sketches and creating even more new ones. Before long an eclectic collection of spontaneous songs would become McCartney III: a stripped back, self-produced and, quite literally, solo work marking the opening of a new decade, in the tradition of 1970’s McCartney and 1980’s McCartney II. Recorded earlier this year in Sussex, McCartney III is mostly built from live takes of Paul on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. atop that foundation. The process first sparked when Paul returned to an unreleased track from the early 90s, When Winter Comes (co-produced by George Martin). Paul crafted a new passage for the song, giving rise to album opener Long Tailed Winter Bird—while When Winter Comes, featuring its new 2020 intro Winter Bird, became the new album’s grand finale.
 
Speaking about III, Paul said: “I was living lockdown life on my farm with my family and I would go to my studio every day. I had to do a little bit of work on some film music and that turned into the opening track and then when it was done I thought what will I do next? I had some stuff I’d worked on over the years but sometimes time would run out and it would be left half-finished so I started thinking about what I had. Each day I’d start recording with the instrument I wrote the song on and then gradually layer it all up, it was a lot of fun.  It was about making music for yourself rather than making music that has to do a job. So, I just did stuff I fancied doing. I had no idea this would end up as an album.”
 
Long Tailed Winter Bird and Winter Bird/When Winter Comes bookend McCartney III's vast and intimate range of modes and moods, from soul searching to wistful, from playful to raucous and all points between — captured with some of the same gear from Paul’s Rude Studio used as far back as 1971 Wings sessions. And Paul's array of vintage instruments he played on the new album have an even more storied history, including Bill Black of Elvis Presley's original trio's double bass alongside Paul's own iconic Hofner violin bass, and a mellotron from Abbey Road Studios used on Beatles recordings, to name but a few.
 
In keeping with McCartney & McCartney II’s photography by Linda McCartney, the principal photos for III were shot by Paul’s daughter Mary McCartney—with additional photography by Paul’s nephew Sonny McCartney as well as photos Paul took on his phone (it’s a family affair). The cover art and typography is by celebrated American artist Ed Ruscha.
 
McCartney and McCartney II each saw Paul open up a new decade with reinvention, both personal and musical. Just as McCartney’s 1970 release marked Paul’s return to basics in the wake of the biggest band break-up in musical history, and the 1980 avant-garde masterpiece McCartney II rose from the ashes of Wings, McCartney III finds Paul back on his own, turning unexpected circumstances into a personal snapshot of a timeless artist at a unique point in history.
 
McCartney III will be released December 11 on Capitol Records across digital platforms, on CD, and on LP manufactured by Third Man Pressing. Vinyl configurations will range from standard 180g to a Third Man Edition of 3,000 hand-numbered red vinyl copies, a ‘333’ Edition sold only via Third Man Records online store and limited to 333 copies on yellow-with-black-dots vinyl created using 33 recycled vinyl copies of McCartney and McCartney II, a U.S. indie retail exclusive pressing of 4,000 hand-numbered white vinyl LPs, and more.
​

​Legendary Philadelphia bass guitarist Jimmie Williams has died. Williams was best known as part of the O’Jays band for more than forty years, but that is just the beginning of his resume.
Williams played on recording of most of the great Philadelphia International Records artists, including The Jones Girls, Teddy Pendergrass, and Patti Labelle.
Four years ago, Williams was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame, and, at the time told the Philadelphia Tribune, “During my high school years I started off as a vocalist in the local singing group called the Italics. I wanted to be part of what Gamble and Huff were developing, which was 'The Sound of Philadelphia,' which later became Philadelphia International Records, and as time went by, I did not become a vocalist. I became a bassist."
His distinctive work on such hits as “Love TKO,” “Forever Mine,” and “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” will continue to please fans for decades to come. But his presence will be missed. Rest in Peace, Mr. Williams.

Clouseau lanceert gloednieuwe videoclip van hun single 'Zuurstof'. 'Zuurstof’ is ondertussen de vijfde single uit hun dertiende Nederlandstalige album 'Tweesprong' dat eind vorig jaar uitkwam. De explosieve videoclip van ‘Zuurstof’ kan je op alle platforms bekijken. ​
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​Zuurstof krijgen, lijkt in deze tijden actueler dan ooit. Toch is de single geschreven voor de Corona-crisis uitbrak. 'Zuurstof' gaat namelijk over het belang van liefde in ons leven in welke vorm dan ook. "Want als ik dit niet heb, loopt heel mijn leven fout. Het is de zuurstof die me elke dag in leven houdt”, zingt Koen Wauters. Een mooie metafoor om te zeggen dat liefde ons leven zin geeft.

Het doel van regisseur Davy Bosschem was om dat thema in beeld te vatten. De twee hoofdpersonages, gespeeld door Idalie Samad en Quinten De Smedt, worden quasi weggeblazen. Door alles te laten wegwaaien en door afstand te nemen, krijgen ze ook meer vrijheid om elkaar (terug) te vinden. 
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Koen over de videoclip:
“‘Zuurstof" is een song die energiek en dynamisch is en daar bruist de videoclip ook van. De videoclip is ongelooflijk explosief en dat is toch ook wat liefde met je doet: een explosie van gevoelens.”

Kris over de videoclip:
“We vonden het bijzonder tof om een uptempo, positief, energiek nummer als 'Zuurstof' te vertalen in een videoclip.”