Pioneering percussionist, composer, band leader, and drummer Max Roach was born Maxwell Lemuel “Max” Roach in North Carolina to parents Alphonse and Cressie, and worked with dozens of musical greats, including Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Posts tagged as “music”
Singers Jill Scott (L) and Maxwell arrive at the 41st NAACP Image awards held at The Shrine Auditorium on February 26, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NAACP)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Essence Music Festival is dropping the music — from its name, that is.
The festival held in New Orleans every July 4th weekend for the past 18 years has rebranded itself The Essence Festival. Organizers say the change is designed to showcase the event as more than a music festival.
Still, music will remain a focus for the 19th annual festival, which is July 4-7.
The lineup includes more than 30 acts — a number of them Essence veterans. On the roster are Jill Scott, Maxwell, New Edition, Charlie Wilson, Keyshia Cole, LL Cool J and Brandy.
As in past years, concerts will be held at the Superdome while empowerment seminars on health, beauty, careers, education and relationships are held at a nearby convention center.
article by Stacey Plaisance via thegrio.com
The University of Arizona has announced that it has created a “Hip-Hop Concentration” minor under the Africana Studies department, the first of its kind for any institution, according to the school’s website.
The course’s objectives are to “provide students with a solid introduction and broad understanding of the origins and developing of the forms of expression that make up hip-hop culture throughout the world: hip-hop dance, rap music, graffiti/tagging, fashion, business, and film.
The music of Prince will be honored at a special concert at Carnegie Hall in March and The Rootsand Talib Kweli will be among those that pay tribute.
The show, the latest in an annual concert series put on by New York entrepreneur Michael Dorf, will raise money for various music education organizations, including Music Unites, the Pinwheel Project and the Center for Arts Education. Past shows have paid tribute to The Rolling Stones, The Who, Joni Mitchell and Elton John among other luminaries.
In addition to Talib Kweli and The Roots, performers at the show who will interpret Prince songs will include the Blind Boys of Alabama, DeVotchKa, Living Colour, Madeleine Peyroux and more. Tickets for the concert, to take place March 7, are available online here.
article by Reggie Ugwu via bet.com
In addition to Talib Kweli and The Roots, performers at the show who will interpret Prince songs will include the Blind Boys of Alabama, DeVotchKa, Living Colour, Madeleine Peyroux and more. Tickets for the concert, to take place March 7, are available online here.
article by Reggie Ugwu via bet.com
One hundred years ago, in the autumn of 1912, an African-American musician by the name of WC Handy published a song that would take the US by storm – Memphis Blues. It launched the blues as a mass entertainment genre that would transform popular music worldwide.
In 1903 William Christopher Handy was leading a band called the Colored Knights of Pythias based in Clarksdale, in Mississippi’s Delta country, when one day he paid a visit to the little town of Tutwiler.
“A lean loose-jointed Negro had commenced plunking a guitar beside me… His face had on it the sadness of the ages,” Handy writes in his 1941 autobiography, Father of the Blues.
“As he played, he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar in a manner popularised by Hawaiian guitarists who used steel bars… The singer repeated the line three times, accompanying himself on the guitar with the weirdest music I had ever heard.”
Beyoncé at a Pepsi photo shoot in October. The images will appear early next year as life-size cardboard cutouts in stores.
Singer Beyoncé Knowles and Pepsi have agreed to a $50 million endorsement deal, according to the New York Times. The agreement includes promotional appearances, a new commercial and an investment into a few of Beyoncé’s creative projects.
“Pepsi embraces creativity and understands that artists evolve,” Beyoncé said in a statement. “As a businesswoman, this allows me to work with a lifestyle brand with no compromise and without sacrificing my creativity.”
The Robinson Global Sports & Entertainment Group announced its plans to build the Gospel Music and Preachers Hall of Fame Museum (Gospel Hall) as an addition to the existing R&B Music Hall of Fame Museum (R&B Hall) project.
“What makes this Gospel Hall unique is that we also honor the preachers alongside with the gospel music to celebrate their significant influence in the history of the black church. We envision the combination of these museums to be one of the top musical entertainment attraction in the country, bringing visitors from everywhere.” says LaMont “ShowBoat” Robinson, Developer and Founder of the project.
Beginning September 2013, the Gospel Hall will hold an induction ceremony annually to honor preachers and music legends who have contributed significantly to the history of gospel music such as the founder of the Church of God In Christ Bishop Charles Harrison Mason in Memphis, TN and Reverend T.D. Jakes of the Potter’s House in Dallas TX, Father of Black gospel music Thomas A. Dorsey and the gospel music icon Kirk Franklin.
The public is invited to visit www.gospelmusicpreachershofm.com to vote for their favorite pastor and gospel singer starting January 3, 2013 and for more information about the Gospel Hall. Groundbreaking is scheduled to take place in the summer of 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Read more at http://www.eurweb.com/2012/11/gospel-preachers-hall-to-be-added-to-rb-music-hall/#wsLE6ytQ7KzJ3Oix.99
Is Prince coming back around to the Internet? Five years ago, he went on a crusade against YouTube, threatening lawsuits against that site and others that made his copyrighted material available without permission. In 2008, he made sure every recording of his cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” was taken down from YouTube—even afterRadiohead asked that the recordings be put back up. In 2010, he declared the Internet “completely over,” like MTV.
But now he’s got a new music video, his first in a few years, and he’s put up an official version of it—on YouTube. Whatever the man’s feelings about online communication, he sounds great. The song is called “Rock and Roll Love Affair.” No word yet on whether a new album is imminent. Watch below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEne4AoX_RU&w=560&h=315]
Rihanna performs during the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory on November 7, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
In addition, Rihanna is donating $100,000 to the NYC Food Bank. “It’s really difficult to see something so tragic going on and not be able to do anything about it,” she said in a recent interview. “There’s nothing you can control, it’s Mother Nature. It’s really sad what happened here.”
article via thegrio.com
Major Harris, a highly-respected R&B singer out of Philadelphia, is dead at the age of 65. Harris was known for his role as a member of the Delfonics, and for later achieving success as a solo artist. Harris passed Friday morning at a hospital in Richmond, VA. He died from congenitive heart and lung failure.
Harris started his career singing with doo-wop groups in the 1960s in Richmond, some of which included the Jamels,the Charmers, Frankie Lymon‘s the Teenagers and Nat Turner’s Rebellion.
In 1974, Harris launched a solo career with Atlantic Records, creating a string of hits, including “Love Won’t Let Me Wait.” His work has been sampled by quite a few contemporary groups, including Wu-Tang Clan, the Fugees and Notorious B.I.G., and resurrected in films like Quentin Tarantino‘s Jackie Brown. To learn more about his life and music, click here.