NYC Concert to Honor David Bowie

A David Bowie memorial concert will be held in New York City's Carnegie Hall on March 31.

A tribute concert dedicated to his musical legacy had been announced for the storied venue, but organizers changed it to a memorial in the wake of his death from cancer Sunday.

Tickets went on sale Monday and quickly sold out as news spread.

​​Bowie producer Tony Visconti's house band will perform, along with artists including Cyndi Lauper, the Roots and the Mountain Goats.

On Friday, the iconic musician turned 69 and released Blackstar, his 25th album. Inventive to the end, Bowie mixed rock and jazz on the album, which critics hailed as his best work in years.

Spoken Word Musician Gil Scott-Heron Dies in NYC

Gil Scott-Heron on 21 March 2010 (Photo: NPR)

Spoken Word Musician Gil Scott-Heron Dies in NYC
Saturday, 28 May 2011

American poet-musician Gil Scott-Heron, widely known for his 1970's song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, died Friday at a New York hospital. He was 62 years old.

Scott-Heron pioneered a sound composed of politically tinged poetry and jazzy-blues blended into a melodic rap.

The Associated Press quotes someone at his New York recording company as saying Scott-Heron died after becoming ill on his return home from a trip to Europe.

Gil Scott-Heron is also credited with writing books during his career spanning several decades.

Bin Laden Spent 30 Years Fighting, Then Hiding

Monday, 2 May 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama has announced that the world's most wanted terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, has been killed. He was 54.

After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, then-U.S. president George W. Bush vowed to capture bin Laden – the man the president believed was behind the attacks.

Bin Laden first publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks in a video released in October 2004. He eluded attempts to capture him, disappearing along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and sparking perhaps the largest manhunt in history.

But bin Laden's image as the world's most-wanted terrorist stands in sharp contrast to his peaceful and comfortable upbringing.

He was one of more than 50 children of a wealthy Saudi construction magnate and was raised in the opulence of Saudi Arabia's upper-class.

Bin Laden went on to pursue an engineering degree and seemed prepared to work in the family business.

However, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, bin Laden left home to join the fight against the Soviets.

He initially provided logistical support for new recruits to the Afghan mujahedin Islamic fighters – the same ones supported by the United States. But in the mid-1980s, bin Laden decided to use his share of his family's wealth to form his own militia force, which later became known as “al-Qaida” – Arabic for “The Base.”

In 1990, Saudi Arabia invited the U.S. to deploy troops within the country following Iraq's invasion of the oil-rich state of Kuwait. Bin Laden saw the arrival of non-Muslims on land considered holy in Islam as an affront to his religion. He protested strongly against the move, resulting in his expulsion from Saudi Arabia in 1991.

Bin Laden found refuge in Sudan, where he is said to have orchestrated attacks on the U.S. military in Somalia and Saudi Arabia. He returned to Afghanistan in 1996 after the Sudanese expelled him due to pressure from the U.S.

While there, he continued his campaign against the United States by allegedly masterminding the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. His popularity grew among disaffected Arabs and those unhappy with U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Stopping bin Laden became the top priority for the United States following the 2001 attacks, a goal that Mr. Obama says remained the top priority under his leadership.

The Taliban refused to surrender the al-Qaida leader to U.S. authorities, prompting the United States to go to war in Afghanistan. The U.S. ousted the Taliban in December 2001, and Osama bin Laden went into hiding.

In his years at large, bin Laden released a series of audiotapes condemning the United States.

Now, nine years, seven months and 20 days since the September 11 attacks, Mr. Obama says “justice has been done” after a U.S. strike team killed bin Laden in a firefight during a raid on his hideout in Pakistan.

Singer Phoebe Snow of 'Poetry Man' Fame Dies

Singer Phoebe Snow of 'Poetry Man' Fame Dies
Tuesday, 26 April 2011

U.S. singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow, best known for her 1975 smash hit “Poetry Man,” has died.

Snow's manager said she died of complications from a stroke she suffered last year.

The New York-born Snow was widely known as a folk guitarist who also was adept at blues and jazz.

She dropped out of show business at the height of her fame in the mid 1970s to care for her daughter, who was born with severe brain damage.

Snow occasionally would return to the spotlight to make albums, do concert tours, and record television commercials.

She was one of former president Bill Clinton's favorite singers, and performed for him several times at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Prominent US Film Director Sidney Lumet Dies at 86

Sidney Lumet at the September 2007 Toronto International Film Festival (Photo: gdcgraphics)

Prominent US Film Director Sidney Lumet Dies at 86

Saturday, 9 April 2011

Sidney Lumet, who directed such Hollywood film classics as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network, has died at the age of 86.

Lumet, with more than 50 films to his credit over the last six decades, died Saturday of lymphoma at his home in New York.

Lumet began his professional career at the age of 4, on a radio show in the late 1920s, and later appeared in Broadway plays in New York. But he achieved his greatest success as a film director. One of his best was his first, the 1957 courtroom drama 12 Angry Men. It portrayed 12 jurors as they tried to reach a verdict in the trial of a young Hispanic man wrongly accused of murder.

Lumet's films often depicted the grittier side of New York, such as Dog Day Afternoon, the true-life story of two social misfits who tried to rob a bank on a hot summer afternoon. Another film, Serpico, explored the corruptibility of New York police officers.

Critics often said his most memorable film was Network, a scathing view of the television business. American film aficionados can often recall a memorable line from the movie, when a crazed newscaster, played by actor Peter Finch, exhorted his audience to open their windows and shout, “I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!”

Lumet received four best director nominations for Oscars in Hollywood's annual celebration of the film industry but never won. He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2005 for “brilliant services” to screenwriters and actors over the years.

Legendary US Jazz Drummer Morello Dies at 82

Dave Brubeck Quartet at Congress Hall Frankfurt/Main (1967). From left to right: Joe Morello, Eugene Wright, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. (Photo: Dontworry)

Legendary US Jazz Drummer Morello Dies at 82
Sunday, 13 March 2011

Joe Morello, the legendary jazz drummer of the Dave Brubeck Quartet popular in the 1950s and 1960s, has died. He was 82 years old.

Morello's relatives say the musician died Saturday at his home in New Jersey. A cause of death was not immediately available.

Joe Morello joined the quartet in 1956 and stayed with the group until it disbanded in 1967. The quartet experimented in unusual rhythms on a series of groundbreaking albums that earned it popular and critical acclaim.

Morello was asked to execute the challenging rhythms on such classic recordings as Take Five and Blue Rondo a la Turk.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Morello initially studied the violin before becoming a drummer in his teen years. In 1952 he moved to New York, where he played with many leading jazz musicians.

After Brubeck disbanded the quartet, Morello turned to helping young musicians and teaching them their craft.

Jazz Great George Shearing Dies at 91

George Shearing: Swing Era (Photo: Idem)

Jazz Great George Shearing Dies at 91
Monday, 14 February 2011

Legendary jazz pianist and composer George Shearing has died. He was 91.

Shearing succumbed to congestive heart failure in New York on Monday.

Born blind in London in 1919, he began playing the piano at the age of three. He was already popular in England when he decided to emigrate to the United States in 1947 where he embarked on an extraordinary career.

Shearing wrote more than 300 compositions. But he is probably best known for the 1952 classic Lullaby of Birdland .

Shearing received numerous awards during his six-decade career, including a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his contribution to music.