Sly and the Family Stone & other: 2008

Monday 18 August 2008

Spotlight 29 Casino Welcomes Etta James and the Roots Band With Tower of Power

Blues and Funk Fantasy Concert Hits the Stage on September 27

COACHELLA, Calif., Aug. 15 -- Call it a idle words concert. No
wait, a blues show. Maybe it's a funk crush. What label do you put on a usher
that stars legendary artists Etta James and Tower of Power? How around "the
concert of the year?"

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080815/LAF515)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050203/LATH047LOGO)

Spotlight 29 Casino is proud to welcome multiple Grammy winner, Rock n'
Roll Hall of Fame inductee and legendary blues artist Etta James and the
Roots Band on September 27. Also appearing are special guests Tower of
Power, the band critics call "the premiere bastion of true soul and blue funk in
modern music," wHO are on their fortieth anniversary tour.

James' distinguished career spans five decades, making her a true
legend in the recording industry. She is a three-time Grammy award winner,
NARAS Lifetime Achievement, Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer awardee and
W.C. Handy Blues Foundation honoree, and even has her possess star on the
Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

James has an unbelievable list of landmark hits to her credit, including
her signature tune, "At Last," along with "All I Could Do Was Cry," "My
Dearest Darling," "Trust In Me," "Something's Got A Hold On Me," "Tell
Mama," "Fool That I Am" and "Don't Cry Baby." In the 1960s, she had a run
of charting records that ranked her as one of the most prolific female R&B
vocalists of her era.

James was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, and two
years by and by, she won her first Grammy, after nine premature nominations. Her
second Grammy came in 2003 and her third in 2005 in the Traditional Blues
Album class for the album Blues to the Bone.

With 40 years of recording and touring experience, critics still come to
to Tower of Power as "a very contemporary sounding striation." With a sound that
is hard to describe and topper just experient, Tower of Power blends jazz,
casimir Funk, rock and soul in a way no group ever has.

Formed in San Francisco during the city's psychedelic era, Tower of
Power has toured and recorded with the industry's top name calling, including
Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Rod Stewart and Dionne Warwick, and has
influenced countless others across generations. The band continues to sell
stunned venues across North America, Europe and Japan, drawing old and new
fans, who will often project their vacations around a Tower of Power concert.

Today the band is fronted by founders Emilio Castillo and Stephen "Doc"
Kupka, along with Francis Rocco Prestia, David Garibaldi, Larry Braggs,
Roger Smith, Tom E. Politzer, Adolfo Acosta, Michael (Iron Mike) Bogart and
Mark Harper.

Tickets for Etta James and the Roots Band with Tower of Power ar $85,
$75, $65 and $55 and are available now at Spotlight29.com and at the
Spotlight 29 Casino Gift Shop or by calling (800) 585-3737. Show time is 8
p.m.

Put the spotlight on sport at Spotlight 29 Casino, the Coachella Valley's
most exciting place to play. Spotlight 29 Casino is a business venture of
the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. Turn it on at
http://www.Spotlight29.com.

Contact:

Paul Speirs, Steinbeck Communications

(702) 413-4278, paulspeirs@cox.net

More info

Friday 8 August 2008

One Self

Artist: One Self

   Genre(s):
Electronic
   Rap: Hip-Hop

Discography:

Children Of Possibility

Year: 2005
Tracks: 11

Bluebird

Year: 2005
Tracks: 4

Chris Rock to make Irish debut

Tuesday 1 July 2008

Two former conductors to help Northwest Chamber Chorus celebrate 40 years

A 40th anniversary is a major milestone for any arts organization — perhaps more so for one composed entirely of volunteers, like the venerable Northwest Chamber Chorus.

"There have never been any paid members," says University of Washington music professor Steven Demorest, who served as the group's director from 1996 to 2005. "And the musicianship is quite high, really top quality."

So when Mark Kloepper, the Northwest Chamber Chorus' fourth music director in as many decades, invited past directors Demorest and Joan Catoni Conlon to guest-conduct a portion of a 40th-anniversary program this weekend, they happily accepted.

"I was thrilled to be invited back," admits Conlon, a renowned choral scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "It's always a joy to make music with people who love to make music. And it's exciting to see the choir in good hands."

Conlon directed the ensemble for 24 years, from 1971 to 1995. She started out as an alto with the group that local composer and early-music expert Peter Seibert first gathered in 1968. When Seibert left to concentrate on other projects, the choir reorganized and chose for its new director Conlon, who was a doctoral student in choral music at the UW School of Music.

Conlon has many fond memories of her long tenure with the choir. Not only did she meet her husband, Frank Conlon, there, but the group helped her premiere five Telemann cantatas that she discovered in Europe during her doctoral studies.

While there is no new Telemann on the 40th-anniversary program, there is a world premiere. Kloepper, now in his second year as director, commissioned Portland composer Joan Szymko's "Carpe Diem" for the occasion — a heady experience: "I don't know what it's like to be pregnant, but it must be like hiring someone to write a piece of music for you. Such an astonishing, lustrous thrill! The piece is so expressive, with very contrasting sections, some really rhythmic stuff and some really romantic parts."

All three conductors wax deeply passionate about the highlights on the program, including unaccompanied pieces by Scarlatti, Rheinberger, Randall Thompson and Alice Parker, among others.

A noted Monteverdi scholar, Conlon chose the Italian composer's "Ecco momorar l'onde" because it "distills all of Monteverdi's compositional craft." For his guest stint, Demorest picked a personal favorite, Rachmaninoff's "Bogoroditse Devo."

"The Rachmaninoff was the first piece I ever conducted with [the Northwest Chamber Chorus]. I auditioned with it." Widely considered the Russian Orthodox version of "Ave Maria," this choral gem is a Christmastime staple, but its appeal transcends seasons. "There's a peaceful, prayerful start," Demorest explains, "that crescendos to a passionate outcry."

Kloepper says the anniversary program showcases the Northwest Chamber Chorus' historical strengths and also points to its future. A couple dozen alums will be called onstage to join the current ensemble of 39, which still includes two original members (Dina Myers and Wendy Roedell).

"The whole program reflects where I want to go with the chorus. Steve's doing a big late-19th-century Russian piece. Joan is doing a 400-year-old Italian madrigal. Two very different styles. That's exactly what I love about this chorus: that we can step gracefully from one style to the other."

Sumi Hahn: sumi@bewodo.org

See Also

Thursday 19 June 2008

Ricardo Arjona

Artist: Ricardo Arjona

   Genre(s):
Latin
   Pop
   Rock
   Other
   Folk

Discography:

Quien dijo Ayer (cd2)

Year: 2007
Tracks: 13

Quien dijo Ayer (cd1)

Year: 2007
Tracks: 16

Mis Mejores Lentos

Year: 2006
Tracks: 16

Adentro

Year: 2006
Tracks: 16

Santo Pecado (with Bonus CD)

Year: 2002
Tracks: 14

Vivo

Year: 1999
Tracks: 16

Sin Danos a Terceros

Year: 1998
Tracks: 14

Si El Norte Fuera El Sur

Year: 1996
Tracks: 14

Ineditas

Year: 1994
Tracks: 12

Historias

Year: 1994
Tracks: 14

Jesus Verbo No sustantivo

Year: 1993
Tracks: 10

Galeria Caribe

Year: 1993
Tracks: 19

Dejame Decir Que Te Amo

Year: 1993
Tracks: 9

Animal Nocturno

Year: 1993
Tracks: 12

En Vivo

Year:
Tracks: 16

Guatemalan singer/songwriter Ricardo Arjona is one of the more than respected Latin artists, largely for his social conscience and his integrity in writing and playing songs. Born in Antigua, he was interested in music from an early age merely later distinct to go a rural schoolteacher. He besides played basketball for the Guatemalan national squad, simply continued to play his guitar and compose songs in his spare meter. After realizing that music was his unmatchable truthful passion, he stirred to Mexico City; once there, he began looking for a record contract and played at many pupil festivals, increasing his status as a protest isaac Merrit Singer.

Arjona eventually launch a narrow through PolyGram, merely the label attempted to market him as a Latin-lover type on his debut album, Dejame Decir Que Te Amo (Let Me Say I Love You). Predictably, the record album failed, and Arjona spent the adjacent pentad age didactics and from time to time composition songs recorded by other artists. He touched to Buenos Aires, began playing once again, and soon returned to the transcription sphere with corporeal more suited to his experiences as a protestation singer, viz. "Jesus Christ Verbo No Sustantivo," a controversial strain about his experiences at a Catholic school as a baby. It gained him a abbreviate with Sony, which released many of his nigh popular albums, including Brute Nocturno. Adentro, released in late 2005, was nominative for a 2006 Grammy in the Latin Pop Album category.

Mike Ness

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Mumba voted out of Dancing on Ice

Singer Samantha Mumba has been voted off the reality show 'Dancing on Ice'.
She left the show last night after the judges chose to save javelin thrower Steve Backley, following the skate-off after the public vote.
Mumba said afterwards: "I've really enjoyed myself. This is something I'm going to keep up."
Meanwhile, 'Coronation Street' star Zaraah Abrahams has joined the show as a contestant, following the departure of injured television presenter Michael Underwood.

Wednesday 4 June 2008

Gretchen Wilson finishes high school

Country music singer Gretchen Wilson has a mantel full of awards in her Lebanon home.

Saturday 31 May 2008

Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd team for tour

Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd will team up for a run of co-headlining dates in August, beginning Aug. 8 in Oklahoma City. The shed tour, under the "Rock and Rebels" banner, will feature an opening act still to be announced.

Wednesday 28 May 2008

Johnny Depp to replace Ledger in final role?

Johnny Depp may be poised to replace the late Heath Ledger in the Australian's final film, according to reports.
English director Terry Gilliam is determined to finish shooting Ledger's final film, 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus', and is said to want Depp in the lead role.
Filming on the set of the fantasy movie was reportedly abandoned following Ledger's death in New York on Tuesday.
However, Gilliam now wants to complete the shoot with Depp in the role.
A studio source told The Sun: "There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror. He could change into another character after that and that is where Johnny would come in.
"It's a weird, fantasy, time-travel movie so Heath's character could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment.
"Johnny's not working at the moment so everyone is praying he will do it."
Ledger was said to be less than two months away from completing filming on the movie at the time of his death.

Kaoru Wada

Artist: Kaoru Wada

   Genre(s):
New Age
   Other

Discography:

Jubei Ninpucho Ninja Scroll

Year: 1993
Tracks: 15

Samurai 7

Year:
Tracks: 8

Media Seek Publication Of R Kelly Court Papers

Lawyers for two U.S. newspapers and a news agency have filed an emergency motion at Illinois Supreme Court asking for the publication of intimate details of R. KELLY's trial for alleged child pornography offences.

The I Believe I Can Fly hitmaker is currently awaiting trial on 14 counts of child pornography, with proceedings due to start in May (08).

But now the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Associated Press are asking for the court to release sealed court records and transcripts to the press, filing papers on Monday (28Apr08).

If the bid is successful it would see lurid details of the case published across the globe.

Judge Vincent Gaughan has insisted he will try to protect Kelly's rights and prevent information from influencing prospective jurors.

The 41-year-old star has pleaded not guilty to the charges which see him accused of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl.

See Also

Jumper

Based on Steven Gould's critically acclaimed novel, JUMPER leaps onto the screen courtesy of director Doug Liman. David (Hayden Christiansen) has inexplicably been given the power to teleport himself, or jump. He can jump into a bank vault, then to the top of the Sphinx, then back to his luxury Manhattan apartment. But despite all his power, he still misses his childhood love, Millie (Rachel Bilson, THE O.C.). When the opportunity arises, David jets off to Rome with Millie, but it's not all romance in the Italian city. David's unique abilities place him in the middle of a war between the jumpers and the paladins, a secretive group intent on hunting down the teleporters. Led by Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), the paladins track David and fellow jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell) across the world, and Millie may be caught in the crossfire.

JUMPER moves as fast as its teleporting hero, condensing the novel into a slim, action-packed offering. The slick special effects and impressive locations are certainly on par with Liman's previous work in THE BOURNE IDENTITY and MR. AND MRS. SMITH, but JUMPER bears a closer resemblance to comic book adaptations. Like Spider-man and most other costume-clad protagonists with unearthly abilities, David grapples with his newfound talents. But unlike his tights-and-cape-wearing brethren, David doesn't use his ability for the greater good. Instead, it gets him piles of money and, perhaps, the girl he's been dreaming of since he was five years old. Though most action films are driven by the struggle between good and evil, JUMPER interestingly offers up a central character who lies somewhere in the middle. Slightly less ambiguous is the film's ending that leaves the option for a sequel completely open.

See Also

Crocodile Dundee - Hogan In Talks To Return As A Mental Patient

CROCODILE DUNDEE is heading back to the big screen - to save the U.S. President.

Aussie actor Paul Hogan is in negotiations to come out of semi-retirement for new movie The Caretakers, according to MovieHole.net.

He'll reportedly play one of two mental patients attempting to free a fictitious U.S. leader from mercenary kidnappers in the film comedy.

The movie will be directed by Dean Murphy, who was the last filmmaker to persuade Hogan to return to the big screen in Strange Bedfellows in 2004.

See Also

Sopranos star for Marvin Gaye film

'The Sopranos' star James Gandolfini has been cast opposite 'Law & Order' star Jesse L Martin in a new film about the last years of soul legend Marvin Gaye.
Variety reports that 'Sexual Healing' will chronicle Gaye's (Martin) self-imposed exile in Belgium and his return to the big time with the help of promoter Freddy Cousaert (Gandolfini).
The Lauren Goodman-directed film will be produced by Gandolfini's company, Attaboy Films, and the actor will work as producer on the project.
Filming of 'Sexual Healing' is due to begin on 15 April, with locations in Ostend, Massachusetts and Los Angeles.