06.30.06 (MusicPortal.com) The spirit of Robert Johnson and the Delta Blues tradition come to life on RORY BLOCK's upcoming debut Rykodisc Records release, "The Lady And Mr. Johnson." The album, comprised entirely of Block's heartfelt interpretations of Robert Johnson's music, is set for release on August 15th, and may be the most compelling and important release in the celebrated blueswoman's distinguished career. Block's approach to the blues of Robert Johnson is with the clear vision of an insider, one who, according to The New York Times, has "wrestled with ghosts, shadows and legends." An expert slide guitarist and a masterful singer, Rory Block's unmatched understanding of the complexity and form of Robert Johnson's music has gained her the resounding support and encouragement of the Johnson family and the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation. The album features thirteen of the King of the Delta Blues' classics stripped down to the very essence of vocals and acoustic guitar, and includes haunting staples such as 'Cross Road Blues,' 'Walking Blues' and 'Terraplane Blues.' With "The Lady And Mr. Johnson," Block's skill, passion, and pure emotion are on display evoking the spirit of the late, great Robert Johnson. The album is a testament not only to his legacy but to the talent and commitment of Rory Block, an artist seemingly pre-destined to walk in his presence rather than his shadow. Block's first album was released in the mid-1960s. Three decades and twenty albums later, Block has seen her efforts crowned with numerous accolades including two Acoustic Blues Album Of The Year awards and being named Traditional Blues Female Artist Of The Year at the W.C. Handy Awards in 1997 and 1998. To support "The Lady And Mr. Johnson," Rory Block will be presenting special performances featuring a Mississippi gospel choir that includes members of Robert Johnson's family. Aptly titled "Down At The Crossroads: Blues Meets Gospel," the shows will feature the music of Robert Johnson performed by Rory Block and the soul-stirring gospel of the Straightway Ministries Choir. According to Block, the concerts "will celebrate two spirit-filled forms of American music - African American blues and gospel - demonstrating the intimate connection between the two, healing the gap, and removing the stigma whereby blues has sometimes been labeled 'the music of the devil.'"

06.29.06 (MusicPortal.com) Bluegrass favorites CHATHAM COUNTY LINE are currently on tour in support of their current release from Yep Roc Records, "Speed Of The Whippoorwill." It is through touring that the band has perfected their blend of instrumental prowess, harmonic singing, and original composition. Evident is a sense of self-awareness in their musical vision, as the band are not afraid to follow a raucous 12-bar fingernail chipper with a beautiful lilting ballad. It's that combination of songs for the drinking man and songs for the thinking man that drives the originality of this four piece acoustic band. 06/30 Benton Harbor, MI [The Livery] • 07/01 Chicago, IL [Chicago Country Music Festival - Taste Stage] • 07/02 Berwyn, IL [Fitzgerald's American Music Festival] • 07/06 Denver, CO [Bluebird Theater] • 07/08 Winter Park, CO [Hideaway Park] (Winter Park Folk Festival) • 07/09 Aspen, CO [Aspen Mountain Bluegrass Sundays] • 07/13 Ancramdale, NY [Rothvoss Farm] (Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival) • 07/14 Ancramdale, NY [Rothvoss Farm] (Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival) • 07/14 New York City, [NY Pier 17 - South Street Seaport] (Seaport Music Festival) • 07/15 Glen Moore, PA [Wagenseller Park] (Community Bluegrass Concert) • 07/16 Clinton, NJ [Black Potatoe Music Festival] • 07/21 Ashland, VA [Ashland Coffee & Tea] • 07/26 Northampton, MA [Iron Horse] • 07/27 Ellsworth, ME [The Grand Auditorium] • 07/28 Cornish, ME [Ossipee Valley Bluegrass And Acoustic Music Festival] • 07/29 Cornish, ME [Ossipee Valley Bluegrass And Acoustic Music Festival] • 08/10 Atlanta, GA [Red Light Cafe] • 08/11 Thomson, GA [Gardens At Watson-Brown] • 08/12 St. Simons Island, GA [Rafters] • 08/18 Norfolk, VA [Taphouse] • 08/19 Garner, NC [Lake Benson Park] • 09/08 Bowling Green, OH [Black Swamp Arts Festival] • 09/09 Bowling Green, OH [Black Swamp Arts Festival] • 09/15 Carrboro, NC [Cat's Cradle] • 09/16 Bristol, TN [Rhythm And Roots Reunion] • 10/04 Cincinnati, OH [Tall Stacks Music] (Arts & Heritage Festival) • 10/07 San Francisco, CA [Golden Gate Park] (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival) • 10/13 Apex, NC [Old Train Depot - Chamber Of Commerce] (Concerts At The Depot) • 10/14 Charlotte, NC [Dana Auditorium @ Queens University Of Charlotte]
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06.12.06 (MusicPortal.com) ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT have commenced a month-long tour in support of "The River In Reverse," which was recently released via Verve Forecast Records. Elvis Costello And The Imposters, featuring the piano and songs of Allen Toussaint with his Crescent City Horns and guitarist Anthony "AB" Brown, began the trek June 10th, with a 22-date tour extending through July 12th. Costello & Toussaint will also make a headlining appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on April 30th, performing with Toussaint's band. That date marks their first visit back to New Orleans together since the December 2005 recording sessions for the new album. Since those sessions, Costello & Toussaint have delivered knockout performances at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February and The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in New York City in March. The spirited and deeply soulful "The River In Reverse" is comprised of seven songs from Toussaint's matchless catalog; five newly written by the two; and one new song, the title track, written by Costello. "Putting The River In Reverse," a new short film documenting the making of the album, has also been included as a bonus in the initial pressing of the album. Shot and directed by Matthew Buzzell and produced by Brian Gerber, "Putting The River In Reverse" follows Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint as they travel from Hollywood to New Orleans, a city still under curfew in the chaotic aftermath and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The film captures the recording of songs written in and about the beleaguered city. Tour Dates: 06/13 Ann Arbor, MI [Hill Auditorium (Summer Festival) • 06/15 Vienna, VA [Wolftrap] • 06/17 Manchester, TN [Bonnaroo Festival] • 06/18 Los Angeles, CA [Hollywood Bowl] (Playboy Jazz Festival) • 06/20 Oakland, CA [Paramount Theater] • 06/21 Saratoga, CA [Mountain Winery] • 06/22 Jacksonville, OR [Britt Pavilion] • 06/24 Aspen, CO [Jazz Aspen] • 06/25 Seattle, WA [Chateau St. Michelle] • 06/26 Vancouver, BC [Orpheum] (Vancouver Jazz Festival) • 06/28 St. Paul, MN [O'Shaughnessy Theater] • 06/29 Milwaukee, WI [Sun Fest] • 06/30 Columbus, OH [Promowest Pavilion] • 07/03 Montreal, PQ [Salle Wilfred] • 07/05 Hyannis, MA [Cape Cod Melody Tent] • 07/07 Niagara Falls, ONT [Casino] • 07/08 Niagara Falls, ONT [Casino] • 07/10 New York, NY [Beacon Theater] • 07/11 New York, NY [Beacon Theater] • 07/12 Boston, MA [Fleet Center]
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06.07.06 (AP) Jazz pianist and composer HILTON RUIZ, who excelled in a wide variety of styles from Afro-Cuban rhythms to Blues, died early Tuesday in New Orleans, Louisiana - never regaining consciousness after a fall in front of a French Quarter bar. He was 54. Ruiz, who had come to New Orleans from his home in Teaneck, N.J., to work on a Hurricane Katrina benefit project, had been comatose at East Jefferson General Hospital since he fell early May 19th. He died about 3:50 a.m. Tuesday, agent Joel Chriss said in a telephone interview from New York. A jam session had been planned for Tuesday in New York before he died, as a benefit to help pay his medical expenses. Now it is also a memorial, said trumpeter Lew Soloff, a founding member of The Manhattan Jazz Quintet. Although there were early reports that Ruiz might have been beaten, police said witnesses and other evidence indicated he fell. Attorney Mary Howell, retained by his ex-wife, Aida Ruiz, and daughter, also named Aida, said last week that they, too, were convinced that Ruiz had accidentally tripped or fallen. But his ex-wife and daughter said late Tuesday that they had retained a new attorney, Scott Galante. They referred calls to Galante, whose home number is unlisted and whose office was answered by a machine. Capt. John Bryson, a police spokesman, said Tuesday, "All the evidence indicated that he fell. If anyone saw anything else, we beg them to come to us." Ruiz has been described as one of the most versatile musicians in jazz. "He's one of the few musicians on the scene that is equally at home in both the jazz genre and the Afro-Cuban genre in a complete sense. He really could play the blues, too. For real," said trombone player Steve Turre, a long-time friend. "There's a lot of people who dabble with both worlds, but very few can authentically deal with both. And he's one of them." The many musicians with whom Ruiz worked included Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus. He was featured on the 1997 video "The Best of Latin Jazz," and his song 'Something Grand' was included on the soundtrack to the film "American Beauty." "I was pretty lucky in being exposed to a lot of different kinds of music, and studying them with good teachers," Ruiz said in a biography on the Telarc International Corp.'s website. Playing with Ruiz, bass player Leon Dorsey said, "I always knew I had to bring my 'A' game to the table all the time. His musicality, artistry, passion - all those things were just melded, and they all happened at a very high level. All worked in perfect symmetry."

06.05.06 (VNU Media) NELLY FURTADO's 'Promiscuous' single, produced by Timbaland, is making an impact on radio, retail and the digital world. For the week ending May 25th, the single's third week on radio, it charted in eight of the top 10 mainstream top 40 markets and at No. 9 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Pop 100 Airplay charts. At Apple's iTunes Music Store, 'Promiscuous' is the most downloaded song at press time. "She's one of those artists that bridges the gaps between urban and rock music; she's very pop-oriented, yet has a rhythmic feel," says Tracy Austin, program director of KRBE Houston, which is spinning 'Promiscuous.' "And we ran out of Gwen Stefani to play, and I think this will pick up where that left off." 'Promiscuous' and its video feature Furtado with a new urban sound and sexier image, something that isn't sitting well with all her fans. Much has been written, especially in the blogosphere, about Furtado selling out to a more accessible sound, while the video has been criticized for hitting the lowest common denominator. "The video is indicative of the vibe we wanted to create with the song. It's a club track, and we took the opportunity to make a club video," says Chris Smith, Furtado's manager. The sound on "Loose" was a direction Furtado says she long planned. "I knew this record would have to explore my urban sound a little more because I had been promising the fans that for a long time." According to the artist and her manager, Furtado's urban sound was strongly supported from the highest levels at her record-label group: Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine. In recent years, Interscope has been most successful with such urban artists as Eminem and 50 Cent and artists with an urban influence, like Gwen Stefani. "Jimmy originally suggested me and Timbaland should work together," Furtado says. "He really pushed me and helped push my boundaries." The sound of "Loose" took direction after Furtado took Iovine's suggestion and met with Timbaland in Miami last year during a recording session that was expected to produce two songs. But drawing inspiration from the collaboration with Timbaland, the city and the other artists recording at the Hit Factory studio, Furtado emerged with 10 tracks, which make up the bulk of the new record. "When you're recording at the Hit Factory in Miami, it's extremely exhilarating," Furtado says. "(Timbaland's) in one studio, Scott Storch in another, Cash Money and Lil Wayne upstairs. It was really stimulating."
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06.01.06 (AP) ROCIO JURADO, a singer and actress who was a beloved figure in Spain and Latin America over a career spanning more than four decades, died Thursday in Madrid, Spain after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. Jurado's death was announced by her brother and agent, Amador Mohedano, outside Madrid. Jurado was hospitalized in Madrid after returning to Spain in late March after two months of cancer treatment in Houston. She was first diagnosed with cancer in 2004. A feisty Andalusian women with feline eyes and flowing reddish hair, Jurado was known fondly as "la mas grande de Espana" - Spain's greatest. She recorded more than 30 records, performed on both sides of the Atlantic and appeared in nearly a dozen films - her first as a teenager. In 1985, she performed at the White House for then-president Ronald Reagan. Jurado - her full name was Maria del Rocio Trinidad Mohedano Jurado - was known for a powerful voice that blended traditional Spanish styles of Flamenco, Folk and romantic ballads. While living in Argentina, she performed in a play entitled "La Zapatera Prodigiosa," based on work by Federico Garcia Lorca. After teaming up with composer Manuel Alejandro, she became a huge hit on the Latin music scene and acclaimed throughout the United States. Her overseas concerts include shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Madison Square Garden in New York and Beethoven Hall in Bonn, Germany. She won a slew of awards over the course of her career, including album of the year in Spain in 1980 and 1985 and various other honors in Venezuela, Mexico and the United States. In early April, shortly after Jurado was hospitalized in Madrid, the Spanish government approved a decree awarding her a "Gold Medal for Merit in Work," hailing her as "one of the best voices in our country" and a star in both music and film. It noted she had five platinum records and about 30 gold records, and said she was "one of the most brilliant folk singers of the last 50 years." Jurado was first married to a world-champion boxer, then to a well-known bullfighter, jetting back and forth from her mansion in Madrid and ranch in Seville. A street, plaza, statue and golf course have been named after her in her hometown of Chipiona in Cadiz province, where she will be buried. Her body is to lay in wake at a Madrid cultural center for an unspecified period before being sent to Chipiona.

[Ethnic News: May 2006]
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