Les Davis News

Mac Gollehon at Zinc Bar Tuesday, January 18th

An exciting range of performances including a post-modern variety show, a contemporary psychedelic funk opera, a celebration for the acclaimed Apollo Theater in conjunction with its 75th anniversary exhibition, and the U.S. debut of Daorum, an innovative collaboration between Korean and Australian jazz musicians highlight the next three months of TARGET® FREE THURSDAYS at the David Rubenstein Atrium.

Recording Academy President Neil Portnw issued the following statement on the recently deceased BIlly Taylor: 'A highly acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, and educator, Dr. Billy Taylor was a distinguished ambassador of the jazz community. A Recording Academy Trustees Award recipient in 2005, his career spanned more than six decades and he played with such luminaries as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker. As an educator, he crusaded for greater recognition of jazz, the genre he loved and called 'America's classical music.' As artistic advisor for jazz at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, he helped to raise the genre's profile and bring it into the mainstream culture. His wide-ranging promotion and support of jazz came to overshadow his primary career as an artist and performer, but his outstanding accomplishments and passion for the music he loved has created a timeless legacy that will continue to have a far-reaching impact on generations to come. The jazz world has lost one of its most ardent advocates, and our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends, fans, and all who benefited from his artistry and his knowledge of and devotion to 'America's music.'

KARL DENSON'S TINY UNIVERSE post Phish Show held Thursday, December 30

Dr. Billy Taylor, a Jazz pianist, composer, educator and broadcaster who encompassed that rare combination of creativity, intelligence, vision, commitment and leadership, qualities that made him one of our most cherished national treasures, died in New York on December 28, 2010. He was 89 and lived in Riverdale, New York.

The Recording Academy® announced its Special Merit Awards recipients today, and this year's group includes: Julie Andrews, Roy Haynes, Juilliard String Quartet, The Kingston Trio, Dolly Parton, Ramones, and George Beverly Shea as Lifetime Achievement Award honorees; Al Bell, Wilma Cozart Fine and Bruce Lundvall as Trustees Award honorees; and Roger Linn and Waves Audio as Technical GRAMMY Award® honorees. The special invitation-only ceremony will be held during GRAMMY® Week on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011, and a formal acknowledgment will be made during the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast, which will be held at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13, a world premiere mystery by John Arden McClure, continues the 30th Season of Dennis Wickline Productions, Inc. at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, January 7.

After a sold-out run at the Apollo Theater Salon Series, internationally acclaimed Burnt Sugar Arkestra, Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Color Purple, Lion King and Unchain My Heart) and Director Patricia McGregor (Fela!) present a one-night only tribute concert of Indomitable: James Brown The Music and The Man on Friday, December 17, 2010.

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Will & Jada Pinkett Smith present Fela!, the multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway musical about the music and life of the revolutionary musician and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, now playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street) through January 2, 2011.

KARL DENSON'S TINY UNIVERSE post Phish Show held Thursday, December 30

'A little bluegrass, a little rock-n-roll, a little scat, a turn at tango. How does 'Galactic Diamonds' offer such a genre-bending sound? - try the diversity of the players" - Aural States

For nearly five decades, Michael Jackson and his music affected and moved generations of people all over the world. His accomplishments as an entertainer were unprecedented, he embodied the definition of a superstar and his music is intimately intertwined with some of the most memorable moments of our lives.

From February 8-13, 2011, saxophonist Steve Wilson's 50th Birthday will be celebrated at New York's Jazz Standard.

Joe Chambers and M'Boom Re-percussion Concert and Clinic/Demonstration Thursday, December 9th 9:30 a.m. Chester High School, Chester, Pa.

B.B. King Blues Club & Grill is located at 237 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) New York, NY 10036

After a sold-out run at the Apollo Theater Salon Series, internationally acclaimed Burnt Sugar Arkestra, Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Color Purple, Lion King and Unchain My Heart) and Director Patricia McGregor (Fela!) present a one-night only tribute concert of Indomitable: James Brown The Music and The Man on Friday, December 17, 2010.

Award-winning blues rock star, guitar hero and singer-songwriter Joe Bonamassa and his ace touring band will perform in concert at the King Center in Melbourne, Florida on December 8th at 8pm.

In her new show, Some People's Lives, singer Moira Danis gives audiences a glimpse into the lives of those around us - friends, lovers, relatives, and strangers.

The award-winning Broadway musical Fela!, Harlem's Hue Man Bookstore and the Arts and Entertainment Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) have joined forces to bring a unique promotion to Broadway audiences.

Fiery yet disarmingly open-hearted, the new album from John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension, To The One, bravely takes on the artistic and spiritual challenges first offered by Coltrane's jazz masterpiece A Love Supreme, while making extensive use of the pioneering musical and technical vocabulary that McLaughlin has honed since the beginning of his storied career.