Quincy Jones News

Birdland Jazz Club announces schedule for June 18-June 24:

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts announced today two new events in the 2018-2019 Kauffman Center Presents season.

Multi-platinum country music star Sara Evans will receive the 2018 Service to America Leadership Award from the NAB Education Foundation (NABEF). Evans will receive the award at NABEF's Celebration of Service to America Awards on June 12 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

In a career that spans over 30 years, actress, writer, singer, composer and cult icon Gina Gershon will make her highly anticipated Cafe Carlyle debut with her new show 'Wild Women Don't Get the Blues' and our own Richard Ridge caught up with her shortly before her opening.

Today, Paul Weller celebrates his 60th birthday and to mark this momentous occasion, he has a special treat in store for his fans with the release of a brand new recording titled “Aspects.” This marks the first new music release from Weller since 2017's internationally acclaimed album A Kind Revolution.

Mostly Musicals Ltd presents the reimagined musical Renew Ya Hallelujah by Teddy Hayes from Monday 29 October to Saturday 3 November, 7.30pm at Theatro Technis Theatre in Camden, London.

The World Famous Laugh Factory will hold tryouts for its' 34th annual Laugh Factory Comedy Camp on June 9, 2018 from 11am to 3pm. Tryouts are open to disadvantaged children from foster homes or group homes who are between 9 & 16 years of age.

Legendary French violinist Jean Luc Ponty and his band will be continuing their “Atlantic Years” tour in the US beginning August 2018! Jean Luc Ponty is a pioneer and undisputed master of the violin in the arena of jazz and rock. He is widely regarded as an innovator who has applied his unique visionary spin that has expanded the vocabulary of modern music.

Momentum Artists (http://www.momentumartists.com/), a management agency representing contemporary musicians, is proud to present Secret Jazz NYC Cabaret with Mark Berman. Berman, on piano, will feature his original songs as well as his jazz arrangements of pop tunes, standards and new works, and will be joined by David Richards (Hamilton) on bass and Joe Nero (Peter Cincotti) on drums. A special guest for the evening is Darryl Tookes, an accomplished musician and collaborator of such megastars as Michael Jackson, Sting, Paul Simon, and many others.

Composer Thea Musgrave is celebrating these days. It's not just that she's marking her 90th birthday on May 27 with a concert in New York, but that the concert is showcasing a gaggle of world premieres, US premieres and NY premieres (along with more familiar works), which highlight her rich musical vocabulary and keen sense of drama.

On May 20th 2018 at NYU's Skirball Center in Greenwich Village, dance lovers were treated to a non-stop evening of award presentations and riveting performances during the second annual Chita Rivera Awards. Known as the Fred and Estelle Astaire Awards from their inception in 1982 until 2017, the awards honor excellence in dance and choreography both onstage and on film.

Last night's star-studded event, Backstage at the Geffen, at the Geffen Playhouse grossed more than $1 million for the theater's education, outreach and artistic initiatives. The fundraiser, which recognizes leaders in the artistic community, supports the theater's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its education and community engagement programs, honored legendary stage and screen performer Dick Van Dyke and award-winning composer, lyricist and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda. Comedian Jim Carrey presented the Distinction in Theater Award to Van Dyke and EGOT award-winning actress Rita Moreno presented the Education Impact Award to Miranda.

In a series of social media posts over the last several days, music mogul, cultural influencer and icon DJ Khaled announced that he has entered into a business partnership with ProSupps, LLC on the Hyde Power Potion performance energy beverage. "When seeking out a partner that embodies our core values of energy and performance, DJ Khaled was the first to come to mind," ProSupps founder TJ Humphreys said. "After months of strategic collaborative discussion with DJ Khaled and our friends at RocNation, we couldn't be happier having him as the voice and mouthpiece for Hyde Power Potion."

The mission of Playwrights Local is to support dramatists of Northeast Ohio by presenting locally written works, with the vision of increasing original theater and raising the profile of area playwrights.

Nana Mouskouri attracts legions of admirers wherever she performs. With an estimated four hundred million albums sold, Nana Mouskouri is among the top 25 recording artists of all time.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association announced today the extension of Herbie Hancock's contract as the William Powers and Carolyn Powers Creative Chair for Jazz through the 2021 season at Hollywood Bowl and the 2020/21 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Backstage at the Geffen, the Geffen Playhouse's annual fundraiser event, has launched its online auction featuring luxury vacations, one-of-a-kind artwork and VIP experiences. Proceeds will benefit the Geffen's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its award-winning education and community engagement programs, which bring live theater to more than 15,000 disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans annually.

Internationally known film composer, arranger, orchestrator and music professor Chris Boardman will provide insights on composing music for film during the Nashville Composers Association's annual Score-Com Symposium from June 17-18 (Saturday-Sunday) in Nashville.

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) today announces the appointment of trumpeter Michael Rodriguez to its faculty. Rodriguez, a Grammy-nominated musician renowned for his artistry as a composer and instrumentalist, joins the cadre of high-profile faculty members in the Roots, Jazz, and American Music (RJAM) program, which welcomed its first class, composed of some of the world's finest young jazz musicians, in the fall of 2017.

Jazz Lovers subscription packages are now available for 2018-19 Starrlight Jazz Series at Walton Arts Center. The new season features George Brooks' ASPADA; the John Patitucci Electric Guitar Quartet; Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedtiro Martinez Duo; Larry Fouldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart Trio; and Benny Green Trio with Veronica Swift.