23 septembre 2005

Peter Gabriel's band in Austin ?

Yes, Austin, there'll be a party at Zilker – ACL gets go-ahead
So far 7 bands have canceled, but they've all been replaced.

With Hurricane Rita's threat to Austin reduced as it veers east of its earlier projected path, Austin City Limits Music Festival organizers and city officials said Thursday that the nearly sold-out event would go on today through Sunday.
...So far, only seven acts have canceled their performances, mostly because of travel difficulties. Festival organizers have replaced all the canceled acts, including Nashville, Tenn., favorite Mindy Smith.

When Iguanas guitarist Joe Cabral, evacuated to Austin from New Orleans, found out Thursday afternoon that Smith was forced to cancel, he put together a band calling itself The Texiles, featuring members of the Iguanas, the Radiators and Peter Gabriel's band. (NDR ???) ...

22 septembre 2005

Tony Levin à Neuchâtel

SA 15 oct. 20h 30.- / préloc 25.- rock-pop

Tony Levin Band (USA)

www.papabear.com


Le virtuose de la basse Tony Levin vient à Neuchâtel.

Pierre angulaire dans la musique actuelle, Tony Levin débuta la basse à l’âge de 10 ans. Après avoir fait ses armes dans plusieurs groupes locaux de Boston, il rejoint Don Preston (ex-Mothers of Invention) pour créer le groupe Aha. Dès lors, une carrière bien remplie commence. Il faudrait un annuaire pour noter toutes ses collaborations (son nom apparaît sur plus de 430 albums). Il a entre autre collaboré avec David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Al Di Meola, Dire Straits, Brian Ferry, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Seal et même Jeanne Mas

Nous pouvons également l’écouter dans l’album mythique de Lou Reed « Berlin ». Mais principalement dans le premier album de Peter Gabriel en 1977. Cette collaboration liera les deux musiciens par une amitié toujours existante et ainsi nous retrouvons Tony Levin dans toute la carrière de Peter Gabriel. C’est aussi pendant cette période, qu’il acquière la technique sur une « Chapman Stick Bass » (une basse de 12 cordes où le bassiste utilise la technique de « tapping » pour pouvoir jouer à deux mains…).

En 1978, Robert Fripp invite Tony Levin à prendre part au groupe King Crimson. Si l’on doit parler du rock progressif, on ne peut passer à côté de King Crimson. Ce groupe a réussi à incorporer dans les structures du rock, la pureté et la grâce du Jazz et de la musique classique, tout en gardant une sensibilité pop et psychédélique.

Malgré sa reconnaissance musicale mondiale et ses trente ans de carrière, Tony Levin attendra 1996 pour enfin sortir son premier album solo « World Diary », suivi de trois albums, dont le dernier en 2000 intitulé « Double Espresso » tout en continuant ses collaborations à travers le monde.

Tony Levin est une légende vivante de la musique, et sera à la Case à Chocs de Neuchâtel le samedi 15 octobre 2005 dans la formation suivante :
Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Jesse Gress, Larry Fast, Pete Levin, Robert Frazza et Tom Griesgraber

Marotta Griesgraber (USA)

www.jerrymarotta.com
// www.thossounds.com

Depuis 2002, le duo étonnant de Jerry Marotta à la batterie et Tom Griesgraber à la Chapman Stick basse nous offre un mélange pop-rock tout en finesse et émotion.

Basse, guitare, batterie, voix, Chapman Stick basse

Exceptionnel! L'homme de l'ombre aux 300 collaborations débarque à la case…

Kate Bush back on form with first single in 12 years !

Kate Bush back on form with first single in 12 years

By Stephen McKenna

'For the first time anywhere in the world here is Kate Bush's new single King of the Mountain'

The eagerly anticipated new single from the enigmatic Kate Bush got an exclusive first play on Ken Bruce's show on BBC Radio 2 yesterday morning (September 21st). The very privileged Ken Bruce was inundated with phone calls and emails about his exclusive first play of the latest offering from the reclusive queen of British music.

I have had a chance to listen back to King of the Mountain a few times and it sounds really fresh. Opening with some delightful percussive synth noises, Kate's idiosyncratic voice comes through and the whole track feels very atmospheric and nonchalant. The song still has the inimitable Kate Bush sound about it but is a little more modern than material from her 1993 album The
Red Shoes.

The brand new album from Kate Bush is called Aerial and will be released on November 7th. Aerial is reputed to be a double album and it is currently under lock and key in a vault deep in the depths of EMI records. The first disc consists of just one track lasting over half an hour! The second disc has seven tracks on it.

New single King of the Mountain will be released on CD on October 24th.

King of the Mountain is available for download on September 27th.

For more details visit:
katebush.com

21 septembre 2005

S.Lanka drums up post-tsunami tourism with festival

COLOMBO (Reuters) - With a burst of colour and a cacophony of beats, drummers from Ivory Coast to Iran kicked off a music festival in Sri Lanka on Wednesday that seeks to lure back tourists scared off by the ravages of Asia's tsunami.

In centuries-old traditional dress of white sarongs and red bodices, a troupe of Sri Lankan musicians kicked off the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival devoted to drums in the island's capital.

"This is a way of helping Sri Lanka restore what the tsunami destroyed," said percussionist Marco Vinicio Oyaga from Bogota, Colombia, whose band Toto Momposina y sus Tambores is due to headline on the second day of the five-day music festival.

"It was the poor who were hit hardest. We want to help them get started again."

The tsunami killed nearly 40,000 people along Sri Lanka's coastline
, and displaced a million people -- around 5 percent of the population. Hundreds of thousands of displaced are now living in makeshift shelters of with family and friends.

Festival acts include world-renowned master drummer Bill Cobham of the United States, a band of drummers from Burundi, Indian composer Trilok Gurtu and musicians from Cuba to Britain.

Sri Lanka hopes that the drum festival, which it plans to stage annually, coupled with events including a spice festival, will help it claw back foreign visitors whose numbers slumped sharply after December's tsunami hammered its coastline and beach resorts. The island's tourism chief is hoping to double annual tourist arrivals to one million visitors by 2010 by targeting high-spending travellers who want to absorb the island's culture and not just the sun.

"After the tsunami, this is a repositioning of our tourism product ... to show this island, the splendour of everything we possess, is still intact," said Udaya Nanayakkara, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourist Board."

WOMAD Festival commence today in Sri Lanka


By Lalith Ganhewa - Asian Tribune Bureau, Germany

Berlin, 21 September, (Asiantribune.com): Music lovers in Sri Lanka will have a great opportunity to witness and listen to one of the most famous World Music Festival WOMAD from today in the island.

WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance, UK) was created by ex-Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel in 1982. Since then the festival has brought together great musicians regularly to perform in one stage. It has today turned out to be the window for ethnic musicians.

Teaming up with the Sri Lanka Tourist Board, WOMAD Music festival would be presented in Sri Lanka, for the first time, from September 21st-25th.

The WOMAD Sri Lanka is expected to concentrate by playing exclusively on the world of drums, rhythm and percussion. Long, traditional heritage of Sri Lanka’s drumming and music will also expected to take a centre stage with largest international presentation of drumming and percussion artists ever to have performed in the country.

The festival would showcase12 International acts from Bill Cobham, Toto La Momposina, Trilok Gurtu and others.

The Indian born Trilok, started off his international carrier way back in Berlin as a street musician. Although he lives in north Germany, he is a regular visitor to Europe's number one world music radio station ‘Radio Multikulti’ in Berlin. Trilok has visited Sri Lanka and performed with Ravi Bandu many times. It would be a feast for percussion music fans to enjoy a live performance of Ravibandu and Trilok one more time.

The Festival is pitched as a National Tourism Recovery Programme by the advertising firm in Singapore which handles the Sri Lanka promotion.

But it is yet to be seen whether they will be able to achieve this goal as WOMAD is known to be a highly expensive musical product for a specific custom tailored clientele.

Electrokingdom Big Time remix

Electrokingdom

No doubts about the high potential duo, Electrokingdom represents the perfect “Italian Junction” of ideas and action in dance music. Dario Bacci and Fred Portelli become friends in life and music in 2002… and the big amount of pasta and remixes is the obvious result.

Dario is the man of motion, promoting and giving twist to his musical ideas. Fred is the man of beats, notes, bass, drum, percussion and Acid 4!. The offspring is “seven minutes you need to shake your ass”.

This perfect alchemy of taste and energy comes with the name of Electrokingdom and “World Machine” with Mark King is just the first of many projects and covers, that everyone is going to listen and die for in the next future.

First absolute fans of the project are the well known producers Phunk Investigation, who bring their unique sound with two smashing versions of the song. Subsequently Roger Sanchez and Pete Tong mention these 2 guys in their very well known radio shows… what next?

Well... it took us a little while but something absolutely incredible is going to come out very soon! From the collaboration of Electrokigndom and the great Peter Gabriel a superb rework of his legendary "Big Time" has been produced.

Press release and more info coming soon Listen clips: Main Mix - Club Mix - Dub Mix - Acoustic Mix

Live and Unwrapped, Big Time in Geneva

News from Tina

Hi there!

Many apologies for the delay in updating, but I hope that my excuse will make up for it.

I have had a chance to take a look at the 'Live and Unwrapped' DVD and so I can now reveal some of its mysteries to you. What can I say? Wow! It's fantastic and will most definitely rekindle those special moments of the SGU tour, as well give insight into the hidden world behind it.

It's a set of 2 DVDs; the first 'Live' being the shows themselves (it's great to see San Jacinto - one of my favourites) and the second 'Unwrapped' giving behind-the-scenes footage as well as new interviews in which Peter gives us his thoughts on a variety of topics - music, talent, technology, fame...

Also, Peter and the band confide in us their childhood dreams. Just what did they want to be when they grew up? Answers are as follows: "... an Opera singer, an astronaut, an engine driver, a marine biologist, a kid, in a band, Scottish, Superman, Jimmy Osmond..." Who said what? I leave you to guess.

And, as if this wasn't enough, there are 'Orange' people with banners and interviews with fans. Could it be you? Were you interviewed at one of the venues? Enough! I don't want to spoil it for you. My last words on it will be – you’re in for a real treat!

(Our shop is offering a special pre-order service - the first 500 orders will receive a free Still Growing Up T shirt of your choice. Please visit us on
www.womadshop.com for more details.)

Peter in Geneva?

Yes! Peter will be playing at the United Nations 60th anniversary event (to benefit malaria research) which is to be held on 7th and 8th October in Geneva. He will only be performing on the night of the 7th and we do not know which songs as yet. However, Don't Give Up and Biko are possibilities...

Mountain ranges for beds and snow-white pillows?

It could only be 'Big Time'. Look out for a special collaborative remix (Main Extended, Club and Dub) with the talented Electrokingdom (Bacci Bros Records) which is to be released on 12" vinyl only (currently limited edition). Can't wait? Then go straight to this month's competition.

For more information on the Bacci Bros, visit them at
http://www.baccibros.com/

Youssou N'Dour & Friends

From Petergeabriel.com :

20-Sep-2005

Youssou N'Dour & Friends

Peter will be playing at the United Nations 60th anniversary event (to benefit malaria research) which is to be held on 7th and 8th October in Geneva. He will only be performing on the night of the 7th and we do not know which songs as yet. However, Don't Give Up and Biko are possibilities...

www.unitedagainstmalaria.org

19 septembre 2005

Tony Levin Band al Teatro Augusteo di Napoli

di Paolo Ansali

Il festival di Afrakà, organizzato da Lino Vairetti e giunto alla sua XI edizione, chiude alla grande con la Tony Levin Band, per il grande bassista è la prima assoluta del tour europeo.

Iniziato con Il concerto di Rachel Z Trio il 4 giugno nel giardino della Fondazione Mondragone di Napoli e Brian Auger, Sud Sound System, Bisca e Rino Zurzolo nella cornice della Villa Comunale di Afragola in Luglio, il festival di Afrakà giunto alla sua XI edizione, chiude alla grande con Tony Levin Band. Con il patrocinio della Regione Campania e del Comune di Napoli, il concerto di Tony Levin, in esclusiva per il Sud Italia e in prima assoluta del suo tour europeo, si terrà al Teatro Augusteo di Napoli martedì 11 ottobre 2005 alle ore 21.00.

Tony Levin, famoso musicista e componente dei King Crimson, oltre che della band di Peter Gabriel dal suo esordio ad oggi, e’ uno dei piu’ grandi bassisti e virtuosi dello “stick”. Le sue collaborazioni discografiche sono innumerevoli; Tony ha infatti suonato con tutti i piu’ grandi musicisti della scena internazionale come John Lennon a Laurie Anderson, Burt Bacharach, David Bowie, Chris Botti, Bill Bruford, Al Di Meola, Robert Fripp, Lou Reed, Ringo Starr, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Ravi Shankar, California Guitar Trio Rachel Z e molti altri. Ha collaborato anche con musicisti italiani, quali Ivano Fossati, Fiorella Mannoia, Claudio Baglioni, Susanna Parigi, Vasco Rossi.

Oltre la sua intensa attivita’ musicale, Tony coltiva da molto tempo la passione per la fotografia e la grafica pubblicando 2 libri fotografici e realizzato diversi lavori di artwork per le copertine di dischi propri e dei King Crimson. Ha al suo attivo 4 albums da solista l’ultimo dei quali sarà eseguito nei concerti del suo tour europeo 2005 con la sua nuova band formata da cinque musicisti che tra gli appassionati sono definiti "leggende viventi", per il loro contributo musicale profuso da trent’anni a questa parte. Averli tutti insieme in una unica occasione, fa di questa loro venuta in Europa, un evento eccezionale. La formazione della Band:
Tony Levin (basso), Larry Fast (keyboards), Jerry Marotta (Batteria), Jesse Gress (chitarra) e Pete Levin (piano)

La Band:
Larry Fast, vecchio amico e collaboratore di Robert Moog, e’ stato uno dei pionieri della musica elettronica a livello popolare. Gia’ tecnico del suono e membro effettivo della Peter Gabriel Band fin dai suoi esordi, ha al suo attivo una intensa attivita’ solista sotto il nome di Synergy. Il suo talento ai sintetizzatori e’ affiancato all’attivita’ di produttore per innumerevoli artisti con cui ha collaborato anche in studio di registrazione, Barbra Streisand, Randy Newman, Joan Armatrading, Walter Carlos (storico compositore delle colonne sonore dei film di Stanley Kubrick), tra gli altri.

Jerry Marotta,
dopo una lunghissima permanenza nel gruppo di Peter Gabriel, ha inciso e intrapreso tours con Paul Mc Cartney, Joan Armatrading, Hall & Oates , Sean Lennon, Susanne Vega, Ani Di Franco, per citarne alcuni. Oltre a collaborare con innumerevoli artisti, Marotta e’ anche un ricercatissimo produttore oltre che proprietario di uno studio di registrazione nei pressi di New York.

Jesse Gress:
suona stabilmente nella Tony Levin Band e nel gruppo di Todd Rundgren. La sua attivita’ si svolge prevalentemente negli Stati Uniti dove e’ molto conosciuto nell’ambiente anche come eccellente trascrittore di spartiti per chitarra diretti a professionisti e semplici appassionati. Tiene workshops e scrive manuali didattici per chitarristi non professionisti.

Pete Levin:
fratello di Tony, poliedrico e stimatissimo pianista negli ambienti jazz e rock, ha al suo attivo una vasta produzione discografica solista e una lunghissima lista di collaborazioni con altri artisti, quali il Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Gil Evans, Waine Shorter, Artie Traum, Michael Petrucciani, David Sanborn, Robbie Robertson, Carly Simon, Annie Lennox.


TONY LEVIN BAND in Concerto
Martedì 11 ottobre 2005 – ore 21.00
Napoli - Teatro Augusteo – piazzetta Duca D’Aosta
Costo biglietti:
Platea €. 18,00 + 2 di prevendita
Galleria €. 14,00 + 1 di prev.
Prevendita Teatro Augusteo e abituali
Info: 081.414243 – 081.405660

Rachel Z at Nighttown in Cleveland

Streaming music : http://www.kataweb.it/community/live/rachel_z/

Contributed by Ronaldo Oregano

After two world tours as the featured pianist and keyboard player in Peter Gabriel's group, Rachel Z has a solo career that is rapidly on the rise. On Saturday, September 24th Ms. Z brings her trio to Nighttown in Cleveland.

Rachel Z has just released her seventh solo recording "Grace," which features several original compositions and is the first CD where she sings. This CD is a combination of originals and unique interpretations of modern pop writers like John Lennon, Kate Bush, and Kurt Cobain. Her previous CD "Everlasting" presented instrumental jazz versions of pop songs by artists ranging from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to Seal, Sade, Steely Dan, and Kurt Cobain. Prior to that Rachel Z recorded a tribute to Joni Mitchell. Rachel Z is among the vanguard of musicians who are finding the jazz in modern pop music, and realizing its lasting value.

Rachel recorded and toured with saxophonist Wayne Shorter extensively in the late 90's and collaborated with him on the Grammy-winning CD "High Life."
Rachel Z has also played a prominent role in several major groups including those of Al DiMeola, Steps Ahead, Wayne Shorter, Vertu with Lenny White and Stanley Clarke, and most recently as a featured artist with Peter Gabriel's band. Rachel Z is clearly among the elite group of jazz musicians working today. This Summer and Fall, Rachel will be touring again in Europe and North America. For her appearance at Night Town, Rachel will be supported by her current New York trio consisting of drummer Bobby Rae and bassist Chris Luard.

Manhattan-born and raised Rachel Nicolazzo (aka Rachel Z) had music practically ingrained in her genetic code. Groomed to follow in her mother's operatic footsteps, she began voice lessons at two, started classical piano lessons at seven and attended the opera by age nine. "My first dollhouse was a Metropolitan Opera House complete with the stage and dolls which were the performers," she recalls.
"Then I heard Miles Smiles when I was 15, started rebelling against the classical by improvising, and played with a band that covered Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan songs."

Listening to Herbie Hancock's harmonies over Wayne Shorter's compositions helped her bridge the gap from her classical training to jazz."The way my jazz chops developed was twofold. I developed acoustic straight ahead and electronic fusion playing equally over time," she says. After launching a quintet called Nardis, she studied with Joanne Brackeen and Richie Beirach.

Don't miss the dynamic sounds of pianist Rachel Z and her Trio live at Nighttown on Saturday September 24th at 9 PM. Nighttown is located at 12387 Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights. For reservations call (216) 795-0550 or fax: (216) 795-0531.

"Rachel Z is a consistently adventurous player. Rachel occasionally reveals traces of influence from McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock, but more often she is her own player, voicing her harmonies with a dark, intimate quality." -Don Heckman, The Los Angeles Times

18 septembre 2005

Big Room console for sale

Real World (Peter Gabriel) Solid State Logic console for sale

SSL 4080G G Series Console fitted with 72 mono channels - Total Recall – G Plus computer – additional features - Real World Send Matrix providing four extra sends per channel & Motionworker Synchronizer. The console is in first class technical condition and can be viewed in operation. £85,000 plus VAT if applicable.

Please visit the Peter Gabriel web site http://realworldstudios.com/ the particular console for sale is the one referred to as the 'The Big Room'

Some of the biggest artists in the world have passed through the doors of Real World studios, see below list of just some of the previous clients who have used the 4080G in the Big Room.

Peter Gabriel
New Order
Dandy Warhols
Hope of the States
The Bad Plus
Gomez
Travis
Stina Nordensam
Ed Harcourt
Bonnie Rait
Ocean Colour Scene
Zucchero
Muse
Afro Celt Sound System
Loreena McKennit
Cast
Stereophonics
Beautiful South
Kylie Minogue
Super Furry Animals
Electronic
James
Placebo
Black Grape
Wet Wet Wet
The Guitar Trio
David Sylvian
Therapy?
King Crimson
Nusrat Ali Fateh Khan
Van Morrison
The Levellers
Squeeze
Seal

Some of the producers who have worked in the Big Room

Tchad Blake
Torre Johannssen
John Leckie
Ken Thomas
John Kelly
Guy Chambers
Al Stone
Bird and Bush
Stephen Hague
Vic Coppersmith
John Cale
Owen Morris
Steve Osborne
Brian Eno