Jazz Fest accepting band applications for 2010

From The Times-Picayune
Jazz Fest accepting band applications for 2010

by Keith Spera

Jazz Fest producers are accepting applications for performers for the 2010 event, scheduled for April 23-May 2.

Upwards of 80 percent of the hundreds of acts featured each year at Jazz Fest are Louisiana-based. Bands interested in performing should submit a recording, bio, photo, press clippings, contact information and an email address.


Send the materials to

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell
Attn: Music Production
336 Camp Street, Suite 250
New Orleans, LA, 70130.

Applications are available online at the Jazz Fest Web site.

Submission deadline is October 10.

Lower 9th ward music students to perform at All Souls Church

Lower 9th ward music students to perform at All Souls Church
From The Times-Picayune

Thirteen students of All Souls Episcopal Church and Community Center music programs will perform a concert Friday at 6:30 p.m., in the church at 5500 St. Claude Ave., with the help of visiting artists from Trinity Wall Street Church in New York and the All Souls Summer Music Program staff. The concert is free and open to the public.

In addition to the Friday concert, the Trinity Wall Street Choir will perform a free concert Wednesday at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Ave., and join All Souls' congregation Sunday to provide special music during the 10 a.m. service.

For more information about the performance or Sunday service, contact Lyn Koppel at 504.458.5548 or All Souls rector, the Rev. Lonell Wright, at 504.494.8021 or 504.218.8995.

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Brooklyn cemetery commissions new sculpture to honor New Orleans composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk

From The Times-Picayune

by Chris Waddington
One of New Orleans' greatest musicians got a boost in New York this month, but he couldn't join in the celebratory announcement. That's because Louis Moreau Gottschalk was laid to rest in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery in 1869.

On July 6, the historic cemetery announced another step in its $200,000 campaign to restore the marble Angel of Music marker atop the world-touring pianist and composer's gravesite, which disappeared under hazy circumstances a half-century ago.

Green-Wood has selected four sculptors to submit models of their designs: Myra C. Weisgold of University Park, Fla.; Kirsten Kokkin of Loveland, Colo.; Tuck Langland of Granger, Ind.; and the team of Jill Burkee and Giancarlo Biagi of New York City.

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Broussard begins second career in music

From The American Press.
Ben Broussard, the only Cowboy baseball player to ever have his number retired, is already considered the greatest slugger to come out of McNeese State. Now, he’s on a quest to become one of the greatest strummers produced by McNeese.
After 10 years of playing professional baseball, “Big Ben” has traded in his bat for a guitar, hoping to turn what was once a part-time hobby into a full-blown vocation. Just a few months after hanging up his cleats for the last time, Broussard has released his second full-length CD, “Renovated.”
“I’m trying to get around people that are about music and having fun with it, and being able to connect with other people through music,” Broussard said.
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Ben Broussard’s new album, Renovated, can be purchased at: www.benbroussard.com

Sean Yeh wins New Orleans International Piano Competition for Young Artists

From The Times-Picayune
by Chris Waddington, Contributing writer, The Times-Picayune

Pianist Sean Yeh won first place and a $5,000 prize in the New Orleans International Piano Competition for Young Artists on Sunday, giving concertgoers a taste of the skills that have already earned the Illinois teen concert engagements with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the South Carolina Philharmonic.
Yeh led a field of strong players who advanced to Sunday's final round at Loyola University's Roussel Hall. They had emerged from a week of juried performances at Loyola in which 12 semifinalists each got a chance to perform twice. The dozen competitors ranged in age from 15 to 18.

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New Orleans celebrates Louis Armstrong

From The Baton Rouge Advocate

By Judy Bergeron

For the ninth year, New Orleans is celebrating Satchmo.

The annual Satchmo SummerFest honoring native son and jazz great Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong will run Thursday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Louisiana State Museum’s Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter.

The free, family-friendly festival sponsored by French Quarter Festivals, Inc., celebrates Armstrong’s life, music and legacy.

The festival is multi-faceted, with music on one indoor and two outdoor stages, seminars, movies, exhibits and a swing “dance off” contest.

The keynote speaker will be Robert O’Meally, a professor at Columbia University, who will talk at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on the Mint’s second floor. While there, visitors can catch the photo exhibit Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World.

Seminars are scheduled on Friday at the State Museum’s Presbytere, and move to the Mint on Saturday and Sunday. A “Happy Birthday, Satchmo!” birthday party is at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Armstrong Park.

The music stages have been renamed in honor of Armstrong and will be called “Back o’ Town,” “Red Beans and Ricely Yours” and “Cornet Chop Suey.” The stages will offer a mix of traditional/contemporary and brass band music on Saturday and Sunday.

The Lindy Hoppers swing dancers will host the “dance off” at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on Barracks Street, near the “Red Beans and Ricely Yours” stage. Swing dancers from eight states will perform.

The children’s area moves to the second floor of the Mint this year. Kids can watch an assortment of Armstrong cartoon and other historic, family-friendly shows and specials. Families can also create their own Armstrong-inspired collages noon- 5 p.m.

There will be no shortage of food choices at this year’s festival, from Vietnamese fare to traditional Louisiana dishes.

The festival is scheduled each year to coincide with Armstrong’s birthdate, Aug. 4, 1901. Armstrong died in 1971.

For more information, call (504) 522-5730 or go to http://www.fqfi.org.

Grammy recording deadline nears

From The Baton Rouge Advocate:

By John Wirt

The deadline for submitting recordings for Grammy awards consideration is July 31. Music industry professionals who are members of the Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the Grammy awards, may submit recordings and vote during the nomination and award process.

Louisiana is part of the Recording Academy’s Memphis Chapter, which also covers Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri and western Tennessee. The Recording Academy has 20,000 members, 12,500 of whom are voting members.

“We’ve really grown our membership across Louisiana in the last few years,” Reid Wick, senior project coordinator for the Memphis Chapter, said this week from his New Orleans office.

“We’ve also seen record numbers of nominations for Louisiana artists,” Wick said. “The ultimate benefit in increased Louisiana membership in the Recording Academy is being able to get Grammy nominations and wins.”

Eleven of the 30 Louisiana-connected recordings nominated last year for Grammys won awards, Reid said.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/music/51502257.html