Posts for 'Music' Category

Harvey Geller, a music journalist, popular music historian and folk lyricist who wrote "Blue Water Line," died on Thursday. He was 86. Geller died of pneumonia at a hospital in Woodland Hills, said his daughter Alix Geller.

The Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four and the River City Ramblers recorded Geller's songs, including "Blue Water Line," "Charleston Town," "Mark Twain" and "Deep Blue Sea."After serving in the Army at the end of World War II in Europe, Geller got his start as a song plugger in New York City. He moved to California in 1958.

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Double Oscar-winning musician A R Rahman was honoured with the B4U Outstanding Achievement trophy at the UK Aisan Music Awards 2009 here. The musician was given the award for taking Asian music to the global platform.

Rahman recently won two Oscars, one BAFTA and a Golden Globe award for his music in the British-Indian film "Slumdog Millionaire", a first for any Indian musician. The UK Asian Music Awards recognise the achievements of Asians in the field of music.

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It was a red-hot night for 16-year-old high school student Allison Iraheta who made it to the Top 12 with her smoking rendition of Heart's 'Alone.'With her bright red hair and dynamic voice, the youngest of Group 2's finalists is no stranger to singing competitions.

Two years ago, Iraheta won a contest on Telemundo, a Spanish-language American television network, singing in both English and Spanish. "It was a great experience," she says in a conference call with CTV.ca. "It was amazing to win, you know; it was awesome."

With a large extended family backing her up, Iraheta doesn't think her age will affect her chances of winning American Idol. "We're all here for the same thing and it depends on how much we want it and how much we prepare," she says confidently.

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CORNER BROOK, N.L. - Rock outfit Hey Rosetta! catapulted from their humble roots as a bar band on one of Canada's most notorious party strips, cleaning up Sunday night at this year's East Coast Music Awards.

The young up-and-comers, who earned their musical chops playing on George Street in St. John's, N.L., walked away with three trophies for their album, "Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)."

The six-member group showcased their incendiary brand of rock, performing their infectious hit, "New Goodbye," to throngs of clapping fans at the Pepsi Centre in Corner Brook on Newfoundland's west coast.

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India rejoiced as music composer A.R. Rahman and lyricist Gulzar won the best song Oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire,” the first for music by an Indian.Rahman, dubbed the ‘Mozart of Madras’, having worked with the leading tabla player Zakir Hussain, and composer Ilayaraja, also studied Western classical music at the Trinity College of Music in the U.K., according to his.

“I am very happy though not surprised,” Javed Akhtar, poet, lyricist and story writer for Hindi movies said from Mumbai. “Rahman is an international talent.”The best song prize was one of eight Oscars, including best picture, “Slumdog” won at the 81st Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, telecast today by Walt Disney Co.’s ABC.

Set in Mumbai and made for just $15 million, the movie beat bigger rivals like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a $150 million production starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. It also won Brit Danny Boyle the best director award. “Slumdog” centers on a young boy Jamal Malik, who grows through the squalor of a Mumbai slum and wins a 20 million rupees ($404,000) quiz show by tapping that humble past. The movie captures the never-say-die spirit of Mumbai.

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It takes the comic-operetta canoodling of Kristin Chenoweth and Douglas Sills to jump-start the tasteful yet sedate concert version of "Music in the Air.

"In this mild recreation of the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical, Chenoweth and Sills portray a pair of battling lovers.

She's a prima donna and he's a playwright, a twosome who can't seem to live with or without each other. Both are in glorious voice and great scene-stealing form.

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Bruce Springsteen looked into the camera Sunday night and told the people watching at home to "put the chicken fingers down and turn the television all the way up!"Then he proceeded to give the Super Bowl crowd and the millions watching on TV three high-energy Boss standards, with the title song from his new album wedged in among them for good measure.

The 59-year-old Springsteen and his E Street Band opened with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," then without pause ripped through "Born To Run" and "Working on a Dream," before winding up the set with "Glory Days."

Springsteen, dressed all in black, came out Sunday night with the considerable challenge of packing the bombastic energy of one of his rollicking, three-hour concerts into an abbreviated Super Bowl halftime set. That turned out to be no problem. He had fireworks, an expansive stage, about 1,000 people on the field and help from a Raymond James Stadium crowd equipped with small flashlights.

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New York alt-weekly the Village Voice released its annual critics' poll today, placing the adventurous, often frenzied rock of Brooklyn quintet TV on the Radio at the top. Published a few weeks before the Grammys, which are scheduled for Feb. 8, the list provides an opportunity to see whether the best music of the year, in the minds of music writers, is in line with the best music of the year, in the minds of Recording Academy voters.

So how do they stack up? Of the top 20 albums of the year in the Village Voice poll, six of those artists were recognized by the Grammys. Although that stat should come with an asterisk. Two of the releases up for an album of the year at the Grammy Awards -- Radiohead's "In Rainbows" and Alison Krauss & Robert Plant's "Raising Sand" -- were in the top 10 of last year's critics' poll, as the Grammys are still tied to ending their eligibility period on Oct. 1.

Additionally, while Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreak" fared well with the hundreds of critics who submitted to the Village Voice poll, finishing at No. 10, West was recognized by the Grammys only for his work with other artists. The only Grammy-eligible song from "808s" was "Love Lockdown." While it was submitted for consideration, Grammy voters took a pass on it.

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It was a very special night Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center as The Black Academy of Arts and Letters held its annual Black Music and the Civil Rights Movement program.

The multimedia production traditionally combines elements of song, dance and narration in a salute to the people and events that shaped the nation's quest for racial equality.

But while the 25 previous shows combined equal parts celebration and somber reflection, Sunday night's sold-out 26th engagement had an extra, highly palpable undercurrent of excitement because of Barack Obama's upcoming presidential inauguration.

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An informal survey conducted last November by Fender and music education organization Little Kids Rock found that games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” inspire more students towards wanting to play real instruments.

Today Fender and Little Kids Rock, a non-profit music education organization, announced that an informal survey they conducted in November 2008 revealed that music games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” actually do inspire students to play real instruments. The survey polled 812 music instructors and said that enrollment in music programs has increased in the past year.

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