Have A Happy And Safe 4th Of July [Video] #jazz #music

Barbecues and fireworks, flags and parades, Independence Day evokes so many images of the American summer. Its original purpose to celebrate the birth of the American nation on July 4th, 1776 has given way to festivities that celebrate both America and the lives and freedoms that the accomplishments of American Independence have allowed. The commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is a time not only to reflect on what happened at America's founding but also to look again at the nation's values and recommit oneself again to those ideals.

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Kellylee Evans Receives Honorary Doctor of Music Degree From Ottawa's Carleton University #jazz #music

The Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter delivered the convocation address to Carleton's graduating class and was recognized for a distinguished career and a remarkable journey of resilience

Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Kellylee Evans has received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Carleton University, awarded at the convocation ceremony on Wednesday, June 10, where she delivered the address to this year's graduating class. The university recognized Evans for her distinguished career as a Canadian singer-songwriter and for the resilience she has shown in overcoming great personal adversity along the way.

A distinguished Carleton alum, Evans is a high-octane, chameleon-like performer whose natural charm and improvisational vocal style move fluidly through jazz, soul, pop, and hip-hop. She has released nine albums, toured extensively around the world, and opened for artists as varied as John Legend, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson, and Erykah Badu. A four-time Juno nominee, she won the award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for 'Nina,' her tribute to the life and music of Nina Simone. Once signed to Universal Music, she now releases her work on her own label, Enliven Media.

The honour carries a deeply personal resonance for Evans, who has spoken about how her path to music ran against the expectations she grew up with. Encouraged toward a career in law, medicine, or engineering, she was not permitted to take the arts for credit as a student, and she pursued singing, painting, and creating on her own time. While working toward a master's in legal philosophy at Carleton, she lost her mother to cancer, a loss that reshaped her sense of what mattered and how short life can be. She made the difficult decision to leave her studies and follow her dream of making music, a choice that returns full circle in the university's recognition of who she chose to become.

That choice gives this moment its weight, and it offers an arc that resonates well beyond the convocation hall. For Carleton to grant this honour for, in her words, simply being the person she always dreamed of being is a recognition not only of her artistry but of the courage it took to claim it. Evans has described the announcement as mind-blowing, arriving after years of kind messages and quiet support from a community that has watched her journey unfold.

Evans built her international reputation after turning heads at the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, going on to earn acclaim for a smooth, genre-crossing blend of jazz, soul, and hip-hop. In 2013, a lightning strike at her Ashton, Ontario home sent a surge of electricity through her body and altered her health profoundly, and a concussion in the years that followed compounded the challenge, forcing the mother of three to step back from a demanding touring schedule. She has since devoted her energy to recovery and to making music again, work that speaks to the same determination Carleton celebrated on its stage.

Today, alongside her music, Evans travels as a speaker, sharing her recovery journey and a message of self-care and resilience that has connected with audiences across the country. Her honorary degree recognizes a career that has spanned continents and genres, and a life that has turned hard-won experience into something generous and forward-looking. Her new EP 'Show Love' is out now, a fitting marker of an artist who continues to create on her own terms.

Multimedia artist Belton Mouras, Jr. brings Sacramento its first original musical feature film - complete with singing-and-dancing vegan zombies #jazz #music

Singing-and-dancing vegan zombies have been spotted across Sacramento in recent weeks — but there’s no need for alarm. They’re part of multimedia artist Belton Mouras Jr.’s debut musical feature, Fingers: The Vegan Zombie Musical, now in production as the city’s first original musical film.

 

The film began shooting last month at locations throughout the Sacramento region and is set to wrap production next week. Mouras Jr. wrote the script, composed twelve original songs, and is directing and co-starring in the project, which Belton Mouras Entertainment plans to release this Halloween.

 

“As a longtime Sacramento resident, it’s especially meaningful to film throughout the region and collaborate with so many talented local cast and crew members. Auburn and Gibson Ranch have been incredible locations, offering a beautiful and visually diverse backdrop. And Camino’s Apple Hill region—where we filmed much of the original short—is truly breathtaking,” said Mouras Jr., whose film expands on his 2024 short Fingers: The World’s First Vegan Zombie, also shot locally.

 

The Fingers short and two fully choreographed song-and-dance videos have garnered over three million combined views, which spurred Mouras Jr. to expand his imaginative vegan zombie story into a full-length musical feature.

 

The film features a wide-ranging ensemble that includes Broadway performer Grace Field and Sacramento opera vocalists Omari Tau and Vanessa Martucci, who appear in a showcase number Mouras Jr. calls “Opera Rock Hop”—a high-energy fusion of opera, rock, and hip-hop. Two-time Emmy Award-winning jazz musician Tony Saunders and Billboard chart-topping flutist Althea René also make cameo appearances.

 

One of the film’s most elaborate sequences was shot in a downtown Sacramento warehouse, featuring K-pop performer Sean Choi, I-pop artist Lav Raman, and their dance teams in a multi-group dance-off alongside a rap battle. The multicultural scene also highlights a six-member mariachi folklórico ensemble and a standout vocal performance from co-lead actor Rachel Williams, all set within a vibrant, immersive environment.

 

“Bringing together such a wide range of cross-genre musical talent has created several truly memorable moments. With twelve original songs spanning hip-hop, pop, jazz, rock, and country, the film builds a vibrant world where zombies not only relearn how to live—but sing, dance, and ultimately contribute back to society,” said Mouras Jr., who plays the title character.

 

“As the film’s creator—providing both the story and the music—I’ve been grateful for the incredible opportunity to also play the lead role of Fingers and bring the character to life, bringing together multiple creative platforms into one cohesive and entertaining experience—creating an epic cinematic universe for Fingers.”

 

A classically trained musician, Mouras Jr. is enjoying a remarkably prolific year. In March, he released a contemporary jazz instrumental called “Dynamo” that features him playing piano and keyboards alongside nine-time GRAMMY® nominee Gerald Albright on saxophone and Saunders on bass. He also released his first country single, “Hold My Hand With Your Heart,” a vocal tune that he sang, composed, and performed. Both singles are garnering an abundance of airplay while the intimate video that accompanied the release of the country love song is receiving significant views.

 

Last October, Mouras Jr. released the opening song-and-dance number from Fingers: The Vegan Zombie Musical as a standalone single “What A World” along with a video of the scene featuring 25 dancers on location in Sacramento. Watch “What A World (We Live In)” here: https://youtu.be/SHWaNonj5E0.

 

For more information, visit https://beltonmourasentertainment.com.

 

 

 

ABOUT BELTON MOURAS ENTERTAINMENT:

 

Belton Mouras Entertainment (BME) is dedicated to passionate storytelling through music, film, and art. Founded by screenwriter, director, composer, and painter Belton Mouras, Jr., the Sacramento, California-based company has produced acclaimed short films such as Fingers: The World’s First Vegan Zombie and Mickey’s Tree. BME’s projects blend humor, heart, and social commentary, with accompanying soundtracks and singles that have charted and reached audiences worldwide. For more information, please visit https://beltonmourasentertainment.com.

Remembering 9/11/2001

Happy Labor Day from JazzHQ #jazz #music

You have worked so hard and deserve to be praised for your outstanding effort. Let us celebrate your achievements from this past year and look forward with excitement to what we can do together in the coming year! On this day when we celebrate American labor, we celebrate you. Happy Labor Day!

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A Memorial Day Worth Remembering #memorialday #jazz #music

Andy Rooney On How Memorial Day Should Be Celebrated

The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News Correspondent Andy Rooney.

"There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people."



Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day we have set aside to honor by remembering all the Americans who have died fighting for the thing we like the most about our America: the freedom we have to live as we please.

No official day to remember is adequate for something like that. It's too formal. It gets to be just another day on the calendar. No one would know from Memorial Day that Richie M., who was shot through the forehead coming onto Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, wore different color socks on each foot because he thought it brought him good luck.

No one would remember on Memorial Day that Eddie G. had promised to marry Julie W. the day after he got home from the war, but didn’t marry Julie because he never came home from the war. Eddie was shot dead on an un-American desert island, Iwo Jima.

For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off. There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us.

They died.

We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them.

There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people.

Because I was in the Army during World War II, I have more to remember on Memorial Day than most of you. I had good friends who were killed.

Charley Wood wrote poetry in high school. He was killed when his Piper Cub was shot down while he was flying as a spotter for the artillery.

Bob O'Connor went down in flames in his B17.

Obie Slingerland and I were best friends and co-captains of our high school football team. Obie was killed on the deck of the Saratoga when a bomb that hadn’t dropped exploded as he landed.

I won’t think of them anymore tomorrow, Memorial Day, than I think of them any other day of my life.

Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good, of course. It's for ourselves, the living. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives.

That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating.

Written By Andy Rooney © MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This segment was originally broadcast on May 29, 2005.

Jazz great Herbie Hancock on playing with Miles Davis, AI, and why the piano makes him cry #jazz #music

Herbie Hancock is an all-time jazz great, so it is reassuring to hear that he suffers from the same modern day procrastination problems as the rest of us mere mortals.

"I fall into rabbit holes on YouTube. A lot of them. New music writing software, things about health, tech things."

That is his explanation as to why he has not made an album for 15 years.

"I get victimised by it, so to speak, but that's life," he chuckles.

Speaking from his house in west Hollywood, the ridiculously sprightly 84-year-old pianist has never been afraid to embrace technology, but normally he is the one doing the mastering, not vice versa.

Read the entire article by Colin Paterson Entertainment Correspondent at BBC.com by clicking here

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Have A Happy And Safe 4th Of July [Video] #jazz #music

Barbecues and fireworks, flags and parades, Independence Day evokes so many images of the American summer. Its original purpose to celebrate the birth of the American nation on July 4th, 1776 has given way to festivities that celebrate both America and the lives and freedoms that the accomplishments of American Independence have allowed. The commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is a time not only to reflect on what happened at America's founding but also to look again at the nation's values and recommit oneself again to those ideals.

Our best wishes to our followers on
http://jazzhq.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/jazzhq
https://www.facebook.com/jazzhq
https://mastodon.social/@JazzHQ


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CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH WITH BANDCAMP #juneteenth #jazz #music

LIVE ON BANDCAMP BOOKER T. JONES & DEANIE PARKER

Our friends at Bandcamp are helping us celebrate Black Music Month with a very special virtual panel discussion on Monday, June 17! Tune in at noon ET for a conversation between the legendary Booker T. Jones, Deanie Parker, and Bandcamp Daily contributor Martin Douglas, as they discuss the history of Stax and the indelible mark it’s left on music history as a whole. RSVP at the link below — see you there!

RSVP + TUNE IN HERE

BANDCAMP JUNETEENTH FUNDRAISER

On Wednesday, June 19—from midnight PT to midnight PT June 20th—Bandcamp will hold its fourth annual Juneteenth fundraiser. This year, Bandcamp will be donating a portion of the sales to The Soulsville Foundation — an organization very close to our hearts and mission here at Stax Records!   The Soulsville Foundation perpetuates the soul of Stax Records by preserving its rich cultural legacy, educating youth to be prepared for life success, and inspiring future artists to achieve their dreams. The Foundation supports three not-for-profit music and educational entities, an afterschool music program, a museum, and charter school.

LEARN MORE

STAX JUNETEENTH PLAYLIST

Juneteenth commemorates the June 19, 1865 date when slaves in Galveston, Texas, were notified, 2 years after the Emancipation Proclaimation, that they were free. Here is a special playlist for this day, featuring powerful songs from legendary soul, blues, gospel and R&B artists, including Stax icons like The Staple Singers, Bettye Crutcher, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, and more. Let's take action every day to fight for equality for all.

LISTEN NOW

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Remembering Martin Luther King Jr's Famed 'I Have a Dream' - NPR Video #MLKDAY

Martin Luther King Jr.

On Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, we remember the civil rights leader's most famous speech, and King's remarkable legacy. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta. He gave the "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963 to 250,000 people who marched to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday to honor King, celebrated on the third Monday in January.

Video link: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr's Famed 'I Have a Dream

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Jon Batiste: Opening portals to new musical worlds #jazz

               

In April 2022, Lenny Kravitz was reading out the nominees for album of the year at the Grammy Awards.

When he came to Jon Batiste's We Are, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas turned to the musician and whispered: "We hope it's you."

Their wish came true.

Batiste took home the night's biggest prize, beating high-profile releases by Taylor Swift, Lil Nas X and Eilish herself - with a record that had virtually no commercial impact.

Voters at the Recording Academy were seduced by its hopeful message and its spiritual blend of soul, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop.

But critics called the decision "a huge misfire" that proved the Grammys were "out of touch with the real world".

And although Batiste was the first black artist to win best album in 14 years, one publication complained his music was not "at the forefront of this century's defining hip-hop and R&B sounds".

Surprisingly, the 36-year-old welcomed the debate.

Read the entire article by Mark Savage at bbc.com

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Happy Labor Day #jazz hq

You have worked so hard and deserve to be praised for your outstanding effort. Let us celebrate your achievements from this past year and look forward with excitement to what we can do together in the coming year! On this day when we celebrate American labor, we celebrate you. Happy Labor Day!

http://jazzhq.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/jazzhq
http://twittter.com/jazzhq

Best selling smooth jazz at amazon.com
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A Memorial Day Worth Remembering

Andy Rooney On How Memorial Day Should Be Celebrated

The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News Correspondent Andy Rooney.

"There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people."



Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day we have set aside to honor by remembering all the Americans who have died fighting for the thing we like the most about our America: the freedom we have to live as we please.

No official day to remember is adequate for something like that. It's too formal. It gets to be just another day on the calendar. No one would know from Memorial Day that Richie M., who was shot through the forehead coming onto Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, wore different color socks on each foot because he thought it brought him good luck.

No one would remember on Memorial Day that Eddie G. had promised to marry Julie W. the day after he got home from the war, but didn’t marry Julie because he never came home from the war. Eddie was shot dead on an un-American desert island, Iwo Jima.

For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off. There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us.

They died.

We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn’t give their lives. Their lives were taken from them.

There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people.

Because I was in the Army during World War II, I have more to remember on Memorial Day than most of you. I had good friends who were killed.

Charley Wood wrote poetry in high school. He was killed when his Piper Cub was shot down while he was flying as a spotter for the artillery.

Bob O'Connor went down in flames in his B17.

Obie Slingerland and I were best friends and co-captains of our high school football team. Obie was killed on the deck of the Saratoga when a bomb that hadn’t dropped exploded as he landed.

I won’t think of them anymore tomorrow, Memorial Day, than I think of them any other day of my life.

Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good, of course. It's for ourselves, the living. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives.

That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating.

Written By Andy Rooney © MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This segment was originally broadcast on May 29, 2005.

The nouveau swing of Donald Harrison Jr., Big Chief and NEA Jazz Master #jazz

"This music that we call jazz is one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind," declares Donald Harrison, Jr., with the air of someone who knows. To be sure, Harrison is hardly an objective source on the matter, as an alto saxophonist and bandleader with a lifelong connection to the culture of New Orleans, where he's also known as Big Chief of the Congo Square tribe. His commitment to cultural preservation recently earned him the 2022 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy — a prestigious title for the work he does every day as a matter of course.

Read or listen to the entire post at NPR Jazz Night In America

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Chart Room Media clients score two Grammy Awards #jazz

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHART ROOM MEDIA CLIENTS FOR EARNING TWO GRAMMY AWARDS Winners include pianists Chick Corea and Taylor Eigsti For Immediate Release – The Recording Academy has announced winners for the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the preeminent honor for excellence in music and the only peer-selected music accolade. Chart Room Media clients won two awards: the late jazz legend Chick Corea’s Akoustic Band LIVE (Concord Jazz) earned a GRAMMY in the category of Best Improvised Jazz Solo for “Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)” and pianist Taylor Eigsti’s Tree Falls (GSI Records) scored an award in the category of Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.   GRAMMY Awards were announced on Sunday, April, 2022, on the CBS Television Network and streamed live on GRAMMY.com. For a complete list of winners, please visit: https://www.grammy.com/news/2022-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-nominations-list   Below is a list of GRAMMY winners for Chart Room Media:   BEST CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM Tree Falls Taylor Eigsti (GSI Records)   BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO “Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)” from Akoustic Band LIVE (Chick Corea, John Patitucci & Dave Weckl) Chick Corea (Concord Jazz)      Chart Room Media Online Website Instagram Twitter Facebook

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The 2022 Jazz GRAMMY Award Winners #jazz #grammy

Best Improvised Jazz Solo

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, “Sackodougou”
Kenny Barron, “Kick Those Feet”
Jon Batiste, “Bigger Than Us”
Terence Blanchard, “Absence”
Chick Corea, “Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)”

Best Jazz Vocal Album

The Baylor Project, Generations
Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter, SuperBlue
Nnenna Freelon, Time Traveler
Gretchen Parlato, Flor
Esperanza Spalding, Songwrights Apothecary Lab

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

Jon Batiste, Jazz Selections: Music from and Inspired By Soul
Terence Blanchard Featuring The E Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet, Absence
Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette & Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Skyline
Chick Corea, Jon Patitucci & Dave Weckl, Akoustic Band LIVE
Pat Metheny, Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

The Count Basie Orchestra directed by Scotty Barnhart, Live at Birdland!
Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force, Dear Love
Christian McBride Big Band, For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver
Sun Ra Arkestra, Swirling
Yellowjackets + WDR Big Band, Jackets XL

Best Latin Jazz Album

Eliane Elias with Chick Corea and Cucho Valdés, Mirror Mirror
Carlos Henriquez, The South Bronx Story
Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Virtual Birdland
Dafnis Prieto Sextet, Transparency
Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo, El Arte Del Bolero

Jon Batiste was one of this year’s big winners, receiving the coveted GRAMMY for Album of the Year for We Are. “Cry” from the record received recognition for Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song, while the accompanying video for “Freedom” won Best Music Video. In addition, Batiste received a GRAMMY as one of the composers of the original score for Disney/Pixar’s animated feature Soul, alongside Trent Raznor and Atticus Ross.

Elsewhere, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s collaborative full-length, Love for Sale, was awarded the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album prize, while Béla Fleck received the Best Bluegrass Album GRAMMY for My Bluegrass Heart. In addition, Arooj Aftab made history by becoming the first Pakistani-born artist to win an award, as she took home the Best Global Performance GRAMMY for “Mohabbat” from her acclaimed full-length, Vulture Prince.

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