Music Jazz
Jazz
Terence Blanchard’s “Red Tails” Soundtrack Released on CD
GRAMMY-WINNING COMPOSER TERENCE BLANCHARD’S SCORE FOR LUCASFILM’S RED TAILS SET FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 7TH
Film is Golden-Globe nominated Composer’s 52nd film score and stars
Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Ne-Yo and more
Los Angeles, CA— The score for Lucasfilm’s RED TAILS by world-renowned film composer and musician Terence Blanchard, is set for CD release February 7th by Sony. RED TAILS, which opened January 20th to number two at the box office along with widespread critical acclaim, is a high-flying action epic inspired by the heroic exploits of the first all African-American aerial combat unit. Released by Twentieth Century Fox and Produced by Rick McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson, the gripping WWII actioner is directed by Anthony Hemingway (“Treme,” “The Wire,” “Battlestar Galactica”).
RED TAILS stars Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding, Jr., Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard and Emmy Award winner Bryan Lee Cranston. The film addresses racial prejudice, war and showcases the human spirit as it rises above all odds, and Blanchard’s brilliant score transcends musical genres ranging from jazz to classical.
Produced by Lucasfilm Ltd., RED TAILS began development by George Lucas over 20 years ago. Several writers contributed to the script, but ultimately John Ridley completed the screenplay. Producers interviewed surviving original Tuskegee pilots and even gained access to official logbooks from their missions in World War II. The film was shot in Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy and England...
Les Brown Centennial Festival
The general public is invited to the Les Brown Centennial Weekend in Tower City, PA on March 23 – 25. This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Les’ birth.
The Les Brown Dance is on Friday, March 23, 7:00 pm at Kevin’s Place in Lykens. It features 2 hours of swing dance music by the valley’s big band, After Hours (www.theafterhoursbigband.com) . Admission is $10 per person. Food and drinks are available at menu prices.
On Saturday, the Les Brown Centennial Festival begins at noon in the Williams Valley High School auditorium. Participating in the festival will be the Manhattan Dolls (www.themanhattandolls.com), the Unforgettable Big Band (www.unforgettablebigband.com), the Elizabethtown College Jazz Band and local high school bands. Special festival guests are Les Brown Jr, Jeff...
Hristo Vitchev / Weber Iago, “Heartmony”
By: Edward Blanco
Heartmony is Bulgarian-born guitarist Hristo Vitchev’s fourth album as leader and a constant on all of his music, is Brazilian-born Weber Ribeiro Drummond, a Latin Grammy-nominated classical jazz pianist who later changed his last name to Iago in honor of the Roma people (Gypsies). Both men are fixtures of the San Francisco Bay Area jazz scene and brothers in the music sense where playing off each other seems as natural as breathing. In 2009, Vitchev decided on recording an intimate duet, a classical portrait and chose Iago as his partner on The Secrets of An Angel.
That collaboration has led to this new venture where the duo join forces once again recording yet another bold and introspective album of classical-infused light jazz that tugs at the heart. You will not find swinging rhythms or...
Sue Halloran and Ken Hitchcock, “I Can Cook Too!”
By: Edward Blanco
Vocalist Sue Halloran and saxophonist Ken Hitchcock have spent decades in the music business with credits on Broadway, movies and TV, and for the most part doing so separately. Their paths have crossed only a few times with both being members of the New York Saxophone Quartet and the Red Parrot Night Club big band where they met and have been together ever since. I Can Cook Too! Is actually their very first recording collaboration and a tribute to two loves, their love for music and their love for each other. With Sue’s past history as a featured singer on big bands and Ken’s experience as a lead alto player on other bands, performing the music of standards is something they also have in common, love and have chosen as the focus on this new disc.
Though not technically a big band album...