Tune Up

Holiday season

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:40:04 +0200

I won't post anything for a good two weeks, enjoy this holiday season!!

Arthur Miller

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:20:50 +0200

The New York Tilmes has a review ofChristopher Bigsby's bio on Arthur Miller here! Enjoy the read!

BBC Tribute to Bud Shank

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:32:25 +0200

Klik hier

Charlie Mariano R.I.P.

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:45:52 +0200

Got this message today :

Dear friends and colleagues,

today I have the sad task of informing you that Charlie Mariano is no longer among us, he "checked out" this morning.
Email is not how I would have wanted to pass on this message to you, but due to his great number of friends, I am not able to call each of you personally.

We will miss his voice, we will miss his humor, and all of you who over the years had the good luck of playing together with him will feel the loss.

He had spent the last weeks in the Mildred Scheel Hospiz where he was given the best possible care. His wife Dorothee had been caring for him lovingly for months. His daughter from the US had come to be with him. Many of you had visisted him during the last months. He was not alone.

Tonite I will sit down to listen to his music. Two new CDs recorded within the last year are to be released, one with Chaouki Smahi and Billy Cobham, one with Jasper and Philip Catherine. At 85 he was still blowing beautifully, touching the hearts of his audience.

An era of great jazz players seems to be nearing it´s end. Please carry on the spirit of great music to which Charlie dedicated his life. Remember him as someone who played with everyone and everywhere, never could say no to anyone wanting him to join-up for a gig. Remember him as a musician who was held in great esteem but other musicians as well as by the listeners for besides his great music he was a sweet, and may I mention it; good-looking man. He was a friend and his loss will be felt dearly.

Sam Butera R.I.P.

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:12:30 +0200

Sam Butera passed away last week, read more about him here.

Art Pepper

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:15:08 +0200

You can find a press release about the 4th volume in the Art Pepper Unreleased shows Widows Taste series here.

Looking forward to this one!!!

Jerry Moore R.I.P.

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:43:54 +0200

Not much significance unless you collect live shows, but legendary Grateful Dead taper Jerry Moore passed away yesterday...He was a legend in music circles as he along with Barry Glassberg, Louis Falanga, Rob Bertrando, Bob Menke etc. were among the pioneers of audience taping of shows and it is due to them some gems exist to this day...Interestingly the Grateful Dead used some of those recordings in their legal releases as there was no other evidence of those shows that existed in their own vaults...If you have heard some great sounding 70's recordings of bands like the Dead, The Band, Floyd you are bound to have heard the handiwork of such folks...I never bothered to find out whether these heavyweights were ever involved in recording MO in their prime period...I am sure they were as these were all NY based folks...

David Carradine R.I.P.

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:39:19 +0200

David Carradine was found dead in his hotelroom in Bangkok this morning. Read more here!

R.I.P. Billy VerPlanck

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:22:00 +0200

I received this email yesterday from a music list i'm on...

"Dear Friends
It is indeed a very sad day for me to convey this message to all of you.
Marlene"

____________________________________

J. Billy VerPlanck passed away in Hackensack Hospital on Tuesday, June 2,
2009. A mass will be held on Friday, June 5th at 10:30am, St. Clare's
Church, 31 Allwood Rd, Clifton NJ. Internment is at Mount Olivet Cemetery,
Bloomfield.

Known as Billy throughout the music world, he was born in Norwalk Ct. in
1930 He began his musical career at age fifteen playing trombone with the
Jess Stacey Band. He went on to play and write arrangements for all the big
bands (Charlie Spivak, Claude Thornhill, Jimmy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet), of
his generation, culminating his road days with his idol, Tommy Dorsey.
For the next forty years he was one of the busiest studio arrangers and
conductors in New York, writing every thing from jingles, films,
documentaries, record dates, as well as producing 20 cd's for his wife, Marlene
VerPlanck. His passion for music was all consuming and he never wrote an
indifferent note in his life.

Among his other interests he loved life, traveling the world with his
wife, enjoying great food and wine, the New York Mets, his country and his
fellow man. He was a diehard advocate of free enterprise and tried to
convert anyone who would listen to his beliefs.
Details of Billy's career can be found at: _www.marleneverplanck@aol.com.
_ (http://www.marleneverplanck@aol.com. ) Click on Billy's page.

Billy is survived by his wife, Marlene, of 52 years, his sister in law,
Barbara Marshall, his brother in law, Phil and his wife, Arlene Pampinella
and extended nieces, nephews and cousins. A sister Anne Durland preceeded
him in death in 2008.

In honor of Billy's love of jazz, a scholarship has been established at
William Paterson University. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to
the J. Billy VerPlanck Jazz Scholarship Fund: c/o Office of Institutional
Advancement. William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Road, Wayne, NJ 07470

Elmore Leonard : Road Dogs

Fri, 29 May 2009 20:37:07 +0200

One can start his weekend reading with a NYT review of Elmore Leonards latest novel 'Road Dogs'.

Or with the novel itself of course

James Ellroy - Blood's a rover update

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:00:10 +0200

I wish i was the owner of this advance reader's adition.. anyway we can only hope it will appear as soon as possible. Why?

Well after Blood's a Rover Mr. Ellroy will publish a memoir ('The Hilliker Curse) on his relationship with women and then will resume his fiction work set in 1948 Los Angeles with as far as i can decipher Dudley Smith as main character.

More on the man and his work can be read here.

Noir of the Week

Mon, 04 May 2009 11:15:11 +0200

Film Noir is another of my favorite passtimes. Great filmreviews can be found here. I'll add it as well to the other blog links....

Spaghetti Westerns

Mon, 04 May 2009 11:00:10 +0200

I'm really a fan of Spaghetti Westerns and collecting a lot of them as well. Here's a blog i just found which seems quite interesting. I'll add it to the link to the Other Blogs references....

Updates

Sun, 03 May 2009 17:28:06 +0200

Sorry for the lack of updates, but life is quite hectic these days, eh weeks, eh months....

I'll try to foreinstall some posts in advance so these posts will appear automatically....

Bud Shank R.I.P.

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 09:47:38 +0200

Bud Shank passed away on april 2nd of pulmonary failure. More news to come. restn Peace Mr. Shank.