The News Review:
- Cephas & Wiggins coming to Jeff Center
- Al Basile – The Tinge
- Uganda: Ambitious Shot At a Grammy
Cephas & Wiggins coming to Jeff Center
Roanoke Times – Feb 19, 2008
“I could live four lives and not learn everything there is to know. And he’s fortunate to be in a genre that doesn’t reject most of its elderly. That’s because the blues is about the words and music more than image he said. “Blues expresses in words day to day experiences. It adds emotionally to that with the blues music progression — you know it’s blues… That’s because the blues is about the words and music more than image he said. “Blues expresses in words day to day experiences. It adds emotionally to that with the blues music progression — you know it’s blues. Poetry in song is what it is and people can relate to it.
Al Basile – The Tinge
Jazz-Quad – Feb 19, 2008
His recordings prove that he’s a bard of the blues. In addition to his own recordings Al’s recent activity includes appearing as a featured cornet player on Dave Gross’ Take the Gamble in 2006 and he continues to work with long-time friend Duke Robillard on a number of his projects. In addition to playing on Blue Mood Duke’s T-Bone Walker tribute record nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2004 Basile also appeared on the A Special Evening with Duke Robillard and Friends DVD released in 2005 played on and wrote for Robillard’s Grammy-nominated Guitar Groove-a-Rama album and co-wrote the title tune on Duke’s latest release World Full of Blues.
Uganda: Ambitious Shot At a Grammy
AllAfrica.com – Feb 19, 2008
GA_googleFillSlot( “AllAfrica_Story_Inset” );Although the award eventually went to South Africa’s Soweto Gospel Choir for its album African Spirit – the group’s second triumph at the prestigious award after last year’s win with the album Blessed – Uganda had already made history and East Africa had its crucial introduction at an international music forum. For the South Africans the award consolidates the country’s roots in acapella music first exposed internationally by Black Mambazo who are previous award winners from that country in the same category. The Ugandan album is a compilation of 14 songs by an equal number of musical groups in Uganda all spreading awareness on HIV and Aids in the country and reaching out to the afflicted. It was produced by American ethnomusicologist Gregory Barz author of the book Singing for Life which also deals with the issue of HIV infection and efforts to contain it in Uganda… This issue is crucial for recording artistes who cannot depend on home markets and have to look elsewhere for sales and other music related business. It may not matter as much to South Africans and North African who can survive on domestic sales and the Grammy only offers bonus sales in the global market. Nomination for the World Music category may thus frustrate Kidjo’s efforts for her deserved breakthrough into the big league and the award might not help her career. But for Uganda the nomination will see the album not only enjoying deserved exposure in its category but also open the way for other releases from the East African region. n the whole a win at the awards shows Africans that they need not wait to retire or pass on before winning international acclaim as was the case with Malian blues guitarist Ali Farka Toure who won his second Grammy posthumously. The triumph this year by Herbie Hancock’s album River: The Joni Mitchell Letters which won the overall Best Album of the Year award is expected to be a major boost for traditional jazz which despite its prestige as virtuoso music has waned in prominence in the increasingly commercialised music industry.