As the new year approaches, you are sure to see several “what-to-expect-in-2012″ posts across the blogosphere. I will contribute to that meme as I always do, but prior to that, I must sum-up the year now concluding. This year, I review my thoughts and actions in the form of an awards show, the first annual “Ed Awards.” The categories will be random, but they signify important actions and events occurring in 2011.

So, without further a-do, I present the first annual, 2011 Ed Awards.

Best Movie

Nominees:

D’Lovely

The Duchess

2011 Ed Award winner: D’Lovely

Keep in mind – I am not a movie buff. I’m not current on movie trends; that is why a 2004 movie won this award. D’Lovely chronicles (more…)

About three quarters of the way through her concert, alto sax prodigy Grace Kelly mentions to the audience that her concerts are “like roller coaster rides.” “It’s just because I love so many types of music,” Kelly says.

If she had only played the forty minutes after making that statement, audience members at the Salem State University recital hall would have ridden the wildest musical coaster ever, hearing everything from free-form jazz, to Great American Songbook standards, and original compositions so complex that any sense of harmony and time was lost. As a finale, she played a funked-out version of the Gershwins’ Summertime. Since that tune has been performed a million times by everyone (including myself) in just about every style, I was anxious to hear what she could do with it.

She didn’t disappoint. Funky it was, with a screaming bepop-style jam style at the end, trading fours with trumpet player Jason Palmer, while her trio rocked behind her.

It’s not hard to hear that Kelly has the experience to play a full concert of any one style.

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Have you been to an opera? The music is lush, and often complicated. The plots? Not so much. So that makes opera plots ripe for panning and snarkiness in a 140 character Twitter post, and this year, thousands of entries were tweeted as part of the #operaplot 2011 contest on Twitter.

The entries were edgy, somewhat clever, and often hilarious. Take a look at these imaginative examples:

“Damn woman wants some power . Get her daughter to destroy her. With a a FLUTE! Talk about Freudian.” (The Magic Flute)

“Girl 1: Unfaithful. Girl 2: Sickly. Girl 3: Flighty. Girl 4: Robotic (The Tales of Hoffman)

“Don Jose to Carmen: “Never gonna give you up, never gonna make you cry,  never gonna run around and desert you.” (Carmen)

“One of these days Carmen . . . bang!  zoom! To the  . . immediate vicinity of the bull ring.” (Carmen)

“Anti-smoking message: stay away from girls in cigarette factory. One way or another it’ll kill you. And her” (Carmen)

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Jane Monheit performs with her trio at Scullers Jazz Club

Trying to find the correct adjective to describe Jane Monheit’s vocal talent is like trying to finds words to describe the most perfect moment you’ve ever had in your life. Smooth, silky, luscious, powerful, dramatic, soul-stirring, haunting, the list goes on and on.

And trying to avoid all the cliches that articulate female jazz singers is an exercise in futility. Chanteuse? Most definitely. Sophisticated? Check. Bawdy? Most assuredly, but not in a distasteful way. Worldly? She’s recorded and toured for a decade, and played every form of venue from intimate jazz club concert hall. She’s performed with any combination of instrumentalists, from solo piano and jazz trio, to brassy big bands and full orchestras, and she’s recorded with a variety of singers and instrumentalists from Michael Buble to violinist/fiddler Mark O’Connor.

The Long Island native also claims her own Wikipedia entry, bunches of You Tube pings, and enough Google image tags to rival Sarah Brightman or Shakira. (more…)

It may sound odd to the average person, a singer of east European descent gaining worldwide acclaim singing Brazilian sambas and boss novas, but sing them she does, and possibly in ways that no one else can.

The singer is Basia, and truth be told, everything she sings can be considered a masterpiece.

Known mostly for her original songs written in Brazilian style, the Polish-born singer songwriter posses a remarkable set of pipes, and a masterful knack for vocal arrangements that make her recordings and live performances practically orgasmic. And on November 7, fans in Boston trekked their way to Sculler’s Jazz Club for a powerhouse Sunday afternoon two-hour set, which included time-honored Basia favorites including Time and Tide, Cruising for a Bruising,and Baby, Your Mine.

Music enthusiasts who find the time to study Basia’s recordings will not only find a plethora of contemporary styles among her discography, (she’s just as comfortable singing against swing, rock, or funk beats) but also be astounded by the musicianship displayed by the vocal interplay between Basia and her background singers. With other artists, this part of the tapestry is usually the first casualty of budget-conscious record company execs once tour time rolls around. With Basia however, background singers are a necessary part of the touring roster, and they stand at the front of the stage with her. The happy result? A live performance that practically duplicates recorded sessions, note for note.

For this performance, Basia was backed by a four-piece band including long-time collaborator Danny White on keyboards. The ensemble equalled its leader in essence of style, setting the table masterfully for whatever genre Basia was performing. She pointed out that each player was a composer and recording artist themselves, and graciously gave each of them more than a few moments to shine.

In the end, you could argue that this performance lived up to the tired cliche that the whole was greater than the sum of its (pretty damn good) parts, but instead, I’ll opine that putting these particular parts together gives you a whole that was simply masterful.

In the time I’ve been doing social media and online branding, I’ve kept under wraps the one thing that was a major part of my life for many years; I am a musician, I play the saxophone and flute. Need proof? Check out this link.

Although there are many reasons for hiding this fact, I won’t go into them here. All that matters now is this:

I’ll be happy to work with you on your project/podcast/film/art project/blog post/branding concept/whatever-you-need-help-with if you desire music and a saxophone.

Need some original theme music for your podcast? (more…)