Jazz & Blues

Heavy Oinking:
Big News From
Blind Pig

The readers of BluesWax, a top blues publication, have voted Tommy Castro's latest Blind Pig album Painkiller as Album of the Year 2007. The win gives Castro four total BluesWax awards (Artist of the Year in 2002 and 2006, and Album of the Year in 2003) and he has the distinction of being the first two-time Album of the Year award winner.

During his 17-year career, Castro has established himself as one of the most popular artists in the blues arena. Having perfected a unique brand of blue-collar rock and soul music, he and his band consistently put on tight, crowd-pleasing performances. In addition to the aforementioned awards, Painkiller is nominated for a 2008 Blues Music Award as "Contemporary Blues Album of the Year" and Castro is a nominee for "B.B. King Entertainer of the Year."
Released in January 2007, Painkiller garnered unanimous praise as one of the best albums in Castro's distinguished career. Vintage Guitar said, "Tommy Castro's pure Fender tone, whiskey-and-cigarette voice, and knack for writing a great tune are about as good as it gets on the blues circuit these days." Blueswax agreed, asserting "The Tommy Castro Band is one of the best bands on tour today. Castro is a credit to the Blues as he connects the past with the future. This may be Castro's finest vintage."
Castro, currently on the road with The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue Tour, said, "I'd like to thank my co-writers and the band and producer John Porter. This is really a shared award and we are all honored. This awards means so much to all of us because it comes from the people who actually get out and buy the music. It shows that what we do is well received and that the people who really count and are supporting live music appreciate the hard work that we put in every day. We make music for those people and that makes this award that much more special. Thanks BluesWax and thanks to the readers and fans everywhere that continue to support us."

Blind Pig Records also announced that it will begin issuing 180 gram virgin vinyl LPs. The first three titles to be released as part of the "Master Vinyl Series" will be The Lost Tapes by Muddy Waters, Drinkin' TNT 'n' Smokin' Dynamite by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, and Painkiller by Tommy Castro. These limited edition pressings will be released on May 6, the same date as Blind Pig's CD release by Kenny Neal, Let Life Flow.
"This is in response to the growing audiophile market for high-quality LPs," said label president Edward Chmelewski. "And for those of us who fondly remember listening to LPs in the 60s and 70s, it's a lot of fun to return to that format. For one, it's great to have the larger artwork canvas afforded by the LP packaging, and the warmth and depth of the sound quality on these new versions is amazing. And it's kind of cool to come full circle back to the LP, the only format we were selling when we started the label in 1977."

Horace Silver:
An Unexpected Gem

When Horace Silver and Art Blakey formed an unlikely co-operative band called the Jazz Messengers in 1955, their goal was to make jazz accessible again to listeners by infusing their music with a blues and gospel feeling, thus ushering in the hard bop era. When the pair parted ways the next year, each went on to record as leaders, Blakey keeping the name Jazz Messengers and Silver giving birth to his quintet, which until he enlisted trumpeter Blue Mitchell in 1959 went through periodic personnel shifts. In 1956, "Senor Blues" not only made him famous but also a marquee performer.
In fact, in 1958, Silver and his recently assembled new quintet-including the supremely talented but under-recognized trumpeter Louis Smith along with tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor and drummer Louis Hayes-headlined the Newport Jazz Festival, performing the final set of the Sunday show with extended renditions of "Senor Blues," as well as "Cool Eyes" (also from Six Pieces of Silver), "The Outlaw" and "Tippin'." Previously unreleased, this historic concert-a rare official document of Silver in a live setting-sees the light of day for the first time on Blue Note Records as Live at Newport '58.
The album is produced by Michael Cuscuna, who originally discovered the documented concert in the Library of Congress' tape archives of the Voice of America broadcasts. He then tracked down a professionally recorded three-track master in Columbia Records' vault (the entire Newport Festival that year was recorded under the supervision of George Avakian). Live at Newport '58 continues the informal Blue Note series of valuable previously unreleased recordings, such as Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall and Charles Mingus Sextet With Eric Dolphy: Cornell 1964.
In his liner notes, Cuscuna writes, "Horace Silver is a dichotomy. He is one of the most meticulous and organized musicians in modern jazz and yet one of the funkiest." Explaining the album's significance, Cuscuna says "I came upon this Newport performance and was struck by the fact that a full performance during Louis Smith's brief tenure with the group existed and that they actually performed 'Tippin,' a little known Silver original that was recorded three weeks earlier as the flip side of the vocal version of 'Senor Blues.'"
Going on to explain how Silver had come up with the song and why he neglected to put it on his next album, Cuscuna says that when he spoke with Silver years later, he told him, "We were between albums, so I thought I should write something for the back side of the single instead of using something off the older albums. I guess that it was forgotten by the time we were planning the next album."
Noting that he has high standards as far as fidelity and performance go, Cuscuna says, "I want to continue finding material that offers something unique. This was Horace at his glory. His solos are great and you can hear the way he used to comp, stoking the fire for the rest of the band. Hearing him live, you realize what a great piano player he was. Horace was a perfectionist who didn't like to record live, so this is a rare opportunity to hear him in this setting."
Cuscuna concludes his liners by writing: "It would be easy to call this Horace's golden era, but he never stopped writing great compositions or putting together great bands. But this early chapter in the history of [his quintet] is a wonderful performance and a valuable addition to his discography."

Hip Hop

Katt Williams:
'Pimpin, Pimpin'
In Westbury

      Hot comic and actor Katt Williams will perform at North Fork Theatre at Wesbury on Friday, March 7 as part of his current "It's Pimpin, Pimpin" tour. Tickets begin at $46.50 and are available at the box office, all Ticketmaster locations including Ticketmaster.com, by calling (631) 888-9000, or by logging on to livenation.com. For more information, call (516) 334-0800.
Best-known for his breakout role in three seasons of Nick Cannon's MTV improv show, "Wild N' Out," along with his role as "Money Mike" in the comedy film Friday After Next, Williams' standup routines are laying the blueprint for a new generation of comics. More recently, Williams starred in First Sunday with Ice Cube and Tracey Morgan. He also was named by Rolling Stone as "the hottest new comedian."

Def Jam Launches
New Mobile Service

      Flycell, Inc., a mobile and online media and entertainment company, and Island Def Jam Music Group have announced an exclusive agreement to create IDJ Mobile, a first-of-its-kind, label-centric mobile subscription service. IDJ Mobile will offer fans exclusive online and mobile content such as ringtones, graphics, games, and text services, as well as label news, artist mobile blogs, and sweepstakes for prizes such as VIP backstage passes to concerts. Kanye West will be the flagship artist for the new venture.
Under the deal, Flycell will power IDJ Mobile with its mobile billing and content delivery platform, and promote the service by leveraging and expanding Island Def Jam’s online and mobile presence. Island Def Jam will provide exclusive artist content and ongoing marketing and promotional support online and offline.
“This deal is a great example of Island Def Jam’s strategy to create new and exciting customer experiences and revenue streams in the mobile and online space through partnerships with innovative companies. We look forward to delivering exclusive mobile content by the world-class artists on our roster, starting with Kanye West,” said Christian Jorg, Senior Vice President of New Media and Commerce at Island Def Jam.
IDJ Mobile will be available to Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Virgin Mobile, Boost, Alltel, Cellular One, Metro PCS and Suncom subscribers. Added Adrian Rubio, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Flycell, “Kanye West is without a doubt one of the most important and influential artists of recent years and we are thrilled to have him as the launching act for IDJ Mobile. Like no other before, this service delivers exclusive content and a truly engaging cross-platform experience that goes beyond ringtones to deliver real value to fans.”
The Island Def Jam Music Group is home to a multi-cultural and diverse family of artists and has fast become one of the most successful labels in the industry. It is comprised of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings, and is in partnerships with Disturbing Tha Peace and Slip N Slide. The roster boasts an array of artists including Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, The Killers, The-Dream, Melissa Etheridge, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, NAS, Bon Jovi, Ludacris, Lionel Richie, Rihanna, Hoobastank, Sum 41, Rick Ross , Young Jeezy and Ne-Yo.
For more information concerning Flycell, visit flycell.com.

Missy Elliott:
Name My Album

       Five-time Grammy Award winner Missy Elliott is giving fans the opportunity to name her new album, due out on Goldmind/Atlantic late this spring. Fans can enter immediately via Missy's website, missy-elliott.com. The contest closes on February 20, and the winner will be announced on March. The winner will receive credit on Missy's new album and a $500 "Respect Me" Adidas gift card.
Fans have already gotten a sneak peek of what Elliott has been up to with "Ching-A-Ling," a new song which, along with Elliott's "Shake Your Pom Pom," will appear on both the Step Up 2 The Streets soundtrack, now out, as well as on Elliott's forthcoming seventh studio album (due out Spring 2008). The Step Up 2 soundtrack is the musical companion to the new Touchstone Pictures dance film of the same name.

The radio response to "Ching-A-Ling" has been instantaneous and reactionary, and the song, which received a four-star review in Rolling Stone Magazine, has garnered more than 15 million in audience response after just a few weeks of airplay. In addition, Elliot has teamed up with longtime visual collaborator Dave Meyers and the Walt Disney Company's Touchstone Pictures to make history by creating the music video for "Ching-A-Ling."
The singer made recent live appearances on MTV's "TRL" and BET's "106th & Park" to premiere the video. The glasses needed to view the 3D effects are available via FYE stores nationwide, at select Adidas stores, and via radio giveaways in various cities hosting Step Up 2 movie screenings. For more 3D glasses distribution locations, visit missy-elliott.com or myspace.com/missyelliott.
Elliott enjoyed a wide variety of successes in 2007: from writing and producing songs for Fantasia and Keyshia Cole, including Cole's Grammy-nominated "Let It Go"; to being paid tribute at VH-1's Hip Hop Honors and receiving the "Creative Visionary Award" at the second annual Black Girls Rock Awards Show at Lincoln Center; to remixing country with hip hop for the national television advertising campaign for Doritos Collisions. And, yes, that was Missy Elliott in the Pepsi Super Bowl commercial.