In Touch Blog

At Last, a Label Goes Digital

For years Dan Storper would get an occasional phone call from an executive at iTunes or the Amazon MP3 store, asking the same question every time: “Have you changed your mind yet?”

Jerry Leiber, Prolific Writer of 1950s Hits, Dies at 78

Jerry Leiber, the lyricist who, with his partner, Mike Stoller, wrote some of the most enduring classics in the history of rock ’n’ roll, including “Hound Dog,” “Yakety Yak,” “Stand By Me” and “On Broadway,” died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 78. More...

Nick Ashford, of Motown Writing Duo, Dies at 70

Nick Ashford, who with Valerie Simpson, his songwriting partner and later wife, wrote some of Motown’s biggest hits, like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough“ and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” and later recorded their own hits and toured as a duo, died Monday at a hospital in New York City. He was 70 and lived in Manhattan. More...

A Village Person Tests the Copyright Law

The prefab, gaudily costumed 1970s group the Village People and its big hit “Y.M.C.A.” are enduring symbols of the disco era. But now this campy and eternally popular song has become the centerpiece of what could be a significant test of copyright law. More...

Despite the Odds, a Jazz Label Finds a Way to Thrive

Steve Coleman and Five Elements were deep into one of their horizonless, hypnotic inventions at the Newport Jazz Festival this month, and the tent-sheltered crowd seemed duly absorbed. Mr. Coleman’s alto saxophone slashed through the air, often in off-kilter counterpoint with the vocalist Jen Shyu. The shifting rhythmic base was punctuated by the drummer Tyshawn Sorey, who called to mind an octopus, limbs moving in steady flow. It was all a vivid barometer reading from Mr. Coleman’s pressure system and, by extension, a reflection on Pi Recordings, his current label home. More...

Record Industry Braces for Artists’ Battles Over Song Rights

Since their release in 1978, hit albums like Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” Billy Joel’s “52nd Street,” the Doobie Brothers’ “Minute by Minute,” Kenny Rogers’s “Gambler” and Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under a Groove” have generated tens of millions of dollars for record companies. But thanks to a little-noted provision in United States copyright law, those artists — and thousands more — now have the right to reclaim ownership of their recordings, potentially leaving the labels out in the cold. More...

Google Honors Les Paul With A Recordable Guitar Doodle

Google created an interactive doodle that commemorates legendary guitarist Les Paul who was born on this date (June 9) in 1915. The doodle is a virtual guitar that lets you play a tune and save it for posterity. You can use your keyboard or mouse to compose your ditty, but you may have to live in the US to take part. [Google]

Cornell Dupree, Guitarist and Sideman to the Stars, Dies at 68

Cornell Dupree, a guitarist whose quietly bluesy style made him an in-demand session musician throughout the 1960s and ’70s for artists like Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon and Ringo Starr, died May 8 at his home in Fort Worth. He was 68. More...

Jazz for Japan Auction Ending Today

You are invited to participate in an online silent auction to raise money for the victims of Japan's recent catastrophic events. Please click the link below to view the auction on 32auctions.

Jazz for Japan Auction

If you do not wish to bid on an item but would like to make a donation to help the victims of these tragic events, please click on this link Donate to Japan.

We hope that together we can help make a difference.

You may visit the link below to view the auction:

Silent Auction

Auction ID: jazzjapanauction 
Auction Password: Japan157

(download)

Click here to download:

Jazz_for_Japan_Auction_Ending_.zip (7.42 MB)

To Tug Hearts, Music First Must Tickle the Neurons

The other day, Paul Simon was rehearsing a favorite song: his own “Darling Lorraine,” about a love that starts hot but turns very cold. He found himself thinking about a three-note rhythmic pattern near the end, where Lorraine (spoiler alert) gets sick and dies. More...