Legendary jazz musician Chick Corea dies aged 79


Legendary jazz fusion musician Chick Corea has died at the age of 79.

Corea, who played piano in Miles Davis‘ band, passed away on Tuesday (February 9). According to a statement on his official Facebook page, the Grammy-winner had been suffering from “a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently”.

“Throughout his life and career, Chick relished in the freedom and the fun to be had in creating something new, and in playing the games that artists do,” the post continued.

“He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather, and a great mentor and friend to so many. Through his body of work and the decades he spent touring the world, he touched and inspired the lives of millions.”

The statement also included a message written by Corea shortly before he passed away in which he reflected on his lengthy career. You can see the full post below.

It is with great sadness we announce that on February 9th, Chick Corea passed away at the age of 79, from a rare form of…

Posted by Chick Corea on Thursday, February 11, 2021

“I want to thank all of those along my journey who have helped keep the music fires burning bright,” he wrote. “It is my hope that those who have an inkling to play, write, perform or otherwise, do so. If not for yourself then for the rest of us. It’s not only that the world needs more artists, it’s also just a lot of fun.”

The message continued: “And to my amazing musician friends who have been like family to me as long as I’ve known you: It has been a blessing and an honor learning from and playing with all of you. My mission has always been to bring the joy of creating anywhere I could, and to have done so with all the artists that I admire so dearly—this has been the richness of my life.”

Born in Massachusetts in 1941, Corea joined Miles Davis’ band in the late 1960s and contributed to a number of his albums, including ‘A Tribute To Jack Johnson’, ‘On The Corner’, ‘In A Silent Way’ and ‘Bitches Brew’.

Corea left Davis’ group in 1970 to form his own band. He won 23 Grammy awards over the course of his career, receiving a total of 67 nominations from the Recording Academy.





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New York Festival Series Features 300 Performances in 100 Days to Jumpstart Live Events


New York is jumpstarting the return of events with NY PopsUp, a free statewide festival dedicated to bringing back live concerts safely.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently made the announcement and showed his support for the revival of art and culture across the state. Needless to say, creative industries have been struggling throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and it’s time for them to thrive once again.

NY PopsUp runs from February 20th through Labor Day, featuring over 300 performances in 100 days across the five boroughs — The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. This “pilot program” will help determine how to bring back live events, while showcasing New York’s vast performing arts scene. Curated by Zack Winokur and in partnership with a council of artistic advisors.

Cuomo said in a release:

Creative synergies are vital for cities to survive, and our arts and cultural industries have been shut down all across the country, taking a terrible toll on workers and the economy. We want to be aggressive with reopening the State and getting our economy back on track, and NY PopsUp will be an important bridge to the broader reopening of our world-class performance venues and institutions. New York has been a leader throughout this entire pandemic, and we will lead once again with bringing back the arts.

NY PopsUp performers include Amy Schumer, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aparna Nancherla, Billy Porter, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Chris Rock, Dev Hynes, Hugh Jackman, Idina Menzel, Jon Batiste, Sarah Jessica Parker, Q-Tip, Kenan Thompson and many, many more to be announced.

The concept utilizes New York’s existing parks and structures to create pop up stages across the city. Plus, multidisciplinary flexible venues aka “flex venues” — open entertainment spaces without fixed seating, which allow for better social distancing practices. Flex venues include The SHED, The Apollo, Harlem Stage, La MaMa and The Glimmerglass Festival’s Alice Busch Opera Theater.

NY PopsUp events will strictly adhere to COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.

 

Source: Billboard



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Felix Cartal Announces Chopped Up Challenge for Producers

Producer challenges and remix contests seem to have exploded in popularity since the beginning of global lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists like Kill The Noise, Seven Lions, and The Midnight have all played host to a slew of contests and now, Felix Cartal is presenting his own producer challenge.





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HARD pits artists against professional gamers in new TRY HARDs series


by: Farrell Sweeney


Feb 11, 2021

A little healthy competition never hurt anyone, which is exactly what the launch of HARD Events‘ newest show series, TRY HARDs, will aim to prove. Electronic music favorites will face off against professional gamers in their games of choice throughout the weekly show series, which is set to be hosted on Twitch.

In every episode of TRY HARDs, two DJs will take on two professional gamers, and artists such as Cheat Codes, Wax Motif, Chris Lorenzo, Born Dirty, and Dani from Gladiator have already been announced. Professional Gamers and celebrities set to play in week one are AJ Mitchell, Renée Reynosa, Di3seL, kenjiGX, and JTheReaper.

Season one of TRY HARDs will feature six weeks of streaming with three episodes of gaming and one recap show. Each daily broadcast will center around a gaming theme, with Mondays focusing on lighthearted titles like Super Smash Bros, Fall Guys, and Rocket League. Tuesdays will revolve around first-person shooters such as Call of Duty and battle royale titles such as Fortnite. Wednesdays will tackle sports games like FIFA and NBA 2K. Fridays will be hosted by TRY HARDs host Brittani Johnson as she recaps the week’s highlights with behind the scenes footage and gaming news updates.

For those looking to tune into the action, TRYHARDs will be available via Insomniac’s streaming platforms.

HARD Events pits artists against professional gamers in new TRY HARDs seriesInsomniac TRY HARDs Stream Schedule

Featured image: Fortnite Party Royale

Tags: Brittani Johnson, call of duty, Cheat Codes, Fall Guys, fifa, fortnite, hard events, insomniac, NBA2K, rocket league, Super Smash Bros, TRY HARDs, Twitch, Wax Motif

Categories: News






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Primus’ Les Claypool and Metallica’s Robert Trujillo dual in new western-inspired short film


Primus‘ Les Claypool has shared a western movie-inspired short film in which he appears alongside Metallica‘s Robert Trujillo – you can watch it below.

The five-and-a-half-minute Precious Metals, which landed on Primus’ official YouTube channel yesterday (February 10), is described as a “Northern California Gold Rush story [with] a surprise twist you didn’t see coming.

“Thrills, chills, suspense, and groove that won’t quit. Precious Metals, a 5 star film for the masses.”

Beginning with a soundtrack from Claypool himself, the short finds the musician – who’s dressed as a cowboy – roaming around a desert location with a metal detector. “There’s some nice stone right there,” he mutters.

Later, Claypool eventually unearths his Pachyderm Gold EMG bass pickups before his hat is shot off by a rival cowboy – none other than Robert Trujillo. “You come for my gold, hey?” Claypool asks. “Crafty!”

Precious Metals, shot and edited by Claypool’s son Cage, then segues into a funk-heavy bass-off between the pair in what appears to be a dingy western bar.

“As a veteran music video director and wannabe filmmaker, it swells my chest with puffy pride to see my son Cage delve into the world of cinematography and excel at it,” Claypool explained.

“He blows me away with his skill set, perspective, work ethic and ease of collaboration. That’s my boy!!”

Last December, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich said that the band’s best album was yet to come. The drummer promised that the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Hardwired…To Self-Destruct’ will be the “coolest” and “heaviest” record they’ve ever made.





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Your EDM Premiere: TINYKVT – Take Me Away


Having released a couple collaborations in 2020 with Zabo and SWARM, TINYKVT at last releases her debut solo original in 2021 with “Take Me Away.”

Taking advantage of her incredible voice and years and years of production knowledge, TINYKVT expertly crafts “Take Me Away,” a brilliant blend of melodic bass, vocal elegance, and a grimy second drop. The multifaceted single hits on multiple levels from the feelsy to headbanging, showing off TINYKVT’s deft skills in the studio.

Check out “Take Me Away” early below, out everywhere tomorrow via Motherwolf!



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A Documentary About Legendary Electronic Outfit The Prodigy is in the Works

The history of the legendary electronic band, The Prodigy, is complex, striking, and powerful. Fans have watched the band evolve over the last three decades, up to and beyond the tragic passing of frontman Keith Flint in March 2019. Now, band members, Maxim and Liam Howlett feel it’s time to share The Prodigy’s story on the big screen. 





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Casual T Returns in Style With New Single “Transcendence”


Travis Drews is Casual T. The Austin-based DJ/producer broke out in 2018 with his Lovers? EP, but has been quiet since. Attacking new styles of dance music within the same margins of his signature style, Casual T returns with his first single of the year, “Transcendence.” Although filed under electro-pop, this Casual T original boasts a dark, looming aura that sharpens its shimmery edges. With mutated and immersive synths as its backbone, “Transcendence” feels like surround sound on any speaker. These aural worlds are electrifying and complex while remaining accessible to dance music enthusiasts of any sub-genre.

With sounds as sure of themselves as these, it makes sense they were born from personal revelations. Speaking on “Transcendence” Casual T writes, “‘Transcendence’ represents a bridge between the Lovers? Ep and the future of Casual T. I’m moving away from writing love songs and closer toward capturing the visceral, powerful emotions that make electronic music so exciting. Transcendence is about letting go of the toxic people and habits that stop you from being your best self. It is about growing greater than you had thought possible and coming into your own. It’s about transcending and becoming who you are meant to be.” 

An impressive 2021 debut for the budding producer, “Transcendence” is masterful, enthralling, and entirely sure of itself.





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Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo is working on a film musical, ‘Buddha Superstar’


Weezer‘s Rivers Cuomo has revealed that he’s working on a film musical called Buddha Superstar, as well as providing an update on the group’s upcoming “four-album” project.

The Los Angeles band, whose latest record ‘OK Human’ arrived last month, recently said that their “next idea is a four-album set, where each LP corresponds to one of the four seasons”.

  • READ MORE: Weezer: “This album is about feeling isolated, alienated and secluded – it’s perfect for now”

In a new interview with The Forty-Five, frontman Cuomo revealed that the overall project will carry the title ‘Weezer Seasons’, with each of its records comprising eight tracks.

“[The albums are] called ‘Spring’, ‘Summer’, ‘Fall’ and ‘Winter’,” he explained, revealing that the debut instalment will arrive on the first day of spring this year.

He also told the outlet that a musical movie is in the works, which is being helmed by a producer attached to Green Day’s American Idiot show.

Weezer. CREDIT: Getty

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long,” Cuomo said. “I think I just needed somebody else to come along and really encourage me.”

The frontman recently described the spring instalment of ‘Weezer Seasons’ as “breezy island”. He also cited Franz Ferdinand as an inspiration for the autumn “dance rock” record, and said the winter edition will channel “’90s singer-songwriters like Elliott Smith“.

Cuomo said last month that the European dates for Weezer’s Hella Mega Tour with Green Day and Fall Out Boy were still scheduled to go ahead this summer. The joint run of dates, which was due to hit the UK, Europe and US in 2020, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reviewing ‘OK Human’, NME wrote: “Weezer have delivered an album that’s intimate, thoughtful and resolutely human.





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Felix Cartal and Kiiara Team Up for Unconventional Party Anthem, “Happy Hour”

Felix Cartal and Kiiara have joined forces for an uplifting new party anthem, “Happy Hour.” 





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