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WINTER NAMM 2021 CANCELLED. BELIEVE IN MUSIC WEEK ANNOUNCED 0

As many had feared, it was with much sadness that today we received official news of the cancellation of the physical 2021 Winter NAMM Show. However, in this morning’s video announcement NAMM CEO Joe Lamond asked the global music products industry to still come together in January for their virtual event Believe in Music Week.

“We’ve held off a long as we could but the reality is, there is no path forward at this time to bring our industry family together safely in Southern California at the NAMM Show,” said Joe Lamond.

“It’s hard to imagine isn’t it, it’s the first time not had a physical gathering in almost in 80 years and just like back then in times of trouble, the world has turned to music, the one thing everyone could believe in.”

“Today I would like to introduce Believe in Music Week, our global online gathering to unify and support the people that bring music to the world. This virtual event scheduled for our show dates in January will be fun, interactive and productive, using state of the art technology to connect us all… robust market place, to launch new products, share your brand story, ‘Believe in Music’ will also feature networking with AI facilitated match making for our buyers and our sellers… education for all our sectors of the industry and live music and concerts to raise awareness and financial support for our NAMM family, especially those in the live event and tour industry which has seen their world come to a halt with the global pandemic.”

“While in my opinion nothing can compare to the excitement of our global family reunion at the NAMM Show, this foray into the virtual world has been an exciting project and in some ways could bring new value to all involved .. pretty exciting and likely something we would not have jumped into had we not been forced to. We must all adapt and change I guess and why does that remind me of every NAMM U Session from the past decade?”

“While we are not out of the pandemic woods yet and we will likely see more news before it is over, Believe in Music will be a critical step for our industry to help us prepare for the new year and new opportunities.”

“We’ll have much more to share in the coming days but in the meantime let’s ll do our best to take care of each other. Many have thought of the NAMM community as a global family and being there for each other is just what family do right? Especially in times like this. In a world filled with uncertainty there is one thing that we can believe in and that’s music and we believe in the future of music and we believe in the future of our industry and we look forward to seeing you in January.”

Our association with our media, Australian Musician online, looks forward to participating in, supporting and covering Believe in Music Week and bringing you the latest product releases, performances and other news that comes out of this exciting week. Standby for more Believe in Music Week news as it comes to hand.

#BelieveInMusicWeek

WATCH: NATHAN CAVALERI ON HIS SINGLE 'BEFORE YOU CHECK OUT' 0

Interview Preview
WATCH: NATHAN CAVALERI ON HIS SINGLE 'BEFORE YOU CHECK OUT'
In this video snippet Nathan Cavaleri chats about the vintage guitar used on his new single Before You Check Out from his upcoming album Demons, released on August 6 (full interview closer to album release) #harmony #fenderguitars #gibsonguitars #fenderamps WATCH HERE

WATCH: PAUL KELLY & PAUL GRABOWSKY ‘PLEASE LEAVE YOUR LIGHT ON’ INTERVIEW 0

Paul Kelly and Paul Grabowsky today (July 31) release their collaborative album ‘Please Leave Your Light On’, which sees Kelly performing selections of his catalogue with new interpretations by Grabowsky on piano. Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips caught up with them both to discuss the making of the album

https://www.paulkellystore.com.au/

PAUL GRABOWSKY
Paul K and I first met in 1995 when I was making a series of television programs for the ABC about different aspect of music-making called ‘Access All Areas’. We filmed two different segments with him. One paired him with some throat singers from Tuva on a version of ‘Maralinga’, shot somewhere near Woomera on a train full of artists on their way to WOMAD. The other was a one-on-one interview which we shot in St Kilda; we talked about song writing. I was struck by the fact that Paul is driven by a similar impulse to my own, namely an ongoing fascination with music in its many forms. This deep curiosity has in recent years seen him explore different genres, introduce his love of poetry to his wide and receptive fan base, and record with me.

We first worked together on a project with the Australian Art Orchestra, called Meet Me in the Middle of the Air. That involved a ten-piece ensemble, small gospel choir, Vika and Linda Bull and Paul, singing my arrangements of songs of his which all had biblical references. It was great fun, and we toured it nationally in 2010.

Recently, I was asked to curate a series of concerts at the UKARIA Cultural Centre in Mt Barker, SA, in which I work in duo settings with various singers. I asked Paul and he agreed. It was apparent from the outset that the music was clicking, so Paul proposed that we record it.  The recording took place at Monash Uni Clayton Campus late in 2019 in a beautiful room that I had a hand in designing, called the David Li Sound Gallery. We were there for three days; it was all very relaxed.

All of the songs were already part of Paul’s extensive catalogue. I transcribed them, and adapted them for the piano/voice combination. In addition, I threw in a ballad by Cole Porter called ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’, which Paul delivers in an understated, sensitive way. The album has a classic ‘fireside’ feel, influenced by the Frank Sinatra/Nelson Riddle collaborations (particularly ‘In the Wee Small Hours’) and the Tony Bennett/ Bill Evans recordings (particular favourites of mine). The performances are intimate, and shine a light on lyrical moments from the Kelly oeuvre. Paul is a generous collaborator, always listening closely to what I am doing, and giving me the freedom to bring my own interpretation to the songs. I think people will hear, and hopefully enjoy, the deep communication that we are bringing to the performances.

PAUL KELLY
Paul G didn’t mention that we had worked together once before our Meet Me In the Middle of the Air collaboration. Sometime in the early nineties I was booked to perform my song Winter Coat on the Steve Vizard show. Paul was the musical director and had done a beautiful string arrangement which we ran through with the players – mostly young music students – at the sound check in the afternoon. It was all sounding really good. Come the performance, though, one of the violinists came in a bar early (or a bar late, I don’t remember which) and, doggedly fixed on the music in front of him, failed to adjust and so played the music one bar out all the way to the end of the song. I remember thinking ,“We can’t stop this, we’re live on national TV, so I’ll just keep singing. Surely, he’ll realize he’s out and stop and pick it up again in the right spot!” That didn’t happen, though, and a strange dissonance rang out all around the country. Weirdly, it kind of worked. The off-kilterness seemed to go with the lyrics. And, who knows, perhaps there are composers out there today who have been exploring experimental harmonic paths ever since.

So, of course, Winter Coat was the first song on my list when we started discussing titles for this record. We served it up straight this time but that first performance together, in a way, set a template for our collaborations since. The reason I love working with Paul is that he always surprises me. He’s endlessly fertile, turning my songs inside out and upside down (to quote Diana Ross) and finding things in them I didn’t know were there. And that makes me sing them differently. Singing with Paul is like walking a tightrope. It’s as if we are acrobats together. We have to pay serious attention to one another to pull the songs off. I like that.

As Paul mentioned, all the songs except one were written by me over many years. The most recent one, True To You, opens the album with a little nod to the Gershwin Brothers and it’s the only song that hasn’t appeared in another form on a previous record. We chose the other songs with a mind to their suitability for direct address, close, concentrated performance and room for silence to draw the listener in.
So, light the fire, make a hearty one-pot meal for the one you love, open a bottle of wine and get comfortable. Now drop the needle and turn up the stereo. There’s plenty of space here for all.  PK

VANESSA AMOROSI: ‘THE BLACKLISTED COLLECTION’ INTERVIEW 0

Vanessa Amorosi first came to our attention as the teenage pop sensation who blew us away in the year 2000 with her huge vocal performance on the hit single ‘Absolutely Everybody’, off her platinum selling debut album The Power. That album notched up six nominations at the ARIA awards and led to her singing “Heroes Live Forever” at the opening of the 2000 Sydney Olympics to great acclaim before a global TV viewing audience of billions.

Two decades and several acclaimed albums down the track, Vanessa remains one of Australia’s most exciting singers. Known for her dynamic vocal range, Vanessa has gone on to sell over two million records worldwide. After an extended recording hiatus, Vanessa returned in 2019 with the critically acclaimed album ‘Back to Love’, which was recorded in various studios around LA. Now in 2020, amid the global pandemic Vanessa is back again with a new album, The Blacklisted Collection, an assortment of songs from her archives which for one reason or another, didn’t previously fit any of the projects she had been working on. The lockdown finally gave her the opportunity to revisit these songs and give them the attention they deserved.

From her home studio in LA, Vanessa kindly agreed to answer some questions for us about the album, her creative process and her gear.

The Blacklisted Collection is out now https://www.vanessaamorosi.com/

At U.K. Care Home, Residents Brilliantly Re-Create Iconic Album Covers On Twitter 0

Residents at the Sydmar Lodge Care Home in Edgeware, England, have been in lockdown for four months.

As activities manager at the home, Robert Speker wanted to keep spirits up while visitors and outside entertainment aren't permitted.

Thus, a brilliant project was born: re-creating classic album covers with residents cast as the rock stars.

Speker tweeted side-by-side photos of the original covers and the Sydmar Lodge residents' new takes, and the tweets quickly took off.

Instead of British singer Adele, meet 93-year-old Vera.

Riffing on Springsteen's famous Born In The U.S.A., there's a blue-jeaned Martin Steinberg in front of the English flag.

Could anyone improve upon David Bowie's iconic lightning-bolt painted face? Roma Cohen appears to be an icon herself with the lightning bolt highlighted by her white hair.

There's Toba David as Michael Jackson, tough in a leather jacket.

And Sheila Solomon as a Sydmar Lodge punk, reinventing The Clash's guitar-smashing with a walking cane ready to come crashing down.

Staffers got in on the project, too, with four carers lit from below looking every bit as moody as Queen.

"I made the suggestions of which albums and which resident best suited the look, or had a vague similarity to the artist," Speker explained on Twitter. "Then I proposed the idea to each resident. Gladly all of them were enthused and perhaps a bit bemused by the idea, but happy to participate."

He says he did the residents' makeup, drew their tattoos, and did the photography and editing. A care home manager helped with hair and makeup touch-ups.

Speker, who began working at Sydmar Lodge in 2015, has won accolades for his inventiveness before. "Robert continues to astound us with his creative, and somewhat 'out of the box' ideas," Sydmar Lodge Manager Julie Davey testifies on the home's website.

Noting that Speker had won an activities coordinator award, Sydmar Lodge notes that he "performs his activities with creativeness, ingenuity, individuality and originality" and recently took a resident swimming for the first time in 20 years.

These have been bleak times at some care homes in the U.K. Among residents at nursing homes in England and Wales from Dec. 28, 2019, to June 12, 2020, there were nearly 30,000 more deaths than during the same period last year.

"As this situation is on-going it could be months before the situation changes for them and the need to keep them happy entertained and full of spirit has never been more crucial," Speker wrote on a GoFundMe page he created to support the care home.

"Elderly people will remain in lockdown for a long time," he wrote, "and I want to make their time as happy and full of enjoyment and interest as possible."

Dream Theater Guitarist John Petrucci’s New Solo Project Features Ex-Bandmate Mike Portnoy 0

John Petrucci, guitarist for progressive rock band Dream Theater, will release his first solo album in 15 years, Terminal Velocity, later this summer — and his former bandmate, Mike Portnoy, performed all of the drums.

Terminal Velocity (Sound Mind Music/The Orchard) follows Petrucci’s debut solo effort, 2005’s Suspended Animation. It marks the first time he and Portnoy recorded together in over a decade, as well as the first since Portnoy departed Dream Theater.

“Having Mike play drums on this record was really special for me, and he did an absolutely incredible job navigating the various styles and technical challenges my music presented in the way that only he can do,” says Petrucci. “It was very cathartic for the both of us, I think, to be playing music together again after all these years, and it really felt great. Mike’s spirited, intuitive and energetic playing truly helped to elevate these new songs to a level that I couldn’t be happier with.”

Petrucci, Portnoy and Dream Theater bassist John Myung cofounded the band in 1985 while studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. After building a worldwide following over two decades that has made the group one of the most popular acts in the genre and resulting in such accolades as two Grammy Award nominations, fans were shocked when Portnoy announced in 2010 that he was leaving Dream Theater. He has played in multiple bands since, such as Sons of Apollo and Morse, Portnoy, George. After documenting its search for a new drummer in the web series The Spirit Carries On, Dream Theater announced in 2011 that former Berklee instructor Mike Mangini had been selected.

Like he did for its predecessor, Petrucci wrote and produced the all-instrumental Terminal Velocity and had Dave LaRue (Flying Colors, Dixie Dregs) rejoin him for bass duties. James “Jimmy T” Meslin handled recording, with Andy Sneap overseeing mixing and mastering. Although he had planned to start working on the album in the spring, the March stay-at-home directive that was issued in New York due to the outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in an unexpected boon of time for Petrucci: He created over half of Terminal Velocity’s nine songs while he was self-isolating.

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“I believe that making this record when I did really helped me to maintain a sense of stability and normalcy during such a crazy time in our history,” he observes. “It was encouraging for me and my family to embrace something so hopeful and positive as we faced a very uncertain future in the music industry and in the world, and for that, I am truly grateful for having music be such a big part of my life.”

Terminal Velocity will be available on all digital and streaming platforms and as a limited double-vinyl set.