Music – motto.media

Brazilians Mourn Death of Bossa Nova Pioneer João Gilberto, 88

Brazilians — most of them at least — are mourning the loss of Joao Gilberto, one of the inventors of bossa nova music, which gained worldwide popularity in the 1960s. Gilberto passed away in his home in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. He was 88. [...]

‘Japanese Satchmo’ Yoshio Toyama Honored in Birthplace of Jazz

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Trumpeter Yoshio Toyama and his wife Keiko moved to the United States 50 years ago to learn about traditional jazz in its birthplace, New Orleans. Nightclubs, churches, house parties, and jazz funerals became their classroom. [...]

John McLaughlin Interview About Retirement and Final Tour

Gary Graff writes: “You know, musicians never die. They just decompose. So I’m on may way.” That’s John McLaughlin‘s way of explaining his decision to retire from touring as he prepares for the start of his final [...]

Walter Becker’s Death: Farewell to Steely Dan

With Walter Becker’s death on Sunday, jazz-rock’s unlikeliest superstars are no more. They will be missed. Kyle Smith writes: ‘Polished through countless takes,” wrote the New York Times’s Jon Pareles in his weekend obituary of Walter [...]

Dana Nalbandian/WireImage Walter Becker of Steely Dan during Steely Dan at the Gorge in George - August 17, 1996 at The Gorge in George, Washington in George, Washington, United States.

Walter Becker Dead: Steely Dan Guitarist and Co-Founder Was 67

Becker was absent at both of Steely Dan’s performances during July’s Classic West and Classic East concerts due to an unspecified illness. Steely Dan guitarist and co-founder Walter Becker died Sunday (Sept. 3) at the age of 67. News of [...]

A still from the music video for the new single "Break Free" that features music entirely composed and produced by an artificial intelligence system (Credit: Taryn Southern / Amper)

AI-Generated Pop Song Puts Human Composers on Notice

Rich Haridy reports: At the rate AI-generated music is progressing, it could be old-fashioned to manually compose songs in as little as a decade. The latest step forward comes with the release of “Break Free,” the first single from the [...]

Vinyl Records Enjoy Streaming-Led Rebirth in Japan After Three-Decade Hiatus

Takaki Tominaga reports: Music on vinyl is enjoying a renaissance, with digital streaming services generating interest in records once more. Japan’s electronics and entertainment giant Sony is positioning itself to embrace this latest trend in [...]

Tube Amp Renaissance: Enthusiasts Help Revive Vintage Audio Technology

Tamotsu Saito reports: A solid fan base has grown for vacuum tube audio amplifiers, which create a sound full of tone and depth. With their glowing glass tubes resembling something a mad scientist would use, these amps have a unique beauty. Vacuum [...]

Why Vinyl’s Boom Is Over

As purists complain about low quality and high prices, vinyl sales taper off; Gillian Welch and David Rawlings cut their own records. Neil Shah writes: Folk music duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were frustrated by the quality of vinyl LPs being [...]

Saxophonist, Musician, Composer John Coltrane Died 50 Years ago Today (1926–1967)

A revolutionary and groundbreaking jazz saxophonist, John William Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926, in Hamlet, North Carolina, growing up in nearby High Point. Coltrane was surrounded by music as a child. His father John R. Coltrane worked as [...]

Guitarist John McLaughlin Revisits the Legacy of Mahavishnu Orchestra on Farewell Tour with Jimmy Herring

John Mclaughlin & Jimmy Herring – Tour Dates Announced (Los Angeles, CA – January 31, 2017) — In a career that spans over five decades, John McLaughlin, one of music’s most influential and prolific guitarists, composers, and [...]

[VIDEO] Children Keep Cantonese Opera Alive in Hong Kong

Cantonese opera is a 500-year-old art form found in southern China. SCMP went behind the stage of an all-children Cantonese opera group to see how these performers – some as young as 10 years old – are keeping the cultural heritage alive. via [...]

Legendary Film Composer Ennio Morricone’s Melodies Beyond the Gunshots

Remember the showdown in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?” Well Ennio Morricone, one of the world’s greatest living composers, wants you to tear your eyes away from the film’s gunslingers and listen instead. “In the [...]

Jazz Great Miles Davis Speaks His Mind on Ferraris

Al Auger writes: Let a local jazz DJ lay a Miles Davis sound on the airwaves and I’ll remember the many dimensions of a man few people ever saw. Davis, who died Sept. 28, 1991, lived a meteoric career that defined him as taciturn, humorless, [...]

[VIDEO] Hong Kong Star Pianist Wong Ka-jeng’s Mission to Rebrand Classical Music

Since returning from the USA with a bachelor’s degree in music from Indiana University, pianist and former child prodigy Wong Ka-jeng has founded Music Lab to experiment with classical music programming and to give the genre a fresher image. Wong [...]

[VIDEO] Tesla Is Creating Its Own Streaming Music Service

Tesla is talking to the music labels about creating its own streaming service. Why not work directly with Spotify, Apple and others? Good question. Peter Kafka and Johana Bhuiyan report: Put this one in the “You can do that, but why would you [...]

REX/SHUTTERSTOCK MAY 27, 2017 | 12:34PM PT

Gregg Allman, Southern Rock Pioneer, Dies at 69

Chris Morris reports: Gregg Allman, whose hard-jamming, bluesy sextet the Allman Brothers Band was the pioneering unit in the Southern rock explosion of the ‘70s, died Saturday due to complications from liver cancer, his longtime manager, [...]

The shapely gaps in the Eagle's futuristic body help to keep the weight down (Credit: David Flores Loredo)

Award-winning Eagle guitar flies into production

Paul Ridden writes: At first glance, it looks 3D-printed but the Eagle from Spain’s David Flores Loredo is actually fashioned from wood. The futuristic-looking double-horned guitar sports a body that’s full of shapely holes to help cut [...]

[VIDEO] Listening To Blade Runner

In the futuristic year of 2019, Los Angeles has become a dark and depressing metropolis, filled with urban decay. Rick Deckard, an ex-cop, is a “Blade Runner”. Blade runners are people assigned to assassinate “replicants”. [...]

The Associated Press This image released by Julien’s Auctions shows the drawing of the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club” album cover.

‘Sgt. Pepper’ Cover Sketch to be Auctioned in New York

NEW YORK (AP) — Hillel Italie reports: An old sketch up for auction May 20 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manhattan is a crude, ink-on-paper drawing of the iconic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club” album cover. The artist is almost surely John [...]

The Day Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Teamed Up

Eddie Deezen writes: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were introduced on a New York street in March of 1945. Dean was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, on June 7, 1917. Jerry was born Jerome Levitch in Newark, New Jersey, on March 16, [...]

Guitarist John McLaughlin Talks Mahavishnu, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix

Jeff Perlah writes: When jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin teamed up with trumpeter and bandleader Miles Davis in 1969, the results were astonishing. McLaughlin’s technical precision and exotic inventiveness were major components of Davis’s [...]

[VIDEO] International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert, Havana, Cuba, 2017

Havana, Cuba – Following thousands of events taking place in over 190 countries, International Jazz Day 2017 culminated in a phenomenal concert streamed worldwide from Havana’s historic Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso. As the [...]

Allan Holdsworth, 1946-2017

“It is with heavy hearts that we notify everyone of the passing of our beloved father,” she posted on Facebook. “We would appreciate privacy and time while we grieve the loss of our dad, granddad, friend and musical genius. We will [...]

Musician Ian McCulloch flees Japan amid US-North Korea tensions, show cancelled without warning

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[VIDEO] The Vegetable Orchestra in Vienna Literally Plays with their Food

The Vegetable Orchestra in Vienna literally plays with their food. Founded in 1998, the Austrian group is comprised of ten musicians, one cook, and one sound technician. They perform a wide variety of music all over the world on instruments made of [...]

[VIDEO] Iron Man Body-Painted Brazilian Model

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John McLaughlin: The Last Long Haul

Fusion pioneer will say goodbye to the road in November, with help from fellow guitar virtuoso Jimmy Herring. Mac Randall writes: On Jan. 4, John McLaughlin turned 75—a noteworthy birthday for anybody lucky enough to reach it, and one that seems [...]