Worcester Jazz Festival

Please spread the word! Max was LOST on March 25, 2024 in Worcester, MA 01610 near Kelley Square

Message from Owner: We miss him so much please help
us bring him 😔 3 years ago I flew to Puerto Rico to pickup my best friend Max he’s just a bundle of joy in our hse. I can’t imagine coming and not find him by the door waiting for me. Please help me find him.

Description: Maltese, white coat, 3 years old

For more info or to contact Max's owner, click here: https://www.pawboost.com/p/70134274

Lost or found a pet? Report it to PawBoost here: https://www.pawboost.com/l/rpl

RIP

Today at 4am, Wayne Shorter peacefully continued on his immense journey into the unknown. He was surrounded by loving family. In his words, “It’s time to go get a new body and come back to continue the mission.” Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

👣👣

RSD list is out (link in bio). Please comment with what you will be looking for. This directly affects our ordering. Let the fun begin!

Here's a story just in from Quincy: In December 1889, Avedis was born in Samatya, the Armenian sector of Istanbul. He relocated the family business from Samatya to Quincy in 1929.
With the emergence of Jazz in America, the Avedis Zildjian Company began to flourish in its new location. Who among us hasn't noticed a Zildjian cymbal in the kit of a favorite drummer? The Zildjian cymbal in now 400 years old!

“Zildjian cymbals, the Dead wouldn't be caught live without them!”

Thanks Jim Meic Donald for the info.

Friends of WJO, Put this on your calendar!

John Pizzarelli live in Worcester

Astrud Gilberto, ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ Singer And Bossa Nova Star, Dies At 83 Astrud Gilberto, the pioneering bossa nova star famous for her transcendent recording of 'The Girl From Ipanema' has died aged 83.

Jazz Pianist Ahmad Jamal Dead at 92 Musician influenced generations of artists across genres for seven decades

She danced like Mata Hari, she sang like Betty Boop's big sister, she shook it like a bowl of soup. And she was smart enough to work out that a top quality, all-girl jazz band would take the 1930s by storm. So how come Ina Ray Hutton, "the Blond Bombshell of Rhythm", is all but forgotten? A recently released three-disc set, The Definitive Collection, shows that she was no slouch or novelty act, either. "I'm selling this show as a music programme," she'd say with a wink, "but if curves attract an audience, so much the better."

Hutton had apple-pie looks and a jaw-dropping figure. She led her all-girl band, the Melodears, right through the 30s, popping up on screen in The Big Broadcast of 1936 alongside Bing Crosby and Al Bowlly. This was a remarkable feat when you consider there were so few other female jazz musicians in the 30s – the most visible were vibes player Margie Hyams and trumpeter Billie Rogers, both in Woody Herman's band.

Hutton was born Odessa Cowan in 1916, and grew up with her half-sister June (also a successful singer) in a black neighborhood on Chicago's south side. US census records record her as being "negro" and "mulatto", but Hutton "passed" as white throughout her career. She studied dance, picking up a rave review in her local black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, when she was just seven, and made her Broadway debut at 14. She was 18 when the jazz impresario Irving Mills put together the all-woman band that became the Melodears and made her the leader, changing her name to Hutton to take advantage of the notorious reputation of the Woolworths heiress Barbara Hutton.

The Melodears were an instant hit, touring solidly for five years and appearing in several Paramount film shorts of their own, including the enticingly titled Feminine Rhythm (1935), Accent on Girls (1936) and Swing, Hutton, Swing (1937). The latter included the excellent Truckin', and a surviving clip reveals them to be an extremely tight and exciting band: guitarist Helen Baker keeps time by bobbing her head as Ina Ray does her best to tap dance in a tight black gown that pretty much glues her knees together. You half expect the camera to pan round and reveal a crowd of Chuck Jones's cartoon wolves, leering and cheering.

The Melodears' outfits ranged from boyish trousers to long, ultra-feminine, sequined outfits. Downbeat magazine reported that Hutton's stage wardrobe included 400 gowns. Hutton would pave the way for a wave of female bands who took off in the 40s, when many leading male musicians were serving in the US armed forces. However, in 1939, she made the contrary decision to disband the Melodears and recruit an all-male band, including the saxophonist Serge Chaloff. Hutton was tired of her band being seen as a novelty act – reviews were uniformly snippy – and she told Downbeat she was "through with glamour". To emphasise the point, she even went brunette. It wasn't until the 1950s, by now fronting the Ina Ray Hutton Show on TV, that she got the girls back together, winning an Emmy in the process. Her last recorded performance came in the 1975 film Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? and she died in California in 1984.

One possible reason Ina Ray Hutton has been overlooked is that she cut very few records, mostly for Okeh and Elite in the early 40s; radio broadcasts make up the bulk of The Definitive Collection. Also, so many details of her story seem frustratingly buried. Interviews were rare, and there is precious little available online, but the bare bones – a platinum blond pioneer for women in music, fashion and television – cry out for a biopic. YouTube could help rebuild her reputation.

The critics may have had it in for her – luckily for us, the camera loved her. Jazz bandleader Ina Ray Hutton pioneered the way for female stars in music, fashion and television. It's high time she was rediscovered!

Sounds like an amazing thing to see and hear!

The Worcester Chorus' final performance of our 2022-2023 Season brings Duke Ellington's "Sacred Concert" to historic Mechanics Hall on Friday, April 28 at 8PM. Join us to experience the piece Ellington called "the most important thing I've ever done" in live performance with swing orchestra.

Tickets on sale now at https://www.musicworcester.org/event/ellington/

We grew up with Table Talk Pies ❤️

Worcester icon perseveres through challenging times, prepares to celebrate 100 years in business

Senderos de Churin Provided to YouTube by CDBabySenderos de Churin · Carlos OdriaMontuno Negro℗ 2022 Carlos OdriaReleased on: 2022-02-14Auto-generated by YouTube.