Trombone Shorty, and his Orleans Ave band, is scheduled to perform at the White House annual black history month event "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues"  on February 21^st.

The "In Performance At The White House" event began during Jimmy Carter's administration and has showcased the performances of many notable entertainers.  Other musicians scheduled to perform at this year's event include B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, Mick Jagger.

The "In Performance At The White House" event will be broadcast on PBS on February 27^th.

The 10th annual Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival in Dubai will open with James Blunt Thursday night local time. Check out the live feed from the festival on our page if you want to live vicariously, and we'll be sure to keep you posted when they announce the details for next year's festival.

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark confirmed that the city is not arranging to hold a public memorial at the city's Prudential Center arena at the request of her family. Whitney's picture remains emblazoned across the front of the arena as of tonight.

The family will, however, allow the private funeral to be held at Newark's New Hope Baptist Church to be televised. According to Marvin Winans, who will deliver Whitney's Eulogy, the family said they didn't "want to have a parade".  Music lyricist Diane Warren, who wrote hits including  and  for Whitney, said on Piers Morgan's CNN program last night that her family should have a right to lay their loved one to rest in private if they please.

Eight months after his death in May of last year, Scott-Heron's memoirs have been released. The Guardian:

By the time the book reaches this climax, we have seen why it mattered so much to Scott-Heron to be there. He has described the chequered education he collected through 17 years and 10 institutions; the social and political backdrop against which he developed his charismatic talents for literature, activism and music, recording his best-known song – "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" – at the age of 21.'

The book can be purchased on Amazon and at other book retailers.

Congratulations to the winners!

Best Improvised Jazz Solo - Chick Corea – "500 Miles High" (Forever)

Best Jazz Vocal Album - Terri Lynne Carrington – The Mosaic Project

Best Jazz Instrumental Album - Corea, Clarke, and White – Forever

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album - Christian McBride Big Band – The Good Feeling

We were shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely passing of the woman with the once-in-a-generation voice: Brick City's own Whitney Houston. We send our thoughts and prayers especially to her daughter, Bobbi-Christina, and her mother, Cissy. From the New York Times:

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

 

But, much as we love her too, she wasn't. Rest in peace, Whitney.

Dara Tucker spoke with us late last month about her sophomore album, Soul Said Yes (2011), an outstanding collection of original songs, reworked jazz standards, and interpretations of tunes from the likes of Sade, Tracy Chapman, and Hamilton Bohannon. Tucker told us where she found her voice (hint: cheese, skis, knives), how she renders her deepest thoughts and insights within her music (spoiler alert: sometimes they show up unannounced), how up-and-coming artists can develop themselves (basically: hit the stage!), and what musical element threads her varied tastes together (hint: see album title).

And because, statistically speaking, most of you will spend less than a minute reading this article (though we encourage you to defy the stats and read from top to bottom), and this important piece of information was revealed in response to the very last question we asked, we'll say at the outset that Dara is incredibly proud of, and grateful for, her band and collaborators.

Read the full interview.

For weeks, we've been itching to share our enthusiasm about Dave McMurray's latest album, I Know About Love (2011), which we've been playing on pretty heavy rotation.  We had the privilege to speak with the supremely talented saxophonist and Detroit native late last month, and we discussed his influences, the diverse constellation of incredible artists he's worked with, and how he plans to win a spot in your album rotation.  Read the full interview.

Yesterday we talked about the state of jazz radio and talked a little bit about how this music reaches fans and makes money. Today, we discuss the future.  Kim talks about her career as an example of the more flexible role of the music manager, and why she loves collaborating with independent musicians.

Read the full story.