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Two-time Grammy Award-winning musician Chuck Mangione, who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-flavored single “Feels So Good” and later became a voice actor on the animated TV comedy King of the Hill, has died. He was 84.

Mangione died at his home in Rochester, New York, on Tuesday in his sleep, said his attorney, Peter S. Matorin of Beldock Levine & Hoffman Llp. The musician had been retired since 2015.

Perhaps his biggest hit, “Feels So Good” is a staple on most smooth-jazz radio stations and has been called one of the most recognized melodies since “Michelle” by the Beatles. It hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the top of the Billboard adult contemporary chart.

“It identified for a lot of people a song with an artist, even though I had a pretty strong base audience that kept us out there touring as often as we wanted to, that song just...

“Let me ask you something,” composer Lalo Schifrin told me a few years ago during a long conversation that, sadly, would be our last. “When you write your articles, do you require a piano? I imagine you don’t, because you already have all the words that you need in your mind, which you then elaborate with your knowledge of grammar and syntax, right? It’s exactly the same for me. I don’t need a musical instrument in order to compose a piece. The notes are in my head.”

I had the privilege of interviewing Schifrin, who died Thursday at 93, multiple times during the past three decades. The most memorable meeting with the Emmy-nominated (Mission: Impossible theme) and Oscar-nominated composer (Sting II, The Amityville Horror) was a leisurely lunch at one of his favorite Beverly Hills restaurants when I was still in my early 20s and just getting started in journalism.

Lalo Schifrin, the legendary Argentine-American composer best known for creating the iconic "Theme From Mission: Impossible," died Thursday at the age of 93.

In 1966, Bruce Geller, the creator of the Mission: Impossible TV series, tasked Schifrin with a simple, yet daunting directive: "Make something exciting." Despite having little time and no script to work with, Schifrin composed the now-famous piece, originally titled "Burning Fuse," in just minutes. Influenced by his jazz background, the theme’s distinctive 5/4 time signature — rumored but never confirmed to be inspired by Morse code for the letters "M" (dash-dash) and "I" (dot-dot) — gave it its unique tension and swing.

“It was a bit of a production panic because they were so late with their deadlines,” Schifrin said in a 2018 interview with The Independent. “I didn’t have a clue what the television show was at first. I had never been to a TV shoot.”

Forced to come...

Lalo Schifrin, the Argentine-American composer who was best known for writing the Mission: Impossible theme, has died. He was 93 years old.

Schifrin died in a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday, June 26th, due to complications from pneumonia.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 21st, 1932, Schifrin was the son of a professional violinist. After studying piano and jazz in his youth — including a span where he was frequently gigging at jazz clubs in Paris — Schifrin’s career reached a new level after he returned to Buenos Aires and formed a 16-piece band that ultimately secured a regular TV spot.

From there, Schifrin had his first interaction with providing music for television, but first took a career detour as the pianist in Dizzy Gillespie’s band, for whom he composed the album Gillespiana. By 1963, though, he was getting offers to compose for Hollywood films and moved to Los Angeles.

In 1965, Schifrin...

Lalo Schifrin, the Argentine-American composer who was best known for writing the Mission: Impossible theme, has died. He was 93 years old.

Schifrin died in a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday, June 26th, due to complications from pneumonia.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 21st, 1932, Schifrin was the son of a professional violinist. After studying piano and jazz in his youth — including a span where he was frequently gigging at jazz clubs in Paris — Schifrin’s career reached a new level after he returned to Buenos Aires and formed a 16-piece band that ultimately secured a regular TV spot.

From there, Schifrin had his first interaction with providing music for television, but first took a career detour as the pianist in Dizzy Gillespie’s band, for whom he composed the album Gillespiana. By 1963, though, he was getting offers to compose for Hollywood films and moved to Los Angeles.

In 1965, Schifrin...

Lalo Schifrin, the Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning composer behind the “Theme From Mission: Impossible,” has died at the age of 93.

The composer’s son Ryan confirmed his father’s death to the Associated Press, adding that Schifrin died Thursday due to complications from pneumonia at his home in Los Angeles.

The Buenos Aires, Argentina-born Schifrin, the son of an orchestral violinist, had an early start in music, training on the piano at the age of six. However, upon entering college, Schifrin opted to study law, but his musical roots ultimately took hold.

Lalo Schifrin, the legendary composer who penned the Mission: Impossible theme and did scores for more than 100 other films and TV shows ranging from The Cincinnati Kid, Cool Hand Luke and The Sting II to Dirty Harry and the Rush Hour trilogy, has died. He was 93.

His son, writer-director Ryan Schifrin, confirmed to Deadline that his father died “peacefully” on Thursday morning.

Also a pianist and conductor, Schifrin won four Grammys on 19 career nominations spanning 40 years and was six-time Academy Award nominee for The Sting II, The Competition, The Amityville Horror, Voyage of thye Damned, The Fox and Cool Hand Luke. He received an Honorary Oscar at the 2019 Governor Awards.

He earned three consecutive Grammy noms for the stirring, dramatic, 5/4-time Mission: Impossible theme from 1967-69, and variations of his composition have appeared in all of Tom Cruise’s M:i movies. Among those who worked on version of theme for those films are Hans Zimmer,...

Lalo Schifrin, the Grammy-winning composer of “Mission: Impossible” and film scores including “Cool Hand Luke,” “Dirty Harry” and “Bullitt,” died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 93.

The Argentine musician was among the first to apply a broad range of musical ideas to film and TV scores, from jazz and rock to more modern and complex techniques of orchestral writing. His heyday was the 1960s and ’70s, when he produced several film and TV scores that are now regarded as classics.

In November 2018, Schifrin became only the third composer in the history of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to receive an honorary Oscar. Clint Eastwood, for whom Schifrin composed eight scores, made the presentation “in recognition of his unique musical style, compositional integrity and influential contributions to the art of film scoring.”

Actress Kathy Bates said at the event: “His work cannot be easily labeled. Is what he creates jazz?...

Nicole Avant, film producer, activist and former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, was at Taormina Film Festival on Friday to receive an award for the film “The Triple Six Eight,” which tells the true story of the only Black female regiment in the American army during World War II. Variety sat down with her earlier in the day.

What are you working on at the moment?

I have a few things on my slate. I have something with Tracey Edmonds, my fellow producer, that was greenlit at Netflix called “Movement.” I can’t talk too much about it. And I hope to be working on something with Griffin Dunne, because I read “The Friday Afternoon Club.” I think it’s one of the best books that I read all year. I did a book event with him in Los Angeles, and so I’ve been nudging him to make this into a TV series.

Myrtle Beach may be known for its sandy beaches and family fun, but the town has played an important role in music throughout history. From its early days as a beach music hub to its modern-day draw as a hotspot for the best local talent and national touring acts, this city by the sea continues to uphold and expand its musical roots. A visit to this idyllic Atlantic gem wouldn’t be complete without a tour of some of its most iconic venues.

James Jackman

Start with one of the region’s most historic spots.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is famous for the rhythm of the waves of the Atlantic lapping against its sandy shores, the laughter (and occasional screams) of riders at Family Kingdom Amusement Park, and the chatter of families on their annual beach getaways. But the true soundtrack of this seaside destination is its live music scene, which pulses through the town day and night. From oceanfront stages on the sand to some of America’s most beloved dive bars and everything in between, it’s easy to see why Myrtle Beach is music’s favorite beach.

“Today is the first day of my life, I threw the match and set it all alight,” the Colombian electronic artist Ela Minu sings on a key track from her new abum Dia. The song, called “Onwards,” is archetypal Ela Minus: aggressive, combative, and sneering music wrapped in subdued soprano vocals — the sound of fire and ice at the gates.

Contrasts are a part of Ela Minus’ process. The artist, whose real name is Gabriela Jimeno Caldos, was born in Bogotá and spent her formative years drumming in punk...

Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer,” based on the slender novel by William S. Burroughs and starring Daniel Craig as the Burroughs stand-in, is now in theaters nationwide from A24. And chances are, coming out of the psychedelic drama, you’re going to jam out to the songs from the movie’s soundtrack.

That’s because Guadagnino took an anachronistic approach to the music he chose for the movie – it might be set in Mexico City in the early 1950s, but that doesn’t keep him from using more modern tunes. And that’s to say nothing of the gorgeous, elegiac original score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the filmmaker’s collaborators on “Bones and All” and, earlier this year, “Challengers.”

“Queer” soundtrack:

• “All Apologies,” performed by Sinéad O’Connor

• “Sin Ti,” performed by Trío Los Panchos

• “Mi Corazon,” performed by Rafael Mendez and His Orchestra

• “Muchos Besos,” performed by Martin Y Malena

• “Come As You Are,...

The cast of “Gladiator II” is trying to cut the cord on the alleged gay kiss discord.

After Denzel Washington, whose character Macrinus references having relationships with other men in the film, told Gayety that a same sex kiss was edited out, his co-star Connie Nielsen assured audiences that it was not due to “homophobia” but rather just the editing process.

“My grieving scene didn’t make it into the film either,” Nielsen told Variety while at the Governors Awards. “It’s not homophobia. It’s just there was no room for it.”

Producer Michael Pruss added, “There was so much stuff that was shot that didn’t make it into the film. It was truly a non-event.”

During the “Gladiator II” Los Angeles premiere, Washington also agreed that the so-called controversy is irrelevant. “It really is much ado about nothing,” Washington said. “They’re making more of it than it was.

Denzel Washington kissed a guy, and he’d have liked it to stay in “Gladiator II.”

Washington told Gayety in the below video that a kiss between his character Macrinus and another man was cut from the film because “they weren’t ready for that yet.” While Washington did not clarify who “they” were, the feature is directed by Ridley Scott and is being distributed by Paramount, also the film’s studio. Washington’s character Macrinus does reference having relationships with other men onscreen during the film, though.

“I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken,” Washington said. “I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later.”

He added, “It’s ‘Gladiator.’ It’s the kiss of death.”

“Gladiator II” is...

In February 1961, a remarkable outburst took place at the United Nations in New York – jazz artists Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, writer Maya Angelou and others crashed the Security Council to protest the assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.

That little-remembered demonstration serves as the backdrop to the award-winning documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, directed by Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez. The film explores how the U.S. and Belgium conspired to force Lumumba from power, with the complicity of the Un secretary general. Even as the plot moved towards a bloody denouement, the U.S. State Department was dispatching some of America’s great Black jazz artists to Africa in the role of goodwill ambassadors, attempting to paper over its machinations in Congo.

Grimonprez joins the latest episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to explain how he managed to deftly synthesize so much complex world history, setting it...

Gladiator II introduces several new characters to the action-packed franchise 24 years after the original movie, potentially keeping movie lovers entertained like spectators during Russell Crowe's battles in the Colosseum. One of them is Denzel Washington's Macrinus, a character director Ridley Scott claims is a "gangster" in every sense.

Speaking with the New York Times, Scott dissected Macrinus, a former slave-turned-power broker and arms dealer with visions of conquering Rome while taking the film's main protagonist, Lucius Verus, under his wing as a gladiator-in-training. Scott admitted he didn't initially conceive Macrinus with Denzel in mind, but recalled a painting he saw and felt Washington made sense for the role. "Theres one great painting by Jean-Lon Grme ['Moorish Bath']. The guy is absolutely Black as the telephone and hes magnificent, hes got a beard with a point and a great jeweled, Dizzy Gillespie hat in orange and blue silk," he said.

Related 10 Saddest Denzel Washington Movies,...

The legendary Quincy Jones just passed away at the age of 91. And while he’ll be remembered for his work in the music industry, his TV credits and his not giving a fuck in interviews during his golden years, some folks on the internet have also been celebrating his contribution to a pop-culture franchise he had absolutely no hand in creating: Austin Powers.

Mike Myers’ swinging spy character just wouldn’t have been the same without the upbeat theme song that plays during the opening credits of all three movies. If you don’t believe me, try syncing up the beginning of any Austin Powers movie with, say, Nine Inch Nails, and see how shagadelic it is.

The track is called “Soul Bossa Nova,” and it was apparently composed by Jones in less time than it takes to watch an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

As Jones told...

It is impossible to overstate Quincy Jones' influence on music and the music business throughout the second half of the 20th century. There wasn't a genre that Jones, who passed away yesterday at the age of 91, couldn't master as a composer, producer, performer, or all three. He kicked off his career playing trumpet for vibraphone god Lionel Hampton, served as trumpeter and music director for Dizzy Gillespie, and produced effervescent pop hits like "It's My Party" for Lesley Gore while expanding his range compositionally via jazz LPs and, perhaps most importantly, film music -- a field where the African-American artist stood out among a sea of white men.

Curiously, there isn't as much serious scholarship on the work of Jones, which is rather astounding considering his seismic 1970s and '80s impact as a producer for Michael Jackson on two of the top-selling LPs of all time ("Off the Wall...

The legendary Quincy Jones died at 91 years old. The music producer worked with greats like Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. He also had a soap opera connection. A song he produced aired on an episode of General Hospital.

Rest In Peace

People reported that Jones died on Sunday, November 3, at his home in Los Angeles. His family surrounded him as he passed. In a statement, his family said, “Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.

“He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with...

Quincy Jones, producer of several of the best-selling albums of all time, died at his home in Bel Air on Sunday as per his publicist. Though his work covered all genres, Jones will forever be best known for helping coronate the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, by helping craft Jackson’s infectious and highly lucrative sound across three classic albums: Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. In 1985, he produced the “We Are The World” session, arguably the apex of 1980s pop music.

Jones, who in 1968 became the first African-American nominated for a Best Original Song Academy Award with “The Eyes of Love,” received an astonishing 80 Grammy nominations and 28 Grammy Awards throughout his career. His wins were for arranging, producing, and performing, and he won the 1988 Album of the Year prize for Back on the Block, an R&b-pop-hip hop cross-generational collaboration including artists like Ray Charles, Chaka Khan, Ice-t, Kool Moe Dee,...

Quincy Jones, the legendary record producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose contributions to contemporary music spanned over seven decades and multiple genres such as jazz, pop, and hip-hop, has died at the age of 91.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” Jones’ family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones was one of the most celebrated icons in the music industry, garnering a record 80 Grammy nominations and 28 wins, including three Producer of the Year honors and two Album of the Year and Song of the Year awards each. His most recent win came in 2019 when Quincy, the semi-autobiographical documentary written and co-directed by his daughter Rashida Jones, took home Best Music Film.

As a producer and arranger,...

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr., a renowned musician and producer who shaped popular music for seven decades, died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91 years old. Jones leaves behind an unmatched legacy that broke down barriers and introduced millions of fans around the world to a variety of genres.

Jones was born in Chicago and raised in Seattle, where he learned to play trumpet and arrange music from a young age. He studied at the Berklee School of Music and started his career arranging and performing with jazz legends like Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. By age 25, Jones had established himself as one of the top arrangers and trumpet players in jazz music.

In the 1960s, Jones made history as the first Black person to compose a major movie score, for the 1964 film “The Pawnbroker.” This opened doors for other Black artists in Hollywood. He went on...

Quincy Jones, who distinguished himself over the course of a 70-year career in music as an artist, bandleader, composer, arranger and producer, has died. He was 91.

Jones died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to a statement shared with Variety by his rep Arnold Robinson. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him,” the Jones family said in the statement. “He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the...

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The late Phil Lesh will always be known for the contributions he brought to the Grateful Dead, but in his 2005 memoir, “Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead,” the songwriter and musician wrote openly about how the band actually contributed to his musical upbringing too.

It’s been well-documented that Lesh grew up playing violin and trumpet — and he writes in the book about his...

Quick Links Netflix's They Shot the Piano Player Honors the Genre They Shot the Piano Player Is a Study That Highlights the Artist

Streaming now on Netflix, They Shot the Piano Player is an unusual and captivating film that fuses history and fiction to explore the roots of Bossa Nova music while also serving as a beautiful tribute to a lost star. Narrated by Jeff Goldblum and directed by Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba, They Shot the Piano Player uses a fragmented style of animation to piece together the past and the present to honor the birth of the Bossa Nova style and the contributions of piano player Francisco Tenorio Jr.

Goldblum stars as Jeff Harris, a music fan and journalist who travels to Latin America to write a book on the Bossa Nova movement of music. From Brazil to Buenos Aires, Harris interviews noted musicians and becomes intrigued when,...

One of thee best documentaries to premiere at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat a radically and rhythmically edited look at global politics. Directed by Johan Grimonprez, the film was picked up by Kino Lorber for a November 1 theatrical release starting at NYC’s Film Forum and now the first trailer has landed.

Here’s the synopsis: “United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez explores a moment when jazz, colonialism, and espionage collided, constructing a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba. The result is a revelatory documentary richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts,...

Who knew that jazz legends like Louis Armstrong was an unknowing pawn in the CIA’s plot to assassinate Congo prime minister Patrice Lumumba?

With Sundance-winning documentary “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” the music of political uprising is paired with the CIA’s squashed plans to overthrow an African government. Johan Grimonprez directs the 1960s-set feature that charts post-colonial international relations through jazz.

The official synopsis reads: “From the Congo to Harlem and back again, Johan Grimonprez’s kinetic, urgent documentary delivers post-colonial politics in jazz form, replete with virtuosic archival riffs, historical text in the form of Blue Note album covers, and musical performances by jazz legends who in the ‘60s doubled as cultural ambassadors to Africa. Their roles as unknowing decoys in the CIA’s plot to assassinate Congo’s prime minister Patrice Lumumba threads through this deeply researched, densely textured tapestry – which scrambles the simplistic good guys/bad guys narrative,...

William Nevious had just grabbed his drum kit from the back of the truck, but this wouldn’t be a typical gig.

As the percussionist in the Screaming Eagles Combo, Nevious knew part of the reason he ended up in South Vietnam during the final months of 1967. When he and his fellow band members weren’t on kitchen duty, guard patrol, or setting aflame oil drums full of human waste, they’d be driven or flown to what his bandmate Rick Linton calls “bases and shitholes,” some in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle.

How now, what news: the Criterion Channel’s July lineup is here. Eight pop renditions of Shakespeare are on the docket: from movies you forgot were inspired by the Bard (Abel Ferrara’s China Girl) to ones you’d wish to forget altogether (Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing), with maybe my single favorite interpretation (Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet) alongside Paul Mazursky, Gus Van Sant, Baz Luhrmann, Derek Jarman, and (of course) Kenneth Branagh. A neonoir collection arrives four months ahead of Noirvember: two Ellroy adaptations, two from De Palma that are not his neonoir Ellroy adaptation, two from the Coen brothers (i.e. the chance to see a DVD-stranded The Man Who Wasn’t There in HD), and––finally––a Michael Winner picture given Criterion’s seal of approval.

Columbia screwballs run between classics to lesser-seens while Nicolas Roeg and Heisei-era Godzilla face off. A Times Square collection brings The Gods of Times Square,...

Tune in to SiriusXM’s Spanish-language and Latin music channels to hear nonstop music by the biggest artists. We also have insightful interviews and discussions with hitmakers past and present, exclusive celebrity Guest DJ sessions, sports broadcasts en Español, and much more. Find it all below!

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Regional Mexican music • Channel 153

Enjoy the passionate rancheras and accordion-driven regional sounds of Mexico on Águila (Ch. 153), featuring artists Vicente Fernández, Los Tigres Del Norte, Julión Álvarez, Banda, Los Recoditos, Intocable, Christian Nodal, Banda Ms, and Gerardo Ortiz. ¡Que Viva La Raza!

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Feel-good Latin hits • Xtra Channel

Looking for a pick-me-up? The SiriusXM app has got you covered! Tune into all your favorite feel-good Spanish anthems and artists on Alegría.

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Red-hot Latin music mix • Channel 152

Caliente (Ch. 152) is where music and Latin culture meet! Tune in...

This coming weekend, the Saxophone Museum in Fiumicino will become a focal point for music enthusiasts as it hosts two days dedicated to celebrating the rich sounds of one of the most revered wind instruments, the saxophone. The events, scheduled for Saturday, May 4th, and Sunday, May 5th, aim to blend music, education, and jazz history in a dynamic showcase.

The weekend kicks off on Saturday at 6:30 Pm with a performance by the Jam Session band, an exceptional ensemble comprised of thirteen young musicians. This free concert is open to the public and stands as a homage to the power of music as a universal language, a cultural bridge, and a tool for social integration. Featuring a vibrant and energetic repertoire that includes some of the most celebrated pieces by Duke Ellington, Robert Johnson, Joan Tizol, Dizzy Gillespie, Walter Donaldson, Kansas J McCoy, and Herbie Hancock, the performance is...

Juxtaposing the story of the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba with a musical tour of jazzman Louis Armstrong and with the expansion of the United Nations after the independence of many African countries in the 1960s might be tall order. Trickier still would be telling this complex story, full of many characters and plot swerves, in a nonlinear manner while filling the screen with written clues providing context like a bibliography of an academic thesis. Writer and director Johan Grimonprez sets himself a difficult task with “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” yet accomplishes it with astonishing success. The film plays like both a dense historical text and a lively jazz concert while proving itself to be an invigorating piece of documentary filmmaking.

Touching on far more than the decolonization of Africa, Grimonprez’s ambitious essay film encompasses the political and historical upheavals the world over — including the alleged involvement...

Jim Beard, a Grammy-winning keyboardist, composer and member of Steely Dan since 2008, died Saturday in a New York hospital of complications from a sudden illness, a publicist announced. He was 63.

Beard had been touring with Donald Fagen’s Steely Dan on the Eagles’ current “Long Goodbye” tour; his final performance was Jan. 20 in Phoenix.

Beard worked alongside such jazz legends as Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin and recorded with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, The Brecker Brothers, Mike Stern, Dianne Reeves, Meshell Ndegeocello and Steve Vai during his career.

He produced for Chick Corea, Al Jarreau and Esperanza Spalding and taught at institutions including the Mason Gross School of Arts, Berklee College of Music, Aaron Copland School of Music and the Sibelius Academy in Finland.

Beard recorded six solo CDs spanning the years 1990-2013 and won his Grammy in 2007 as a featured performer on the album Some Skunk Funk,...

Jim Beard, a pianist, keyboardist, composer, producer and arranger known for his work with Steely Dan as well as jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and John McLaughlin, died March 2 in a New York City hospital from complications of a sudden illness. He was 63.

His death was announced by a representative.

Born August 26, 1960, in Ridley Park, Pa, Beard moved to New York in 1985, launching a career that saw him perform with Steely Dan, McLaughlin, Shorter and Pat Metheny.

A member of Steely Dan since 2008, Beard until had been touring with the band as openers on the Eagles’ Long Goodbye Tour. His last performance with Steely Dan was on January 20 in Phoenix.

Beard also recorded with artists including Dizzy Gillespie, the Brecker Brothers, Dianne Reeves, Meshell Ndegeocello, Toninho Horta and Steve Vai.

Beard has more than 100 published compositions featured on recordings by John McLaughlin, Michael Brecker and many others and in books such as The New Real Book.

It was Mark Twain who said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes,” which is one way of approaching Belgian filmmaker and multimedia artist Johan Grimonprez’s sprawling, jazz-infused Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. The political essay revisits 1960, a turbulent year in global affairs: Patrice Lumumba rises to power in Congo just as the United States, through the CIA-backed Voice of America radio network, aims to soften America’s image aboard, sending jazz musicians Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, and Max Roach to tour the world. The film positions the jazz musicians as a kind of political cabinet while Gillespie envisions his own run for the White House on TV talk shows back home. It proceeds with a rather kinetic, defiant tone in which the jazz, breaking news, citations, and quotes interrupt the historical footage a more standard documentary may have primarily focused on.

“The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo,” Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Negro.” “They lynch me now in Texas.” The year was 1922, and racial segregation was the norm in the United States. Anti-Black racism in the South was such a millstone that the U.S. Senate failed to pass an NAACP-sponsored anti-lynching bill in January of that year, a list of simple protections that was prevented from coming to a vote due to filibusters.

Hughes’s poem is one piece of ephemera that comprises the massive tapestry that is Soundtrack to a Coup d’État. Director Johan Grimonprez’s documentary is primarily focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its struggle for independence from Belgian colonialism, during which time our government was using Black jazz musicians to, in its diplomatic tango with the Soviet Union, paint a portrait of American liberalism as benevolent.

The documentary focuses on...

Premiering out of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition, the impressionistic essay film “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” refracts the plot against Patrice Lumumba through a kaleidoscopic lens. Cutting between historical footage of the Un General Assembly and home movies shot in liberation-era Congo, weaving in a diverse set of perspectives, and setting the pace to a non-stop rhythm of bebop, rumba and classic jazz, director Johan Grimonprez evokes the euphoria of post-colonial possibility and the heartbreak of the dashed hopes and violent reprisals that would ensue.

“At first, I wanted to explore the colonial legacy of my own country,” says the Belgium-born Grimonprez. “I was already mesmerized by the story of Andrée Blouin, who was an independence leader, an advisor to [Ghana president] Kwame Nkrumah and chief of protocol for [first Congolese prime minister] Patrice Lumumba, but who was almost written out of history. And as a filmmaker, I like to explore those intimate stories within a wider,...

Norby Walters, the onetime music agent who ran the annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar party for years and hosted an iconic low-stakes poker party for actors, died December 12. He was 91. His son, Walters Media Group founder and former Bold Films CEO Gary Michael Walters, confirmed the news but did not provide details.

Born Norbert Meyer, in 1952 Walters started booking jazz luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz into his father’s bar.

Walters and his brother, Walter took over a place from their father and dubbed it Norby & Walter’s Bel Air, but its sign had no ampersand — which led to the name Walters would use during his career. He later took over a failing nightclub located next to the world-famous Copacabana, dubbed it Norby Walters’s Supper Club, and attracted a who’s who of boldfaced New York City names.

“What was I going to do?...

Norby Walters, a music agent who worked with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Kool & the Gang and Public Enemy before gaining renown in Hollywood for his annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar party and weekly poker game, has died. He was 91.

Walters died Dec. 10 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Burbank, his son, producer Gary Michael Walters (Whiplash), told The Hollywood Reporter.

Walters hosted his first Oscar night gala in 1990 and the last in 2017, most often inside the Beverly Hilton’s Crystal Ballroom. Among those who attended were Shirley Jones, Robert Forster, Charles Bronson, Patricia Neal, Richard Dreyfuss, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau, Louis Gossett Jr., J.K. Simmons, Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, Jon Voight and Allison Janney.

Walters for years also presided over a weekly poker game at his West Hollywood high-rise condo. The low-stakes $2 game was, his son said, “designed to be a place where actors could kibbutz,...

Terry Kirkman, a founding member and a singer of the ’60s rock-pop band The Association, died Saturday. He was 83.

Kirkman’s death was announced on The Association’s Facebook page.

“We’re saddened to report that Terry Kirkman passed away last night, Rip Terry,” the band wrote. “He will live on in our hearts and in the music he so brilliantly wrote.”

Born Dec. 12, 1939, in Salina, Kansas, Kirkman became a founding member of The Association in 1965 in Los Angeles, along with Jules Gary Alexander, Russ Giguere, Ted Bluechel Jr., Brian Cole and Bob Page.

Recognized for their lush and complex harmonies, the band achieved success quickly with its 1966 album And Then… Along Comes the Association. That album hit No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and featured two songs that would become signature tunes for the group, both sung by Kirkman: the gold single “Cherish,” which Kirkman wrote and spent three weeks atop...

Babylon is a busy film on its own, but it also features a distracting cameo from the musician Flea that requires some further explanation. Movies including famous faces among their casts, even for a very small role, are nothing new. Sometimes this is done to try and leverage someone’s star power, as a nod to a related project, or because a role was uniquely designed for an actor’s personality or style. But these cameos can be distracting from the actual narrative of a film, especially if they occur during a pivotal scene or the actor’s public perception changes. This makes it interesting to examine why a film might choose to include a cameo like Flea’s.

Babylon is a period comedy-drama set in Los Angeles in the late 1920s as Hollywood began to transition from silent to sound film. Babylon’s ensemble cast of characters follows several...

The National Music Council of the United States will honor music and event producers Ray Chew and Vivian Scott Chew at the organization’s 39th annual American Eagle Awards on Sunday, June 25 at the American Federation of Musicians Convention in Las Vegas.

The honors are presented each year in recognition of those who have made career-long contributions to American musical culture, to promoting the ideal of music education for all children, and to supporting the protection of creators’ rights both locally and internationally.

This year’s presenter will be Academy Award and multi-Grammy-winning artist Regina Belle.

Music director, producer and composer Ray Chew’s work has been celebrated for excellence over the course of decades. His resume includes Dancing With the Stars, Showtime at the Apollo, and American Idol, as well as the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremonies, the 2008 Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Ball,...

Groundbreaking jazz pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal died this weekend, as per reports in the New York Times and other outlets. He was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2017. He was also nominated for two Grammys, one for his 2013 album “Blue Moon,” and also for his funky 1980s cover of Bobby Womack’s “You’re Welcome, Stop on By,” which was later sampled by multiple hip-hop artists. He was also the recipient of an Nea Jazz Masters Award, and Kennedy Center Legend Award, and was named to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2007. He was 92 years old.

The Pittsburgh-born pianist, who trained in Western classical music, was a noted prodigy in his youth, and began his professional career in his teens. On the road, the young man born Frederick Jones was welcomed by the Muslim community in the Detroit area,...

Music and politics were always entwined for Steve Katz. As a teenager in the Sixties, he’d travel from his apolitical family’s home on Long Island to Greenwich Village, where he’d watch radical folkies like Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and Dave Van Ronk play. He grew especially close with Van Ronk, who taught Katz guitar — and took him to socialist party meetings.

So it was frustrating and difficult when, in 1970, the U.S. State Department announced that Blood, Sweat & Tears – the band Katz had co-founded in 1967 — would...

Burt Bacharach was one of the most distinguished and successful composers of the last century.

Working most fruitfully with the lyricist Hal David, his addictively intelligent songs embodied unconventional time signatures, shifting chords and a fusion of pop and rock, jazz, and Latin elements. With Bacharach’s adventurous song structures married to David’s words, often bittersweet lyrics as though from a cinematic school of realism, the duo were like the personification of New York’s Brill Building hit factory.

Although not all these songs were with David, Bacharach, who has died aged 94, enjoyed more than 50 UK Top 40 hits, and more than 70 in his native US. A remarkable 38 of these tunes were with the classically trained former gospel singer Dionne Warwick with whom the pair began working in 1962. Several of Bacharach’s compositions were bigger hits in the UK than in America.

The pair first hit the charts in 1957 with...

Burt Bacharach, the composer and bandleader whose elegant melodies dominated pop radio for several decades, has died at the age of 94.

Bacharach’s publicist, Tina Brausam, confirmed to the Associated Press that the songwriter died of natural causes on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles.

During his 1960s heyday, Bacharach — along with his earliest and most productive partner, lyricist Hal David — wrote songs that became hits and, later, timeless standards. Among their many classics were “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “The Look of Love,...

Composer Burt Bacharach has died, aged 94.

The legendary musician was known for his orchestral pop style featured in hits including “I Say a Little Prayer”.

His publicist said the musician died on Wednesday (8 February) at his home in Los Angeles.

Bacharach died of natural causes.

The pianist was a six-time Grammy Award winner, and won three Oscars for his music in films Arthur and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

His other famous soundtracks include Michael Caine film Alfie and What’s New Pussycat.

Bacharach was a prolific composer who, alongside lyricist Hal David, wrote music artists ranging from Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield to Cilla Black and Tom Jones.

Their music was also perfromed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Carpenters.

Some of Bacharach’s most recognisable songs include “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head“ (1969), “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1970) and “That’s What Friends Are For...

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Janet Thurlow, the jazz singer and widow of famed trombonist Jimmy Cleveland who performed with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra and helped give Quincy Jones an early career boost, has died. She was 96.

Thurlow died Oct. 4 congestive heart failure at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, California, her family announced.

Thurlow first met Cleveland in 1951 when she joined Hampton’s band and he was playing with the vibes legend. They married two years later and performed together often until his death in 2008 at age 82.

The first of five children, Janet Lorraine Thurlow was born in Seattle on May 21, 1926. She received violin, piano and voice lessons as a youngster and played violin on a radio talent show hosted by Major Edward Bowes.

She began as a song stylist with Robert “Bumps” Blackwell’s Seattle-based band in 1949 before she was recruited by Hampton. She then pushed the bandleader to hire Jones,...

By Eve Goldberg

Ronnie’s, a 2020 documentary, tells the story of Ronnie Scott and his legendary London jazz club.

From the opening sequence in which virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson and his band perform in an exuberant split screen montage, the film announces itself as a vehicle where style reflects content, and the filmmakers really know how to present their material in a compelling way.

The documentary recounts how Ronnie Scott, a poor Jewish kid from London’s East End, becomes a top British jazz saxophonist in the 1940s and 50s. Eventually tiring of big band swing, and inspired by the new music of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Scott forms his own Bebop ensemble. In 1959, Scott and his fellow musician and business partner, Pete King, open their own nightclub—Ronnie Scott’s. It doesn’t take long for their club to become the premiere jazz spot in London, and a...