Check out the Blue Note Archives app

Blue Note and Groovebug launch first premium OpenEMI app

Legendary jazz label Blue Note Records has released an iPad app, developed by Groovebug, which serves as a social network and specialized etailer for all things related to the genre. Watch the video below for a demo.

It’s the first app to be commercially released through OpenEMI, an initiative launched in partnership with the Echo Nest that simplifies music licensing and gives developers more flexibility in how they work with licensed music.

The app costs $1.99 a month for unlimited music streaming, new music and other content added monthly; expert-curated playlists, user playlists, social network integration, discussion pages, extended liner notes, photos and videos, and historical documents. Blue Note describes it as “the ultimate digital box set.”  Featuring classic Blue Note artists such as Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon and Art Blakey, the free-to-download free app plays 30-second clips of the tracks playable without activating a subscription.

Neil Tinegate, vice president Digital Projects at EMI Music, said: “Groovebug have done an amazing job with the Blue Note App, creating a fantastic experience that really brings this outstanding content to life. The App looks and sounds incredible and is a brilliant way to get completely immersed in the world of Blue Note and its seminal artists. The partnership approach of the OpenEMI process has meant that whilst EMI has taken care of tasks such as licensing and clearances, and now distribution and marketing, Groovebug have been able to concentrate on what they do best – designing and building a stunning app.”

Related links:

Groovebug – http://groovebug.com

BlueNote – http://www.bluenote.com

OpenEMI – http://www.emimusic.com/openemi

Echo Nest API – http://developer.echonest.com




100 years of Jazz .... and counting

100 years of jazz and still going strong... An enduring form of art and entertainment. The brilliant music master Matt Chauvin has seen fit to archive and present great (mostly lost, always amazing) music to a YouTube type world. Hats off to Matt! Today's 'side' (talking about records here, folks!) contains the first solo recording ever made by W. Evans Burton Junior. More details and video at: http://www.20sjazz.com/page/11485.html
Enjoy! Check out Matt Chauvin's work, and please help spread the word about the sites www.20sJazz.com and www.30sJazz.com as well. Subscribe to his sites for a daily fix, jazz junkies!

The Top 10 Things to aim for when starting the trumpet....

I get asked all the time, so here is my story, and I am sticking to it!

Trumpet is a frustrating beast sometimes... but here are my basic suggestions... 

1. Take relaxed, full breaths. Keep air support steady, and lift and push with your diaphragm muscles when you you want to play higher and/or louder. Don't close off your throat ever!
2. Play softly and keep the lips together to get a clear tone, especially at first. Pucker your lips slightly forward... don't smile/stretch your lips. Putting your lips to the horn in a relaxed natural manner is the best route and is the most sustainable when you start to play harder.
3. Play long tones... DAILY... aim for 30 seconds without wavering. Start in the middle of your natural range and move up the notes in 1/2 steps
4. Rest as often as you play , ie: ON for 1 minute, OFF for one minute, working up to ON for 5 minutes, OFF for 5, 10, etc   
5. It is better to play 10 minutes every day than 30 minutes every 3 days, but 30 mins every day is a good goal for a newbie. Two hours a day for pros...
6. Listen carefully to what you are playing and what pitch and rhythm is happening around you, whether playing with a group or with records.. playing with ANY records/CD is good. 
7. Make every note count: Try to 'hear it' in your head before it ever comes out, and when it does, 'place it' accurately and confidently  
8. Learn to READ music and learn to LISTEN to music, you need both skills to improvise and make the trumpet fun!
9. Use a metronome if possible and learn your chromatic scale as high and low as you can go, fluid and smooth... start slow and make it even. Add major, minor, etc scales as you go.
10. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Playing a few confident well chosen or pretty notes is way more satisfying than spewing a hot mess.... ;)

Gabriel's Starpixie moves up Billboard charts again!

After five weeks the first single from Kissed By The Sun is now at #15 on Billboard.....
Nestled in with some great company, too ....
Many thanks to Neil Sapper at New World 'n' Jazz, all the loyal and supportive MDs, my guest performers, and my 'partner in crime' Jeff Lorber, for his mad skills! GMH

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