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Tony Bennett, Sonny Rollins, the Pat Metheny Trio, Branford Marsalis and John Scofield are among the artists lined up for California’s 48th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, which will be held Sept. 16-18.

Showcase artist Scofield and artist-in-residence Marsalis will be the festival’s most ubiquitous artists. Among Scofield’s plans is a tribute to Ray Charles with Mavis Staples and a “New Grooves” segment featuring the John Scofield Uberjam Band and Banyan.

Marsalis, meanwhile, will headline a final night show with his quintet and participate in one of the festival’s “conversations” a day earlier, discussing “Jazz: The Big Picture.” Others taking part in such discourse will be artists Carla Bley and Steve Swallow (“The Creative Process”) and Billboard jazz columnist Dan Ouellette, who will lead a journalists’ panel discussion.

Saxophonist John Handy is planning to commemorate his legendary 1965 Monterey performance with a 40th anniversary reunion of several members of that quintet. That ’65 set featured then virtually unknown players Michael White (violin), Jerry Hahn (guitar), Terry Clarke (drums) and Don Thompson (bass) who played just two songs: a 27-minute version of “If Only We Knew” and a 19-minute take on “Spanish Lady.” The performance was recorded and released the following year as Handy’s Columbia Records debut.

Other highlights for the 48th annual event include the debut Monterey appearance by Bennett, Rollins’ first appearance there since 1997 and performances by Larry Carlton & Sapphire Blue with Ledisi, Lee Ritenour & Friends with Dave Grusin, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and vocalist Madeleine Peyroux.

Source billboard.com.

The Killers will headline the first U.S. edition of the U.K.’s successful Download Festival, Billboard.com has learned. The event will be held Oct. 8 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., and will also boast performances by Modest Mouse, the Arcade Fire, Doves, H.I.M. and Mindless Self Indulgence. Tickets go on sale Sunday (July 31).

Like the U.K. version of the event, which drew 150,000 people this year to London’s Donnington Park, the U.S. edition will offer cutting-edge technology and media experiences.

Last year’s festival, with Linkin Park, Metallica, Korn, Sum 41 and Iggy Pop on the bill, grossed $7.3 million, the 10th highest gross of the year, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Source billboard.com.

Multiplatinum recording artist Moby will release an iTunes Originals featuring an exclusive interview and unreleased performances on July 26, 2005.

Launched June 29, 2004, iTunes Originals combine select album tracks with exclusive in-studio live performances, and comprehensive interviews to provide career-spanning portraits of some of the biggest recording artists in contemporary music.

Moby

The Rolling Stones’ “A Bigger Bang” isn’t just the legendary rock act’s first new album in eight years — it’s also their most substantial since 1972’s “Exile on Main Street.” Due Sept. 6 via Virgin, the set features 16 new tracks, including the singles “Streets of Love” and “Rough Justice,” which will be released Aug. 22 in the U.K. on CD and seven-inch vinyl.

“A Bigger Bang” also boasts two tracks sung by guitarist Keith Richards (“Infamy” and “This Place Is Empty”) as well as “Oh No, Not You Again,” which the Stones premiered during a May press conference at New York’s Juilliard School to announce their 2005 tour.

Full story: Billboard.com

Keller Williams is a one man band for the digital age. Using innovative looping technology and innate musical genius, Keller’s live solo performances pack more music on one stage than a full fledge rock ensemble might. With summer festival performances at Bonnaroo, High Sierra, and the traveling BIG Summer Classic, Keller had plenty of opportunity to display his inspired live shows to enthusiastic crowds. This fall, Keller heads back indoors into the more intimate theatre setting.

Fall tour dates include:
Sat Aug 13 Gathering of the Vibes, Duanesburg NY
Sun Aug 14 Fire Lake Music Festival, Gaffney SC
Sat Aug 20 Cannery Row, Nashville TN
Sun Aug 21 Nelson Ledges Quarry, Garrettsville OH
Thu Aug 25 Twilight Concert Series, Salt Lake City UT
Sat Aug 27 Friends UV Nature and Knowledge Festival, Bean Blossom IN
Fri Sept 2 Moe.down, Turin NY
Fri Sept 9 Baker Theatre, Dover NJ
Wed Sep 14 Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte NC
Thu Sep 15 Orange Peel, Asheville NC (w/ The Keels)
Fri Sep 16 Tabernacle, Atlanta GA
Sat Sept 17 Florida Theater, Jacksonville FL
Tue Sept 20 The Moon, Tallahassee FL
Thur Sept 22 House of Blues, Orlando FL
Fri Sept 23 Carefree Theater, West Palm Beach FL
Sat Sept 24 Tampa Theater, Tampa FL
Sun Sept 25 Centre Stage (Plex), Charleston SC
Wed Sept 28 Ziggy’s, Winston-Salem NC
Thur Sept 29 House of Blues, Myrtle Beach SC
Fri Sept 30 Alabama Theater, Birmingham AL
Sat Oct 1 Homegrown Festival, Raleigh NC
Sun Oct 2 Pavilion, Charlottesville VA
Thur Oct 6 Norva, Norfolk VA
Fri Oct 7 Jefferson Center, Roanoke VA
Thur Oct 13 Orpheum, Boston MA
Fri Oct 14 Nokia Theater, New York NY
Sat Oct 15 Electric Factory, Philadelphia PA
Thur Oct 20 Meridian, Houston TX
Fri Oct 21 Gypsy Ballroom, Dallas TX
Sat Oct 22 Stubb’s Outdoors, Austin TX
Fri Nov 04 9:30 Club, Washington DC

Tickets on sale Tuesday, August 2nd at baselineticketing.com.

More tour dates to be announced soon.

In June Keller released his first ever performance DVD, SIGHT. Finally, a visual souvenir of Keller’s awe-inspiring live shows! For those who have yet to see Keller Williams perform live, SIGHT offers the perfect opportunity to actually watch this mad scientist of music create on-stage. Recorded at Mr. Smalls’ state-of-the-art theatre facility in Pittsburgh, PA, SIGHT features over 100 minutes of top quality concert footage, plus plenty of hilarious b-roll footage recorded over his many years on the road. It’s been hailed as one of the most entertaining performance DVD’s ever!

Visit kellerwilliams.net for more information.

Boston based hip hop artist Kabir brings his live hip hop band to the Mercury Lounge, Saturday night July 30th. London born, half Indian – half Italian, Kabir moved to Cambridge, Ma as a young kid. His influences are as wide ranging as the nightime sky. His lyrics are socially and politically conscious, positive, and thought-provoking, while his grooves are deep and body-shaking.

Kabir hits the stage around 9pm at the Mercury Lounge. Other acts that night include; Beans (from the Antipop Consortium), Dub Trio, and Kudu. The Mercury Lounge is 21+ and is located at 217 E. Houston Street.

For more info see: myspace.com/mckabir and sonicbids.com/kabir.

A successful 32-date European tour now complete, Queen + Paul Rodgers have scheduled two fall U.S. shows, one on each coast. In the east, the tour will on Oct. 16 visit East Rutherford, N.J.’s Continental Airlines Arena, while an Oct. 22 stop is scheduled California’s famed Hollywood Bowl. Queen has not played the U.S. since 1982.

An additional date in each venue is also possible, according to a source, but no additional U.S. dates are being considered in 2005. As previously reported, a larger slate of 2006 shows is under consideration.

Tickets go on sale Saturday (July 30) for the New Jersey date (priced $37-127) and Sunday for the Hollywood show (prices unavailable at deadline). Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster, Queenpluspaulrodgers.com, Queenonline.com and Paulrodgers.com. The artist-related Web sites will also have information about pre-sale opportunities and VIP ticket packages.

Ramping up to the Stateside dates, the group will play Oct. 8 at the Aruba Music Festival. After the U.S., it heads on for four Japanese dates (Oct. 26-27 in Tokyo, Nov. 1 in Nagoya and Nov. 3 in Fukuoka).

Rodgers, a veteran of rock acts Bad Company, Free and the Firm, stands in for Queen’s charismatic frontman, Freddie Mercury, who died of complications from AIDS in 1991. He joins original Queen members Brian May (guitar/vocals) and Roger Taylor (drums), with former Blue Oyster Cult bassist Danny Miranda filling the role of John Deacon, who has retired from touring. The touring group is rounded out by guitarist Jamie Moses and keyboardist Spike Edney.

Recent shows have found the group airing out such Queen favorites as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You” as well as Rodgers-associated songs like Free’s “All Right Now” and “Wishing Well” and Bad Company’s “Can’t Get Enough” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love.”

More than 45 songs from the European tour can be purchased at Queenpluspaulrodgers.com. In the U.K., the songs are also available as mobile phone downloads.

Source billboard.com.

Former Doors drummer John Densmore won a permanent injunction against his ex- bandmates Friday, preventing keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger from continuing to tour or record under any name that contains the words “The Doors.” The two had been touring with various members under the name “The Doors of the 21st Century” since 2003.

“I think our old lead singer would be happy,” Densmore told Rolling Stone on Saturday, referencing the late Jim Morrison, who died in 1971, effectively ending the original incarnation of the group.

Densmore was joined in his suit by Morrison’s parents, as well as the parents of Morrison’s common-law wife, Pamela Courson. Under the terms of the ruling, Manzarek and Krieger are required to give Densmore and the Morrison estate portions of the profits from their recent tours. The ruling also restores the band partnership that the group began with, where each of the four members held an equal share.

“It’s a sweet little democracy that Jim orchestrated with no lawyers, in a garage in Venice, California,” Densmore told Rolling Stone after filing the suit in 2003. “And he included veto power in case anybody didn’t like what went down. I’m just trying to keep the integrity of what we did a long time ago.”

Krieger and Manzarek could not be reached for comment by press time.

Source rollingstone.com.

Electric Six isn’t known for its seriousness as a band. In fact, the sextet admits it changed its name from the Wildbunch because the group “wanted a shot at the big time.”

Even the band members aren’t sure if they’ve hit the big time yet, but one thing for certain is that the group will hit the road this fall, beginning September 22 at Lee’s Palace in Toronto. E6 is scheduled to spend two more days in Canada before heading Stateside.

In support of its latest release, Senor Smoke, E6 will head to the U.S. October 3 for a gig at Carrboro, N.C.’s Cat’s Cradle. The band will play three shows in what the band calls “our neighbors to the South, the great nation of Florida,” before heading to Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan in mid-October.

The Detroit natives – who “use stage names because we had a stupid idea one night and now we have to live with it” – have been through approximately four guitar players, four bass players, five keyboard players, and three drummers.

Source pollstar.com.

Widespread Panic performed two separate sets yesterday (July 24) to close out the second night of Lollapalooza in Chicago, the first time the 1990s touring festival has been held as a single-city event. Sunday’s attendance equaled that of Saturday’s with 33,000 people, according to a festival spokesperson.

Perry Farrell noted that Widespread Panic was the first act he thought of for Lollapalooza 2005. In turn, the group was rewarded with 150 minutes of set time, nearly double what any other act enjoyed.

Lollapalooza on Sunday sometimes felt closer to a jam band event than the multi-genre, eclectic sort of festival it was known as throughout much of the ’90s. Saturday also saw performances from Blue Merle, G. Love and Special Sauce, Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Farrell’s new rock/funk/electronic collective Satellite Party, which featured Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal and percussionist Gabriele Corcos.

Full Article: Billboard.com