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Live tracks from Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews and the Dead lead the track list for “Bonnaroo 2004,” an audio chronicle of the third edition of the Manchester, Tenn.-based music festival. The double-disc set is due April 5 via Sanctuary.

Among the highlights are Dylan’s set-opening “Down Along the Cove,” the Dead’s “Self Defense,” Steve Winwood’s version of Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” the Black Keys’ run through “The Breaks” and My Morning Jacket’s “One Big Holiday.”

Other artists featured on the set include Gov’t Mule, Kings Of Leon, Ween, Primus, Trey Anastasio, Los Lonely Boys and String Cheese Incident.

As previously reported, the 2005 edition of Bonnaroo will be held June 10-12 and feature performances by Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, Anastasio, the Black Crowes and the Allman Brothers Band.

Here is the track list for “Bonnaroo 2004”:

Disc one:
“Down Along the Cove,” Bob Dylan
“Trouble,” Dave Matthews & Friends
“Self Defense,” the Dead
“Dear Mr. Fantasy,” Steve Winwood
“Blind Man in the Dark,” Gov’t Mule
“Caleb Meyer,” Gillian Welch
“Crazy Dream,” Los Lonely Boys
“One Big Holiday,” My Morning Jacket
“The Breaks,” the Black Keys
“Trani,” Kings Of Leon
“Nemo,” Umphrey’s McGee
“The Big Eater,” the Bad Plus

Disc two:
“Curfew’s Call,” Trey Anastasio
“Dialog Box,” David Byrne
“Volcano,” Damien Rice
“Frizzle Fry,” Primus
“Zoloft,” Ween
“Evolve,” Ani DiFranco
“Desert Dawn,” String Cheese Incident
“Bright It On,” Gomez
“Best Bit,” Beth Orton
“Nothin’ But Flowers,” Guster
“Not Coming Down,” moe.
“Ska Me Crazy,” Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Source billboard.com.

Wilco, String Cheese Incident and Gov’t Mule are among the acts confirmed to appear at Kansas’ second annual Wakarusa Festival. The three-day jam band-oriented “celebration of music and Mother Nature” will boast more than 50 artists on three stages near Lawrence, Kan.

Presented by Fat Tire Amber Ale, the June 17-19 festival will also feature Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Umphrey’s McGee, Little Feat, Ozomatli, Jazz Mandolin Project, North Mississippi Allstars, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Son Volt, Particle, Neko Case, the Samples, John Brown’s Body and Junior Brown, among others.

Wakarusa also offers a slate of activities ranging from mountain biking and nature hikes to wind surfing and canoe rentals. Organizers have also added a secluded family campground and children’s concerts and activities to this year’s event. A 24-hour general store will provide a full range of food and merchandise.

A limited number of $79 tickets are available through the event’s Web site. All tickets include concert admission, camping and free parking, with camping upgrades and VIP tickets ($295) also available.

Source billboard.com.

Coldplay have bumped back their long-awaited third album to June. The as-yet-titled follow-up to 2002’s A Rush of Blood to the Head was originally due in March, but initial recordings with producer Ken Nelson were scrapped in favor of starting over with A Rush mixer Danton Supple.

A Rush was similarly delayed: It was originally targeted for June of 2002 but didn’t hit stores until that August. “I’d hate to rush the end of the record,” bassist Guy Berryman told Rolling Stone in April of 2002, “because we have to get it in on time.”

As for the new album, Champion says the band has completed fourteen to fifteen tracks — including “Square One,” “What If” and “The Hardest Part” — and is now paring it down.

Meanwhile, Coldplay will perform at radio station KCRW’s Sounds Eclectic Evening in Los Angeles on March 12th before headlining the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 30th. They will then kick off a world tour in the U.K. in June.

Source rollingstone.com.

Until recently, there was one U.S. date on the books for Gang of Four: an appearance in front of the massive crowd at California’s Coachella music festival May 1.

Now the band will be playing the next two evenings at San Francisco’s Fillmore. Gang of Four will also be visiting Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C., among other cities, before ending things in Philadelphia May 21.

Gang of Four is considered one of the most influential groups of the early 80s. R.E.M., U2, Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers probably would have sounded more like Night Ranger if it wasn’t for this band.

The lineup is the same as it was in 1981: Jon King, Andy Gill, Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham. The foursome released 1978’s Damaged Goods, and 1979’s Entertainment and Solid Gold – three very influential albums from that era.

Gill is currently a record producer, with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Killing Joke, Futureheads and Jesus Lizard under his belt, among others.

A double-disc set of Gang of Four music is expected to be released around the same time as the U.S. dates.

Source pollstar.com.

Dave Matthews Band will supports its new studio album on tour this summer in North America, beginning June 1 in Maryland Heights, Mo., and running through a Sept. 7 finale in Bonner Springs, Kan. Members of the band’s Warehouse fan organization will get first crack at tickets through March 14; most shows go on-sale April 2 to the general public.

Beyond multiple-night stands at such familiar venues as Camden, N.J.’s Tweeter Center and the Verizon Wireless Music Center just outside Indianapolis, DMB will play an Aug. 12-13 stand at the 41,000-capacity SBC Park in San Francisco and an Aug. 19-21 run at the Gorge Amphitheatre just outside Seattle.

The band’s as-yet-untitled RCA set is expected in May and will likely feature such tracks as “Hello Again,” “Joy Ride,” “Die Trying” and “Old Dirt Road.” Working with producer Mark Batson, DMB has built songs from ideas generated by each member, prior to Matthews adding his vocals.

Before the summer tour, DMB will play the first Australian shows of its career later this month, as well as appear at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in late April. A visit to the Bonnaroo festival is slotted in for mid-June.

Here are Dave Matthews Band’s summer tour dates:

June 1: Maryland Heights, Mo. (UMB Bank Pavilion)
June 2: Tinley Park, Ill. (Tweeter Center)
June 4-5: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post-Gazette Pavilion)
June 7-8: Columbus, Ohio (Germain Amphitheatre)
June 12-13: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
June 15: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (Blossom Music Center)
June 18-19: Hartford, Conn. (ctnow.com Meadows Music Theater)
June 22: Scranton, Pa. (Montage Mountain)
June 23: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
June 25: Hershey, Pa. (Hersheypark Stadium)
June 26: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion)
June 28: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
June 29: Raleigh, N.C. (Alltel Pavilion)
July 1-2: Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (SPAC)
July 5-6: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
July 14: Tampa, Fla. (Ford Amphitheatre)
July 16-17: West Palm Beach, Fla. (Sound Advice Amphitheatre)
July 20: Antioch, Tenn. (Starwood Amphitheatre)
July 21: Cincinnati (Riverbend Music Center)
July 23-24: East Troy, Wis. (Alpine Valley)
July 27: Darien Center, N.Y. (Six Flags Darien Lake)
Aug. 12-13: San Francisco (SBC Park)
Aug. 16: Marysville, Calif. (Sleep Train Amphitheatre)
Aug. 19-21: George, Wash. (Gorge Amphitheatre)
Aug. 25: Chula Vista, Calif. (Coors Amphitheatre)
Aug. 27-28: Carson, Calif. (Home Depot Center)
Aug. 30: Phoenix (Cricket Pavilion)
Aug. 31: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
Sept. 2: Selma, Texas (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Sept. 5: Woodlands, Texas (Mitchell Pavilion)
Sept. 7: Bonner Springs, Kan. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)

Source billboard.com.

Blues legend B.B. King won’t celebrate his 80th birthday until Sept. 16, but a host of events are in the works leading up to the occasion. King is already in the midst of an extensive tour, which rolls into San Diego tonight (March 1) and has dates on tap through July 5 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Later this month, King will begin work on a new duets album, which is confirmed to feature pairings with Van Morrison, U2, Sting and Elton John. The set will be released later this year on a Universal Music Group label to be announced.

It will be King’s first new studio album since 2003’s “Reflections,” which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums chart.

In June, ground will broken on the B.B. King Museum in his hometown of Indianola, Miss.. Benefit concerts for the museum are in the works for late summer at a venue to be announced and on Sept. 20 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Also in September, King will be the subject of the Bulfinch Press book “B.B. King’s Treasures,” which follows his 1996 autobiography “Blues All Around Me.”

Source billboard.com.

The boxing saga “Million Dollar Baby” was the Academy Awards heavyweight Sunday, claiming best picture and three other trophies, including honors for director Clint Eastwoo), lead-actress Hilary Swank and supporting-actor Morgan Freeman.

Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” came away with the most Oscars, its five awards including the supporting-actress prize for Cate Blanchett.

Eastwood, who at 74 became the oldest directing winner ever, noted his mother was with him when his Western “Unforgiven” won the 1992 best-picture and directing Oscar.

The 77th Oscars were another heartbreak for Scorsese, the man behind “The Aviator,” who lost the directing race for the fifth time. Scorsese matched the record of Oscar futility held by a handful of legendary filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Altman, who also went 0-for-5 in the directing category.

Swank became a double Academy Award winner Sunday for “Million Dollar Baby,” while Jamie Foxx took lead actor for “Ray.” The wins for Freeman and Foxx made it only the second time blacks won two of the four acting prizes.

Swank, who previously won the best-actress Oscar for “Boys Don’t Cry,” once again beat out main rival Annette Bening, nominated for the theater farce “Being Julia.” Bening had been the front-runner for “American Beauty” five years ago but lost to underdog Swank.

Foxx won for his uncanny emulation of Ray Charles in “Ray.” As he had at earlier awards triumphs, Foxx led the Oscar audience in a rendition of the call-and-response chant from Charles’ 1959 hit “What’d I Say,” whose funky electric-piano grooves play over the opening credits of “Ray.”

Foxx had been a double Oscar nominee, also picked in the supporting category for the hit man thriller “Collateral.”

Playing Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator,” Blanchett had the spirit of the Oscars’ most-honored actress on her side. Hepburn, the love of Hughes’ life in the 1930s before she began her long romance with Spencer Tracy, earned 12 nominations and won a record four Oscars.

“Thank you, of course, to Miss Hepburn. The longevity of her career I think is inspiring to everyone,” said Blanchett. She added thanks to “Aviator” director Scorsese, saying, “I hope my son will marry your daughter.”

Oscar host Chris Rock said Blanchett was so convincing that Sidney Poitier, Hepburn’s co-star in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” showed up at Blanchett’s house for supper.

The wins by Freeman and Foxx followed Denzel Washington and Halle Berry’s triumph three years ago for “Training Day” and “Monster’s Ball,” the only other time blacks claimed two acting Oscars.

The superhero action comedy “The Incredibles” won the animated-feature prize, beating 2004’s biggest box-office hit, the fairy-tale sequel “Shrek 2.” It was the second-straight animated Oscar for Pixar Animation, which won a year ago for “Finding Nemo.”

Source yahoo.com.

For a full list of winners, visit here.

Sigur Ros, Mercury Rev, the Pogues, the reunited Dinosaur Jr. and Fatboy Slim are among the first acts to sign on for Japan’s annual Fuji Rock Festival. The event will be held July 29-31 at the Naeba Ski Resort outside Tokyo.

Other confirmed artists include the Music, the Coral, Dresden Dolls, Kaiser Chiefs, the Bravery, Cake, the Beach Boys, Yonder Mountain String Band, Steel Pulse, Aqualung and Juliette and the Licks. For ticket information, visit Fuji Rock’s official web site.

The Everyone Orchestra offers a new paradigm for live music by combining various musicians from popular touring bands for two nights of improvisational music when the group performs the 2nd Annual Pangaea Project Benefit at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland Thursday and Friday April 14, 15 and at WOW Hall in Eugene Saturday, April 16.

The roster of performers includes Jon Fishman of Phish, Billy Nershi and Michael Travis of String Cheese Incident, Kai Eckhardt of Garaj Mahal, Everyone Orchestra founder Matt Butler, and a number of other musicians.

The Everyone Orchestra catalyzes revolving casts of musicians who combine energy and talent to raise funds and awareness for local non-profits through performance of songs and improvisational music. Each Everyone Orchestra performance culminates in unique and unpredictable segments featuring a conductor directing both musicians and audience alike in interactive, lively, and highly danceable jams.

The 2004 inaugural events raised over $4500 for The Pangaea Project which engages teenagers from underserved neighborhoods in local and international service-learning projects by promoting the development of leadership skills, increasing global awareness, and fostering a commitment to work towards social change. Proceeds from Everyone Orchestra show ticket sales, fundraising raffles, and other generous donations will be contributed to The Pangaea Project.

Last year

Bela Fleck is taking 2005 off from touring with the Flecktones, but he will still be very busy with a number of new projects. According to his official Web site, Fleck is currently recording an album in Africa with native musicians, sessions for which will also yield a future documentary DVD. Fleck will report on the experience weekly on National Public Radio’s “The World.”

After returning from Africa, Fleck will begin a series of performances with Bryan Sutton and Cassey Driessen as the Acoustic Trio on March 26 at the Suwannee Festival in Live Oak, Fla. Other confirmed appearances include Merlefest in North Carolina in late April, Bonnaroo in mid-June and the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in late September in Longford, Ireland.

But Fleck will spend most of the summer performing with !Trio! alongside jazz bassist Stanley Clarke and violinist Jean Luc Ponty. The group is crafting original material to perform at North American jazz festivals and during a July European run.

Stretching into late November, Fleck will play 10 dates with longtime collaborator/bassist Edgar Meyer. The pair is also planning to work on its second concerto next year, on the heels of their 2004 album, “Music for Two.”

Fleck will return to his main band when the year is up, noting that “The Flecktones have a new album recorded already and will release it when we come back on the road in early 2006.”

Source billboard.com.