2003

Air guitar has gone high-tech, as Hollywood Records is using CD entertainment technology from MusicPlayground to bring karaoke into a whole new sphere. “The World’s Greatest Air Guitar Album” is the first full-length commercial release to offer the bonus, which enables consumers to play an instrument along with 24 different anthems, including Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.”
What makes this experience different from holding a tennis racquet while posing is MusicPlayground. Using either a computer keyboard or a separately available V-Pick “interactive guitar pick,” fans can play along with what the company calls an onscreen Rhythm EKG. This display shows cues and lyrics, turning consumers into a guitarist the same way a karaoke machine would make them a vocalist.
Source Billboard.com.

Tyler Hamilton has been a media favorite since making the decision to continue in this year’s Tour de France despite a broken collarbone suffered early in the race. Next year, filmmakers will take the story of Hamilton’s perseverence to the big screen

Welsh rock act Super Furry Animals, whose sixth album “Phantom Power” is due July 29 from XL/Beggars Group, will link with Modesto, Calif.-based rock outfit Grandaddy for a fall U.S. tour, due to kick off Sept. 18 in San Francisco.
Grandaddy’s fourth album, “Sumday” (V2) debuted last month at No. 84 on The Billboard 200. The critically acclaimed four-piece will co-headline with Super Furry Animals on the trek, which stretches through an Oct. 3-4 stand at New York’s Irving Plaza.
For a complete list of tour dates, visit the article at Billboard.com.

Columbia/Legacy Jazz’s restoration of its catalog of albums by jazz legend Thelonious Monk will be extended next month with four additional titles. Due Aug. 19, each has been digitally remastered and expanded with bonus tracks not on the originally issued albums.
“Criss-Cross” (1963) was the pianist’s second album for Columbia and featured tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop. The new version adds three bonus tracks, including unreleased alternate takes of “Tea For Two” and “Eronel.” His third Columbia set, 1964’s “It’s Monk’s Time,” is also extended with three bonus tracks, including a complete version of Monk’s closing theme “Epistrophy.” The album was recorded with Rouse, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Ben Riley.
Nine extra tracks bolster the reissue of 1965’s “Solo Monk,” an album marked by its blues numbers and standards. Two of the new tracks “Introspection” and “Darn That Dream,” first appeared on the 1979 double-album “Always Know.”
Lastly, 1968’s “Underground,” Monk’s final Columbia studio album, newly features previously unreleased alternate takes of “Boo Boo’s Birthday” and the waltz “Ugly Beauty,” as well as the first recorded take of “Thelonious.” The quartet was rounded out by Rouse, Riley and bassist Larry Gales, and expanded with on-the-spot improvised vocals by Jon Hendricks on the closing track “In Walked Bud.”
Source Billboard.com.

When James Brown was winding down his show at a jazz festival yesterday (July 17) in Helsinki, the crowds clapped to the beat of his 1970s hit “Sex Machine,” then roared with approval when Finland’s popular president Tarja Halonen walked on stage to jive with the Godfather of Soul.
An enthusiastic audience chanted “Tarja, Tarja, Tarja,” in the balmy, bright summer evening in Pori, on the southwestern coast of Finland, wrapped in a rare heat wave. Halonen, 59, let her hair down and visibly enjoyed dancing with 70-year-old Brown at one of Finland’s oldest music festivals.
Source Billboard.com.

HBO dominated television’s Emmy Award nominations with a total of 109, with “Six Feet Under” earning 16 nominations, including one for best TV drama where it faces another HBO hit “The Sopranos.”
“Sex and the City” landed 13 nominations, including best comedy which runs against the network’s other popular comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“The Sopranos,” also claimed 13 to tie “Sex and the City” at the No. 3 position among most-nominated programs.
The 55th Annual Emmy Awards will be given out in September.
Source yahoo.com.

The initial dates of the Gov

Jam band fans who missed out on the chance to sail on the inaugural Jam Cruise — set to depart Jan. 6, 2004, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. — will now get a crack at the next-best thing, Jam Cruise II. The initial cruise sold out of its 800 tickets within an hour of their on-sale date, so Cloud 9 Adventures has announced a sequel, with tickets on sale Monday (July 21).
Jam Cruise II will depart Jan. 10, 2004, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on the Imperial Majesty Regal Empress ship, the same day the ship will dock with returning passengers from Jam Cruise I. Both will make stops in Nassau, the Bahamas and Key West, Fla. Galactic and the Disco Biscuits will remain on the ship as participants in both cruises, and a host of other acts will climb aboard for the second edition.
Confirmed bands for Jam Cruise II include Michael Franti & Spearhead, Les Claypool, Donna The Buffalo, Yonder Mountain String Band, Rebirth Brass Band, RAQ, Codetalkers feat. Col. Bruce Hampton and the Hackensaw Boys. As previously reported, Keller Williams, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Particle, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and DJ Z-Trip will take part in Jam Cruise II.
Both tours will feature traditional cruise attractions such as casinos, dining and spa facilities as well as boasting three stages — an outdoor stage on the top deck, an indoor theater and a small nightclub. Passengers can choose between dozens of concerts, plus all-night jam sessions. The show admission is included in the package price, ranging from $500 to $1025 per person.
Source billboard.com.