2005

Big Joe Burrell, the gregarious saxophone player who towered over Burlington’s music scene for three decades, died Wednesday morning from complications following abdominal surgery. He was 80.

Burrell learned from Count Basie and B.B. King and passed his knowledge on to a new generation of musicians including Trey Anastasio of Phish. His sweet sax drifted into the ears of untold thousands across the world, across the country and across Vermont after the Michigan native arrived in Burlington in 1976. His reach went as far as blues festivals in Europe and as close to home as Halvorson’s Upstreet Cafe on Church Street, where he played every Thursday.

He was an imposing physical presence, but with his cherubic face, large spectacles and larger smile, he was a friendly presence, too, quick to support any charity event in town.

Burrell was big in name, big in size and big in reputation. If the Burlington music scene had a patriarch, a Jedi jazz master, it was Big Joe Burrell.

“He fell in love with Burlington a few years ago, and Burlington fell in love with him, and we were really blessed to have him in our community,” said Chuck Eller of Charlotte, who played for years with Burrell in the Unknown Blues Band.

Burrell entered Fletcher Allen Health Care last month for abdominal surgery and developed respiratory problems. He died about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, a week shy of his 81st birthday. Burrell, who will be cremated, didn’t want a funeral; Eller said he is organizing a musical tribute likely to take place in May on a Thursday night – “the Big Joe day of the week.”

Source burlingtonfreepress.com.

The 5th Annual Jammys Awards will be held on April 26th, once again at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Fan voting will begin on February 18th. More info on performers and details will be released shortly on jammys.com.

Rapper Lyrics Born will offer up five new songs and eight remixes on “Same !@#$ Different Day,” due April 26 via Quannum. Among those lending a hand are producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura on “I’m Just Raw,” DJ Shadow and Joyo Velarde on “Over You,” KRS One and Dilated Peoples’ Evidence on “Pack Up,” Morcheeba on “Stop Complaining” and Lateef the Truth Speaker on “The Last Trumpet.”

The source material for the remixes was tracks from Lyrics Born’s 2003 Quannum album “Later That Day,” which reached No. 40 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart. The single “Callin’ Out,” which is remixed by Casual and E-40 on the new collection, is currently heard in a commercial for Diet Coke featuring actor Adrien Brody.

Lyrics Born will be featuring the tracks on his spring tour, which gets underway Feb. 24 in San Francisco.

Source billboard.com.

Reid Genauer, Assembly of Dust’s lead vocalist and primary songwriter, has been dubbed by critics as “one of the most vital voices, singers, storytellers and songwriters in today’s live music scene.”

For The Honest Hour (Hybrid Recordings, September 2004), Genauer and AOD keyboardist Nate Wilson co-wrote five of the album’s nine original songs, and the album proves the Genauer/Wilson collaboration is a more-than worthwhile pairing. AOD’s distinctive “hick funk” style sets up the album’s best songs as “instant classics,” while the genuine songwriting and storytelling maintains all of the edgy and fresh appeal of today’s most popular singer/songwriters.

All the songs on The Honest Hour were recorded live at Revolution Hall in Troy, NY in 2004, and the collection boasts both the open-sky breeziness and energy of a live show and the pristine production of a studio album. AOD also features bassist/backing vocalist John Leccese (Percy Hill), drummer Andy Herrick (Moon Boot Lover), and guitarist/backing vocalist Adam Terrell (Groovechild).

Assembly of Dust will begin their spring tour tomorrow, with more dates being added. The current list of tour dates is as follows:

2/2 Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ *Reid Solo*
2/3 World Cafe Live, Philly, PA *Acoustic Band*
2/4 Mexicali Blues, Teaneck, NJ
2/5 Recher Theater, Towson, MD *Open for North Mississippi Allstars*
2/10 Fox Theater, Boulder, CO *Reid and Adam Acoustic*
2/11 Frites Edwards, CO *Reid and Adam Acoustic*
2/12 Cervantes Ballroom, Denver, CO *Reid and Adam Acoustic*
3/3 Acoustic Cafe *Reid Solo*
3/4 Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
3/5 Revolution Hall, Troy, NY
4/8 Knitting Factory, NYC, NY
4/9 Knitting Factory, NYC, NY
4/20 Lupos, Providence, RI *Open for Ratdog*
4/23 Orpheum Theater
5/1 Johnson State, Vermont

Jack Johnson and some of his best musical friends will drop in on Hawaii in April for the second Kokua Festival. The shows will be held April 13 in Oahu and April 16 in Honolulu and will feature performances by Johnson, Jackson Browne, G. Love and Special Sauce, Ozomatli, John Cruz and slack key guitarist Kawika Kahiapo with his band Kaukahi.

Proceeds from the shows will benefit the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, which works to preserve Hawaii’s natural environment. Some funds have been earmarked to expand recycling programs in schools, sponsor field trips and curriculum development and establish a healthy school lunch program.

Local environmental groups will be on hand at both shows, which will also offer local organic food vendors, childrens’ activities and goods purveyed by environmentally friendly, Hawaii-based companies.

Tickets go on sale Feb. 12 via Ticketmaster, but a limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available beginning Feb. 7 via Johnson’s official Web site.

As previously reported, Johnson will release a new album, “In Between Dreams,” March 1 via Brushfire/Universal. Ben Harper appears in the video for first single “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing.”

Source billboard.com.& F

The surviving members of Alice In Chains will regroup for the first time since 1996 at a Feb. 18 tsunami benefit in Seattle. Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez will be joined by as-yet-unannounced vocalists for the event at the Premiere nightclub, which will also feature performances by Heart’s Ann Wilson, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Queensryche’s Chris DeGarmo and rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Proceeds will be donated to the humanitarian organization CARE, which will funnel them into Asian tsunami relief efforts. Tickets go on sale Thursday (Feb. 3) via the Web site of event sponsor KRQI-Seattle.

Source billboard.com.