2005

Tom Waits has filed a lawsuit against a unit of automaker General Motors Corp. and a German advertising agency for allegedly using a soundalike in a series of European ads.

The 55-year-old singer/songwriter, whose distinct, gravelly voice has won him two Grammy Awards, filed the civil lawsuit this week with a state court in Frankfurt, listing Adam Opel AG and the advertising firm McCann Erickson as the defendants.

Andreas Schumacher, Waits’ German lawyer, said the singer was approached numerous times about doing the ads last year but declined, citing a policy of not doing commercials. He said the firm then hired a sound-alike and the ads aired earlier this year in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.

Source: billboard

Chicago instrumental rock act Tortoise tackles material by some unlikely sources on “The Brave and the Bold,” a collaborative album with indie rock icon Will Oldham. The 10-track set is due early next year via Overcoat Recordings, which recently issued a collaborative EP from Iron & Wine and Calexico.

Among the surprising selections on “The Brave and the Bold” are Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” Elton John’s “Daniel” and Richard and Linda Thompson’s “Cavalry Cross.” The album is rounded out by material originally recorded by Devo (“That’s Pep”), the Minutemen (“It’s Expected I’m Gone”), Milton Nascimento, Lungfish, Quixotic, Melanie and Don Williams.

Meanwhile, Tortoise is gearing up for its fall tour backing artist/producer Daniel Lanois, which begins Oct. 6 in Los Angeles. The parties have yet to rehearse together, but McCombs says the “idea is that we can be interpretive, like using his songs as a jumping-off point to do whatever seems natural. Most of the stuff he sent us is really open-ended.”

Tortoise will also test out some new material during its own sets, with an eye on returning to the studio by the end of the year and a hopeful fall 2006 release date for its next Thrill Jockey album. It will be the follow-up to 2004’s “It’s All Around You,” which debuted at No. 13 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums tally.

Source: Billboard

As if headlining the 2005 Warped Tour 2005 wasn

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey return on October 11, 2005 with their brand new studio album, The Sameness of Difference, on HYENA Records.
Helmed by acclaimed record producer, Joel Dorn, the 13-track collection is a living, breathing, pulsating testament to the 12 years the Tulsa/Cincinnati-based trio has spent touring and recording together. It is unquestionably the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey’s piece de resistance–a post modern jazz masterwork.

Exploring their influences, which stretch from cutting edge indie rock to experimental electronic music to classic pop, all the while rooted in an obsession with the modern jazz canon, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey offer interpretations of music by Bjork (“Isobel”), The Flaming Lips (“The Spark That Bled”), Charles Mingus (“Fables of Faubus”), Neil Young (“Don’t Let It Bring You Down”) Brian Wilson (“Wonderful”), Dave Brubeck (“In Your Own Sweet Way”), The Beatles (“Happiness Is A Warm Gun”) and Jimi Hendrix (“Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland”). Their own material is also well represented, as original compositions, “Santiago,” “The Maestro,” “Halliburton Breakdown,” “Slow Breath, Silent Mind” and “Davey’s Purple Powerline” are etched in stone for the first time ever in the studio.

Pearl Jam has tacked on an additiona date to its fall North American tour that will serve as a benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The group will play a rare club show Oct. 5 at Chicago’s House of Blues, tickets for which are $1,000 and go on sale Saturday (Sept. 17). All net proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and the Jazz Foundation of America.

According to a spokesperson, it is not yet known if the show will feature additional acts or be available for download from Pearl Jam’s recently launched digital ailable for download from Pearl Jam’s recently launched digital bootleg store.

Meanwhile, the Roots have rounded up Jill Scott, TV On The Radio and Deerhoof for a Friday concert at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center. The artists will be donating their performance fees to the NAACP’s hurricane relief program on behalf of Moveon.org Civic Action’s HurricaneHousing.org.

The show will also feature the TBC Brass Band, whose members were evacuated to Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and Sacramento, Calif., in the wake of Katrina.

As first reported here, the Roots are being pursued by Def Jam president/CEO Jay-Z to be the first signing to his new Def Jam Left imprint.

Also just announced for a Katrina benefit on Sept. 22 at Los Angeles Wiltern LG are Tenacious D, the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme with Jesse “The Devil” Hughes, Fiona Apple and comedians David Cross and Sarah Silverman. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon local time via Ticketmaster.

Source billboard.com.

As first reported here earlier this month, Kanye West will launch a fall tour with Common, Fantasia and Keyshia Cole. The Touch the Sky trek will begin Oct. 11 in Miami and run through Dec. 11 in Vancouver, and includes multiple-night stands at New York’s Theatre at Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheatre.

“I love performing,” West recently told Billboard. “I love the feeling of these tracks playing, getting the opportunity to hear them really loud and see what’s connecting with people the most.”

West is the hottest artist in the country right now, boasting the No. 1 album on The Billboard 200 with “Late Registration.” The Island/Def Jam set has already sold more than 1.14 million copies in just two weeks. Tomorrow, he will also begin a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Gold Digger” featuring Jamie Foxx.

Here are Kanye West’s tour dates:

Oct. 11: Miami (Convocation Center)
Oct. 12: Tampa, Fla. (Superdome)
Oct. 13: Gainesville, Fla. (O’Connell Center)
Oct. 15: Greenville, S.C. (Bi-Lo Center)
Oct. 16: Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)
Oct. 18: Columbia, Mo. (Mizzou Arena)
Oct. 19: Champaign, Ill. (Assembly Hall)
Oct. 21: Buffalo, N.Y. (Alumni Arena)
Oct. 22: Detroit (Fox Theater)
Oct. 23: city/venue TBA
Oct. 26: Kingston, R.I. (Ryan Center)
Oct. 28: University Park, Pa. (Bryce Jordan Center)
Oct. 29: Cleveland (CSU Convocation Center)
Oct. 30: Fairfax, Va. (Patriot Center)
Oct. 31: Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center)
Nov. 2-3: New York (Theatre at Madison Square Garden)
Nov. 4: Baltimore (First Mariner Arena)
Nov. 5: Hampton, Va. (Coliseum)
Nov. 6: Philadelphia (Liacouris Center)
Nov. 8: Pittsburgh (AJ Palumbo Center)
Nov. 9: Toronto (ACC)
Nov. 11: East Lansing, Mich. (Breslin Center)
Nov. 12: Chicago (Rosemont Theater)
Nov. 13: city/venue TBA
Nov. 14: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh Ryan Arena)
Nov. 15: Carbondale, Ill. (SIU Arena)
Nov. 17: Atlanta (Gwinnett Center)
Nov. 18: Greensboro, N.C. (Coliseum)
Nov. 19: Statesboro, Ga. (GSU)
Nov. 20: Birmingham (BJCC)
Nov. 22: Oklahoma City (Ford Center)
Nov. 23: Memphis (Mid-South Coliseum)
Nov. 25: Houston (Reliant Arena)
Nov. 26: Dallas (Nokia Live)
Nov. 27: Kansas City, Mo. (Kemper Arena)
Nov. 29: Denver (Magness Arena)
Dec. 1: Phoenix (Dodge Theater)
Dec. 2: San Diego (Cox Arena/RIMAC)
Dec. 3-4: Los Angeles (Universal Amphitheatre)
Dec. 6: San Francisco (Bill Graham Civic Auditorium)
Dec. 7: Las Vegas (venue TBA)
Dec. 9: Portland, Ore. (Memorial Coliseum)
Dec. 10: Seattle (Everett Event Center)
Dec. 11: Vancouver (GM Place)

Source billboard.com.

Phil Lesh has assembled his newest friends for a fall tour entitled “Shadow Of The Moon.” Along with Lesh and Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, John Molo, Mookie Seigel and Barry Sless will make up the band for this primarily east coast tour. Strangely absent are New York City and Philadelphia stops, but dates in NYC and Philly are expected for early 2006.

Full tour dates are available at: phillesh.net

New Orleans’ premiere music event, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest), will return next year, according to Randy Phillips of AEG Live, co-producers of Jazz Fest with Festival Productions Inc. (FPI).

“We are going to do a Jazz Fest in ’06,” Phillips tells Billboard.com. “Where, how, with what infrastructure, will all be worked out.” Phillips says the event may take place in New Orleans, depending on the progress of recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, or in a nearby market such as Baton Rouge.

Meanwhile, tales of the demise of New Orleans’ 30-year-old Superdome have been exaggerated, according to officials at SMG, the Philadelphia-based management firm that runs the stadium and adjacent New Orleans Arena.

No venue has been more of a focal point during Katrina than the Superdome, which provided refuge for some 24,000 evacuees for six days before they were relocated. But the Superdome suffered so much damage, including losing much of its roof, that some media reports have stated the venue will never re-open.

“Any comment relative to the future of the dome that somebody states with any certainty is not based upon any factual evidence,” SMG senior VP of stadiums and arenas Glenn Mon tells Billboard.com. “First of all, structurally we believe the building is sound.”

Mon saw the Superdome firsthand on Labor Day, and says it will take at least 45-60 days to assess the damage. “The dome is damaged, let there be no doubt about it,” he says. “We’ve got a couple of large holes in the roof where the ventilation system flew off, obviously the skin blew off and was ripped and torn. We’ve taken an awful lot of water infiltration into the facility.”

Source billboard.com.