Inner Focus Music » General Music

Gerard Malanga Interview

George — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:16:02 +0000

In Walt Whitman’s notebook for the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, he writes, “Every soul has its own individual voice.” That notion rang true for photographer/poet/filmmaker Gerard Malanga as he put together “Souls,” an exhibit of 100 portraits spanning five decades.

Malanga may be best known for his work with Andy Warhol, with whom he founded Interview magazine and collaborated on many films. He has authored several books of poetry, as well as the band-bio Up-tight: The Velvet Underground Story, and maintains an archive of photographs and movies from his years at Warhol’s Factory. More…

Gerard Malanga Interview is a post from: Inner Focus Music

SwiftRanks at 69 in Forbes Celebrity 100

George — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:06:48 +0000

My daughters favorite and country music star Taylor Swift ranks at number 69 as the most powerful celebrity in the world. This is according to the annual Celebrity 100 list produced by Forbes. After all the publicity she has gained this year who can be surprised!

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop singer–songwriter, guitarist and actress. In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen Sound Scan.

In 2006, she released her debut single “Tim McGraw”, then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified Platinum several times by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In November 2008, Swift released her second album, Fearless. Fearless and Taylor Swift finished 2008 at number three and number six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. Fearless has topped the Billboard 200 in 11 non-consecutive weeks, no album has spent more time at No. 1 since 2000. Forbes, ranked Swift 2009′s 69th-most powerful celebrity, earning $18 million. Swiftranks…

SwiftRanks at 69 in Forbes Celebrity 100 is a post from: Inner Focus Music

Untitled – Movie

George — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:51:38 +0000

The New York art world does such a wonderful job of satirizing itself that further assistance hardly seems necessary. But with “(Untitled),’’ writer and director Jonathan Parker takes for granted the trumped-up stakes, the humorlessness, and the artists’ capacity for opportunism and willful absurdity. The players in this movie are cynical, but, amazingly, Parker is not. His movie works as a serious comedy in which the assorted players – a couple of artists, some gallerists, and the people who attend (or don’t attend) their shows – discuss what art is, what it should aspire to be, and what kind of people collect, exhibit, and consider it. Read more…

Untitled – Movie is a post from: Inner Focus Music

Between Smooth Jazz, World Fusion and New Age Music

George — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:52:10 +0000

Scheherazade is both the name of the narrator of the legendary age-old tales “One-Thousand-and-One Arabian Nights” as well as the title of composer and instrumentalist Al Conti’s latest album which quickly hit #1 on the international New Age Reporter airplay charts.

Scheherazade (pronounced sheh-hair-uh-zahd) is Conti’s third album and contains ten original world-fusion tunes that musically tell the storyteller’s story. The famous tales originated throughout Persia, Arabia and India more than 1, 100 years ago, and Conti gives the music a Middle Eastern ambiance utilizing the sounds of exotic instruments (hurdy gurdy, udu, sitar, tablas and tribal drums), but making the music appealing to modern audiences by also incorporating piano, violin, cello and acoustic guitar. Read more jazz news…

Between Smooth Jazz, World Fusion and New Age Music is a post from: Inner Focus Music

Brighter Children Study Music

George — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:51:17 +0000

Harvard researchers Gottfried Schlaug and Ellen Winner say that their findings apply not only to tests of auditory discrimination and finger dexterity, but also to tests measuring verbal ability and visual pattern completion.

During the study published online in PLoS ONE, the researchers compared 41 eight- to eleven-year-olds who had studied either piano or a string instrument for a minimum of three years to 18 children who had no instrumental training.

Children in both groups spent 30-40 minutes per week in general music classes at school, but those in the instrumental group also received private lessons learning an instrument and spent additional time practicing at home.

The researchers observed that the young musicians scored significantly higher than those in the control group on two skills closely related to their music training—auditory discrimination and finger dexterity.

The musicians were also found to score higher in two skills that appeared unrelated to music—verbal ability (as measured by a vocabulary IQ test) and visual pattern completion (as measured by the Raven’s Progressive Matrices).

The researchers further said that the longer and more intensely the child had studied his or her instrument, the better he or she scored on the tests.

Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that though their study shed light on the question of whether connections between music and other, unrelated skills did exist.

They said that further studies were needed to examine the causal relationships between instrumental music training, practice intensity, and cognitive enhancements.

Brighter Children Study Music is a post from: Inner Focus Music

Officer Pulls Gun During Stop Of Diddy?s Entourage – Access Hollywood

George — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:07:11 +0000

Officer Pulls Gun During Stop Of Diddy?s Entourage
Access Hollywood - 10 hours ago
Access goes on set exclusively as the guys shoot their new music video on a Malibu beach for their new upcoming single, ?Summertime. …
Jonas Brothers: Pure pop? Chicago Sun-Times
Trio latest Mouse creation Akron Beacon Journal
The Jonas Brothers loom large on the pop landscape Chicago Sun-Times
all 16 news articles

NZ music a highlight of current NZSO China tour – New Zealand Herald

George — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:57:20 +0000

NZ music a highlight of current NZSO China tour
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 8 hours ago
We are really lucky that our new music director Pietari Inkinen was available to conduct us on this tour. Pietari started his role as MD at the beginning of …

New judge will instantly improve ?Idol? – MSNBC

George — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:49:18 +0000

New judge will instantly improve ?Idol?
MSNBC - 4 hours ago
But DioGuardi?s experience, age and newness should inject long-overdue life into a show that desperately needs some credibility, hipness and vigor. …
SIMON COWELL TOUTS WILD CARD REVEAL ON NBC'S "AMERICA'S GOT TALENT" The Futon Critic
all 572 news articles

DMI Music & Media Networks Connects RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen to … – MarketWatch

George — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:43:58 +0000

DMI Music & Media Networks Connects RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen to …
MarketWatch - 2 hours ago
DMI works with brands to create their soundDNA(R)– the audio footprint that consumers recognize as the brand's identity across all product lines, age …

At Last, This Classical Pianist Gets the Spotlight She Deserves – Wall Street Journal

George — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:37:40 +0000

Wall Street Journal

At Last, This Classical Pianist Gets the Spotlight She Deserves
Wall Street Journal - 2 hours ago
"I had lessons twice a week, two hours long, and I had to bring new music each time. I was practicing seven hours a day and rarely getting any praise from …