Given an abundant supply of resources, talent and technical skill, what original music would a group of musicians create?
An account of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones’ live performance may contribute towards answering that question.
Led by banjo player and composer Béla Fleck, the Flecktones’ current lineup includes harmonicist and pianist Howard Levy, percussionist Roy “Future Man” Wooten, and bassist Victor Wooten. Their latest album, “Rocket Science” was released in May of 2011. The group kicked off their spring tour on March 1, 2012 at the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison, WI.
In a music industry obsessed with the pursuit of niche markets, the Flecktones’ musical style is hard to pin down. Throughout the
Read more…
Béla Fleck, Flecktones
The Spice Girl baby boom continues!
Melanie Brown and husband Stephen Belafonte welcomed their first child together Thursday. The Spice Girls singer, 36, shared the happy news with her fans via Twitter early Friday morning. “Finally our baby arrives,” she wrote. “Stephen nearly passed out, Phoenix screamed, I laughed so hard the baby popped out!!! She is just sooo amazing!!”
She also expressed gratitude to her fans: “I wanna thank you all for your beautiful well wishes, it means a lot to me, you guys are the best, I am so blessed my heart is melting!”
Brown has two daughters, Phoenix, 12, and Angel, 4 and Belafonte also has a daughter, Giselle, 6.
Spice Girls Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton also welcomed children earlier this year.
Girl, Melanie Brown
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The creator of “Desperate Housewives” told jurors Monday he thought he had permission to tap the head of Nicollette Sheridan but acknowledged the incident created a strained and awkward dynamic with an actress he considered smart and funny.
Marc Cherry testified during Sheridan’s wrongful termination trial that by the time he hit Sheridan in Sept. 2008 – he calls it a tap for artistic direction, she contends it was a wallop – he had already received permission to kill off her character in the script.
Those plans only moved forward after an investigation by ABC, which airs “Desperate Housewives,” cleared him of wrongdoing despite officials never interviewing him or Sheridan about their dispute. Read more…
Creator, Desperate Housewives
For many people, what they know about dance from India and Pakistan doesnt extend much further than Bollywood. In fact its culture is vast, spanning thousands of years.
Christopher Bannerman, Professor of Dance at Middlesex University, has an extraordinary knowledge of South East Asian dance. Its unusual for any Westerner to be so well-schooled in another culture, and, says Bannerman, it partly stems from his upbringing.
“Although I wouldn’t have said this a few years ago, in the fullness of time one realises that one has had certain experiences in life that set something in place, so that I had a feeling for Asia and for the East. I didnt realise it so much at the time thinking back on it,” he admits.
When he was growing up in Canada, he trained in the Canadian National Ballet. His f
Read more…
Taylor Swift will be going up against the big boys of country at the 2011 Country Music Association Awards.
The country starlet is in the running for Entertainer of the Year, along with Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Jason Aldean, and last year’s winner, Brad Paisley.
The 21-year-old’s Speak Now concert tour is one of the best-selling tours of the summer — and the top-selling tour of July.
Swift is also up for Female Vocalist of the Year against Sara Evans, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, and Carrie Underwood.
Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, and Keith Urban are up for Male Vocalist of the Year.
New Artist contenders are The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Thompson Square and Chris Young.
Underwood and Paisley will host the award show for a fourth time. I Read more…
Award, Taylor Swift