Pentatonic scale

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Pentatonic scale

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A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitches per octave in contrast to an heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the major scale. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found all over the world, including but not limited to Celtic folk music, West African music, African-American spirituals, American blues music and rock music, Sami joik singing, children's songs, the clarinet music of Epirus in northwest Greece and Southern Albania, the tuning of the Ethiopian krar and the Indonesian gamelan, the melodies of Japanese and Chinese folk music, the Afro-Caribbean tradition, Polish highlanders from the Tatra Mountains, and Western Classical composers such as French composer Claude Debussy.

Contents[hide] 1 Types of pentatonic scales 1.1 Hemitonic and anhemitonic 1.2 Major pentatonic scale 1.3 Minor pentatonic scale 2 Tuning 3 Further pentatonic musical traditions 4 Use in education 5 Further reading 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Types of pentatonic scales

[edit] Hemitonic and anhemitonic

Ethnomusicology commonly classifies pentatonic scales as either hemitonic or anhemitonic. Hemitonic scales contain one or more semitones and anhemitonic scales do not contain semitones. For example, a hemitonic pentatonic scale common in some areas of North and West Africa contains flatted 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees (hence, if the scale begins in C, it will contain a D-flat, E-flat, and A-flat, plus a G-natural).

[edit] Major pentatonic scale

Anhemitonic pentatonic scales can be constructed in many ways. One construction takes five consecutive pitches from the circle of fifths; starting on C, these are C, G, D, A, and E. Transposing the pitches to fit into one octave rearranges the pitches into the major pentatonic scale: C, D, E, G, A.

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Another construction works backward: It omits two pitches from a diatonic scale. If we were to begin with a C major scale, for example, we might omit the fourth and the seventh scale degrees, F and B. The remaining notes, C, D, E, G, and A, are transpositionally equivalent to the black keys on a piano keyboard: G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, D-flat, and E-flat.

 

We can also omit the third and seventh degrees of the C major scale to obtain the notes another transpositionally equivalent anhemitonic pentatonic scale: {F,G,A,C,D}. If we omit the first and fourth degrees of the C major scale we have a third anhemitonic pentatonic scale: {G,A,B,D,E}.

[edit] Minor pentatonic scale

Although various hemitonic pentatonic scales might be called minor, the term is most commonly applied to the relative minor pentatonic derived from the major pentatonic, using scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the natural minor scale. Thus C minor pentatonic would be C, E-flat, F, G, B-flat. The A minor pentatonic, the relative minor of C, would be the same tones as C major pentatonic, starting on A, giving A, C, D, E, G. This minor pentatonic contains all three tones of an A minor triad.

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Songs on the minor pentatonic scale include the popular children's song "Land of the Silver Birch" often sung in day care centers. Because of their simplicity, pentatonic scales are often used to introduce children to music. Other popular children's songs are almost pentatonic. For example, the almost-pentatonic nature of the Gershwin lullaby "Summertime", is evident when it is played in the key of E-flat minor. In that key, the melody can be played almost entirely on the black keys of a piano, except just once per verse, where a white key is needed.

[edit] Tuning

If we proceed by the principle that historically gives us the Pythagorean diatonic and chromatic scales, stacking perfect fifths with 3:2 frequency proportions, we can tune an anhemitonic pentatonic scale thus: 1:9/8:81/64:3/2:27/16. If we consider the anhemitonic scale a subset of a just diatonic scale, we can tune it thus: 1:9/8:5/4:3/2:5/3. Assigning precise frequency proportions to the pentatonic scales of most cultures is problematic. The slendro anhemitonic scales of Java and Bali are said to approach, very roughly, an equally-tempered five note scale, but, in fact, their tunings vary dramatically from gamelan to gamelan. Specially trained musicians among the Gogo people of Tanzania sing the fourth through ninth (and occasionally tenth) harmonics above a fundamental, which do necessarily accurately correspond to the frequency proportions 4:5:6:7:8:9, but this is not a scale in the western sense because these pitches are not found within a single octave and could not be put into a single octave with this manner of performance. If they could be and were put into a single octave, however, they would make a pentatonic scale with these frequency proportions: 1:9/8:5/4:3/2:7/4. The composer Lou Harrison has been of the most recent proponents and developers of new pentatonic scales based on historical models.

[edit] Further pentatonic musical traditions

The major pentatonic scale is the basic scale of the music of China and the music of Mongolia. The fundamental tones (without meri or kari techniques) rendered by the 5 holes of the Japanese shakuhachi flute play a minor pentatonic scale. The traditional Japanese song "Sakura" uses a hemitonic pentatonic scale of the notes A-B-C-E-F. The Yo scale used in Japanese shomyo Buddhist chants and gagaku imperial court music is a pentatonic scale, shown below.[1]

The slendro scale used in Javanese gamelan music is pentatonic, with roughly equally spaced intervals. Another scale, pelog, has seven tones, but is generally played using one of several pentatonic subsets (known as pathets), which are roughly analogous to different keys or modes.

The pentatonic scale is very common in Scottish music. Some scholars believe that English folk music was likewise at one time a pentatonic tradition; for the reasoning behind this claim, see folk music. The minor pentatonic is used in Appalachian folk music. Blackfoot music is most often pentatonic or hexatonic.

Both the major and the minor pentatonic scales are commonly used in jazz (notably by jazz pianists Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock), blues, and rock. Pentatonic scales are useful for improvisors in modern jazz, pop, and rock contexts because they work well over several chords diatonic to the same key, often better than the parent scale. For instance, over a C major triad (C, E, G) in the key of C major, the note F can be perceived as dissonant as it is a half step above the major third (E) of the chord. It is for this reason commonly avoided. Using the major pentatonic scale is an easy way out of this problem. The scale tones 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 (from the major pentatonic) are either major triad tones (1, 3, 5) or common consonant extensions (2, 6) of major triads. For the corresponding relative minor pentatonic, scale tones 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7 work the same way, either as minor triad tones (1, ♭3, 5) or as common extensions (4, ♭7), as they all avoid being a half step from a chord tone.

The pentatonic scale occurs in the melodies of popular music: for example in "Ol' Man River" or "[Sukiyaki (song)|Sukiyaki]". It is also a staple ingredient of film music, where it is used as a shorthand to signal primitive or exotic contexts. With suitable changes in orchestration it can be used to depict an Oriental setting, a scene with American Indians, or a rustic hoedown. An example of film music in which both the East-Asian and American-Western elements of the story are suggested in the melody is the title theme for The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

Composers of Western classical music have occasionally used pentatonic scales for special effects. Antonín Dvořák, inspired by the native American music and African-American spirituals he heard in America, made extensive use of pentatonic themes in his "New World" Symphony and his "American" Quartet. Maurice Ravel used it as a basis for a melody in "Passacaille", the third movement of his Piano Trio, and as a pastiche of Chinese music in "Laideronette, Emperatrice des Pagodes", a movement from his Ma Mère l'Oye (Mother Goose). Frédéric Chopin wrote the right hand piano part of his Etude Op. 10 no. 5 in the major G-flat pentatonic scale, and therefore, the melody is played using only the black keys.

Incidentally, the common pentatonic major and minor scales (C-D-E-G-A and C-Eb-F-G-Bb, respectively) are useful in modal composing, as both scales allow a melody to be modally ambiguous between their respective major (Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian) and minor (Aeolian, Phrygian, Dorian) modes (Locrian excluded). With either modal or non-modal writing, however, the harmonization of a pentatonic melody does not necessarily have to be derived from only the pentatonic pitches.

[edit] Use in education

The pentatonic scale plays a significant role in music education, particularlyin Orff-based methodologies at the primary/elementary level. The Orff system places a heavy emphasis on developing creativity through improvisation in children, largely through use of the pentatonic scale. Orff instruments, such as xylophones, bells and other metallophones, use wooden bars which can be removed by the teacher leaving only those corresponding to the pentatonic scale, which Orff himself believed to be children's native tonality[citation needed]. Children begin improvising using only these bars, and over time, more bars are added at the teacher's discretion until the complete diatonic scale is being used. Orff believed that the use of the pentatonic scale at such a young age was appropriate to the development of each child, since the nature of the scale meant that it was impossible for the child to make any real harmonic mistakes.

[edit] Further reading

• Pentatonicism from the Eighteenth Century to Debussy by Jeremy Day-O'Connell (University of Rochester Press 2007) - the first comprehensive account of the increasing use of the pentatonic scale in 19th century Western art music, including a catalogue of over 400 musical examples.
• Tran Van Khe "Le pentatonique est-il universel? Quelques reflexions sur le pentatonisme", The World of Music 19, nos. 1-2:85-91 (1977). English translation p.76-84
• Kurt Reinhard, "On the problem of pre-pentatonic scales: particularly the third-second nucleus", Journal of the International Folk Music Council 10 (1958).
• Jeff Burns, Pentatonic Scales for the Jazz-Rock Keyboardist (1997).

Excerpt of Transcript of Jeremiah Wright's speech to NAACP

Excerpt of Transcript of Jeremiah Wright's speech to NAACP

 Music references

 This is the transcript of a speech given by Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, at an NAACP dinner on Sunday night.

 

What Dr. Janice Hale did in the field of education and what Dr. Geneva Smitherman did in the field of linguistics, Dr. (Eldon) did in the field of ethnomusicology, the field of music. He showed us 40 years ago what Wintley [Phipps] is teaching you for the first time 40 years later.

 

Not all cultures used the seven note scale in composing music. For example, as this video clip points out, American Negro spirituals used the pentatonic, or five note, scale. In <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />early America, this scale was referred to as the slave scale. Indicative of the interaction that went on between white and slave culture, many white composers adopted this scale when writing spirituals. The performer in this video, Wintley Phipps , speculates that the melody of the famous hymn Amazing Grace was West African. He suggests this because the writer of the lyrics, John Newton, was the captain of a slave ship. Of course, we can’t be sure--others would certainly disagree--but it is a compelling idea. Whatever the case, this is certainly a hymn that crosses racial lines and even religious/secular divisions in terms of popularity.

Also, not only is this video a history lesson on music, it is also a great example of the power of music to produce an emotional experience.

African music is different from European piano music. It is not deficient, it is different. In most school systems today, the way most of us over 40 years of age were taught is still being taught. We were taught a European paradigm as if Europe had the only music that there was in the world. As a matter of fact, if you just say the term, classical music.

Today, most here, use of that term will automatically refer to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and already cited Mozart and Handel. European musicians. From grammar school to graduate school, we are taught in four, four time. That the dominant beat is on one and three. Our band directors, our choir directors, our orchestra director start us off how?

And One, two, three, four. One, two, three. Now,that's the European dominant beat. For African and African-Americans, it is not one and three, it is two and four. I don't have to teach you. Listen to black people clap to this song. Glory, glory hallelujah, you are clapping on beats two and four. If you got some white friends, they'll be clapping like this. You say they can't clap. Yes, they can. They clap in a different way. It's the same fact holds true with six eight time. Europeans stress one, two, three, four, five, six. One, two, three, four, five, six. Dum dum, dum, dum, dum. The stress is on one and four. Not for black people. When you got six eight time, blacks stress two three and five six.

Listen to this -- blessed assurance, Jesus is mine two, three for, five, six - oh, why are you clapping on the wrong beat? Africans have a different meter and Africans have a different tonality. European music is diatonic, seven tones. Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. That's Italian. Europe. In west Africa and south Africa, it is not diatonic, seven tones, it is pentatonic with five tones. Wintley [Phipps] points out that if you want to know black music, just look at the black keys on the piano. Do, re, fa, so, la. Just those five tunes. Those are the only five notes you'll hear and somebody knows the trouble I've seen.

It only uses five notes the same with the river it also uses five notes. That's all. I believe a change is coming. It's not deficient, it's just different.

Many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. When you look at and listen to - I'm in Michigan. OK. Here in Michigan, look at and listen to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University bands at halftime. Their bands hit the field with excellent European precision. Da, da, da, da, da, ta, ra, ra.

Now go to a Florida A&M and Gramling Band. It's different. And you can't put that in no book. I believe change is going to come because many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. One is not superior to the other. One is not normal with the other being abnormal. One is not deficient because it doesn't follow the same methodology of the other. It is just different. Different does not mean deficient. Tell your neighbor one more time.

Now, what is true in the field of education, linguistics, ethnomusicology, marching bands, psychology and culture is also true in the field of homiletics, hermeneutics, biblical studies, black sacred music and black worship. We just do it different and some of our haters can't get their heads around that. I come from a religious tradition that does not divorce the world we live in from the world we are heading to. I come from a religious tradition that does not separate the kingdom of heaven that we pray for from the devious kingdoms of humans that keep people in bondage on earth.

Marsalis Mass Honors Harlem Church

Marsalis Mass Honors Harlem Church

By JON PARELES

Published: April 14, 2008

A young institution pays tribute to a venerable one with Wynton Marsalis’s “Abyssinian 200: A Celebration.” It was written for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, founded in 1988, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, a bulwark of African-American New York City. The orchestra introduced the work last week at its own Rose Theater.

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Nicholas Roberts for The New York Times

Wynton Marsalis, center, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Abyssinian choir.

It’s a jazz Mass with prayers, gospel anthems and a sermon at its center by the church’s pastor, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III. “Tonight this house of Jazz at Lincoln Center is transformed into the house of God,” he preached on Friday.

Mr. Marsalis has been in this realm before. Back in 1992, he composed “In This House, on This Morning,” another gospel Mass setting, for his septet. But “Abyssinian 200” has larger forces: the full big band of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and more than 100 singers in the Abyssinian Baptist Church Bicentennial Choir. In a nod to the Sacred Concert by Duke Ellington, one of Mr. Marsalis’s touchstones, there was also a tap dancer, Jared Grimes.

“Abyssinian 200” is a miscellany, juggling all of Mr. Marsalis’s prerogatives as a composer. (He also wrote the text, reaching into gospel rhetoric.) Mr. Marsalis, who knows harmony and rhythm the way a grandmaster knows chess, savors all the historical allusions and virtuosic convolutions that his orchestra can execute. He also understands the participatory side of gospel: the call-and-response and the potential singalongs that give churchgoers melodies carrying messages to remember.

Many parts of “Abyssinian 200” resemble Mr. Marsalis’s secular compositions. It uses modernist variants of New Orleans dirges and struts, the modal excursions of hard-bop and the Ellington big-band legacies of brassy, section-against-section byplay and sumptuously harmonized ballads.

The “Call to Worship” sets out a tremolo drone chord on piano, bursts of tambourine, close-harmony horns and high-note trumpet improvisations that hint at both Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” and Islamic calls to prayer. The Recessional, “The Glory Train,” revisits a big-band subgenre, the train song, with an accelerating click-clack beat and saxophones wailing like train whistles. The closing “Amen” isn’t a hand-clapping gospel finale, but a tolling, modal, Afro-jazz waltz, mournful and resolute.

Other parts give the choir joyful, straightforward gospel melodies with a tambourine-shaking beat. As in gospel services, sterling soloists emerge briefly from the choir, like Nicole Phifer, who sang the Pastoral Prayer — a minor-key tune that would have been at home in an old New Orleans cabaret — with gutsy conviction. Mr. Marsalis added musicianly twists to the clear-cut melodies: sometimes with bluesy horns answering the singers, sometimes with layers of convoluted counterpoint from the full band.

A traditional gospel service isn’t a concert. It’s a participatory and utilitarian ceremony that provides comfort, advice, release and uplift to sustain a believer through the week. “Abyssinian 200” doesn’t offer that same experience, nor should it; it’s an elaborate concert piece that traverses jazz history, from spirituals to hard-bop. Mr. Butts’s sermon was diplomatically ecumenical, proposing that prayer can unify everyone (atheists included), and he was facing a concert audience. Instead of turning Rose Theater into a house of God, Friday’s performance turned the sermon into an aesthetic experience: a matter of structured argument-building, of oratorical rhythms, of rising and falling cadences that aren’t so different from an eloquent jazz solo. The effect may be different when “Abyssinian 200: A Celebration” is performed in Harlem on Saturday at the Abyssinian Baptist Church itself.

Wynton's Abyssinian Mass

Wynton's Abyssinian Mass by 

It's jazz-beyond-jazz, alright, when Wynton Marsalis composes a work for gospel choir and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. But I must admit that I am neither drawn to hear such work nor qualified to comment on it. Having experienced Marsalis' previous large-scale religiously oriented works All Rise and In This House, On This Morning, I have developed some unshakable expectations and prejudices about such endeavors -- it's just not my cuppa tea. So I sought someone with fresh ears, more affinity for the material and less bias to report on the grand event. Meet Monica Hope seen here singing Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" at a memorial service for the bassist Walter Booker, Jr. 

A graduating student of creative writing at New York University, Ms. Hope this semester took my NYU course for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies in "Roots of American Music." Besides being an ambitious writer, is the daughter of the late jazz pianist-composer Elmo Hope and the estimable, still-swinging pianist Bertha Hope. She has sung in choirs and is knowledgable about Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO, having written an extensive paper a couple years ago about why the expansive Jazz at Lincoln Center facility was built  in New York, and what that meant to/about jazz. Here's her report about Marsalis's Mass:

The Mass Wynton Marsalis created honoring the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church proves that jazz is not constrained but rather a flexible thing that can incorporate many musical forms within its frame.  Jazz is no longer shunned as the devil's music.  It is regarded as an art that can, in Marsalis's words, "affirm the best of what our culture has to offer."

With the influence of Ellington showing through as it often does in his work, Marsalis mixed blues and spirituals with aspects of bebop, the avant-garde, swing and Caribbean styles in a lengthy, detailed score for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under singing that included traditional Baptist, chorale and Gregorian-like chants.  The Abyssinian Baptist Bicentennial Choir, approximately 120 singers wearing cranberry robes with white trimmed gold V‑overlays, fanned across the Church's balcony in a resplendent semi-circle; the LCJO was on a platform below them, facing the congregation.  I expected Wynton to direct, but he sat with the other trumpeters on the same elevation as the band's drummer, playing his horn throughout.  The sound quality was impeccable.

Constructed as a Baptist or Pentecostal church service, the Mass contained lyrics new and familiar.  Segues between choir endings and orchestral breakouts were seamless; even when the Orchestra played music quite unlike that sung within the same piece, Marsalis's score kept them from sounding disjointed.  The call-and-response Devotional matched a male lead and trumpet soloist over a blues background, while the improvisational Call to Worship was inspired by instrumentalists offering praise over a Latin clavé.  Some of the saxophonists clapped out rhythms.  The Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III led the assembly in the Lord's Prayer atop soft piano chords -- as is typical in a Sunday service during the Prayer -- taken up by baritone sax and a vocalist.

The choir, attendants, ushers and sometimes guest preachers march in to most Baptist churches during the Processional.  Here, the choir was rocking, swaying shoulders, shouting "yeah" and "alright."  Joy swelled as full voices pealed through the vaulted ceilings to the sky, and music modulating from New Orleans' swing-to-blues-to-march pulled the audience to its feet.  Gregorian chant came to life in the Invocation and Chant along with musical images from Brazil -- all ending reverentially.

After a soloist gloriously sang of Christ's resurrection and ascension, Reverend Butts addressed us unscripted:  "People of African descent prayed for justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."  Invoking Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, he reminded us of the pivotal networking role the black church played during the Civil Rights movement.  Reverend Butts further pointed out that Abyssinian was built to improve the relationship between the races, and so its mixed congregation was an answered prayer.

I was most moved when the bassist bowed the Meditation in molasses-slow, quiet reflection.  Only the men sang as military snare rolls accompanied the Invitation,  and being of Barbadian descent, I enjoyed its transformation into a whimsical calypso, reminiscent of Belafonte's "Matilda," that buoyed the tap dancer as his feet slip-slid, flurried and stomped like the Biblical David, in a very tight space.

A uniquely arranged Doxology, using the traditional lyrics, was representative of jazz creativity.  The 'traveling song' Recessional trombones blew "woo woooo - woo woooo," to bring the Ellington-Strayhorn "A Train" theme to mind; as the male vocalists whistled the melody at the tune's end, you could almost see the hem-swaying robes of saints disappearing into the clouds.  The Mass ended as a Sunday service would, with chants of "Amen."  A rapturous soprano and a final call-and-response between the choir and Marsalis's horn blasts brought the "service" to a close.

The Mass was frenzied, plaintive, rejoicing, hushed, mournful and playful. Wynton's expository use of the chorale from the European classical tradition for which he is acclaimed added to the Mass;s many moods, blending with the cultures that feed jazz as well.  As one not easily impressed, I was blown away by this ambitious work that  through music, dance, theater and scripture brought together the secular and the sacred. 

A Jazz Lifeline to Academia Is Severed

A Jazz Lifeline to Academia Is Severed

By BEN RATLIFF

Published: April 26, 2008

Over the last week, the jazz world has been reeling from the announcement that the International Association of Jazz Educators, a de facto trade organization, is going out of business.

In an e-mail message sent on April 18, the 10,000-member organization, based in Manhattan, Kan., announced that its executive board had decided to file for bankruptcy and that its annual convention, which was to be held in Seattle next year, had been canceled.

The group’s demise is a major disappointment to jazz’s international network of professionals — educators, musicians, promoters, music publishers, critics, historians — who have few other occasions to meet, conduct business face to face or have their music exposed to a discerning public. The conferences offered hundreds of workshops, panel discussions and performances by top musicians and far-flung university big bands.

At root, the annual convention — which alternates between New York and other locations — was a demonstration of jazz’s lifeline to academia: its reliance on students and instructors in the flourishing world of jazz education to keep the music circulating, program it for live performances on the university circuit and create its next generation of audiences.

“The conference was an indispensable networking opportunity,” said Mitchell Feldman, who runs a jazz publicity and radio promotion business and is one of the thousands who attend the event every year.

Russell Thomas Jr., a professor and director of jazz ensembles at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., said, “It gave the students a chance to hone their skill and see outstanding musicians that they wouldn’t see otherwise.” After meeting musicians like Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath and Jackie McLean, he said, he found it easier to recruit them for clinics and concerts.

Not all the conventions have been well attended. Despite a poor turnout in Toronto in 2003, the group’s annual event returned there in January, and attendance was down by 40 percent from the previous year, according to last week’s e-mail message. Not long after that, Bill McFarlin, the organization’s executive director for 24 years, left for another job.

As word of the organization’s bankruptcy, a Chapter 7 liquidation, traveled throughout the jazz world, the reaction was mixed. Some had heard reports of overspending and had long felt that the organization’s ambitions were too big for its means. Still, many people seemed stunned by the speed and finality of its implosion.

In early April, Chuck Owen, the president of the organization’s board, sent an e-mail message to the organization’s members, asking them each to pay $25 to help cover debts. That fund drive produced $12,000, according to the group’s recent message, but the debt was “in the million-dollar range,” said Alan Bergman, its legal counsel.

The organization’s most recent available financial records, from 2005-6, show a deficit of $90,000, although two years earlier its revenues were in the black. The group also published a bimonthly magazine, Jazz Education Journal, but it depended almost solely on the conventions to cover its operating costs.

Last year’s convention, held in Manhattan, attracted nearly 8,000 attendees and vendors, many of them paying a $250 registration fee. But the event moved back to Toronto this year, Mr. McFarlin said in an interview last week, because the hotels and convention center that housed it could write off the penalties owed from the poor performance of the convention there in 2003. This year, he said, the combination of the weak American dollar and expensive air fares dissuaded attendance and brought down the association.

People within the group also point to its failed fund-raising efforts as a major reason for its implosion. It had sought to create an endowment — “a war chest for jazz,” Mr. McFarlin called it — with the Campaign for Jazz, a drive begun in 2006 whose costs, Mr. Owen said, “greatly exceeded the cash that was received.” It sought to raise $8 million to $13 million, but far less than that was pledged, and some of the money — including $1 million promised by a Los Angeles entrepreneur — never materialized.

There has been speculation since the April 18 announcement, on Web sites and blogs, that Mr. McFarlin had stepped down because he knew that the association was on the verge of collapse. He denied this, explaining that he left because he “needed a break” after 20 years of service.

“If I had known,” he said, “I would have tried to stay and work fervently to try and sustain the organization. It was our life’s work.”

The cause of the crisis, said Laura Johnson, a board member and treasurer for the last two years, was “the accumulation of the debt incurred by the campaign” and the last conference. “We hadn’t realized early enough just how striking that amount was. We knew that there was a hole there, but we had no idea it was the size that it was.”

Ricky Schultz, a former record executive, current jazz industry consultant and longtime member, said, “It was absolutely shocking to see this well-established organization that had a lot of support just pull the plug.” He added, “A million dollars in red ink is not a crazy, insurmountable amount of money.”

The group’s board filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Mr. Bergman said, “because we have outstanding obligations which we do not have money to pay, and we’ll probably be sued by creditors.” He added that “if someone were to come along and give money, it might still be possible to convert to Chapter 11.”

The prominent jazz composer Maria Schneider said, “The old jazz culture doesn’t exist anymore,” adding that jazz is dependent on “educational institutions, for better or worse.” In her own case, Ms. Schneider’s career was given a major boost when she won a prize commission from the group in the early 1990s and played the work at the conference. That performance resulted in residencies and clinics at schools, as well as greater industry and critical recognition.

“The saddest part about this,” Ms. Schneider said, “is that for a lot of young musicians, the I.A.J.E. conference is a place where they perform to professionals in the audience. You hear some kid get up and take a solo, and you say, ‘Oh, my God, who’s that?’ ”

Fortifi Radio 19 Cliff Notes 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé

 

7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé

A protégé is a learner. To learn is to revise your present understanding of music. Music education is a process that changes the learner

 

Click here: Fortifi @ radio19 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé p1

 

 

Click here: Fortifi @ Radio 19 Character The 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé part 2

Fortifi@ Radio 19 Character The 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé part 2

 Increase and growth are a characteristic that God built into every thing He created. Life is a condition that distinguishes organisms ...being manifested by growth through metabolism and reproduction. Living things are systems that tend to respond to changes in their environment, and inside themselves, in such a way as to promote their own continuation. Stagnant musicians are unable to react to the music surrounding.

The 4 characteristiccs of protégé personality type Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume 31 Issue 12 Page 2502-2517, December 2001 Ellen A. Fagenson-Eland, S. Gayle Baugh (2001) Personality Predictors of Protégé Mentoring History Journal of Applied Social Psychology 31 (12) , 2502–2517 doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2001.tb00187.x

1. need for achievement

   1. (Need for Achievement) is a term introduced by David McClelland into the field of psychology, referring to an individual's desire for significant accomplishment, mastering of skills, control, or high standards.

2. need for music dominance

   1. mastery of music skills

   2. music leadership

3.  self-esteem

   1. self-esteem (Wikipedia) reflects a person's overall self-appraisal of their own worth

   2. self-worth

   3. self-regard

   4. self-respect

   5. self-confidence (a sometimes disparaging term which can suggest excessive self-regard [more than self-esteem])

   6. self-love (which can express overtones of self-promotion)

4. and tension dissipation)

A musician who mentors himself has a fool for a student. The Music student needs a mentor. The music student is a protégé. A music protégé is a learner. A wise protégé is lifetime learner. Once a protégé always a protégé. The protégé is a student for life. Every protégé will need a mentor to produce and sustain success for music on the next level. In contrast, every diligent protégé can produce a significant song in a lifetime. ‘In the music industry, a one-hit wonder is a protégé generally known for only one hit single. There are hundreds of one-hit wonders. The term one-hit wonder has also been applied to musicians who have only one major success” Wikipedia.

The music protégé may need more than one mentor.

 The protégé may be mentored in the following areas:

• Musically

• Spiritually

• Mentally

• financially

• Physically

• Emotionally

• Socially

When the protégé is ready, the mentor will appear. In contrast to a protégé, a mentor is a lifetime music coach. Music teachers are mentors because they remember what they learned. Great music consists of melodies, harmonies, and rhythm based on long mentorship. The music mentor will mapquest the music protégé to the next level. Optimist, the mentor will serve a music meal without taking you to the kitchen. 

Thus the music chain of command flows from the mentor to the protégé. The music chain of command flows downward. The music chain of music command flows from the top down. The music chain of command flows down, not up. The music chain of authority flows from the Chenaniah to the assigned musicians. The name “Chenaniah” means preparation, or disposition, or strength, of the Lord. The music chain of authority is essential. Music wisdom is the ability to differentiate between Chenaniah-mentor and the protégé. Music honor is the act of pleasing Chenaniah - musicians over you. Hear exodus 20 in light of what I have shared. Honor your music parents-teachers – Chenaniah in the Lord.

Exodus 20:12 (New King James Version) 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

 

Every problem in the music industry and music ministry can be traced to a problem with music wisdom and honor. The music industry and music ministry is plagued with musicians who won’t honor God- and refuses to honor the music neighbor as yourself. Honor thy father and mother; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The assignment of every protégé is to sow honor to your music teacher.

7 protégé in Scripture 

1. A protégé is a Learner

   1. Become a protégé of wisdom

   2. A music Protégé:

                i.      never forget he is music learner

               ii.      is a student for lifetime

              iii.      Pursues

1.    pursuit is the price of unending impartation

            iv.      never ask advice that he will not

1.    the learner always follow the mentors advice

             v.      maintains confidence during the mentors crisis

          vi.      servanthood is the seed for impartation

2. Protégé can distinguish his status

   1. difference am I a learner or leader

   2. A protégés success quality is measured in the the energy expended in pursuit

   3. Protégés  will  move toward the dream of their desire

3. Pursuit is a trait for becoming a Protégé

   1. Their are different levels of protégés

   2. In the bible:

        i.      12 disciples they distinguished themselves

        ii.      3 disciples prayer time they distinguished themselves

1.    attitude distinguished them

        iii.      1 disciple John put his head on Jesus

1.    closer protégés got the greatest gift

3. persistence reaps level of reward

                    i.      servanthood

4. protégé is not the advisor to the mentor

5. protégés have the same agenda of the Mentor

4. Protégé can distinguish and recognize a teacher=mentor

   1. Mentors: Spiritual financial relationship

   2. Uncommon patience

   3. Repeat instruction a million times

   4. Knows more know the protégé

   5. Mentor will not control you

   6. Experience life coach

   7. Time, access necessary for impartation

   8. #1 problem solver for the protégé

   9. more interest in your success

   10. mentor will survive outlast protégé

   11. the protégé will not reach his destiny without the mentor

   12. mentor fells the pain of the protégé but he is not captivated by it

5. Protégés underwrite

   1. Protégé purchase the books, tapes and literature of the mentor

   2. Protégés sit in the presence of the mentor

   3. Protégé listen to and follow directions of the mentor

   4. protégé privilege and responsibility to underwrite the vision of the mentor

6. Pain is a trait of the protégé

   1. Pain is proof that correction

   2. when the mentor stops correcting, it is the most dangerous day

   3. mentors feel the pain of the protégé without being influenced by the pain

   4. pain is the proof that something is out of place

   5. Pain is a motivator for order

7. Protégé is not the mentors “friend”

   1. Mentor loves the protégé too much to allow the protégé to remain the same

   2. all of Gods advice He puts in a mentors mouth

Fortifi@ radio19 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé p1

Character: 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé A protégé is a learner. To learn is to revise your present understanding of music. Music education is a process that changes the learner. Music protégés want what a teacher-life coach that has retained information. A teacher is to be a learner. The teacher is a mentor that remembered their former music information. A mentor is a musician who has remembered and retained music knowledge. In comparison, parasites want what a protégés has earned. A mentor is the antidote to the protégés financial and musical inexperience. Protégés are learners who have not heard the secrets and truths that melodies, rhythms and harmonies can reveal. Further, a protégé is blind to the music knowledge and understanding. The Protégés music inexperience leaves the learner unaware, uninformed and blind to the music truth. In addition, music protégés may be blind to the music trends, industry requirements, and performance protocols and demands. A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years mere study of books. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Become a protégé and you will become a learner! Engage an enthusiastic lifetime of learning. A protégé is a learner for a lifetime. Thus, you will remain a lifetime learner through ongoing informal, professional development and study. Musicians need to be in a constant state of learning and growth. A mentor is Gods antidote for the lifetime of learning. God has several antidotes and mechanisms for the trials and errors of music life. Herbert Hoover described the cocktail hour as “the pause between the errors and trials of the day and the hopes of the night.” Like the cocktail the mentor becomes the antidote as “the pause between the errors and trials of the day and the hopes of the night.” Pain, mentor, grace and mercy are God method for correcting human behavior. A musician’s life without correction is like a vessel without a compass. Growing can be painful. Sometimes pain can be instructive and helpful. Many times; pain, mentorship grace and mercy have been a musicians’ rudder and sail. A mentor allows the musician to experience life without the common pain. A mentor is Gods antidote for the lifetime of learning. Every protégé musician needs a mentor to midwife their new music concepts. The mentor will suggest a “lamaze method” that will minimize the growing birth pains.    Mentor Protégé  Relationships   Fred Hammond has been a mentor to Israel Houghton  Milton Biggham, executive director of Savoy Records mentored Kirk Franklin Thomas A. Dorsey was the minister of music, Pilgrim Baptist Church and Roberta Martin was the pianist mentored James Cleveland Ahmet Ertegun, music industry titan, founder of Atlantic Records was an Aretha Franklin mentor Beatles mentor Sir George Martin, the producer and composer is often referred to as "the fifth Beatle", The Rev. Al Sharpton remembers spotting his mentor, James Brown Johann Christian Bach mentor to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Marian Anderson (opera singer) mentor to James DePriest (conductor) Jessye Norman (American opera soprano) mentor to Susan Platts (Canadian opera soprano) Oscar Hammerstein II mentor to Stephen Sondheim Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano) mentor to Barbara Hendricks (operatic soprano) Click here: Fortifi @ Radio 19 Character The 7 Characteristics of a Music Protégé part 2

BMI SALUTES MOST PLAYED CHRISTIAN SONGS: At the recent award show, writers and publishers were honored.

BMI, The U.S. performing rights organization saluted the writers and publishers of the past year’s most performed songs on Christian radio and television during the annual Christian Music Awards recently held at the company’s Music Row offices in Nashville.

     BMI named versatile hit-maker Ed Cash the 2008 Christian Songwriter of the Year, while his composition, “Made to Worship,” garnered Song of the Year honors.

 

 

   

BMI Vice President Jody Williams, along with Senior Director Thomas Cain and Associate Director Beth Mason, of BMI’s Writer/Publisher Relations Department in Nashville, presented awards spanning five categories: Christian Rock, Contemporary Christian, Inspirational, Urban Gospel and Southern Gospel.

     Universal Music Publishing Group received the Publisher of the Year Award, which is determined by the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. 

     A few of Universal’s eight award winning songs are “The Blessing of Abraham,”

 

 

written by Donald Lawrence; “Dead Man (Carry Me),” co-written and recorded b Jars of Clay; “My Savior, My God,” written and recorded by Aaron Shust, and “Imagine Me,” co-written and recorded by Kirk Franklin.

     For a complete list of the 2008 BMI Christian Awards log onto www.bmi.com.

 

BMI Christian Music Awards Honor the Genre’s Most Played Songs

Ed Cash Receives Song and Songwriter of the Year Honors

BMI saluted the writers and publishers of the past year’s most performed songs on Christian radio and television during the annual Christian Music Awards tonight at the company’s Music Row offices in Nashville. BMI named versatile hit-maker Ed Cash the 2008 Christian Songwriter of the Year, while his composition “Made to Worship” garnered Song of the Year honors. BMI Vice President Jody Williams, along with Senior Director Thomas Cain and Associate Director Beth Mason, of BMI’s Writer/Publisher Relations department in Nashville, presented awards spanning five categories: Christian Rock, Contemporary Christian, Inspirational, Urban Gospel and Southern Gospel.

View Christian Music Awards Song List

Prior to the presentation of awards, perennial Christian music titans Jars of Clay, rising star Aaron Shust and fiery gospel artist Isaiah Thomas set the evening’s warm tone with soulful renditions of their award-winning songs.

The BMI Christian Awards' big winners huddled together for a photo. Pictured are (l to r): BMI’s Phil Graham, Publisher of the Year Universal Music Publishing’s Dale Matthews, Songwriter of the Year Ed Cash and BMI’s Jody Williams.

Prolific producer and songwriter Ed Cash earned the BMI Songwriter of the Year crown thanks to his profound compositions “Made to Worship,” “Holding onto You,” and “How Can I Keep from Singing.” The stirring “Made to Worship” also garnered the BMI Song of the Year crystal for Cash; recorded by contemporary Christian favorite Chris Tomlin, the song was published by Alletrop Music.

Perennial favorites Jars of Clay perform at the 2008 BMI Christian Awards.

The ceremony also feted Publisher of the Year Universal Music Publishing Group. The award is determined by the highest percentage of copyright ownership in award songs. The company’s eight award-winning songs include “The Blessing of Abraham,” written by esteemed producer and chorale director Donald Lawrence, “Dead Man (Carry Me),” co-written and recorded by Jars of Clay, “My Savior, My God,” written and recorded by Aaron Shust, and “Imagine Me,” co-penned and recorded by contemporary gospel trendsetter Kirk Franklin.

Big winner Ed Cash salutes his inspiration.

Gospel luminary Donald Lawrence and ceremony performer Aaron Shust garnered two awards each. The night’s other big winners included genre-bender tobyMac; Christian rock outfit Red’s Jasen Rauch and Anthony Armstong; urban gospel star Kirk Franklin; Red producer Robert Graves; Jars of Clay members Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Steve Mason and Matt Odmark; 2007 BMI Christian Songwriter of the Year Mark Hall; Sanctus Real producer Chris Stevens and Sanctus Real member Dan Gartley; premier producer, arranger and musician Jay Joyce; Kingdom Heirs member Dennis Murphy; producer, songwriter and music minister Isaiah D. Thomas; gospel heavyweight Rodney Griffin; Needtobreathe’s Bo Rinehart; singer/songwriter Aaron Sprinkle; songwriter/producer Marc Byrd; gospel favorite Percy James Bady; songwriters Adam Kohout, Tery Wilkins, David Nasser, Jules "Juda" Bartholomew, Twila LaBar, Joel Lindsey, Belinda Lee Smith, Lisa Stewart Seals; and the McClurkin Project’s Andrea McClurkin-Mellini and Nate McNair.

Isaiah D. Thomas brings the house down.

In addition to Universal Music Publishing Group, publishers winning multiple awards were Alletrop Music, EMI Christian Music Group (Meaux Mercy Publishing, River Oaks Music Company), Lilly Mack Music, Asheville Music Publishing, Chris White Music, Q W Publishing, Sony/ATV Songs LLC and White Spot Publishing.

Aaron Shust delivers a charged performance.

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TobyMac, Mark Hall, Casting Crowns Win Big at Dove Awards

TobyMac, Mark Hall, Casting Crowns Win Big at Dove Awards

By

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Gerome

AP Entertainment Writer

Thu, Apr. 24 2008 09:12 AM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - TobyMac won artist of the year and Casting Crowns singer Mark Hall collected four trophies at Wednesday's 39th annual Dove Awards, which celebrate the best in gospel music.

Enlarge this Image

(Photo: AP Images / Mark Humphrey)

Mark Hall, second from right, lead singer for the group Casting Crowns, speaks as the group accepts the award for group of the year at the Dove Awards show in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, April 23, 2008, in Nashville, Tenn. The Dove Awards are presented to performers in the gospel music field.

"Are you kidding? This is crazy, man. I thought I was Mr. Pre-Televised awards," joked TobyMac, whose real name is Toby McKeehan. "God has been faithful time and again to surround me with people that sharpen me and that make me better."

TobyMac also won artist of the year in 1996 as a member of dc Talk. His latest album, "Portable Sounds," debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

Besides artist of the year, he took home Dove Awards for rock/contemporary album for "Portable Sounds" and short-form video for his hit "Boomin."

Hall, who was the night's leading nominee with six, won song of the year and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year for "East to West," which he co-wrote with Bernie Herms.

His participation on the multi-artist worship project "Glory Revealed" brought Hall individual honors for special event album of the year for the CD, as well as inspirational recorded song of the year for "By His Wounds."

His band also had four nominations and won three: group of the year, best pop/contemporary album of the year for "The Altar and the Door" and pop/contemporary recorded song of the year for "East to West."

"I'm so thankful just to get to be part of the songs," Hall said.

Chris Tomlin won male vocalist of the year and Natalie Grant was awarded female vocalist. Those were theirthird consecutive wins in their respective categories.

"This is quite amazing. Thank God for letting me sing and give a voice to people around the world to worship him," Tomlin said. "This is unbelievable that God would continue to use us all like this, and I'm very, very grateful."

Grant, who gave a soulful performance of "Bring It All Together" with country star Wynonna Judd, said she was thankful for the freedom to express herself freely.

"I think we forget often what a privilege it is to be in a country where we can record music that boldly proclaims our passion for Jesus Christ. What a gift," Grant said.

Brandon Heath won new artist of the year. Heath's "I'm Not Who I Was," a song about forgiveness that he says was inspired by an old photograph of someone he hadn't seen in a while, was nominated for song of the year.

Cindy Morgan won the songwriter of the year award — her eighth Dove trophy — and Ricky Skaggs and the Whites collected bluegrass recorded song for "Salt of the Earth."

"I think of all things this probably means the most to me because all those years ago I didn't set out to be a singer, just a songwriter," said Morgan, who wrote "How You Live (Turn Up the Music)" for Point of Grace. Morgan was named new artist of the year 15 years ago.

The contemporary gospel album award went to Israel & New Breed for "A Deeper Level."

"My first ministry is not what you see onstage. It's the church I pastor. It's got four members — my wife and my three kids," said the group's singer-songwriter Israel Houghton.

The evening's performers included "American Idol" alum Phil Stacey, Chris Sligh and Mandisa with Amy Grant in a musicaltribute to Michael W. Smith.

Switchfoot played "This is Home," a song from the soundtrack of the upcoming film "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."

The Doves closed with a salute to the Grand Ole Opry stage, where the show was held. Charlie Daniels led the house through a rousing version of the hymn "I'll Fly Away."

The Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards were broadcast live on XM Satellite radio and on the Gospel Music Channel. In past years the awards were syndicated and shown later on tape.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Zimbabwe: Gospel Artiste Nemhara Releases Album

Zimbabwe: Gospel Artiste Nemhara Releases Album

The Herald (Harare)

25 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008

Makanaka Munengwa
Harare

Visually impaired Julius Nemhara has proved that disability is not inability following the successful release of his eight-track gospel album titled, Zvakanaka Baba early this month.

The upcoming musician who is backed by a four-member group called The Victors said recording the album was a major challenge as some record companies at times were not ready to assist him in his project.

"I struggled for four years before my album was recorded and only managed to have it released by Zimbabwe Music Corporation early this month," said Nemhara.

The album is a collection of three tracks done in his mother language Shona, while the remaining songs where done in English.

The title track Zvakanaka Baba is a song in which he accepts his condition and thanks God for giving him the talent to sing and other skills for survival.

Nemhara started his project in 2005 but faced a number of drawbacks because of his disability, as he had no one to assist him. For him it was quite difficult to even form his own backing group The Victors as he received mixed sentiments from other people.

South Africa: Chose a Band for 50 Cent Tour Concert

South Africa: Chose a Band for 50 Cent Tour Concert

Biz-Community (Cape Town)

23 April 2008
Posted to the web 23 April 2008

Cape Town

Virgin Mobile is inviting the public to choose who should be the opening act for 50 Cent Tour in South Africa in early-May. Send an SMS to 34977 followed by BAND and the name of your favourite local, hip-hop band.

This is an opportunity for a local hip-hop band to share a stage with the best-selling hip hop/rap artist in the world, the American rapper 50 Cent, together with his G-Unit crew when they perform twice only in South Africa: at the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg on 1st May 2008 and at the Belville-Velodrome in Cape Town on 3rd May.

Nicholas Maweni from Virgin Mobile said, "Virgin Mobile wants the public to tell us who they want to hear live. At Virgin Mobile we believe that consumers should have choices!" Here's a list of potential contenders: Tuks, KoldProduct, HHP and ProKID...? All SMS entrants stand a chance to win double VIP tickets and even get a chance to meet the man himself... 50 Cent (born Curtis James Jackson III in 1976 in Queens).

The band with the most votes will be announced on Tuesday, 29 April 2008 and the band will have less than 48 hours to practise, pack up and get ready for the performance of their lives. SMSs are charged at R2 per sms (terms and conditions apply).

Ghana: Music Industry and Challenges

Ghana: Music Industry and Challenges

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)

25 April 2008
Posted to the web 25 April 2008

Jacquilline Afua Bondzi

In spite of the developmental benefits, which music has imposed on the global developed economies around the world, Ghana is yet to experience such socio-economic benefits from the music industry.

The developed countries have defined the music industry as a multi-billion money making industry, which if taken in to proper consideration, can change a country's despair, like Ghana, into wealth.

It is based on this that has compelled the government of Ghana, to establish a well-structured legislation, to protect the music copyright, and the folklore of the country, to generate commercial revenue in boosting the music industry, and the economy at large.

It can be recalled that there have been deliberations, amongst stakeholder and musicians, on the importance of commercializing the use of folklore, and whenever musicians make use of them, there will be a percentage of tax placed on it, and the proper regulation of the copyright in the industry.

A recent seminar, organised by an expert in the music industry, Mr. Kwaku, the founder of London-based Black Music Congress, indicated that there was a general lack of understanding, about the new legislative instrument, which would define how Ghana's Copyright Act of 2005 would be regulated, which would be soon finalised in a week's time.

The open meeting of Attorney General staff, and stakeholders from the creative industries, takes place on April 29th at the International Conference Centre.

Some attendees admitted being baffled by the issues regarding copyright and folklore, at the Music and Business seminar, comparing the UK and Ghana's music industry and practices.

One journalist confessed that although he had learnt much about copyright, he was also "at the same time very confused.

"Because copyright was fairly regularly highlighted in the media, I took it for granted that those that attended the seminar, had a basic understanding of copyright," explained Kwaku,

"The main reason for organising the seminar was to look at areas of departure, in relation to copyright and industry practice, and to highlight areas that can enhance the Ghanaian market,"continued Kwaku.

"For example, the Ghanaian Copyright Act, allows a mechanical royalty to be paid for the recording of music. In the UK, there are music publishers whose job it is to exploit the use of their songs, in order to earn revenues for themselves, and their songwriters. However, I have not come across music publishing businesses in Ghana.

"What we have are 'music publicists' and not music publishers," added the Copyright Administrator.

In the UK and Ghana, copyright protection for musical and literary works, last for the lifetime of the author(s), plus 70 years.

When a work falls out of copyright, it is said to be in the public domain. This means it can be used without permission or payment.

However, one of the areas of significant departure revolves around the public domain, and folklore - which is any work deemed to be part of the "cultural heritage of Ghana," but whose creators are unknown.

Firstly, rights in folkloric works are vested in the President, on behalf of the state of Ghana in perpetuity. Secondly, and the most contentious point, everyone who uses either folkloric or public domain works in Ghana, must pay.

Sean Bell Judge Equivocate 50 to Aquit 3 Cops in Sean Bell's Shooting

 

Al Wilson, Soul Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 68

Al Wilson, Soul Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 68

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: April 24, 2008

 

 

 

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Al Wilson, the soul singer and songwriter who had hits in the 1970s including “Show and Tell,” died here Monday. He was 68.

The cause was kidney failure, said his son, Tony Wilson.

Al Wilson was born on June 19, 1939, in Meridian, Miss. He sang in the church choir as a boy and had his own spiritual singing quartet. His family moved to San Bernardino in 1958 and he found work as a mail carrier, office clerk and janitor.

He toured for four years with the group Johnny “Legs” Harris and the Statesmen before joining the Navy. After a two-year stint he moved to Los Angeles and played with the Jewels and their successor group, the Rollers. A drummer, he also worked with the instrumental group the Souls.

In 1966, Mr. Wilson was spotted by the manager Marc Gordon, who introduced him to the singer Johnny Rivers, who signed him to his Soul City label. Mr. Wilson’s first single, “The Snake,” in 1968, was a hit and was followed by “Do What You Gotta Do.”

“Show and Tell” was released in 1973 and the next year was No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.

Wilson had several other hit singles, including “La La Peace Song,” “I’ve Got a Feeling (We’ll Be Seeing Each Other Again)” and “Count the Days.”

In later years he continued to tour clubs in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

In addition to his son, Wilson is survived by his wife, Patricia; his daughters, Alene Harris and Sharon Burley; a brother, Eddie Wilson; his sisters Lottie Ross, Ruby Conyers and Maebell Cole; and 13 grandchildren.

Al Wilson, R&B singer, dies at 68

Kristina Hernandez, Staff Writer

Article Created: 04/21/2008 09:51:40 PM PDT

By Kristina Hernandez

Staff Writer

R&B singer/songwriter Al Wilson, best known for his hit single, "Show and Tell," died Monday of kidney failure at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fontana, according to a family spokesperson.

He was 68.

Born on June 19, 1939, in Meridian, Miss., Wilson moved to the San Bernardino area in 1958, and worked odd jobs as a mail carrier, janitor, and office clerk before touring for four years with Johnny Harris and the Statesmen.

After a two-year stint in the Navy, Wilson moved to Los Angeles and played local clubs, performing with the Jewels and the Souls before being signed by manager Marc Gordon in 1966. He released his first single, "The Snake," in 1968.

Growing up, Wilson would enter any singing competition he could, sometimes performing alongside Temptations member David Ruffin, said Wilson's son, Tony Wilson of Yucaipa.

"He was always singing," he said. "He would call me in the middle of the night with a new song that he had written and say, `Hey, you gotta listen to this new tune."'

"Show and Tell," was released in 1973 and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1974.

Wilson spent his time traveling from San Bernardino to Los Angeles to create his music, said his son, and in his spare time enjoyed his prized cockatoos and spending time with his grandchildren, Sean and Brayden Wilson. He also enjoyed watching sports, especially boxing.

Wilson often

appeared at local churches and performed his song, "Cutting Corners," after the debut of his son's play of the same name at the Sturges Center of Performing Arts in San Bernardino late last year.

"He was a very good songbird and a very good father," his son said. "I'm not a singer at all, but I got the inspiration for writing my plays from his work ethic. And through his inspiration, we came together."

Wilson was scheduled to perform at San Bernardino Valley College as part of the school's "Together" Benefit Concert on May 3 after a performance at Aquinas High School in San Bernardino.

The concert willgo on as planned and Wilson will be the first inductee into the school's newly established Alliance for the Arts Hall of Fame, said Craig Petinak, director of marketing and public relations for the school.

More information on the concert can be obtained by calling (909) 384-8611.

In addition to his son, Wilson is survived by his wife of 16 years, Patricia Wilson, daughters Alene Harris and Sharon Burley; brother Eddie Wilson; sisters Lottie Ross, Ruby Conyers and Maebell Cole; and 13 grandchildren.

Notes of condolences can be sent to the family in care of Tony Wilson, 11733 Pactfield Place, Yucaipa 92399.

Viewing services will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday at Simpson Family Mortuary, 1557 W. Base Line, San Bernardino.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. April 29 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1895 Del Rosa Ave., San Bernardino. Burial will follow at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Ave., Riverside.

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