So, have you tried Spotify? This is new the streaming music service aiming to take on ITunes. So far Spotify looks like a hit. You don’t download the music. You just pay to listen to it everywhere, on every device you own–computers, portable music players, etc. They’ve made deals with all the music labels to pay them for the privilege of “broadcasting” the music to us personally. It’s like custom radio. But not everyone is there. The Beatles, of course, are MIA. The group has an exclusive arrangement with Apple/ITunes. Their music isn’t even on amazon.com. No one knows when this deal expires–maybe in November on the one year anniversary? Steve Jobs must have paid a lot to get the Beatles because ITunes uses the group’s images to push everything. Go to ITunes now and see the cover of “Abbey Road.” Other groups missing from Spotify: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, AC DC. There are probably more. Is Spotify any good? It seems easier to use than ITunes. Also, I like that they featured Incubus’s new album on the home page. And for $4.99 a month you get the music to follow you wherever you are. This seems easier than having to upload it a cloud. Their cloud is always hovering. As Paul McCartney once sang, “There’s a shadow hanging over me.” In this case, it’s Spotify.
Aretha Franklin Mops Up Jones Beach with Historic Show
A few weeks off of rest and relaxation proved just the tonic for Aretha Franklin last night. The 69 year old Queen of Soul, newly slimmed down, sang like she was 39 and moved around the stage with more agility than most of her new young wannabe divas. Sheathed in the same white and gown she wore to her recent birthday party, Franklin shimmied and shook, told jokes, gave call outs and reminisced a bit in front a wildly enthusiastic, jam packed audience. One woman held up a sign indicating that seeing Franklin had been on her Bucket List and was now fulfilled. The nearly two hour show had just one break, after Franklin ripped through a series of hits including “Daydreaming,” “Jump to It,” and “Think.” While her exceptional band/orchestra presented a rave up of Stevie Wonder’s “Always,” Franklin got a sip of water and cooled off. Then she came roaring back and didn’t leave until the crowd was on its feet, begging for more.
She nearly stopped the show cold, though, when she said: “I guess you heard about Muhammad Ali.” The audience got nervous she was just about to announce something sad, when Franklin launched into a bit of a joke: “A flight attendant asked him to put on his seatbelt. He told her, Superman don’t need no seat belt. And now we’ve got fasten our seat belts.” Out came “Chain of Fools” and a half dozen more hits culminating in covers of Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me,” James Moody’s “Moody’s Mood,” and the most spectacular rave up of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Franklin glided over to the piano and commanded the orchestra through a churchly rendering of the Paul Simon song better even than her original recording.
By the time Franklin got to her encore of “Respect,” it was quite clear that she’d executed a memorable show in a venue where she’d never before performed. Although supermarket tabloids have her making out her last will and testament, the fact is that Franklin, a true soul survivor, is better than ever. Her voice has regained its suppleness. She’s no longer straining for notes or getting winded. If anything, she seems ready to record more and more. After the show she met with a gang from what she called her “alma mater”–Atlantic Records–Craig Kallman, Pete Ganbarg, and their new “find”–Rumer, a young Adele-like singer from the UK who’s just issued her first single, titled, appropriately, “Aretha.” She told the guys that she’s looking to hire some execs for her Aretha’s Records, which just issued her Walmart album, “A Woman Falling Out of Love.” Aretha Franklin is alive, and kicking, kids, And don’t you forget it.
Venice Film Fest: “Tinker Tailor,” Clooney, Pacino, Madonna, Soderbergh
The main films for the Venice Film Festival have been announced. Venice preceeds the slightly more accessible and certainly more affordable Toronto Film Festival. And while the idea of Venice is romantic, don’t forget that their winners are often very oddball choices that are never talked about again–except in a bemused away. Nonetheless, there are a lot of much anticipated films on this list including “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” The John LeCarre novel was a huge bestseller, and has been long in the works. A lot of people will be disappointed if the filmmakers have screwed it up.
In Competition
The Ides Of March, George Clooney (US)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Tomas Alfredson (UK, Germany)
Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold (UK)
Texas Killing Fields, Ami Canaan Maan (US) (second work)
Quando La Notte, Cristina Comencini (Italy)
Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese (Italy/France)
A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg (Germany/Canada)
4:44 Last Day On Earth, Abel Ferrara (US)
Killer Joe, William Friedkin (US)
Un Ete Brulant, Philippe Garrel (France/Italy/Switzerland)
A Simple Life (Taojie), Ann Hui (China/Hong Kong)
The Exchange (Hahithalfut), Eran Kolirin (Israel) (second work)
Alps (Alpeis),Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)
Shame, Steve McQueen (UK) (second work)
L’ultimo Terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti (GIPI) (Italy) (first work)
Carnage, Roman Polanski (France/Germany/Spain/Poland)
Chicken With Plums, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (France/Belgium/Germany)
Faust, Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)
Dark Horse,Todd Solondz (US)
Himizu, Sion Sono (Japan)
Seediq Bale, Wei Te-Sheng (Taiwan) (second work)
Surprise film
Showing Out Of Competition
Vivan las Antipodas!(documentary), Victor Kossakovsky (Germany/Argentina/Holland/Chile/Russia)
La Folie Almayer, Chantal Akerman (Belgium/France)
The Sorcerer And The White Snake (Baish Echuanshuo), Tony Ching Siu-Tung (China/Hong Kong)
Giochi D’estate, Rolando Colla (Switzerland/Italy)
La Desintegration, Philippe Fauchon (Belgium)
The Moth Diaries, Mary Harron (Canada/Ireland)
Alois Nebel, Tomas Lunak (first work) (Czech Republic/Germany)
W.E., Madonna (UK) (second work)
Eva, Kike Maillo (UK) (first work)
Scossa, Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo Gregoretti, Nino Russo (Italy)
La Cle Des Champs,Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou (France)
Il Villaggio Di Cartone, Ermanno Olmi (Italy)
Wilde Salome, Al Pacino (US)
Tormented, Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
Contagion, Steven Soderbergh (US)
Marco Bellocchio,Venezia 2011, Pietro Marcello (Italy) (documentary, short)
La Meditazione Di Hayez, Mario Martone (Italy) (short)
Tahrir 2011,Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama (Egypt) (documentary)
The End, Collectif Abounaddara (Syria)
Vanguard, Colleftif Abounaddara (Syria)
Evolution (Megaplex)(3D), Marco Brambilla (US)
Damsels In Distress, Whit Stillman (US) [closing film]
Paul Reiser Hits the 88s with Julia Fordham But Doesn’t Want to Stay Up Late
Paul Reiser‘s latest TV show got caught in the crossfire at NBC. But Reiser is also rising to the occasion–last night he played a gig at the Highline Ballroom with spectacular vocalist Julia Fordham. Reiser is a long time pianist and songwriter. When he heard Fordham’s amazing voice on the radio, he knew he had to work with her. The result is this mini tour–they play the Roxy in West Hollywood on August 2nd–and a whole album recently released called “Unusual Suspects.” A song from the album called “Unsung Heroes” has been adopted by veterans groups as an anthem for soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Last night, staff sergeant Kevin Gebo — on loan from the Army– was a guest on the show and played a haunting trumpet solo on a couple of songs including “Unsung Hero.”
Gebo usually plays with an outfit called Pershing’s Own Ceremonial Band, and performs “Taps” at an average of 8 funerals a day at Arlington National Cemetery. He’s only 28, so it’s a heavy burden, but he does it with aplomb. Anyway, Fordham was sensational as always, mixing her new Reiser songs with favorites like “Happy Ever After”– rewritten to reflect support for Japanese earthquake help–and her masterworks like “Stay” and “Manhattan Skyline.” Reiser, meanwhile, told me he’s loving his new side career as a musician but is having trouble staying up late. “I can’t believe how exhausting this has been,” he said, yawning, around 1am. It’s a long time since he’s done late night comedy clubs. How about his pal, Jerry Seinfeld? “Are you kidding? He’s in bed by 8,” joked Reiser.
Sean Penn, Frances McDormand Flick Still Has No US Distributor
“The less we say about it, the better” is a line from David Byrne’s Talking Heads song, “This Must Be the Place.” That’s also the title of the Paolo Sorrentino movie starring Sean Penn and Frances McDormand, two Oscar winners. But “This Must Be the Place,” which debuted in Cannes, can’t seem to find a US distributor. It’s set to open in France on August 24th, with dates also posted for other European cities. But so far no mention of a domestic deal. The film is also not turning up at other festivals. Will it become a cult classic? Penn plays a kind of Ozzy Osbourne/Marilyn Manson type rocker who was popular in the 1980s but lives like a semi recluse in Ireland. McDormand is his understanding but prickly wife. Then he gets a call from Brooklyn, of all places. His Holocaust survivor father has died. Penn jets to the Orthodox funeral, appearing in full make up etc. From there he decides to hunt down the Nazi who tortured his father during the war. Along the way he runs across Byrne, who performs the title song ebulliently. If this movie sounds weird and awful, it’s not…it’s just very odd and kind of fascinating. No word on what will happen. There was some buzz at Cannes that The Weinstein Company was interested, but nothing panned. It might be too weird to have movies with Penn and by Madonna in the same season, anyway.
Sting Gets Classy, Snazzy Box Set for 25th Solo Anniversary
Believe it or not, Sting is celebrating 25 years as a solo artist this fall. While his original run as leader of The Police lasted just a few years, his solo career has been more than four times longer. Manager Kathy Schenker and producer Rob Mathes have assembled an amazing collection of four discs–three of his best studio work and one devoted to live performances called “Rough, Raw and Unreleased.” The DVD comes from Sting’s 2005 show at Irving Plaza in New York, and has never before been issued. The package arrives on September 27th, right before Sting’s 60th birthday on October 2nd. (Yes, he actually looks like that at 60. Grrrr.)Â There’s also rumors of some kind of celebration tied to the birthday that should be quite memorable.
And there’s also rumblings that work has progressed significantly on the Sting musical, loosely based on his album, “The Soul Cages” and written with “Next to Normal” Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Yorkey.
Here’s the track listing for “Sting: 25 Years.” All the tracks are beautifully remixed for state of the art sound:
Disc One:
1.   If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
2.   Love Is The Seventh Wave
3.   Consider Me Gone
4.   Moon Over Bourbon Street
5.   Fortress Around Your Heart
6.   Bring On The Night (Live)
7.   Driven To Tears (Live)
8.   I Burn For You (Live)
9.   Be Still My Beating Heart
10.   They Dance Alone
11.   Englishman In New York
12.   Fragile
13.   We’ll Be Together
14.   Sister Moon
15.   Secret Marriage
Disc Two:
1.   All This Time
2.   Mad About You
3.   Why Should I Cry For You?
4.   The Soul Cages
5.   When The Angels Fall
6.   If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
7.   Fields Of Gold
8.   Seven Days
9.   It’s Probably Me
10.   Shape Of My Heart
11.   When We Dance
12.   I Hung My Head
13.   I Was Brought To My Senses
14.   You Still Touch Me
15.   I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying
Disc Three:
1.   A Thousand Years
2.   Desert Rose
3.   Ghost Story
4.   Brand New Day
5.   Send Your Love
6.   Whenever I Say Your Name
7.   Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)
8.   Soul Cake
9.   The Hounds Of Winter
10.   Next To You
11.   We Work The Black Seam
12.   The Pirate’s Bride
13.   Never Coming Home
14.   Russians (Live)
15.   The End Of The Game (Live)
Disc Four: Rough, Raw & Unreleased: Live at Irving Plaza
1.   Message In A Bottle
2.   Demolition Man
3.   Synchronicity II
4.   Driven To Tears
5.   Heavy Cloud, No Rain
6.   A Day In The Life
7.   Voices Inside My Head/When The World Is Running Down
8.   Roxanne
9.   Next To You
10.   Lithium Sunset
“Bangla Desh” George Harrison Film Gets Free Showings for 40th Anniversary
Believe it or not, kids, it’s the 40th anniversary of “The Concert for Bangla Desh.” George Harrison and Ravi Shankar‘s landmark event took place in the summer of 1971. Seems like yesterday (not). Anyway, to commemorate the milestone, ITunes is showing the film for free from July 30th – August 1st. The concert film will also be shown for free on those dates at www.georgeharrison.com. Today, the soundtrack went online on ITunes for the first time for downloading. This is a big deal. “The Concert for Bangla Desh” was the first all -star charity rock concert. Harrison got the biggest names on the scene–Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Billy Preston — to be featured. Badfinger was the house band. Paul McCartney and John Lennon, however, stayed away. (It was also the summer of McCartney’s great second solo album, “Ram.” In the fall, Lennon released “Imagine.”) There’s just about nothing better than Harrison and Russell singing “Beware of Darkness.” The free showings are a lovely gesture, no doubt due to Olivia and Dhani Harrison. I still have my 1971 box set of LPs from “Bangla Desh,” by the way, a cherished souvenir. Proceeds from the downloads and the streaming, etc will go to the George Harrison Fund at UNICEF. http://www.theconcertforbangladesh.com/
“Funny Girl” Coming to Broadway, But Without Lea Michele
Exclusive: The revival of “Funny Girl” is on its way to Broadway, but without “Glee” star Lea Michele. There was talk that Lea was going to star as Fanny Brice, the part made famous by Barbra Streisand in 1964. But color Lea Michele booked: she is under contract to “Glee,” and, according to sources, she’s staying on that show or connected to it despite recent reports. “Funny Girl” is slated for a mid January run in Los Angeles before heading to New York in the spring to make Tony Awards deadlines. Bartlett Sher is directing, and Chris Gatelli is choreographer. Bob Boyett is the producer.
“Funny Girl” is now searching for its Fanny and Nicky Arnstein. But rehearsals are set for November in New York. Lea Michele will still be filming the current season of “Glee.” A source quipped: “By the time she’s out of Glee, they’ll be ready for a revival of this revival.” Funny. How the story of three “Glee” principals being axed from the show got so out of hand is another story altogether. But it seems clear that Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Montieth will wind up in a spin off show next fall, or graduated to adult status. “They’re not going anywhere,” says a source.
So who should play Fanny and Nicky in the Broadway revival? Any ideas? Anne Hathaway, call your agents!
Clooney, Pitt, Gosling, Hamm, Jane Fonda, U2 Toronto Film Fest Picks
Ryan Gosling, Glenn Close, Jon Hamm, Jane Fonda, and U2 are all coming to the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. And that’s not all: so are George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Hugh Laurie, and Catherine Keener. Gosling and Keener will be represented by two movies, in fact. Clooney directs “The Ides of March,” which also opens the Venice Film Festival and is said to be excellent and an Oscar contender. Pitt comes in Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball,” which also has strong buzz. Keener’s films are “Peace, Love and Understanding” — with Jane Fonda, and directed by Bruce Beresford, and “The Oranges” with Hugh Laurie, set in the Jersey suburbs. Gosling, of course, has “Drive,” which debuted in Cannes. He also stars in “Ides of March.” Jon Hamm stars in “Friends with Kids,” directed by his director girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt (“Kissing Jessica Stein”). Glenn Close could be an Oscar contender in “Albert Nobbs.” There’s also Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Anthony Hopkins in “360,” Madonna’s “W.E.,” and Michael Fassbender and Carrie Mulligan in “Shame.” To put it mildly, Toronto is going to be completely crazy. You wondered where all the movies have been this year? They’re going to be here. PS Also, many from Cannes including Lars von Trier‘s “Melancholia”– hopefully he won’t bring up his Nazi comments again.
Aretha’s Debut at Jones Beach, Musicals Made Over Night
Aretha Franklin‘s show at Jones Beach tomorrow night is her debut at the fabled outdoor music venue on Long Island. The Queen of Soul has never before performed at this great spot, and she’s looking forward to it. Over lunch yesterday at Manhattan’s Le Petit Maison she told me she’s putting on a full show, with “all the hits” from “Respect” to “Daydreaming” and “Rock Steady.” Franklin’s performance Monday morning on the 10am segment of the “Today” show with Hoda and Kathie Lee was a killer by the way–her voice has never sounded better and Aretha’s never looked better. In between “Today” and lunch, the Queen stopped by Tiffany & Co. and checked out–but didn’t buy–several amazing baubles…
…”One Night Stand” premiered the other night in New York. It’s a lively documentary about the making of “The 24 Hour Musicals.” Elisabeth Sperling and Trish Dalton traced the one day planning and executing of four 20 minute musicals put together by New York pros. Standouts are Richard Kind, Cheyenne Jackson and Rachel Dratch, with lots of humor. Perfect for a PBS fundraising night!
Tonight: Julia Fordham and Paul Reiser at the Highline Ballroom, 8pm. Don’t miss it!