Dear Friends
In this very special year, which would have seen my husband and lifetime partner John Lennon reach the age of 70, I was surprised that so many musicians from all over the world sent me their ideas of how they were making a tribute to John this year. But I was surprised the most by a call from EMI presenting me with a very ambitious project to get John Lennon’s voice – his singing, his music and his lyrics – out to the world this year…
Asphalt Orchestra on Broadway in a Lincoln Center Out of Doors concert on Wednesday night that began at Alice Tully Hall and included a solo from the reflecting pool. Not Your Ordinary Marching Band by Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times, Aug 6th 2010 A casual observer at Lincoln Center on Wednesday evening might have wondered what on [...]
by Brandon, Stereogum A few years ago I wrote a positive review of CocoRosie’s The Adventures of Ghosthorse And Stillborn. Too positive, it turns out: The publication that assigned it killed the piece at the 11th hour and instead ran a snarky takedown. I’d never had that happen before and I’ve been championing challenging music for [...]
Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7 – Seahorse and the Storyteller After 40 plus recordings as the house trumpet player for Truth and Soul records, the Brooklyn based funk and soul label released the highly sought after trumpet player, producer, composer, songwriter, and arranger Michael Leonhart’s psychedelic Afro/bhangra funk concept album Seahorse and the Storyteller on April 20, [...]
Tracklisting 01 – Mrs. Lennon – Cida Moreira 02 – Who Has Seen The Wind? – Hevelyn Costa 03 – Listen, The Snow Is Falling – Ampslina 04 – Death of Samantha – Digitaria** 05 – Why – Tetine** 06 – Midsummer New York – Fuzzcas 07 – Sisters O Sisters – Doidivinas 08 – [...]
I recently came across this quote of mine from 22 years ago:
”What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us to understand one another better, or will they deceive us and keep us apart?”
I believe this is still a supremely relevant question and the jury is out.
There is a lot of commercial clutter on the net, and a lot of propaganda, but I have a sense that just beneath the surface understanding is gaining ground. We just have to keep blogging, keep twittering, keep communicating, keep sharing ideas.
BAM! Suddenly the audience started to sing Happy Birthday to me right in the middle of the sing along GIVE PEACE A CHANCE! That was such a nice surprise. I was so unprepared for it, I don’t even remember if I had thanked the audience or not. Did I? There was so much love circulating, it didn’t seem necessary to say anything… We were family. The curtain went down after GIVE PEACE A CHANCE. Sean and I looked at each other. Sean’s eyes were twinkling. “You were great.” said Sean. “So were you.” It was a grand moment. We knew we had been witnesses to something that was bigger than both of us.
For her third solo album for Tzadik Records’ Oracles series, releases that “celebrate the diversity and creativity of women in experimental music making”, Yuka Honda delivers another fascinating, mostly instrumental set, this time using her programming and production skills to create what the label describes as “a hypnotic groove for young moderns”.
Featuring two co-writes with Sean Lennon, with whom she currently performs in Yoko Ono’s regenerated Plastic Ono Band, and three with horns arranger Michael Leonhart (who also guests on percussion, keyboards and vibraphone), Heart Chamber Phantoms looks sets to be her most ambitious solo outing to date. Regular collaborators Dougie Brown (drums) and Courtney Kaiser (vocals) are among the other guests.
Dear Friends A BIG THANKYOU to over 200 remixers who took part in the THE SUN IS DOWN! remix competition. The 20 prizewinning remixers are: Bill Kates, Billy Martin, Damien Price, DJ Chernobyl, Jorge Artajo, King Louis & Mighty Jay, Konrad Behr, Mabarak, Madeon, Nick Vernier Band, Pedro Vainer, Posterboys, Rondo Brothers, Rumours of Whores, [...]
Dear Friends Thankyou all so much for the overwhelming response to the THE SUN IS DOWN! remix competition! We were surprised that they were all of a very high standard, which we have not counted on. We’ve now realized that we need more time in order to give a good listening to all of your [...]
Sean Lennon recently released a new CD, a soundtrack for a low-budget vampire flick, entitled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead. He composed the moody, instrumental score on his home computer. Lennon runs Chimera Records out of his kitchen. Lennon is the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and he talks with Bob about [...]
Photos from Dream Power 2009 Photos by Anne Terada © 2009 Yoko Ono Dream Power John Lennon Super Live, Dec 8th 2009 The Dream Power John Lennon Super Live will be held at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on Dec 8 with several Japanese artists participating. Proceeds from ticket sales for the annual event will be [...]
Let’s donate schools to the deprived children of Asia and Africa! Imagine a wave of Dream Power spreading across the world. Starting in 2001 in Japan, the Dream Power concerts have now helped build 85 schools in some 22 countries across Asia and Africa. If you stop to think about it, the children who were [...]
Following the September 9 (9-9-09) debut of The Beatles’ digitally re-mastered catalogue on CD, Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music are pleased to announce the worldwide release of a limited edition of only 30,000 Beatles Stereo USB apples on December 7 (December 8 in North America). The exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with [...]
Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon partner with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music publishing to donate net proceeds from Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace A Chance” 40th anniversary digital single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. Commemorative Digital Single Launches Today, Exclusively on iTunes, here. New York, NY – November 3, 2009 – To [...]
Basement Jaxx: Scars - new album – out 21 Sept 2009 The long-awaited new album from Basement Jaxx, entitled “Scars”, will be released on September 21st. You can pre-order your CD copy from Play.com and get an exclusive bonus track by clicking here. Preorder from the iTunes Music Store here: Record your own version of the [...]
We wrote letters but received no replies. One of us pushed a note under the door of his flat in London. Then we were able to speak to him. But the tape recorder had to stay off. He was born in Nürnberg. His parents, orthodox Jews, and nearly all his other rela- tives were murdered [...]
Gift of Lennon’s Songbook Supports Amnesty International’s Global Campaign on Darfur February 18, 2009 Yoko Ono’s generous gift to Amnesty International — the right to have leading international musical artists record new versions of John Lennon’s solo compositions – provided a significant boost toward the organization’s campaign to end the violence in Darfur, achieve security for [...]
by Alicia Bridges, Perth Now. AFTER 15 years as one of the two artists behind Basement Jaxx, Simon Ratcliffe remains almost entirely anonymous. A career of international hits and critical acclaim has done little to coax him and bandmate Felix Buxton into the limelight. For most of their fans they are names without faces, and that’s [...]
by Sue Gilmore, Contra Costa Times, 19 Jan 2009 Beating swords into plowshares is about as noble an antiwar notion as they come, but Sarah Cahill of Berkeley is taking the Old Testament injunction out of the fields and into the higher realm of music. The noted pianist, recording artist and “Then & Now” radio talk-show [...]
