NEWS

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Young Musicians’ Camp at University of Miami

Frost School of Music - 2008...

under the direction of Sarah Neham Salz

Click HERE for more information.

Session A June 23 - July 3

Session B July 7 - July 18

The camp offers a wide variety of programs, spanning guitar, piano, strings, wind, percussion, orchestra, jazz, voice and musical theater. Whether you are a young beginner or an experienced player, you will find a program that is appropriate for you.

The mission of the Young Musicians’ Camp is to provide a musical experience of the highest quality to elementary through senior high school aged children. Recognizing the unlimited potential of all children when nurtured in a rich environment, the camp strives to bring together children from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, and financial backgrounds to share in the joy of making music.

JAZZ FACULTY

Brian Murphy
Lisanne Lyons
Felix Gomez
Ed Maina
Ira Sullivan
Duffy Jackson

_________________________________________________________Are Digital Orchestras a Sign of the Times?

By DAVID POGUE (New York Times)

This past weekend, I attended an astonishing

performance of "Les Misérables" performed by 13- to

17-year olds at a local theater program. Two things

made it memorable: MORE...

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A Great Day on Las Olas

celebrated the 19th anniversary of O’Hara’s Music Cafe on Sunday,

June 22, 2008. Many of the artists who had performed at the venue

during these last 19 years appeared in the picture.

Artists & personalities included Dr. Lonnie Smith, Kitty Ryan,

China Valles, Danny Burger, Juanita Dixon, Bob Vandivort, Dana Paul,

Brian Murphy, Randy the Violinist, Judy Blem, Charlie Boyer

and many others.

Nicole Henry and Wendy Pederson

were the featured performers.

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Yoshitaka Uematsu (Matsu)

Click HERE for a tribute page

from Matsu’s friends!

Dear Friends,

We have some sad news to share with you.

Yoshitaka Uematsu (Matsu), our friend and bon vivant

who dedicated his life to Jazz has shuffled off this

mortal coil and passed on to his reward. I received an

email from his companion, Chiharu, that said:

“I'm so sorry to tell you that at around 4 o'clock pm,

on June 1st, 2008, Matsu passed away from liver cancer.”

If you have any words of condolence that you would

like to share with Chiharu please send them to me and

I will make sure that she receives them.

I am planning to create a webpage in

Matsu's memory, so any remembrances, photos, anecdotes

or any other personal memories that you would like to

share would be appreciated.

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Report: 2 million artists in US, many struggling

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

Santa Fe, N.M., calls itself "The City Different," a community "brimming with bright, creative, and energetic residents." It is, according to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, overflowing with inspiration.

"Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005," released Thursday by the NEA, is a 140-page quantification of the state of the country's artists, from the total who call themselves artists (around 2 million, separated into 11 categories) to the locations where they're most likely to settle — such as New York, of course, and Los Angeles. MORE...

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R.I.P. Smooth Jazz, 1985-2008?

With two of the US' major "smooth jazz" radio stations defunct to the fickleness of format change, the time to mourn the cheesy sub-genre is now. But what made Smooth Jazz not really jazz at all?

by Will Layman

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

I come to bury smooth jazz, not to praise it. The evil that radio formats do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their gimmicky call letters. So let it be with smooth jazz. MORE...

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Saxophonists Boots Randolph,

Ed Calle & Kirk Whalum

collaborate with Sylvia Bennett

Miami, Florida -- Tenor saxophonists Ed Calle and Kirk Whalum, each star solo artists in their own right, have joined forces to record “Songs from the Heart," starring vocalist Sylvia Bennett and featuring the late, great saxophonist Boots Randolph.

The acoustic recording includes Chuck Bergeron on bass, known as co- arranger for Kevin Mahogany and for his long affiliation with the Woody Herman Big Band. On piano is Brian Murphy who has recorded and performed with Wynton Marsalis,

Diana Krall, Paquito D'Rivera, Woody Shaw, Dave Liebman and many others. Drummer on “Songs from the Heart" is Frank Derrick who toured worldwide with Cab Calloway and was drummer for “The David Letterman Show" on NBC.

Producer, Hal S. Batt also plays guitar on the album. Batt is an award winning producer and song writer and has worked with Julio Iglesias, Sandy Patty, Shakira, Regina Bell and Jean Carne among others. MORE....

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You are listening to “East of the Sun”

(Brian Murphy-piano, Don Miller-bass & Reggie Smith-drums)

Nov. 2008

During the month of November Brian had the honor of being guest lecturer/instructor for the advanced Jazz ensemble at the New World School of The Arts in Miami.

http://nwsa.mdc.edu/splash.html

This ensemble features the school's finest young musical talent and Brian offered them guidance and assisted them in developing their interpretive, communicative and ensemble skills.

Brian was sponsored by the prestigious

Thelonious Monk Institute.