jazz &blues report november/december 2005 issue 277 free now in our 31st year www.jazz-blues.com Sam Cooke American Music Masters Series Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum 31st Annual Holiday Gift Guide November/December 2005 • Issue 277 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s 10th Annual American Music Masters Series “A Change Is Gonna Come: Published by Martin Wahl The Life and Music of Sam Cooke” Communications Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Aretha Franklin Editor & Founder Bill Wahl and Elvis Costello Headline Main Tribute Concert Layout & Design Bill Wahl The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and sic for a socially conscientious cause. He recognized both the growing popularity of Operations Jim Martin Museum and Case Western Reserve University will celebrate the legacy of the early folk-rock balladeers and the Pilar Martin Sam Cooke during the Tenth Annual changing political climate in America, us- Contributors American Music Masters Series this ing his own popularity and marketing Michael Braxton, Mark Cole, November. Sam Cooke, considered by savvy to raise the conscience of his lis- Chris Hovan, Nancy Ann Lee, many to be the definitive soul singer and teners with such classics as “Chain Gang” Peanuts, Mark Smith, Duane crossover artist, a model for African- and “A Change is Gonna Come.” In point Verh and Ron Weinstock. American entrepreneurship and one of of fact, the use of “A Change is Gonna Distribution Jason Devine the first performers to use music as a Come” was granted to the Southern Chris- tian Leadership Conference for ICON Distribution tool for social change, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the fundraising by Cooke and his manager, Check out our new, updated web inaugural class of 1986. Allen Klein, in 1964. page. Now you can search for CD The tribute will extend from Octo- Sam Cooke was inducted into the Reviews by artists, Titles, Record ber 31 - November 6 and will feature Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo art- Labels or JBR Writers. Twelve years panels, films, educational programs, a ist in the inaugural class of 1986. of reviews are up and we’ll be going day-long conference at Case and two The tribute concerts are as follows: all the way back to 1974! tribute concerts. The main tribute con- Main Concert Address all Correspondence to.... cert will feature Cooke’s pop and R&B Jazz & Blues Report material and the gospel show will focus The main tribute concert will take 19885 Detroit Road # 320 on his spiritual music. place Saturday, November 5 at 8 p.m. at Rocky River, Ohio 44116 Sam Cooke was one of the most the State Theatre, Playhouse Square. Scheduled to perform are: Main Office ...... 216.651.0626 influential performers in the history of Editor's Desk ... 440.331.1930 American popular music. His work cut • Aretha Franklin across genres of gospel, R&B and pop, • Elvis Costello [email protected] and Cooke is credited as being one of • The Dixie Hummingbirds Web .................. www.jazz-blues.com soul music’s primary architects. • The Blind Boys of Alabama Copyright © 2005 Martin-Wahl Communications Inc. Cooke’s career with the Soul Stir- • Cissy Houston No portion of this publication may be rers was enough to secure his place in • Peter Wolf reproduced without written permission the annals of music history, but his am- • Taj Mahal from the publisher. All rights Reserved. bition and talent would take him much • Otis Clay further still. He was a pioneering figure • William Bell Jazz Report was founded in Buffalo New in African-American entrepreneurship, See the ad in this issue for the last York in March of 1974 and began in Cleve- gaining remarkable artistic control of his minute update on performers. land in April of 1978. We are subsidized music and the business surrounding it. Tickets for this concert are $20, $30 solely through advertisement and ask that Recognizing the importance of owning and $40 and are on sale through you support our advertisers. a W division of artin-Wahl publishing rights to music, he founded Tickets.com). Note: With the purchase of c o m m u n i c a t i o n s his own record label and publishing com- a full price Saturday tribute ticket, buyers Cover photo of Sam Cooke courtesy pany after being courted aggressively by will receive 50% off the price of a Sunday of Michael Ochs Archives.com the leading record labels of the day. tribute concert ticket. His extraordinary voice and unfor- Gospel Tribute gettable melodies appealed to black and white audiences, and the popularity of The Gospel tribute will take place the "Buffalonious" his music helped introduce many other following night, Sunday, November 6, at black performers to mainstream audi- 6 p.m., also at the State Theatre, Play- Original mascot from ences. When he died in 1964, Cooke house Square. the was one of the most financially success- Scheduled to perform are: Buffalo Jazz Report ful black artists up to that point. • Aretha Franklin days – mid '70s Sam Cooke’s music expanded from • Lou Rawls its gospel roots into more mainstream • The Blind Boys of Alabama Created by R&B and pop genres while managing to • The Dixie Hummingbirds Christine Engla Eber keep the interest of many among his • Cissy Houston Watch for new t-shirts bearing his image–coming soon! core gospel following. Cooke was also • Taj Mahal a force in harnessing the power of mu- • Otis Clay PAGE TWO November/December 2005 • Issue 277 See the ad in this issue for the last have just learned to real tunes. minute update on performers. You Can Teach Tickets for this concert are $15, $25 Course requirements – obviously a and $35 and are on sale through an Old Dog... computer and internet access, but you Tickets.com. packages are available for will need to the have the ability to play the Sunday Gospel concert for group of Chords 101 The Berklee Method back and record mp3 files. I started my 20 or more (216-515.1228) Online Guitar Course Reviewed first class in Manila, class two from To- Conference kyo, winding up in Miami then By Jim Martin Cleveland...so this is a portable and con- A day-long conference will take place With a rekindling of my musical am- venient process. You start out playing at Case Western Reserve University’s bitions this year I needed to take stock simple chord charts and finish off play- Ford Theatre on Saturday, November 5, of what I can and can not do. My conclu- ing “Stella By Starlight,” a tune that car- from 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. (registration be- sion, I had a lot of musical gaps that ries a lot of tradition around the Berklee gins at 9 a.m.) needed to be filled. Having played gui- campus.... kind of the old school song The conference will feature: Keynote tar from the age of 14, I have subjected for music nerds. speaker Peter Guralnick (whose book myself to a mishmash of teachers, styles, Chords 101 does starts out simple, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam methods and a pile of unrelated books but the speed at witch the information is Cooke was published by Little, Brown in creating a fractured mosaic of disjointed taught is rapid, so you don’t want to fall mid-October); Chair of the NAACP and information and knowledge – all probably behind. Note to seasoned players...you legendary Civil Rights activist Julian written by guys who got theirs through shouldn’t get overconfident, because you Bond; Leroy Crume of the Soul Stirrers; the same mishmash of teachers and will get lost in the chord drills. Ira Tucker of the Dixie Hummingbirds; poorly written method books...the prover- Having played guitar for nearly 30 Legendary R&B MCs Early Byrd and bial stack that would reach to the moon. years it seemed to take what I knew and Gorgeous George; and Sam Cooke’s So this summer I decided to do some- organized it to be more effective and brother L.C. Cooke. thing about it and enrolled in the Berklee accessible. Referred to as the Berklee Tickets to the conference are $30 are College of Music online summer pro- system, or method, the course proved on sale through Ticketmaster. (Note that gram. Chords 101 was my starting point. itself when one of my bandmates brought the conference tickets are NOT available Not exactly being what you call college in the latest John Scofield CD, The Mu- through the same outlet as the tribute material, I was reluctant and a bit ner- sic Of Ray Charles: That’s What I’d Say concerts. Tribute concert tickets are avail- vous. and I wanted to play one of the tunes. I able through Tickets.com.) First and foremost the teacher, gui- proceeded to pick off a tune, and it was The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and tarist Rick Peckham. With a B.M., from effortless. Before the course I would have Museum present this year’s American Ohio State University, M.M.Ed. from the diddled around with for a day or two try- Music Masters, with the sponsorship par- University of North Texas State, he is an ing to pick off Scofield’s voicing, but magi- ticipation of ABKCO Records and Case internationally active jazz guitarist, com- cally it all just fell out of my fingers... It Western Reserve University. poser, writer, and clinician. Then add that Works! The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and he’s a frequent contributor to Down Beat For information on this course and Museum exists to educate its visitors, and other magazines, as well as a co- others, as well as Berklee Press books fans and scholars from around the world author of Berklee textbooks for ear train- and videos, go to www.berkleepress.com.