Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
You might notice something different about DownBeat.com today (besides the fact that we have posted the April issue of the magazine). A new digital music service, Rhapsody—The Jazz & Blues Catalog, will change the way that you listen to music on your computer forever.
To launch this digital music subscription service, Down Beat parterned with San Francisco-based Listen.com. This co-branded version of Rhapsody will give subscribers unrestricted on-demand access to a 25,000-track library of recordings from more than 1,300 of the world’s most cherished jazz and blues artists (from John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington to Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Lee Hooker and Medeski Martin & Wood) for $7.50 a month.
“For 69 years, Down Beat has been the definitive source of news, reviews, and education for the jazz community,” said Kevin Maher, publisher of Down Beat. “Working with Listen will help Down Beat continue to stay at the forefront of the jazz world, reaching readers with an innovative, easy-to-use music service that offers instant access to many of the world’s greatest jazz and blues recordings.”
Rhapsody is the only subscription service to offer consumers legal access to music from four of the five major music companies, giving subscribers access to a trove of the most notable recordings in the history of jazz and improvised music. This library includes releases from many of the world’s most respected labels, including: Blue Note Records and the Capitol Jazz, Pacific Jazz, and Roulette Jazz imprints (divisions of EMI Recorded Music); Epic Records, Columbia Records, and Legacy Recordings (divisions of Sony Music Entertainment); Arista Records and the RCA Victor Group, including RCA Victor, Bluebird, Private Music, and Windham Hill (divisions of BMG, the worldwide music division of Bertelsmann AG); and Warner Brothers Records (a division of Warner Music Group). Listen.com has also licensed music from nearly 50 independent labels, including Alligator Records, Concord Records, and Knitting Factory Records.
“Working with Down Beat will help us reach a passionate and dedicated audience of music lovers with Rhapsody’s large library of jazz and improv music,” said Sean Ryan, CEO of Listen.com. “Given our success in licensing a broad spectrum of music and our expertise in organizing music genres and music information, Listen is especially well-suited to provide jazz fans - and any other specialty music community- with a rewarding online listening experience.”
In addition to unlimited access to music on-demand, Rhapsody gives registered users more than 50 free Internet radio stations (including seven jazz- and blues-specific stations) and a vast collection of editorial recommendations and music information developed by Listen.com’s expert editorial staff. Consumers will also have the option of signing up for an “All Access” Rhapsody subscription, which gives unlimited access to more than 115,000 songs from some 7,000 artists for $9.95 a month.
So head over the the Rhapsody—The Jazz & Blues Catalog page on Downbeat.com today. We promise that your computer never sounded so good.
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“He’s constructing intelligent musical sentences that connect seamlessly, which is the most important part of linear playing,” Charles McPherson said of alto saxophonist Sonny Red.
Feb 27, 2024 1:40 PM
“I might not have felt this way 30 to 40 years ago, but I’ve reached a point where I can hear value in what people…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
