The International Arts Festival (IAF) will celebrate 20 years of world music on a new date; from October 11th-12th in New Orleans. The music festival takes place at Scout Island, City Park from 12PM to 9PM and attracts musical acts and artists from all over the world, in an effort to fuse world music and heighten awareness of local community projects.

Despite Hurricane Gustav’s arrival and departure into the ‘Big Easy’, The International Arts Festival has decided to continue on and devote itself to remaining in the soulful and rich city of New Orleans and helping to economically and culturally rebuild one of the world’s most precious landmarks. “We will continue to keep the festival in New Orleans. New Orleans is the city we love and will continue to support and assist the rebuilding process”, says Ernest Kelly, founder of the International Arts Festival.

This year’s artist lineup includes performances by hip hop heavy weight The Game, New Orleans native and R&B golden boy Lloyd, Grammy Award singer/songwriter Gordon Chambers, R&B newcomer Bradd Marquis, internet favorite Asher Roth, five-time Grammy-nominated songbird Tamia, world-renowned reggae artists Morgan Heritage, Yellow Man, Red Fox and London’s legendary band Loose Ends, amongst many others.

Festival schedule

Saturday, October 11th

*Artist Lineup Includes: Bradd Marquis, Gordon Chambers, Yellow Man, Loose Ends, Morgan Heritage and Tamia

Sunday, October 12th

*Artist Lineup Includes: Asher Roth, Lloyd, Red Fox, DJ Honda & DJ Dinero and The Game

Ticket packages are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or log onto www.iafno.com for additional information. You can also charge by phone at 504.522.5555.

Rivera, sister of singer Lupillo Rivera, has built a solid career that spans over a decade, and has reached gold and platinum status with a discography of over 12 albums. Her previous release, Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life), reached Top 15 on Billboard magazines Top Latin Albums chart.

Shown in BMI’s conference room are (l-r): BMI’s Delia Orjuela, business manager Pete Salgado, Rivera, and BMI’s Barbara Cane.

Lyric Financial and BMI also co-hosted an industry mixer on the rooftop of Atlanta hotspot Luckie Lounge, where Lyric Financial's Eli Ball and Al Kapone detailed the unique services the company offers exclusively to BMI songwriters and producers.

About the Atlantis Music Conference & Festival Now in its 10th year, Atlantis is a three-day and four-night musical extravaganza held September 17-20 in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlantis' goals are to provide independent artists unparalleled access to educational and networking opportunities including professional demo critiques, insightful panels featuring industry insiders and exposure to a&r executives and music fans through nightly showcases. The mercurial state of the contemporary music industry has opened new avenues for independent artist development and success, all thoroughly explored and explained during the unique Atlantis Music Conference & Festival. www.atlantismusic.com

Panel participants huddle for a group shot. Pictured are (l-r): BMI's Byron Wright and Catherine Brewton, Zack Odom, Kenneth Mount, Cri$tyle, DJ Toomp, Jasper Cameron, Jeffrey Steele and BMI's David Claassen. (Photo by Donna Parmell)

Crossover hit-maker Jeffrey Steele shares lessons learned with the audience. (Photo by Duncan McAlynn)

DJ Montay listens attentively to a question from an attendee. (Photo by Duncan McAlynn)

Jasper Cameron shares stories behind his songs for stars including Ciara, Lloyd and Nelly. (Photo by Duncan McAlynn)

Center Stage in Midtown provided an ideal setting for the panel. (Photo by Catrina Maxwell)

Pictured at the Lyric Financial and BMI mixer are (l-r): Yung Joc manager William Word, Lyric Financial's Eli Ball, BMI's Catherine Brewton, Al Kapone, attorney TaQuisha Tobin, Lyric Financial's Joseph Moran and BMI's Dave Claassen. (Photo by Cara Pastore)

Pictured at Luckie Lounge are (l-r): Battery 5 Productions CEO Greg Smith, Trimm, Ashe Watson and Head ROC. (Photo by Cara Pastore)

Luckie Lounge mixer attendees enjoy the Atlanta skyline.

Some of Bill Evans' best-known albums are solo piano recordings. He won Grammy Awards for two of them: Conversations with Myself (1963) and Alone (1968). Yet the pianist never enjoyed recording by himself. Producers who worked with him over the years attributed Evans' solo-phobia to discomfort over being too emotionally exposed. You also get the sense that Evans went into these dates fully expecting to be less than satisfied with the playback tape. For Evans, the bass and drums were essential. They provided protective cover, creative fuel, and an opportunity to catch his intellectual breath during extended solos. They also provided him with an audience of peers.

From his earliest solo recordings on New Jazz Conceptions in 1956 to his last-known solitary tracks with Marian McPartland in 1978 on her Piano Jazz show for NPR, Evans was a different player sans bass and drums. The spring in his musical attack was slightly subdued and his ideas could be oppressively pensive and overcooked. To make up for the missing rhythm section, Evans certainly could create enormous drama with pedal tones and key changes, keep perfect time with left-hand bass lines, and replace cymbal splashes with sparkling right-hand treble lines. But ultimately what you heard was an artist who wasn't truly comfortable in his own skin or clear on what he wanted to say.

Helen Keane, Evans' long-time manager and producer, says in Peter Pettinger's Evans biography, How My Heart Sings:

"As much as Bill enjoyed playing alone at home, and although by [1975] he regularly included a solo section in his concert program, he found recording in this context very difficult. It was probably the only area he felt insecure about musically, and the fact that he'd gotten a Grammy for Alone didn't seem to help."

I've always had mixed feelings about Evans' solo recordings. When isolated from a rhythm section, Evans' playing grew gloomy and humorless. Light, breezy songs would be turned into heavy lectures. As Evans knew only too well, the bass and drums weren't novelty instruments. They were there to keep time and provide acoustic contrast. Without the wisp of brushes or throb of an upright bass, Evans' thickening agents invariably would creep in and weigh down pretty songs. For example, on Alone, the opener Here's That Rainy Day is taken painfully slow. It's just a rainy day, not the Johnstown Flood. A Time for Love is taken at virtually the same pace. The same goes for Midnight Mood and Never Let Me Go. Only with On a Clear Day and All the Things Your Are does Evans bring sunny life to the date. In fact, many of his solo outings over the years have suffered the same fate.

With one exception: Alone (Again). Recorded on December 16, 17 and 18, 1975, the album remains the very finest example of Evans solo efforts. Surprisingly, it's rarely cited these days or even played. The largely forgotten album featured Dave Brubeck's In Your Own Sweet Way and four show tunes: The Touch of Your Lips, Make Someone Happy, What Kind of Fool Am I and People. Evans' executions are spirited and his solos snap and evolve. They undulate and build, and we hear Evans enthusiastically turn pop classics into love letters. Such is the case with What Kind of Fool Am I and the album's magnum opus, People, which may be one of Evans' finest recordings of the 1970s. At times Evans' attack is so energetic and passionate on this album that you think two pianists are sitting shoulder-to-shoulder playing the same instrument.

As fabulous as Alone (Again) is, the album has always been woefully incomplete. In addition to the songs mentioned above, Evans recorded three others during the session in 1975: All of You, Since We Met and a medley of But Not for Me, Isn't It Romantic and The Opener, an original. These tracks were tossed onto a posthumously released 1982 album called Eloquence.

Hopefully the Concord Music Group, which now owns the Fantasy catalog, will resolve this by re-issuing all of the material re-mastered, perhaps as Alone (Again): The Complete Sessions. Eloquence always has been something of a synthetic album, patching together stray Evans tracks with little logic or lyrical cohesion. By reissuing Alone (Again) with all of its tracks intact, Concord would show definitively that Evans was indeed capable of a decisive and iconic solo album.

Until then, you can download it at iTunes or Amazon, or buy it here. As you'll hear, Evans never sounded so alone—or as brilliant.

So, I am aware of the fact I have no posted anytihng for a few weeks, I apologise. I’ve been busy moving to “perfect music central”, the city that is none other than Paris, France.

Anyway, 5 minutes ago I recieved an exciting e-mail, with the answered to some questions I sent to Don Rimini, someone I admire very much at the moment. For those of you who know nothing of him, you should definately recognise him for the remix Crookers did of his tune “Let Me Back Up”, and more recently, his dancefloor freindly, yet still commical remix of “Ghostbusters theme tune”.

Anyway, enough is enough, if you do not know his tunes, check him out on Myspace, he has recently released and new EP, and read this interview to get a quick insight into this fabulous French DJ/ producer.

Who are you, where do you come from? Tell us a bit about yourself…
Don Rimini. 32 years old, DJ, Producer, from Paris - France
I¹m also a really cool guy, your best friend, your confidant, your old brother, your idol….
I¹ve just released a new EP ­ Kick n¹ Run- that I¹m very proud of, on Delicious Gutter, the label launched by Aaron Lacrate on Delicious Vinyl.

You’ve become a very popular artist in the blog world, how does that feel?
It so so cool… it touches me a lot…
As much as, I am such a fucking geek!!! 24/7 on my computer and on internet.
It¹s kind of part of my life.
But honestly, I do not look to be famous at all price. Thats not my goal at all. I just want to produce the best music. Make the dancefloors wet and frantic… Push the girls to strip and the men to sweat…ahahahah

What made you choose to make music?
I bought my first turntable when I was 14, to mix sounds like rave, techno, house. At 16-17years old, I went in the Rex club ­Paris- listening the « gods of techno »: Jeff Mills, Plastikman, Dave Clarke, Dj Bone, Dj Rush. At 18yo, I  went to my first rave party. After what, I started mixing with some friends, and produced. And as quickly as I couldn¹t think, it became a passion, a way of life. I can¹t live without music and especially without electronic music.
There are so many things to do or to listen!!!! This music is always in evolution and that¹s what I love!!

What project are you most proud of?
The Next one!! ahaha
I take a lot of time on my tracks and remixes… until overdose sometimes.
I¹m always looking forward what s gone happen after….
What excite me, its to begin a new project…
Im very proud and very touch about all this energy and all these feedbacks that I receive. The crowd in parties, the messages on internet, the DJs that’s I admire who play my tracks, the blogs which post my mixes…

Is your music going to change the world?
Haha, my music will even change the rotation of the earth!!! Oneday, even the sunset will happen on the east side!!!!
I just try humbly or unpretentiously to step up, to push it further, to open new perspectives.
My music might not change the world but she will change my world…

Tell us the reason behind the alias “Don Rimini”…
There¹s no particular reason, Don Rimini comes straight from my imagination.
Just a joke with my friends.
I really like the quirky link with the mafia side, pimp touch… and the Italian rave feeling.

Who is your favourite superhero?
Spider pig…
and the Bloody Beetroots when they’ve got their masks on…

What is the most played song on your iPod at the moment?
In my itunes (as I do not have any ipod;))
At the moment, I’m totally in for “Raven” of Proxy and “Jokin Jay Z” of Jay Z…
By the way, I’ve just done a remix of Jockin Jay Z…

What’s your favourite pizza topping?
Pineaple man!!!
I love the salty-sugarly taste!!! the Hawaiian pizzas are perfect!!

Any last words…?
Lemme back up! Back up back up back up !
Come get dirty with us!

I have to say, that is probably the best intervuew I have ever read. Don Rimini is clearly one of the best Parisiens, and I look forward to partying with him soon !

Head on over to fellow blogger “Hot Biscuits” or I Heart Comix to pick up Don’s remix of The Count & Sinden’s “Hardcore Girls feat. Rye-Rye”.

Today I have the pleasure of giving you the remix mentioned in the interview “Jockin’ Jay Z” by (obviously) Jay Z.

(onemoredisco download link)

and also this trailer, for you’re viewing pleasure, enjoy.

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