Michael Jackson had two albums in the works at the time of his death, Billboard magazine has reported.

The singer was collaborating on a pop album with singer-songwriters Claude Kelly and Akon, and another collection of classics.

Kelly said: “He was the King of Pop, the biggest to ever do it, and the one thing you never lose – whether known by the whole world or just 10 people – is your love for music. That never goes away and it never went away for him amidst his troubles.”

Akon (pictured) said: “My fans are still there. They still love me. They’re alive … His kids are like his first priority, and they had never seen him perform live. He was trying to create the most incredible show for his kids.”

Jackson was also working on an instrumental album, collaborating with composer David Michael Frank. “He had two demos of two pieces he’d written, but they weren’t complete,” Frank reportedly told Billboard.

“For one of them, he had a whole section of it done in his head. He had not recorded it. He hummed it to me as I sat at the keyboard in his pool house and we figured out the chords – I guess this recording I made is the only copy that exists of this music.”

Further compositions were also in the pipeline, a jazz track among them. “He mentioned more instrumental music of his he wanted to record, including one jazz piece,” said Frank, who hopes the Jackson family will decide to record the music as a “tribute and show the world the depth of his artistry”.

Meanwhile, Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am earlier this week said Jackson had recordings of new songs the pair had worked on together. “He had all the hard drives because I didn’t want to be responsible for that.”

Source: Splash News

Solange has been writing and performing from an early age. Classically trained in ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance at school, her performing career started a little unexpectedly, as a back up dancer when a Destiny’s Child dancer suddenly had to leave the tour.

This experience and traveling with the group all across the world was huge influence on her and opened her up to many different types of music and style. She used this cultural melting pot on her debut album ‘Solo Star’ which she released at the age of 16.

Since these beginnings Solange has developed into a notable singer, songwriter and actress, with some fantastic achievements already under her belt. The latest talent from the Music World stable, she co-wrote Beyonce’s ‘Get Me Bodied’ and ‘Upgrade You’ from Beyonce ‘B-Day’ album, ‘Love Off’ for Kelly Rowland’s ‘Ms Kelly’ and Michelle Williams’s upcoming club smash ‘We Break The Dawn’. Tapping into her other passion acting, she has also starred in hit movies ‘Johnson Family Vacation’ and ‘Bring It On: All Or Nothing’, in which she co-starred with Heroes star Hayden Panettiere

Music has remained her first love throughout. Her forthcoming album ‘Sol-Angel & The Hadley Street Dreams’ is influenced by the likes of Otis Reading and Marvin Gaye.

“If I had to describe the sound of my record”, say Solange , “I would like to think that it is as if The Supremes, The Marvelettes, Dusty Springfield and Minnie Riperton were to make the music they did in the 60’s and 70’s now with a modern touch.”

‘I Decided’ totally encapsulates that vibe. Produced by The Neptunes and given an extra sparkle by UK’s finest Freemasons, ‘I Decided’ is a burst of pure old school R&B pop drama with a modern twist

With an amazing album to follow with collaborations from the likes of Pharell, The Boards Of Canada, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Raphael Saddiq and the legendary Lamont Dozier, Solange has well and truly found her own voice.

In addition to listening to this album in it’s entirity, I was also fortunate enough to hear Laura Critchley perform some of the songs live at the album launch last Wednesday. I did not envy the poor girl, having to perform to a room full of music industry people, but she pulled it off brilliantly before heading off to another gig in her home town of Liverpool. The album is a good mixture of upbeat songs and ballads with a pinch of rock and jazz/funk thrown in. Laura co-wrote all the songs on the album, and is obviously responsible for the great lyrics throughout. She opened her set with the second song on the album, “What Do We Do?”, which was also released as a single on 5 November. This is a break up ballad, which she does so well, as is “I’ll Be Ok” , which is the fourth track on the album. “Lullaby” was beautiful but happy while the title track is a very commercial love song which is coming out as a single in January. The rest of the album includes jazzier entries like “Shoulder To Lean On” and “Don’t Say” , rocky ones like “That Kind Of Love”, and “Superstar (Song For Karen) dedicated to Karen Carpenter. If you like good songs, well written and passionately sung, this album is a must for your collection. Furthermore, I can confirm that she is just as good live as she is on CD.

If you were looking for a truly impressive night out then you are going to want to see what you can do about getting yourself tickets to take in the “Cover Your Eyes” Tour which is sure to be a great night out whether you decide to attend with family or with friends. Featuring such acts as Kenotia and City Sleeps as well as Bedlight for Blue eyes, this tour promises to be an amazing night out that you are not going to want to miss so make sure you see what you can do about getting yourself tickets to catch these great bands and more in action.
Highlights of this tour include stops at such venues as Jaxx in West Springfield, Virginia on November 15, The Brewery in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 16, Soapbox in Wilmington, North Carolina on November 17, The 7 Venue in Douglasville, Georgia on November 18, The Pit in Jacksonville, Florida on November 19, Island Oasis in Winter Park, Florida on November 21, Dark Room in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on NOvember 24, Fat Daddy’s Sound Shack in Lewisville, Texas on November 25, White Rabbit in San Antonio, Texas on November 26 and The Blue Goat in Salina, Kansas on November 28 as well as The Foundry in Joplin, Missouri on November 29 and The Cellblock in Mesa, Arizona on December 4. There are also a slew of other performances that you know you aren’t going to want to miss out on!

And yet the Cuban jazz pianists are not only playing 10 concerts in Spain, but on July 10 they finished recording their first collaborative album. The currently untitled release is set for an October launch on Madrid-based Calle 54 Records, with distribution by Sony BMG Spain.

The tour, which includes Chucho’s vocalist sister and Bebo’s daughter, Mayra Caridad, began July 6 in Tenerife and ends August 5 in Huesca after passing through seven cities including Barcelona, Madrid and Zaragoza.

“The tour means not only the re-encounter of father and son, but a review of the history of Cuban music in the 20th century,” said tour promoter Joan Anton Cararach, who has been the director of the Barcelona Jazz Festival for four years.

“We put on one of their extremely rare concerts together last year and proposed a joint tour,” Cararach said. “Working with them is a blessing.”

Beginning in 1959, Chucho played in Bebo’s Sabor de Cuba band in Havana, but Bebo left Cuba for good in 1961 after differences with Fidel Castro’s revolution. Bebo had been a star in 1950s Cuba, but he spent nearly 40 years unrecognized, playing in piano bars in Stockholm.

He was rediscovered in 2000 by Spanish film director Fernando Trueba for his Latin jazz documentary “Calle 54.” Trueba, who won the 1992 Academy Award for best foreign-language film for “Belle Epoque,” co-produced the new album with Miami-based fellow Latin jazz specialist Nat Chediak.

At the Madrid tour launch, Chucho said, “Bebo is my hero and my ‘maestro,’ and on this tour I will rediscover things he taught me when I was a kid.”

Bebo responded, “This is a dream come true. Nobody in the world plays better than Chucho.”

George Melly, a flamboyant, gravel-voiced jazz singer, critic and raconteur, died Thursday, his wife said. He was 80 years old.

Though suffering from lung cancer and dementia, Melly continued performing nearly until the end. He gave his last concert on June 10. He died at home in London.

Melly was noted for loud suits, louder ties and the image he cultivated of a hard-drinking throwback to the jazz age.

After his navy service in World War II, Melly relished the life of a peripatetic musician. “Hard drinking and squalid digs, but absolutely no regrets,” he once recalled.

He gave up the musician’s life in 1962 to concentrate on writing about surrealist art and working as a music and theater critic.

In 1974 he resumed his role as Good Time George and went back on the road with John Chilton’s Feetwarmers.

Melly is survived by his wife, his son Tom, his daughter Pandora, his stepdaughter Candy and his four grandchildren.

Jazz vocalist Sophie Millman reckons that her sophomore album reflects “all of the turbulence, transformations and drama” in her life.

And there’s been plenty: The 24-year-old, widely tipped locally as the next major jazz artist to emerge from Canada, was born in Ufa, Russia — on the slopes of the Ural Mountains — but her family immigrated to Haifa, Israel, when she was 7. At 16, Millman was uprooted again when the family moved to Canada.

Toronto-based Linus Entertainment released Millman’s self-titled debut in Canada in 2004. Since then, she has balanced a music career’s demands with her university studies for a commerce degree, which she will finish in June 2008.

Millman, who managed to fit in headlining shows throughout North America, Mexico, Japan and Europe after her debut’s release, admits that “it’s been tough. I was learning my craft under incredible pressure. Meanwhile, I wrote essays on buses, cars and planes.”

Jazz CJRT Toronto music director Brad Barker noted that Millman’s approach is “less blues-based” than that of many other jazz singers, citing “the Eastern European flair she brings to her music.”

The June 19 Canadian release of her new album, “Make Someone Happy,” on Linus/Universal Music precedes an August 28 U.S. release through Koch.

“I was itching to make another record,” Millman said.

A June 10-city Canadian tour precedes U.S. shows scheduled for August 20-28.

“Make Someone Happy” continues its predecessor’s all-covers approach, placing standards like the title track alongside “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” from “Fiddler on the Roof” and Canadian pop-rock act the Guess Who’s 1969 hit “Undun.”

As part of the “Jazz at the Hyatt” series at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Cincinnati, jazz pianist Rachel Z and the Dept. of Good and Evil will perform two full sets, which will also be streamed live over the Internet.
The concerts will take place Friday, June 29 at 8:30 and 10 p.m. EDT, and will be broadcast in real-time video and audio.
To view the shows, visit jazzincincy.com, the official Web site of the “Jazz at the Hyatt” series.

Pianist/keyboardist Rachel Z has toured with Peter Gabriel and performed with Wayne Shorter, including an appearance on his record High Life which won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
The concert will be held in the Sun garden Room of the hotel, located at 151 West 5th St., Cincinnati, Ohio.
The price for both shows is $5 advance, $10 day of show.
Tickets are available on the Web site, where sample videos from previous concerts as well as the calendar of other upcoming performers can also be found.