Chubby Checker has chosen Historic Downtown Newnan as his Georgia location to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the legendary song “The Twist”. The Historic Alamo Theater will be the host of the legendary singer and his band the Wildcats on November 22, 2009 as a benefit concert for the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta. This will be Checker’s only show in Georgia. Other shows in the south will be in Mississippi and Florida .
Checker’s manager, Tommy C. chose the location on a recent visit to Georgia. He was immediately impressed with the look and the history of the venue and felt that downtown Newnan had the right “feel” for the celebration. He approached the owner about getting the City of Newnan on board as well as the local charities. Amy Murphy, co-owner of the Alamo says, “I couldn’t have thought of a better charity than the local Boys and Girls Club. They make such an impact in our community. When I approached Main Street Newnan, they immediately agreed to help and the event took off from there! How exciting for the citizens of Newnan to be able to see Chubby Checker perform in the same place that many of them used to come to the movies in high school.” Murphy and her partners returned the Alamo movie theater to an entertainment venue from a gift store five years ago.
In June of 1959, Chubby recorded "The Twist". Bernie Lowe, president of Cameo Parkway records was not initially impressed with Chubby's recording and felt it may be a "B" side at best. However, Chubby felt "The Twist" was something special and worked hard promoting the record by undertaking non-stop rounds of TV dates, interviews and live performances. Fourteen months later, in the summer of 1960, "The Twist" was a hit.
"The Twist" was not only the #1 song but it introduced the concept of "dancing apart to the beat". Over the next few years, endless songs incorporating "The Twist" into its name sprang up such as "Peppermint Twist", "Twist and Shout" and "Twistin' the Night Away". In addition, each new song brought a new dance involving "dancing apart to the beat" such as "The Jerk", "The Hully Gully", "The Boogaloo" and "The Shake". At the forefront was Chubby with "The Fly", "The Pony" and "The Hucklebuck".
The next few years were prolific for Chubby as hit followed hit. In 1961, Chubby recorded "Pony Time" written by Don Covay and John Berry. It went to #1 and stayed on the charts for 16 weeks. In between recording and touring, Chubby took time to add feature films to his portfolio with the releases of "Don't Knock The Twist" and "Twist Around The Clock".
In the fall of 1961, record industry history was made when Checker's original hit record, "The Twist", re-entered the charts and by January of 1962, it was back in the #1 position. No other record before or since has accomplished that feat. Combining its 1960 run with its 1961/62 return, "The Twist" spent an amazing nine month total on the U. S. best seller charts.
Chubby Checker merchandise was everywhere, and included T-shirts, shoes, ties, dolls, raincoats, and chewing gum. His success continued for years with the release of one dance record after another, with "The Fly" and "Let's Twist Again", for which he won a Grammy for the "Best Rock Performance". More hit records followed. "Slow Twistin'", Dancin' Party", "Popeye the Hitchhiker" and "The Limbo Rock" all came along in 1962. 1963 saw Checker return to the hit parade with "Birdland" and "Twist It Up", after which he followed with "Loddy Lo" and a series of other novelty type tunes. Eventually, teens incorporated these movements to all songs that had a beat and called these movements "The Boogie", a permanent fixture in Rock and Roll.
Tickets will be $75, limited to 300 and will go on sale October 15th. They will be available at the Boys and Girls Club on Wesley Street , the Alamo , or Fabiano’s Pizza on West Court Square in downtown Newnan. Information is available by calling 770-683-2683.
The City of Newnan will be proclaiming November 23, 2009 “Chubby Checker Day”. The Adopt-A-Soldier Program will be holding an antique car show from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. the afternoon of November 22nd prior to the concert. The show will have a fifties and sixties theme and feature a twist contest and special prizes. For more information on the car show call 770-328-4763.
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Saturday, November 07, 2009
Chubby Checker to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of the Twist in Newnan , GA
Friday, November 06, 2009
All Together Now: The Beatles Return to Mono
Is the monobox set of Beatles recordings a marketing gimmick, or will listeners really hear something different?
From the White Album to Yellow Submarine modern releases of the Beatles present their music in stereo sound. But this Christmas, hard-core Beatles fans will eagerly unwrap "The Beatles in Mono," an 11-CD box set designed to be played through only one speaker.
These days, we usually hear mono sound coming out of tinny telephone receivers, but that's not how this album sounds, said Alex Case, a professor of sound recording technology at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. It will be more like unwrapping a newly-minted Beatles vinyl record and playing it for the first time.
During the 60s, the Beatles were not interested in stereo sound. They recorded each song on two tracks that were merged by their producer George Martin to be playable in monophonic sound, the standard of the day. Fans listened to the songs on mono record players and radio stations, which were almost all on the AM band at the time.
Some of these early albums were mixed for stereo sound, but this was an afterthought, hastily engineered for use on FM radio stations. During the 1980s, sound engineers created CD-quality sound in a lower-quality physical digital format, not a virtual digital format that most of today's music-lovers expect. Remastering technology was more primitive then, and could only create a slightly better sound than the stereo FM version.
Now this new box set digitizes the original analog tapes with mixing techniques designed to be more faithful to Martin's approach. Martin recorded the two main elements of each song -- the vocals and the instruments -- on separate tracks, so that one or the other could be emphasized in the music. Other sounds such as tambourines or clapping were recorded on both tracks, so that if, say, the drums were turned down, the other elements wouldn't be lost.
For the new albums, some corrections also had to be made because the master tapes have disintegrated over the years.
Another difference for U.S. listeners: these tunes are the original UK versions of the songs. Years ago, engineers remixing the songs for the U.S. added more reverb and echo, Case said. The new release goes back to the original UK versions, Martin's original mixes of the Fab Four.
By Martha Heil
Inside Science News Service
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Friday, October 30, 2009
Clayton Community Big Band Presents Mingus Music in Spivey Hall, November 30
The Clayton State University Department of Visual & Performing Arts presents the Clayton Community Big Band in “Big Band Arrangements of the Music of Charles Mingus” on Monday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Spivey Hall. Admission is free.
Jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus (1922-1979) is regarded by many as one of the most historically significant figures in all of jazz history, particularly because of his many colorful and unorthodox compositions that rivaled the genius of his idol, Duke Ellington.
On Nov. 30, the Clayton Community Big Band (CCBB) pays homage to Mingus in a musical presentation of several big band arrangements of his compositions, many from his popular 1959 recording, “Mingus Ah Um.” Also featured are selections from the libraries of such ensembles as Buddy Rich, Gordon Goodwin, and the Tonight Show Orchestra. Other highlights include two vocal numbers featuring Clayton State music students Lianna Wimberly and Kristy Bryant.
Musicians performing in “Big Band Arrangements of the Music of Charles Mingus” include: Stacey Houghton (Rex), director and Tenor Saxophone; saxophones: Jacob Campbell (Stockbridge), David Smith (Atlanta), Carl Dixon (Morrow), Michael Terry (Meansville), and John Babb (McDonough); trumpets: Michael Anthony G. Bailey (Decatur), Mark Lewis (McDonough), Julian K. Smith, Jr. (Decatur), William Hurst (McDonough); trombones: Doug Murray (Jonesboro), Dr. Patrick Carney (Stockbridge), Amy Castillo (Jackson) and Mark Gladfelter (Ellenwood); piano: Marvin Pollock (Forest Park); guitar: Caleb Halstead (McDonough); bass: Jennifer Dunn (Lovejoy) and Tony Terrell (Forest Park); and drums: Court Tatum (Lovejoy).
The CCBB, now in its ninth year, is comprised of Clayton State music students and talented community musicians from the surrounding area.
For more information on the CCBB performance of “Big Band Arrangements of the Music of Charles Mingus,” please contact CCBB Director Houghton at HOUGHTONES@aol.com.
A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Southern Nights Chorale Presents 5th Annual Fayette Festival of Carols Dec 13
The Southern Nights Chorale® is proud to announce its 5th Annual Fayette Festival of Carols® on Sunday, December 13th at 4:00 PM presented by PEI Logistics, Inc. This 90-minute multi-media concert will take place at Heritage Christian Church, 2130 Redwine Road at So. Peachtree Parkway, Fayetteville.
Get in the Christmas Spirit with an exciting variety of Holiday music styles:
The Southern Nights Chorale®, a precision men’s acappella choir, will entertain you with their Christmas repertoire ranging from classical to traditional to just-plain-fun.
The world-famous Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde® will delight you with their angelic voices.
The Gospel Choir from Edgefield Baptist, the oldest African-American church in Fayetteville, will bring you out of your seats with their energetic arrangements.
The Festival Orchestra will round out this event with Christmas favorites and heart-warming music of the Season.
And several “Sing-Alongs” will have you totally involved in the whole experience.
You are invited to take a delightful stroll through the Dickens Village after the performance.
Tickets are $8.00 in advance at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/77656 or $10.00 at the door. Seniors (65+) and Students are $7.00. Children 5-and-under are Free.
Don’t miss this special Christmas celebration!
For information, please email: director@SouthernNightsChorale.org, or call 770-461-3258.
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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra 2009 Coca-Cola Holiday Concert Series
Celebrate the 12 nights of Christmas this holiday season with 12 spectacular performances of six shows by our very own Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, during the 2009 Coca-Cola Holiday Concert Series. Conductor Jere Flint, along with Lee Harper & Dancers and the ASO, will spread Christmas spirit to both young and old alike with “A Kid’s Christmas.” Experience the joy of the season with a 5 year tradition: “Christmas with the ASO.” A magical musical collaboration of the ASO, Morehouse College Glee Club and the Gwinnett Young Singers, this performance will be lead by nationally recognized Director of Choruses Norman Mackenzie. With so many outstanding Christmas-time selections to choose from, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra 2009 Coca-Cola Holiday Concert Series would even make Scrooge deck the halls!
The full program is as follows
Handel’s Messiah- December 3 and 5, 2009
A Gospel Christmas- December 4 and 5, 2009
A Kid’s Christmas- December 6 and 13, 2009
Christmas with the ASO- December 10, 11 and 12, 2009
A Very Merry Holiday Pops- December 18 and 19, 2009
ASO New Year’s Eve- December 31, 2009
For more information or tickets, please visit www.atlantasymphony.org or call (404) 733-5000. Tickets may also be purchased at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office located in the Woodruff Arts Center at 15th and Peachtree Streets.
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Saturday, October 24, 2009
Robert Spano and ASO to Perform World Premiere of Wynton Marsalis's Blues Symphony Nov 19 - 22
Concert To Also Feature Pianist Olli Mustonen Performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto, Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, And Gershwin’s An American in Paris
Music Director Robert Spano will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the World Premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer-musician Wynton Marsalis’s new symphonic work, Blues Symphony. The new work celebrates the blues through the prism of different moments in American history, and will be the first work by Marsalis composed exclusively for symphony orchestra. Mr. Marsalis will not be playing on this piece. The evening’s performance will also include Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with guest pianist Olli Mustonen, Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs featuring the ASO’s Principal Clarinetist Laura Ardan, and Gershwin’s An American in Paris, on November 19 and 20, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. and November 22, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. at Atlanta Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center.
This concert is part of the Delta Classical Concert Series. Delta Air Lines is the Official Airline of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s special artistic initiatives surrounding The Atlanta School of Composers, "Theater of a Concert," recordings and commissions are generously funded in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation."
Single tickets for these performances are $25 to $80. All single tickets for the 2009-2010 season are now available online at atlantasymphony.org or by calling (404) 733-5000. Tickets may also be purchased at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office located at 15th and Peachtree Streets. Box office hours are Monday through Friday 10am to 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday12pm to 8pm.
Ancillary Events
Conversations of Note
On November 18, 2009, at 7:00 p.m., Conversations of Note, hosted by ASO Insider and Program Annotator Ken Meltzer, will feature a discussion with ASO Music Director Robert Spano and Composer-Musician Wynton Marsalis. The evening’s conversation will focus on the marriage of jazz and classical music. Other highlights will include a live jazz band performance.
Admission is complimentary, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged. All Conversations of Note are held on- stage at Atlanta Symphony Hall unless otherwise noted. To RSVP for this event please call (404) 733-4850. For additional information, please contact Melanie Darby.
The November 18th Conversations of Note, with special guests Wynton Marsalis and Robert Spano, is generously sponsored by BNY Mellon Wealth Management.
Concert Preview Talks
Audiences will have the opportunity to learn more about the music they’ll be hearing at concerts with free Concert Preview Talks given by composers, conductors, educators, and musical experts, all hosted by ASO Insider and Program Annotator Ken Meltzer. All concert previews are free and open to all concert tickets holders. Speakers and locations are subject to change.
ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM WORLD PREMIERE OF WYNTON MARSALIS’S BLUES SYMPHONY
Delta Classical Series
Atlanta Symphony Hall, Memorial Arts Building, Woodruff Arts Center
Thursday, November 19, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, November 20, 2009, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 22, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
Robert Spano, conductor
Olli Mustonen, piano
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
BERNSTEIN Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
MARSALIS Blues Symphony
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G
GERSHWIN An American in Paris
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Atlanta 5 Wind Quintet Performs for West Georgia
The Department of Music will present The Atlanta 5 Wind Quintet in an evening of engaging 20th century chamber music for the West Georgia community.
The performance will be held on Thursday, October 22, at 8:15 P.M. at Cathy Cashen Hall in the Humanities Building at UWG in Carrollton. The concert is free and the community is welcome to attend.
The Atlanta 5, who have recently performed for Governor Sonny Perdue, are some of the original musicians who performed at the North Georgia Chamber Music Festival held each summer in Dahlonega.
The Quintet will perform music by Bozza, Barber, Ewazen and Piazzolla. Summer Music by Samuel Barber is considered one of the most difficult pieces for a wind quintet, and the recital will enthrall the audience with a range of styles from impressionistic to Tango-Terrific.
The Atlanta 5 are Elisa Lyle, flute, principal flute with the La Grange and Carrollton Symphonies; Jeannie Ohnemus, principal oboe of the La Grange Symphony; Luan Mueller, clarinet instructor at the University of West Georgia; Jim Jackson, principal bassoon with the Georgia Philharmonic; and John Pirtle, Atlanta free-lance french horn.
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Zagreb Saxophone Quartet to visit UGA as Willson Center Visiting Artists
The Zagreb Saxophone Quartet will visit the University of Georgia for a one-week residency from Oct. 26-30 as Willson Center for Humanities and Arts Visiting Artists. The residency will culminate in a performance on Saturday, Oct. 31, that will kick-off the 32nd season of the Franklin College Chamber Music Series. The performance is at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Hall of the UGA Performing Arts Center. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
Founded by graduates of the Zagreb Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia, the Zagreb Saxophone Quartet has been performing with its current members since 1989. The quartet, Dragan Sremec, Goran Mercep, Sasa Nestorovic and Matjaz Drevensek, has performed the world over with symphony orchestras and big band jazz ensembles alike, under the baton of distinguished conductors as well as alongside some the world’s most renowned soloists.
Their repertoire includes pieces originally written for the saxophone quartet as well as transcriptions and arrangements of pieces by various composers of periods from the baroque to the 20th century.
“The members of this quartet have extraordinary abilities both as chamber musicians and in their interactions with students,” said Kenneth Fischer, professor of saxophone in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and longtime colleague of the quartet members. “It’s important for our students to be able to work with these individuals over several days and get to know them as performers, as teachers and as musicians.”
The Zagreb quartet members will spend the week at UGA working with individual students in the music school, coaching quartets and teaching master classes. The residency will include mini-concerts and open rehearsals for the Saturday performance.
“These are wonderful musicians, artists who will teach our students and inspire our audiences,” said Dale Monson, director of the school. “We are grateful for the Willson Center grant that will allow for their extended stay on campus.”
Founded in 1987 and named in 2005 for its benefactors, the Jane and Harry Willson Center for the Humanities and Arts promotes scholarly inquiry and creative activity by supporting faculty research grants, lectures, symposia, publications, visiting scholars and artists, collaborative instruction, and public conferences, exhibitions and performances. The Center is a unit of the Office of the Vice president for Research.
The Franklin College Chamber Music Series was established in 1978 by former dean William Jackson “Jack” Payne and continues to be presented without charge thanks to individual contributions from music lovers and patrons of the cultural life of both the university and the community.
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Monday, October 19, 2009
Southern Crescent Symphony Concert at Fayetteville First UMC
The Southern Crescent Symphony will present a free concert on Sunday, October 25th at 3:00 p.m. at the Fayetteville First United Methodist Church. This program of American Music will feature works by Copland (A Lincoln Portrait), Gershwin (Porgy and Bess), Sousa (The Stars and Stripes Forever) and other famous American composers. The orchestra, conducted by Richard Bell, Ed Davis and Carl Rieke, begins its 19th season with this concert. For more information about the orchestra and the rest of the orchestra's season please visit the orchestra's website at www.scsymphony.net.
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