By Danny R. Johnson – Jazz Music Critic Like all great jazz musicians, the saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who died on March 2, 2023, at eighty-nine, had a distinctive, original, and instantly recognizable sound. He tended to play within the higher pitches of his tenor saxophone, as did John Coltrane (with whom he practiced and gigged, though they […]

By SDCN Editor Los Angeles, CA–Mercury/UMe will release a digital-only 40th-anniversary Deluxe Edition of Donna Summer’s all-time classic solo album, “She Works Hard For The Money.”  Originally released June 13, 1983, when musical tastes were changing by the minute, “She Works Hard For The Money” sealed the late singer as a creative multi-genre force to […]

By SDCN Editor Los Angeles, CA– ”The Songs of Bacharach & Costello,” personally compiled by Elvis Costello, brings together all of the published songs that Costello wrote with Burt Bacharach, one of the great composers of popular music in the 20th and 21st centuries.  Available through UMe, “The Songs of Bacharach & Costello,” celebrates a […]

By SDCN Editor Poway, CA–The Poway Symphony Orchestra kicks off its first concert of 2023 with a first-time appearance by the Grammy Award-winning Chestnut Brass Company at the Poway Center for Performing Arts.  The “American Extravaganza” performance will feature all-American music from Five of a Kind for Brass Quintet and Orchestra, an upbeat piece composed […]

By Danny R. Johnson – Entertainment News Editor Burt Bacharach, the debonair pop composer, arranger, conductor, record producer, and occasional singer whose hit songs in the 1960s distilled that decade’s mood of romantic optimism died on February 8 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 94. His publicist Tina Brausam confirmed the death. No […]

By SDCN Editor Anaheim, CA–The Women’s International Music Network has selected Judy Collins, Noelle Scaggs, and Shelly Peiken as the first announced honorees at the 11th annual She Rocks Awards in Anaheim.  Recognizing women who stand out as innovators and role models in the music industry, the event will take place on April 13 at […]

By SDCN Editor Burbank, CA–Hollywood Records has announced the release of “Avatar: The Way of Water (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” which is available on all streaming platforms.  Featuring music by Grammy award-winning composer Simon Franglen, the 22-track soundtrack also exclusively includes the original song “Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” written and performed by […]

By SDCN Staff Los Angeles, CA–A&M/UMe released a digital-only 35th-Anniversary Expanded Edition of Sting’s stunning second solo album, “…Nothing Like the Sun.”  The album title was lovingly adopted from Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”). The 26-track Expanded Edition features the original 12 songs on the album plus 14 […]