ONOFFON

[davewalton]

Quote:I spoke with a representative from the House of Blues Foundation. Although they stopped short of helping to fund the documentary, he told me that they would be more than willing to host a fundraising concert at one of their facilities.House of Blues, huh? Pretty cool! Just make sure Phil Spector isn't your "Master Of Ceremonies".

[onoffon]

Quote:House of Blues, huh? Pretty cool! Just make sure Phil Spector isn't your "Master Of Ceremonies". Hahahahaha..... I think the law may take care of that for me. But, then again, you never know....

[nomiyah]

I played at the first House of Blues in Cambridge Mass. What a great club!!!!!!!!!! Too bad they closed. I love this Von, what a great idea for a series of House of Blues shows. You are so creative when it comes to business! Good luck.

[onoffon]

Thanks for saying that, Nomi!!!!I feel like I'm swimming upstream most of the time but I know the cultural importance of this project speaks volumes...So many people support what I'm doing here - I know it's just a matter of time.And the positive PR for the individuals that help bring this to fruition is immeasureable.Thanks again for your continued support!

[onoffon]

Quote:If anyone happens to be in the Orange County area this weekend, I'm playing with my cover band on Friday and Saturday at -Chaser's Lounge 2765 N Orange Olive Rd Orange, CA 92865 714-637-6530We'll be on from 9:00 pm to 1:30 am. Come on down - we'll have a blast!!!!!!Hey everyone in SoCal - it's that time again!!!! Yes - every third weekend of each month, I kick out the jams at Chaser's Lounge!There's no cover and if you mention you know the bass player, they tar and feather you and run you out of town on a rail... Can't have more fun than that, eh? See you there....

[onoffon]

In my never ending search for pieces of my father's story, yesterday I came across a Warner's Spiral Manuscript Book with 14 Harry Babasin original lead sheets, written in his own hand notation. Ten of the tunes had been released on albums while the other four were never recorded to my knowledge... It's so amazing to find something like this - it's one thing to purchase a rare recording off of eBay but it's entirely different to find such a one-of-a-kind piece of jazz history...Awe inspiring...

[onoffon]

I'm very saddened today to learn that my father's longtime friend, trumpeter Buddy Childers, passed away on May 24th. The whole purpose of my dad creating the Nocturne Record label back in 1954 was to highlight the musicians that had been sidemen in mainstream big bands for so many years - lost in the commercial music of Hollywood. While Buddy didn't have a Nocturne release, he did have two albums produced by my father, in the Jazz In Hollywood series that were released on Liberty Records in 1955 and 1956. My dad gave him the chance to lead his own groups, The Buddy Childers Quintet and Quartet, and Buddy never forgot that, always praising my father for allowing him to do that.When I first met Mr. Childers, he was as honored to meet me (and my son) as I was to meet him. He was a very gracious and talented man.On my recommendation to the board of directors of Los Angeles Music Week, Buddy Childers was honored in 2004 for his contributions to L.A. culture. It was wonderful to see him receive his certificates at L.A. City Hall from the city council - a long overdue honor.As countless boards of foundations ponder whether or not to fund my documentary, we are constantly losing these wonderful musicians who helped to shape the west coast jazz movement...Time marches on....

[onoffon]

Hey everyone -I recently received an invitation from a new website - GiveLine.com. Someone had nominated our charity - Jazz In Hollywood - to be included in their database and they invited us to join. It's much like Amazon.com, or other internet stores, with one difference. Every purchase you make donates a little money to the charity of your choice. Here's the link to our page on their site and what they say - GiveLine - Jazz In Hollywoodhttp://www.giveline.com/default.asp?v=V015630084"Giveline.com is a revolutionary online store created for the community-minded shopper. Every transaction in our store generates a charitable contribution to your favorite non-profit organization. And with our direct supplier relationships, this contribution is significant and truly makes a difference. Thank you for sharing our vision and for shopping with Giveline!"It looks like a very cool way to support the jazz museum while doing what most people do anyway - shop.So, if you are in those growing numbers of people who do their shopping online these days - please consider doing it at GiveLine.com from the Jazz In Hollywood page...Thanks for your continued support!Von Babasin

[onoffon]

Quote:If anyone happens to be in the Orange County area this weekend, I'm playing with my cover band on Friday and Saturday at -Chaser's Lounge 2765 N Orange Olive Rd Orange, CA 92865 714-637-6530We'll be on from 9:00 pm to 1:30 am. Come on down - we'll have a blast!!!!!!I can't believe another month has passed - it's time for me to pack it up and head on down to the OC... It's the third weekend of June, which means Friday and Saturday night at Chaser's Lounge!There's no cover so there's no excuse... I like to think of us as a 'tribute' band. It's just that we play individual tributes to all the bands we do covers of... It's not easy sounding like John Paul Jones, Flea, Nikki Sixx, Adam Clayton, Jack Bruce, Michael Anthony, Robert DeLeo, Nick Oliveri, John Deacon, and Nate Mendel all within the context of one set...

[onoffon]

After numerous emails I have written to the Grammy Foundation, I received an email from the Senior Vice President on Saturday -"Dear Von,I was forwarded your email about your great project on your father and inquiry about interest from the Recording Academy. I visited your link at NYFA and googled your father to get a little additional information. I'm sure I have just a thumbnail from that cursory research, but I can only imagine the stories you will tell through your film.I wanted to respond to your specific request as to whether there might be some appropriate interest through the Recording Academy or its Foundations to recognize your father's contribution and/or your film. I have a few thoughts.First, I don't know if you have ever submitted your father's name to be considered for a Lifetime Achievement award, but it seems that this might be an interesting possibility. There are very specific parameters and processes for that award, but it seems like something you might want to investigate.Second, once your film is completed, it may be something that some of the Recording Academy chapters might be interested in doing screenings of at their various locations across the country. It's something that has been done before -- not regularly -- but particularly when there are music-based films that may be of unique interest to our members.Finally, we are always looking for content for grammy.com or the GRAMMY newsletter and this story may have a place there as well.I'm not sure that any of these ideas will actually come to fruition, but they seem the likeliest possibilities.Best of luck on your project."While I have to admit I was slightly disheartened that they wouldn't offer some amount of funding, I am SO happy that someone contacted me in such a positive manner. I have discovered that I have already missed the deadline to submit for the award for this year, but there's always next year. The editor of the newletter was interested, though he said they usually write about things like the film after they are a reality. Though, he said he has a good friend that writes for Jazziz Magazine and may have an interest. It's all good...Oh - and that dream I mentioned on the other thread - I can envision myself accepting a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammy Foundation on behalf of Harry Babasin...Now THAT'S a dream worth realizing!!!!!