Jazz Has Become the Least Popular Music Genre in the USA

According to the latest Nielsen Music US Report, jazz has become the least popular music genre in the US in 2014. Jazz currently represents just 1.4% of total US music consumption. 

Although Classical music is also at 1.4%, it just barely outsold jazz albums by 100,000 units, putting it at the bottom.

5.2 million albums were sold by all jazz artists in 2014 in the USA. In comparison, the best-selling artist of 2014, Taylor Swift, sold 3.7 million copies of her latest album ‘1989’ in the last 2 months of 2014 alone.

This is sad news, especially that many reports have shown that jazz listeners are declining year after year. 

It brings up the age old question again.... how do you save jazz?

Standard of the Week: 'My Babe' - Little Walter

In 1955, the great blues harpist Little Walter released 'My Babe', which was written by Willie Dixon, bassist and blues songwriter extraordinaire. The song is based on old gospel songs but with lyrics changed to be about love and cheating. 

The song reached #1 on the R&B charts and was a great success for Walter and Chess Records:

Since then it's become a blues standard and was has been covered by just about everyone, including:

Elvis Presley

Sonny Boy Williamson with The Animals

Chuck Berry

George Thorogood & The Destroyers feat. Charlie Musselwhite

Ike & Tina Turner

Columbus Short as Little Walter, from Cadillac Records

Video: 'That's Alright' - Ali Sleeq w/ Jon Teagarden

I had a most musical weekend; first at the Alwan Festival with Karrouhat Band:

and then Qout Market the next day, where I performed a blues set with special guest Jon Teagarden, a superb guitarist. Check out the video below of 'That's Alright' by Jimmie Rodgers (thanks to Sala6a for the video!)

via @khalidnikon

The Sonos Blue Note Limted Edition Speaker

Audio company Sonos and legendary jazz label Blue Note Records have announced a collaborative effort to bring high quality jazz audio to the masses, with the Blue Note Limited Edition Play:1 speaker due March 5 (update: already sold out!)

Staying true to the Blue Note aesthetic, the design features a smooth vertical faded finish reflecting the deep bass and richly detailed highs and lows that come through the immersive sound of the PLAY:

All PLAY:1s come with two custom-designed drivers with dedicated amplifier

Contains exclusive playlists, hand selected by legendary Blue Note artists and famed record producer Don Was to commemorate their 75 years (available for one year)

Stream your entire music library, popular music services, and internet radip

Start with one, add more over time to fill your home with music

Simple to set-up; control from anywhere with your smartphone, tablet or PC/Mac

Teaser for My First Official Single

Coming soon for digital download and cassette; my first official single!

 News and details at a later stage! 

Design by Bachir Najjar

Photoshoot Blues

I have signed with AlGas Events who will be managing my live performances as

 'Ali Sleeq Blues Band'.

Here's a teaser video from my photoshoot last week; looking forward to 

bring you guys some new gig news soon!

Playlist: Nu-Blues / Electro-Blues

Balling the Jack: Birth of Nu-Blues

One of the few compilations of nu-blues music

Blues music is considered a heritage genre; however some musicians have sought to modernize the blues by using cutting edge electronics and technology to experiment with different sounds.

Nu-Jazz and Nu-Metal are quite big scenes right now; nu-blues less so, but here is a list of songs that will broaden one's scopes of how the blues can be manipulated:

Mississippi KKKrossroads - Chris Thomas King

Someday Baby - North Mississippi All-Stars remix by Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson

Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

Ride On (Fight On) - Little Axe

St. James - Snakefarm

Natural Blues - Moby

Parchman Blues -Tangle Eye

It's Bad you Know (remix) - R.L Burnside

Death Letter - Johnny Farmer

Stagger Lee - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Country Bluesman Robert Belfour Passes Away

Last year, I published a post about one of the great remaining original country blues musicians, Robert Belfour.

Sadly, it was announced on the 24th of February that he had passed away at age 74. He was not insured apparently, which is a sad reality for musicians who aren't popular with massive audiences. The Memphis Blues Society is taking donations to help his family at this time. Truly a blues story being lived.

He dedicated most of his life performing the deep roots blues, and wasn't recognized until the early 2000's when he released his major recordings. He will be missed; RIP Robert.

Here's Pushing My Luck:

Paris Named Host City For 2015 International Jazz Day

UNESCO Goodwill ambassador Herbie Hancock has announced that this years International Jazz Day host city will be Paris, France. Last Year, it was Osaka, Japan.

April 30 has been officially announced as International Jazz Day, where a massive concert and other jazz related events take place to celebrate the contributions of this great music.

The concert will feature:

The 2015 All-Star Global Concert will feature a cast of internationally renowned jazz artists including pianists John Beasley (Music Director), A Bu, Antonio Faraò and Herbie Hancock; trumpeters Till Brönner, Ibrahim Maalouf, Hugh Masekela and Claudio Roditi; vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater, Al Jarreau, Rudy Pérez and Dianne Reeves; saxophonists Igor Butman, Ravi Coltrane, Femi Kuti, Guillaume Perret and Wayne Shorter; bassists James Genus and Marcus Miller; guitarist Lee Ritenour; drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and harmonica player Grégoire Maret.

For more info click [here].

Whiplash Wins, Jazz Loses

The Huffington Post published an article discussing the realism of the Oscar winning film Whiplash, drawing how the film portrayed jazz musicians and teachers in a wrong way. In the film, an aspiring jazz drumming student gets in a heated rivalry with his instructor at a music conservatory. The film won 3 Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, Film Editing, and Sound Mixing.

I do agree that the film overdid what real jazz players and instructors do; instructors don't call students names or be violent, and students have rarely (if ever) bled while practicing their instruments.

One jazz professor at Julliard, Mark Sherman, says:

"If Wynton Marsalis, who's my boss here at Juilliard, did that, called kids "cocksuckers" and badgered kids like that -- he'd be thrown out."

The good thing about the film is that is brings jazz into the big screen, something missing from today's media. And although the film went overboard with the drama for the sake of pulling in the audience, it might not have portrayed it in a way that might let people actually go out to listen or buy jazz records.

The full article is [here], what do you think?