jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 02/28/2022 - Venues Say No to Putin Supporters, Ukraine's Song of Defiance, Wither Bands?, Stevie Wonder, Yola...

To be a Black guy from Chicago, most of us had gospel in us, it's the culture. We had a billion songs with preachers in them, tons. Open in browser Monday February 28, 2022 Green Velvet at Electric Zoo on Randall's Island, New York, Aug. 31, 2013. (Brian Killian/WireImage/Getty Images) quote of the day "To be a Black guy from Chicago, most of us had gospel in us, it's the culture. We had a billion songs with preachers in them, tons." - Green Velvet rantnrave:// Culture Canceled Will a Ukrainian passport, so to speak, be the new vaccine passport? The METROPOLITAN OPERA says it will "no longer engage with" artists who have supported Russian PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, and while it hasn't yet named names, it's likely to have the great soprano ANNA NETREBKO on its list. The opera company has been under pressure to cancel an upcoming run in PUCCINI's "TURANDOT" by the Russian star, who has a history of supporting Putin as well as Ukrainian separatists. That support is both political and personal; as NPR's ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS points out, Netrebko once said she wished she and Putin had been lovers. This would be a textbook example of what some people call cancel culture—holding a celebrity professionally accountable for things she's said and done. It seems unlikely anyone's going to take up this particular fight on her behalf anytime soon, but I've been wrong before. This is the kind of case that can help clarify whether people are actually against the thing they say they're against. Netrebko herself has something to say on the subject. In an Instagram post Saturday, she said she's "opposed to this war... I want this war to end and for people to be able to live in peace," thus aligning herself with, I believe, roughly 100 percent of the population of the planet. "It was unclear," the New York Times' JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ wrote the next day, "if her statement would satisfy the Met's new test." Netrebko wasn't done. In the same post, she went on to say that "forcing artists, or any public figure, to voice their political opinions in public and to denounce their homeland is not right. This should be a free choice." She used harsher language in an Instagram story. The Met's policy, it should be noted, isn't necessarily asking artists to voice any opinions at all. Rather, it's holding them accountable for opinions they've already voiced on their own—while also, presumably, saving itself from a box office disaster. Also in danger of losing more work: Russian conductor VALERY GERGIEV, a longtime friend and supporter of Putin, who's been the subject of protests within the classical music community for years and who was pulled at the last minute from a string of performances at CARNEGIE HALL this weekend. He *is* being asked for explicit statements. The mayor of Munich, Germany, says Gergiev will be fired as chief conductor of the MUNICH PHILHARMONIC if he doesn't denounce Russia's invasion of Ukraine by today, and the conductor is in danger of losing upcoming gigs in Rotterdam and Milan as well. Over the weekend, his management company dumped him. In the meantime, GREEN DAY, "with heavy hearts," canceled a stadium show scheduled for Moscow in May, and AJR scrapped a Russian tour while thanking "our Russian fans who oppose their country's unprovoked and criminal behavior." Variety has a list of artists with dates in Moscow in the coming months, including GIRL IN RED, DENZEL CURRY, KHALID and JUDAS PRIEST, and notes that the list will no doubt get shorter if not completely disappear. GEOFF MEALL, an agent at PARADIGM, tells the site the agency has multiple acts booked in both Russia and Ukraine, and "as it stands, I can't see any of those shows being able to happen." EUROVISION, which on Thursday had said Russia would be welcome to compete in 2022, changed its mind Friday. The EUROPEAN BROADCASTING UNION, which runs the contest, said a Russian entry "would bring the competition into disrepute." Rest in Peace Memphis rapper/singer SNOOTIE WILD, whose hip-hop and R&B hits in the 2010s included "Yayo" and "Made Me," and 18-year-old up-and-coming Baton Rouge rapper TRUEBLEEDA. They were at least the sixth and seven rappers murdered in the US in 2022. It's February... Drum and bass pioneer MC SKIBADEE... 1950s pop singer JONI JAMES... Actress SALLY KELLERMAN, who walked away from a recording contract with Verve Records before she began her celebrated film career. She ended up recording two albums as well as songs for her several of her movies. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator our enemies will vanish USA TODAY A song of defiance: Ukraine's national anthem being heard all over the world By Mike Snider The Ukraine national anthem, whose title translates to "Ukraine is not yet lost," is being sung around the world in protest of the Russian invasion. Texas Monthly At One of the Last Classical Music Stores, CDs Still Rock By Brian Reinhart Streaming services don't exist inside Classical Music of Spring, one of the few remaining classical-focused shops in the country. Culture Notes of an Honest Broker The Bands Are Never Coming Back By Ted Gioia The era of collective ensembles dominating the charts has ended, probably forever-and it's an issue much larger than just music. Pitchfork Stevie Wonder and His Dream Machines By Jayson Greene The pop icon's technological breakthroughs have reverberated across music for the last 50 years. The Tennessean Yola leads a generation of Black female artists standing for themselves By Marcus K. Dowling Yola is joined by Allison Russell at the Ryman Auditorium on March 3 as a Black female vanguard evolves Nashville, country music and American society. The Ringer How 'Euphoria' Built the Perfect Gen Z Soundtrack Using Old Classics By Julia Gray Music supervisor Jen Malone explains how she and Sam Levinson turned the teen drama's soundtrack into a fever dream. The Guardian 'Hard-partying bands are the outliers now': how rock'n'roll broke up with booze and drugs By Hannah May Kilroy Musicians and their crew used to be notorious for their booze and drug consumption on tour. Now, however - partly thanks to the pandemic - there's support for those who would rather try to stay sober. The New York Times Metropolitan Opera Says It Will Cut Ties With Pro-Putin Artists By Javier C. Hernández The decision comes as arts institutions seek to distance themselves from some Russian performers amid the invasion of Ukraine. NPR If Russia's invasion of Ukraine feels familiar, look to Broadway in the '60s By Bob Mondello "Fiddler on the Roof" takes place in the fictional town of Anatevka, a more singable name for a town Sholom Aleichem modeled on the town of Boyarka near his birthplace in central Ukraine. And when the musical welcomes new arrivals, they tend to have traveled from the nearest big city, Kyiv. The Cut We Still Don't Know How to Talk About Kanye By Erica Schwiegershausen As someone who shares his diagnosis, it's clear recent coverage misses a big part of the story. like dew in the sun The Guardian Experience: I'm a musician who became allergic to music By Chris Singleton Everyday noises also caused me pain: the toilet flushing, plates clinking. Billboard Who Gets Paid for a Stream? By Glenn Peoples Billboard explains how royalties flow from plays to rights holders. Tidal 'Black Radio' Returns: Robert Glasper in Conversation By Martin Johnson The keyboardist brings his best-selling, genre-bending concept back, offering hopeful grooves in a time of social turmoil. Cabbages RZA Is—And Isn't—Bobby Digital By Gary Suarez  "Some people wanted me to come on some RZA, some said come on Bobby," says RZA of his upcoming DJ Scratch collaboration, "Saturday Night Kung Fu Theater." "And I was like, 'I got the power to do both.'" NME Ukrainian artists on the Russian crisis: "Now is the time to push for change" By Andrew Trendell Bloom Twins and Khrystyna Soloviy on the ongoing Russian crisis and what the rest of the world can do: "Ukraine cannot be erased." Variety AJR Cancel Russian Tour Due to Ukraine Invasion — Will Others Follow? By Jem Aswad Dozens of artists are scheduled to perform in Russia in the coming weeks and in the summer. Trapital The Future Of Live Music with Kevin Shivers, Partner at WME By Dan Runcie and Kevin Shivers The future is a better fan experience, says Kevin Shivers, who's worked with stars such as Tyler The Creator, Summer Walker, and Kid Cudi on their touring strategies. NFTs, virtual concerts, removing the frictions of going to a real-life show — these are all ongoing evolutions that will better connect superfans with their artists. VICE Epik High's Tablo Talks About the Rumor That Changed His Life By Romano Santos Korean hip-hop star Tablo was at the height of his career, then a trivial accusation about his past exploded into an international obsession. Billboard 'I Don't Feel Any Urgency to Finish': Bonnie Raitt on Her Groundbreaking Career By Rebecca Milzoff For more than fifty years, she's seamlessly melded music and activism, inspiring contemporaries and newcomers alike with her guitar-playing prowess. VAN Magazine 'It's a Constant State of Stress' By Hartmut Welscher An interview with Kyiv Symphony Orchestra director Anna Stavychenko. what we're into Music of the day "The Preacher Man" Green Velvet Video of the day "Pump Up the Volume: The History of House Music, Part 1" Carl Hindmarch / Channel 4 2001 British TV documentary. Music | Media SUBSCRIBE Suggest a link "REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'" Jason Hirschhorn CEO & Chief Curator HOME | ABOUT | SETS | PRESS Redef Group Inc. LA - NY - Everywhere Copyright ©2021 UNSUBSCRIBE or MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTION