The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Santana, McLaughlin open Montreux jazz on high note Posted: 03 Jul 2011 02:00 AM PDT  Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana (left) and British guitarist John McLaughlin perform onstage during the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux July 1, 2011. — Reuters pic The two legendary guitarists kicked off Friday night's concert with "The Life Divine" and closed with "A Love Supreme", both tracks from their 1973 gold album "Love, Devotion and Surrender". Their acoustic version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was a highlight of a nostalgic concert at Montreux, one of Europe's most prestigious summer jazz festivals, which runs until July 16. "Coltrane, Dylan, Zeppelin — we grew up with all of them. The next one is a real favourite of mine from the Mahavishnu Orchestra," said McLaughlin, introducing "The Creator has a Master Plan" from his pioneering fusion band. Santana, dressed head to toe in white, his black curls touching his shoulders, also struck a meditative chord during the gig, which featured mariachis and Latin-influenced percussion. "John and I have a lot in common, we resonate spiritual feelings and resonate with having fun. It is not just Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu who get to have fun. "Our highest purpose is to touch your heart. Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, and Dylan, we love all them all and pay tribute and celebrate the supreme spirit of a great drummer, if not the greatest drummer ever, Tony Williams," Santana, 64, told the crowd. Cindy Blackman, Santana's second wife, joined on drums in a powerful rendition of "Vuelta Abajo," a tribute to the late American jazz drummer Williams who played with Miles Davis and McLaughlin. "These tunes go back 150 years. Any more old hippies out there?" quipped the silver-haired McLaughlin, now 69. "It was a very special music that we played at that time. Cindy has taken the tradition of Tony Williams and pushed it further." Santana and McLaughlin sat together front stage without the other nine musicians for two moving duets on acoustic guitars, "Naima", a Coltrane composition also from their "Love, Devotion and Surreder" album, and "Lotus Land". "At this point in our lives, it is all about perception...So make a conscious choice to make every day the best day of your life," the Mexican-born American Santana said to cheers. "Downstairs Blues", by Elvin Jones, got the crowd rocking, with Blackman on drums. For an encore they played "Miles Davis (Black Satin)" and a "Love Supreme", the crowd chanting the lyrics, while Montreux festival founder Claude Nobs jumped in on harmonica. B.B. King will join the pair on the famed Montreux stage last night. "Montreux is known for special meetings of stars," Swiss fan David Pittet said as the lights went on. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| ‘Transformers’ pushes box office up to US$97.6m Posted: 02 Jul 2011 07:39 PM PDT  Lead actor Shia LaBeouf at the film's premiere in New York June 28, 2011. — Reuters file pic Friday's performance gives the Michael Bay-directed sequel US$97.6 million since it premiered with sneak peeks at 9pm Tuesday. After falling off its pace Thursday, the US$200 million action film is back on track to meet pre-release projections that had the movie taking in about US$180 million domestically in its first 6-1/2 days of release. The third "Transformers" film is still way off the torrid pace set in 2009 by part-two instalment "Revenge of the Fallen," which had US$127.9 million after its first three days in theatres. "Dark of the Moon" has made about 60 per cent of its revenue from 3D engagements, a solid uptick for the format which has shown weakness at box offices in recent months. Debuting Friday, meanwhile, Universal's romantic-comedy pairing of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and a Vespa scooter generated US$4 million at the domestic box office. That put the film on pace to meet the low side of its pre-release forecast over its first four days, around US$15 million. One rival showbiz blogger called it a flop — and true, it doesn't bode well for the ebbing star power of Hanks and Roberts. But this is only a US$30 million film, which Universal is distributing in the US under service deal, so let's not get carried away. "Larry Crowne" debuted at 2,973 locations. One expected milestone over the weekend: Disney said Friday it will announce that its fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie has surpassed US$1 billion at the global box office. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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