Chris Willman-Senior: Last News

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticAndrew Woolfolk, a saxophone player and multi-instrumentalist for Earth, Wind & Fire has died after a six-year illness, band frontman Philip Bailey confirmed in a social media post Tuesday afternoon. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member was 71.“I met him in high school,” Bailey wrote on Instagram, “and we quickly became friends and band mates. Andrew Paul Woolfolk was his name.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticWhen Feist takes to the stage for four shows over two nights at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium this week, some burning questions may be raised. Like: Where is the stage, exactly? This experimental, very intimate.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticProducer T Bone Burnett has long promised the development of a new analog format that he promised would improve on both vinyl and CDs, as well as digital streaming and any other existing recorded music medium. Now, he appears closer to reaching that goal with the news that he has been in the studio with Bob Dylan, re-recording some of the legendary singer-songwriter’s classic songs with the purpose of introducing the new ultra-high-fidelity medium.Details are scarce about when the Dylan recordings might come out — not to mention the new hardware that will be required to play them.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticTyler, the Creator is back on top of the Billboard 200 album chart for the first time since premiering at No. 1 back in July of 2021, due to “Call Me If You Get Lost” very belatedly making its bow on vinyl 10 months after the digital release.The tally for “Call Me” in the LP format was 49,500 copies, which Luminate says is the most pieces of vinyl sold in a week for any hip-hop record since rolls began being kept in 1991.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticDoja Cat’s single from Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” soundtrack, “Vegas,” has been given a release date — May 6 — after the singer-rapper debuted a live version of the tune at the Coachella festival over the last two weekends.The single precedes a full film companion album that has loosely been scheduled for summer by RCA, it was also announced Monday. That label news is not exactly unexpected, since RCA has been Elvis Presley’s label home since the late 1950s.Although “Vegas” is an original song, live snippets reveal the Doja Cat track does incorporate a Presley classic, “Hound Dog.” (Fans may have to wait till May 6 to find out whether “Viva Las Vegas” also appears in the final studio version, as might be expected from the title.) Luhrmann was out at Coachella for its second weekend, supporting three artists associated with “Elvis” as a film or soundtrack — including Yola, who plays Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the movie, and Shonka Dukureh, who portrays Big Mama Thornton, as well as Doja Cat.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticWith its grand opening less than two weeks away, the Bob Dylan Center has announced Steven Jenkins as its director. He’s moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to oversee the museum’s exhibitions, public programs and daily operations, following more than three decades of work with nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay areaThe hiring announcement comes as the BDC prepares for an opening weekend May 5-8 that will include a gala invitational dinner and celebratory concerts by Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples and Patti Smith.Said Jenkins in a statement, “As an avid listener and fascinated follower of Dylan’s every surprising and illuminating turn, his work has brought me a lifetime of aesthetic pleasures, confounding challenges and profound joy.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticCountry music fans have come to accept that the Stagecoach Festival in the California desert each late April will not be livestreamed in the same way that Coachella is from the same location in the preceding weeks. But that changes with the 2022 edition.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe general public may not think of “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” as a divorce movie, per se … although Dee Wallace’s reading of the line “He hates Mexico” has always been one of its most resonant.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticFace the facts: you are never, ever getting that Taylor Swift exclusive Record Store Day release that is coming out today. Fifty million Swift fans can’t be wrong, and about a tenth of them seem bent on landing the 10,000 copies of a 7-inch single of “The Lakes” that is going on sale at indie retailers today as part of the annual holiday for music geeks.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Criticare a few artists who’ve been flagship artists for Record Store Day in its 15 years of existence — among them, the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band and David Bowie, all of whom have had multiple exclusive LP releases for RSD — but maybe none have seemed quite so synonymous with the day as jazz piano great Bill Evans. And Resonance Records, the archival label that has been behind the wave of live Evans releases, is doubling down on the legend this weekend with twin titles, “Morning Glory” and “Inner Spirit,” both recorded in Buenos Aires in the 1970s but never officially released until now.As with all the previous Resonance Evans titles before them, this pair of double-LPs is not likely to last a full day in stock at most of the indie music shops that have ordered it.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticA Record Store Day 15th anniversary program at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles this week was meant to be a celebration of vinyl and music retail first and foremost. But if it turned into a Metallica lovefest as well, that was understandable.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIf you missed out on catching the first weekend of Coachella from the comfort of your own home, and want to catch up after reading all about it… you’re probably in luck, if your interest is in the roughly 25 artists whose sets will be livestreamed in a more limited weekend-2 webcast lineup.Twenty-six attractions will have their full sets livestreamed as part of the “Coachella Curated” programming happening through Sunday. Full follow-up sets going out online include performances by Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, the teaming of the Weeknd with Swedish House Mafia, Doja Cat, Anitta, Baby Keem and Brockhampton, along with a partial set from 88rising, all on the festival’s YouTube channel 1.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticActually, she can make us love her, and Bonnie Raitt has been doing it since her self-titled debut album in 1971. A slew of Grammys for “Nick of Time” in 1990 spurred a reboot of her career that’s never waned, particularly when it comes to her live appeal.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticA new venue set to open in the Nashville area in early 2023, Timberhawk Hall, is looking to bring concertgoers slightly outside of town to an area that hasn’t seen much live music activity, the city of Madison, with a rootsy vibe in an almost barn-like setting.The concert hall, whose plans have been known to the local music community for a while but were just announced Thursday, will have a capacity of 1,000 attendees standing or 600 seated. It’s located a few miles northeast of downtown Nashville, in a suburban area of an incorporated historic city that some have characterized as “the next East Nashville,” both for its next-door status to the latter community and the number of musicians moving there.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticFor Seth McFarlane, “blue” means less balladic. He’s announcing a new album on the way, “Blue Skies,” and says it marks a return to a more swinging style than the softer approach he employed on his last record.Out May 20, the seventh album from the “Family Guy” creator and jazz cat will again see him working with a catalog of classics, and again see him working closely with arranger and conductor Andrew Cottee.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticLittle Simz has become a bona fide star in her native England, but conquering America has run into a roadblock. The acclaimed hip-hop artist said Tuesday that she is canceling a U.S. tour that was to begin in May due to a lack of resources as an independent artist that would create a “huge deficit” for her if she carried out the shows as planned.“Hey guys, due to unforeseen circumstances I’ve been left with no option but to reschedule my US tour,” the artist wrote in a statement.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe top of the bill at the forthcoming Pilgrimage Festival in Tennessee looks a little like a reprise of the recent Grammy Awards telecast, with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile and Grammy king Jon Batiste all set to perform this September.From there, the festival takes a more decided skew toward Americana than it has in past years, although it also leans into other genres. The Avett Brothers are also among the headliners, on a lineup that includes Lake Street Dive, Celisse, Elle King, Dawes, Adia Victoria, Marty Stuart, Molly Tuttle, Butch Walker and Trampled by Turtles.Pilgrimage takes place Sept.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticFor anyone who really wants to get inside Bo Burnham’s “Inside,”  the Dissect podcast is prepared to get deep into the weeds. The show’s coming season will be devoted to exploring how Burnham developed the Netflix musical-comedy special and its hit companion album during deep quarantine conditions.Dissect, a music analysis podcast, will devote an entire seven-episode mini-series to exploring “Inside.” The first of the seven episodes will debut April 26.Previous seasons have also delved into a single piece of art for the entirety of their runs, although heretofore, all of the shows have been about singular albums and not recordings that dovetailed with comedy or streaming specials.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticAfter having to call off what would have been a big splash in 2021, Park City Song Summit is set to blast off in September 2022, with much of the same lineup pf singer-songwriters enlisted to partake in an ambitious and novel mixture of conversations about artistry during the daytime and proof-of-art via concerts in the evening.The intimate talking-and-rocking festival will take place Sept, 7-10 in Park City, Utah, offering an unglitzy counterpart to the Sundance Film Festival about a half-year out from the town’s signature movie event.Among those taking part in concerts, conversations or both are celebrated musicians including Jason Isbell, Andrew Bird, Father John Misty, Fred Armisen, Celisse, Adia Victoria, John Doe, Devon Gilfillian, Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim, Fruit Bats, Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule. The list of participants booked as performers, speakers or moderators stretches to include Bonny Light Horseman, Cedric Burnside, Anders Osborne & Friends, Rising Appalachia, Joe Pug, Katie Pruitt, Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel, Daniel Donato, David Ramirez, Dave from Dopey Podcast, Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite Duo, Jay Blakesberg, Jay Sweet, Jimbo Mathus,  John Craigie, Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie and Tré Burt.Dinner is on the agenda for top passholders as well, with Summit+ attendees getting an opening-night four-course dinner and private performance by Isbell and Victoria at Blue Sky Ranch.Among those confirmed to share thoughts about their creative process at more than 30 Song Summit Labs, taking place at three different stages within the Lodges at Deer Valley, are Isbell, Armisen, Gilfillian, Bird and Celisse.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticWith some kind of personal amends having been made between Donald Fagen and Aimee Mann after she was dropped as an opening act on a summer tour, Mann has reseumed humbly fangirling on Steely Dan, and in a possibly bigger and better way. The singer-songwriter has introduced into her set the Dan song she’s indicated she is most obsessed with, the 1972 classic “Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me).”At her first show of 2022, opening a four-night stand at New York’s City Winery, Mann surprised and amused fans by starting the show with her cover of “Brooklyn.” By the third night of the run, with the shock value gone, “Brooklyn” was still in the set, if relegated to her first encore number.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticAs expected, Warner Music Nashville’s chairman-CEO John Esposito — widely known in Music City as just “Espo” — will move to an emeritus role in 2023 in a long-talked-about succession plan that will see his two key lieutenants moving into more elevated roles, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety. The move is expected to be formally announced within the next few weeks.The label’s two current executive vice presidents, Ben Kline and Cris Lacy, are expected to pair up and together assume Esposito’s chairman-CEO roles at the label, as has been expected since they were promoted to their current posts in 2019.