Don Was: Last News

Matt Minton mminton@variety.com Martha Luttrell, a talent agent who represented a notable array of directors, actors, writers and musicians, died on Dec. 9 in Calabasas, Calif. She was 80.

Martha Luttrell, a veteran talent agent whose clients ranged from Susan Sarandon and Martin Campbell to Julie Taymor, Sam Shepard and Waylon Jennings and also worked with Mike Nichols and Bill Robinson, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer in Calabasas, CA. She was 80.

Don Was has spoken to NME about working on the first MC5 album in 53 years and the sad loss of the band’s sole surviving member Wayne Kramer to cancer just months before its release.Kramer died back in February, something that Was described as “a real shock”. “He certainly didn’t know that he wouldn’t be here to talk about it,” Was told NME. “He didn’t know that he was that sick until about 10 days before he died.”The new album, titled ‘Heavy Lifting’ and out today (October 18), is the first album under the MC5 name since 1971’s ‘High Time’ and features a starry cast of players including Was on bass and Tom Morello and Slash on guitar.Was claimed that the fittingly impassioned, political and altruistic album – previewed with the singles ‘Boys Who Play With Matches’ and ‘Can’t Be Found’ – wasn’t initially mooted as an MC5 record.“Everyone was there to work with Wayne,” he said.

Martin Scorsese is set to direct the filming of a tribute concert in honour of The Band‘s Robbie Robertson.Robertson died in August 2023, aged 80, and previously Scorsese documented The Band’s farewell show in The Last Waltz, which was released in 1978 and is widely considered an all-time classic music documentary.He scored several of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf Of Wall Street The Irishman and Killers Of The Flower Moon.Now, it has been confirmed that Scorsese will direct the ‘Life Is A Carnival: A Musical Celebration Of Robbie Robertson’ tribute concert, which is due to take place at LA’s Kia Forum tonight (October 17), for a future release.Scorsese will also serve as one of the executive producers of the concert, along with Jared Levine, Keith Wortman and Scooter Weintraub, reports Variety.Among the artists expected to perform at the show are Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, U2 producer Daniel Lanois, Mavis Staples, Margo Price, My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James, Trey Anastasio, Eric Church, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Taj Mahal, Robert Randolph, Nathaniel Rateliff, Allison Russell, Bobby Weir and Lucinda Williams.The house band will also feature Ryan Bingham, Jamey Johnson, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Don Was, John Medeski, Dave Malone, Terence Higgins, Cyril Neville, Mark Mullins and the Levee Horns.You can find further information on the concert here and tickets can be purchased here.The format in which a film of the Robertson concert might come out has not yet been revealed.Meanwhile, Scorsese is also producing a new Beatles documentary coming to Disney+ next month.The film, titled Beatles ’64, is set to arrive exclusively on the streaming platform on

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Martin Scorsese will direct the filming of a Robbie Robertson tribute concert in L.A. Thursday night for a future release, it was announced Tuesday morning. The filming of “Life Is A Carnival: A Musical Celebration Of Robbie Robertson,” a Blackbird Presents production, may provide a kind of bookend to the the first movie Scorsese did with Robertson, when he directed the concert film “The Last Waltz,” which commemorated the last concert the singer-songwriter-guitarist did with his group the Band in 1976.

The Band is back together…sort of.On Oct. 17, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Noah Kahan, Elvis Costello, Trey Anastasio and more are teaming up for a one-night-only tribute to Robbie Robertson and The Band they’re calling ‘Life Is A Carnival: The Last Waltz’ at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum.After that star-studded affair, the show is hitting the road.From Oct. 19 through Nov.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Some of the most illustrious names in rock — and other genres — will pay tribute to Robbie Robertson in a celebratory concert at the L.A.-area Kia Forum on Oct. 17, with the musician’s longtime friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese among the executive producers. The lineup for “Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson” includes some contemporaries who came up with the Band‘s late songwriter-guitarist in the ’60s.

Jon Burlingame Dorsay Alavi spent nearly 20 years following jazz great Wayne Shorter with a camera before she was ready to unveil her three-hour Amazon Prime documentary, “Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity.” The 12-time Grammy winner was one of jazz’s most acclaimed composers and saxophone players. He died last year at the age of 89. “Wayne was just one of those people that invited you into his life,” Alavi tells Variety.

Ellise Shafer If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. “The Beach Boys,” a documentary about the iconic band, is now streaming Disney+. The doc is described as “a celebration of the legendary band that revolutionized pop music and the iconic, harmonious sound they created that personified the California dream, captivating fans for generations and generations to come.” “The Beach Boys” includes never-before-seen footage and new interviews with band members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston, as well as music stars like Lindsey Buckingham, Janelle Monáe, Ryan Tedder and Don Was.

Selena Kuznikov Get ready for some fun, fun, fun! Disney+ has released the trailer for its “The Beach Boys” documentary, which is set to stream on the platform May 24. The trailer features clips from interviews with original band members, rock and roll historian Josh Kun, music star Janelle Monáe and more. The film is a celebration of the band that encapsulated the California dream in their revolutionary pop music.

The Beach Boys is coming to Disney+ next month.The Beach Boys is described in a press release as “a celebration of the legendary band that revolutionised pop music and the iconic, harmonious sound they created that personified the California dream, captivating fans for generations and generations to come.“The documentary traces the band from humble family beginnings and features never-before-seen footage and all-new interviews.”Interviews include ones with band members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston, as well as musicians including Lindsey Buckingham, Janelle Monáe, Ryan Tedder and Don Was. Former members Carl and Dennis Wilson, Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar are also participating in the documentary.The film is directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny and was written by Mark Monroe.

ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus, and Rosanne Cash, Johnny Cash‘s daughter, are set to work with YouTube and Universal Music on a new AI project.According to a statement regarding the project, Ulvaeus said: “While some may find my decision controversial, I’ve joined this group with an open mind and purely out of curiosity about how an AI model works and what it could be capable of in a creative process.”He continued: “I believe that the more I understand, the better equipped I’ll be to advocate for and to help protect the rights of my fellow human creators.”Other musicians that are attached to the project are One Republic‘s Ryan Tedder, composer Max Richter, record producer Louis Bell, Anitta, D4vd, American musician Don Was, Colombian musician Juanes, Rodney Jerkins,Yo Gotti and the estate of Frank Sinatra.Richter said: “Like every new technology, AI brings with it opportunities, but it also raises profound challenges for the creative community.

Visionary composer, saxophonist and visual artist Wayne Shorter has passed away at the age of 89.

RELEASESRihanna has released another new single, ‘Born Again’ – once again taken from the soundtrack of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, but not originally included on the soundtrack album when it was released last week.Stormzy has released new single ‘Firebabe’, featuring his 0207 Def Jam label mate Debbie plus Sampha and Jacob Collier. “It was a session I’ll never forget, for the rest of my life”, he says of recording the track. “It was extremely special and everyone in the room understood that.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The lineup of performers for the 2023 Americana Honors and Awards has been revealed, with Brandi Carlile, Lucinda Williams, Allison Russell, the Indigo Girls, Chris Isaak and Lukas Nelson among those set to take the stage Sept. 14 at Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium. The roster includes mostly artists who are either up for the annual awards or achieving lifetime achievement honors. Other set to perform include Adia Victoria, the McCrary Sisters, James McMurtry, Sierra Farrell, the War and Treaty, Morgan Wade, Neal Francis and Phosphorescent. The longtime band leader for the annual awards show, Buddy Miller, will be back with a crew of musicians that includes the aforementioned McCrary Sisters, Don Was, Larry Campbell, Brady Blade, Jen Gunderman, Jim Hoke, Rob Burger and Lorenzo Molina.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJohn Mayer — singer-songwriter, virtuoso guitarist, solo artist, member of Dead & Co and definitely the funniest speaker at Variety’s Hitmakers event last December — has signed with CAA in all areas globally.He has won seven Grammy Awards out of 19 nominations and since his 2001 debut album “Room for Squares”  has earned three No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, with the triple-platinum “Heavier Things” (2003), double-platinum “Battle Studies” (2009), and gold-certified “Born and Raised” (2012). He has sold an estimated 20 million-plus albums worldwide.

Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, a documentary film about The Beach Boys co-founder. You can watch them below.Directed by Brent Wilson (unrelated to Brian), the documentary charts Wilson’s life and career through “a literal and metaphorical trip exploring Brian’s hometown”.In the first clip (revealed via Rolling Stone UK), Elton John discusses Wilson’s commitment to touring: “Brian will always wanna go out and perform.

John Mayer has shared a video for his latest single, ‘Wild Blue’ – you can watch the colourful new clip below.The new track, which was produced by Don Was, is taken from the singer-songwriter and guitarist’s eighth studio album ‘Sob Rock’, which was released last month.“Wild blue deeper than I ever knew/ Wild blue on a bed of grey/ Oh baby, what a wild blue/ I found myself when I lost you,” Mayer sings on the Dire Straits-tinged track, as he walks a path of self discovery after the end of a relationship.Much like the videos for his previous two singles – ‘Last Train Home’ and ‘Shot In The Dark’ – Mayer turns up the nostalgia, playfully poking fun at music videos from the ’80s.The video begins in a swimming pool before a door at the bottom

When your place of pandemic quarantine is Hawaii, the temptation might be to just to enjoy the environs. But Todd Rundgren is staying busy with a couple of recording projects -- and some intriguing plans for the future.Top of Rundgren's list now is an all-star remake of "Just One Victory," the album closing anthem from 1973's A Wizard, A True Star.