102 year old Alice Barker, who danced at clubs such as The Apollo, Cotton Club, and Zanzibar Club, with legends including Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, recently got a chance to see footage of herself from the 30s and 40s. It is amazing to think how many great stories she must have!
MOMENT NYC’s goal is to honor, appreciate and gather as much of these personal histories of NYC music entertainment as possible. We cannot allow these precious pieces of our history be lost to time. Please consider joining our cause.
Check out the amazing video:
You can read the full story here As reported in the Herald Recorder.
From The American Federation of Musicians News via Local 802
Companies Sued For Failing To Fund Pensions
August 10, 2015
The American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM Pension Fund) is suing Atlantic Recording Corporation (Atlantic), Hollywood Records (Hollywood), Sony Music Entertainment (Sony), Universal Music Group Recordings, Inc. (UMG), and Warner Brothers Records, Inc. (Warner) for failing to make pension fund contributions.
The suit states that the five recording companies failed to make pension fund payments from foreign audio stream revenue and foreign and domestic ringback revenue.
For over 75 years, the major recording companies have had contracts with the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) requiring the companies to share a portion of sales revenue with musicians. Most of the revenue was originally from record sales and later CD sales. In 1994 AFM and the recording companies entered into an agreement, subsequently renewed, requiring the companies to pay 0.5% of all receipts from digital transmissions including audio streaming, non-permanent downloads and ringbacks.
“The record companies should stop playing games about their streaming revenue and pay musicians and their pension fund every dime that is owed,” said Ray Hair, AFM International President. “Fairness and transparency are severely lacking in this business. We are changing that.”
Last year independent auditors discovered that the recording companies had not made the required revenue payments from foreign audio streams, ringbacks, and foreign non-permanent downloads. Attempts to reconcile the issues outside of court have been ongoing for several months to no avail. Suit was filed today in New York.
This is the fifth lawsuit filed against major media corporations for contract violations in the past few months. Under Hair’s leadership, AFM has begun aggressively enforcing existing contracts and standing up to large corporations that fail to pay musicians when their work is reused or offshored.
The suit seeks payment for all missing revenue owed the AFM Pension Fund, late payment penalties, interest, damages and legal costs. Read the complaint here.
The documentary film “Danny Says” about Danny Field’s – the visionary, publicist, booking agent, and musical connector who first booked Max’s Kansas City, managed the Ramones and made the Doors famous – is finally having it’s New York City premiere. The film, by Brendon Toller, features some great interviews and clips, like a fantastic audio clip of Lou Reed’s reaction to hearing the Ramones for the first time! Field’s life story is nothing short of amazing if only for the number of musicians and celebrities that are in someway connected or touched by his life, but beyond that, his key role in the NYC underground rock scene of the 70’s cannot be understated. Unfortunately, the premiere which will be at the Walter Reade Theater on July 29th is already sold out.
You can learn more about Danny Fields and the film here.
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem has been working toward his longtime vision of making the NYC subway system a more musical experience. Here he is talking about it in a recent interview on WQXR.
and here is a short film that sums up the project, which has recently received sponsorship from Heineken.
Thursday, August 6, 7:00 pm at Damrosch Park – Free
Lincoln Center Out of Doors is hosting We Like It Like That! A Boogaloo Celebration with Joe Bataan, Ray Lugo and the Boogaloo Destroyers and special guests Richie Ray and Pete Rodriguez, ABAKUÁ Afro-Latin Dance Company, & DJ Turmix on Thursday, August 6, 7:00 pm at Damrosch Park. More information at lcoutofdoors.org
Steve Reich has just released a free rhythm game app on the iTunes store called “Steve Reich’s Clapping Music” which allows you to compete for a chance to perform live with his ensemble!
