Isaac Hayes News

Eric Clapton and B.B. King first performed together in NYC in 1967. Over 30 years later, in 1999, the two longtime friends joined forces to create a collection of all new studio recordings of blues classics and contemporary songs. The resulting album Riding with the King would be released in June 2000 and go onto sell over 2 million copies in the U.S. and win the GRAMMY Award® for Best Traditional Blues Album.

The GRAMMY Museum® announced today it will release two Songwriters Hall of Fame programs from its archive while the Museum in Los Angeles is closed until further notice in light of COVID-19

Craft Recordings announces a new YouTube series that pairs the biggest names in music with classic vinyl albums, called Craft Recordings Presents: Shoplifting.

The B.B. King Blues Band are thrilled to announce their new partnership with The B.B. King Estate. This joint venture now finds the two forces working together to bring the world The B.B. King Experience, the band's new working name. In addition to the upcoming world tour (dates listed below), the single 'Rock Me Baby' featuring George Benson, Tito Jackson and Claudette King will be released this summer.

The Apollo Theater announced today that it will screen the iconic MGM film Shaft (1971), as part of the Apollo Film series, on Saturday February 29th at 8:00 p.m. The screening will be accompanied by a live performance of Isaac Hayes' Academy Award® nominated score by Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, a sprawling band of musicians led by founder and cultural critic Greg Tate.

International music company BMG has signed a deal with Tracklib, the Stockholm-based sampling service that has revolutionized sample clearance. BMG will provide a selection of quality music from its massive catalog to be featured on Tracklib, where producers can sample the music and get straightforward clearance in a few clicks, something that historically could take months. 

A live band on hi-tech hyperdrive, EOTO has forged new territory in the electronic dance music movement. Locked and loaded with computers, loopers, midi controllers, routers, software, mixers, and the latest in music technology, multi-instrumentalist Michael Travis and percussionist/vocalist, Jason Hann have sent a speeding bullet through the electronic dance community due to their innovative 100% improvised approach and as a result, their exclusive sound. Not just a haphazard foray into experimental music, the duo starts their musical adventure from scratch (there are no pre-recorded loops, no backing tracks, and no pre-constructed songs in their live production) building each set, note-by-note, beat by beat, live before the audience as each show explodes into a full-scale dance party.

The 48th season of the popular Highlights In Jazz continues on March 19, 2020, when producer Jack Kleinsinger presents 'Ellington Everlasting.' The concert turns the spotlight on the maestro's timeless compositions and enduring legacy, through the dynamic vision of featured performers like trombonist Art Baron & The Duke's Men, drummer Bernard Purdie, bassist Bill Crow, saxophonists Bill Easley and Mark Hynes, pianist James Weidman and vocalist Ira Hawkins. In keeping with the beloved HIJ tradition, a surprise special guest will be on hand for the concert, to be held at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

The Recording Academy® is honored to announce its 2020 Special Merit Awards recipients. The Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Chicago, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, Iggy Pop, John Prine, Public Enemy and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Ken Ehrlich, Philip Glass and Frank Walker are Trustees Award honorees; and George Augspurger is the Technical GRAMMY® Award recipient. A special award presentation ceremony and concert celebrating the honorees will be held on April 18, 2020, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Additional details regarding the ceremony will be announced shortly.

Legendary singer-songwriter and musician Gordon Lightfoot will perform live in concert at Kalamazoo's Miller Auditorium on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 8 p.m.

Craft Recordings is thrilled to announce The Memphis Masters—a limited video series celebrating various albums from the iconic Stax Records label, showcasing its enduring musical legacy, as well as its influence on Memphis, TN. Created in partnership with Memphis Record Pressing and Memphis Tourism, and directed by Andrew Trent Fleming of TheFilmJerk Media, the multi-part series was shot in several locations around the city—also known as the home of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll—including such historic landmarks as Sam Phillips Recording Service, Royal Studios and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. With interviews spanning multiple generations of artists, The Memphis Masters offers insight from the likes of Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Grace Potter, Matt Berninger (The National), Walshy Fire (Major Lazer), Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady) and producer Boo Mitchell—all of whom were inspired by the label's music and the albums being reissued. The Memphis Masters also includes interviews with Stax legends like Steve Cropper, Big Star's Jody Stephens, James Alexander (the Bar-Kays) and Booker T. Jones, plus longtime label publicist Deanie Parker and songwriter Bettye Crutcher, who share their memories from the label's heyday.

The tribute album is certainly not a new concept, as artists have raised their voices in celebration of iconic musicians and songwriters in all sorts of creative ways over the years. So conventional wisdom would suggest, there's no new way to approach this concept? Well what if you celebrated a 'sound” – more specifically, you celebrated the personal influence and impact of a 'vocal range' in a particular genre? If you contemplate the creation of a modern day tribute to the impact of 'deep male voices' of the past in 'romantic ballad' settings, one name should instantly stand out from the all the rest – The Prince of Sophisticated Soul himself, Will Downing.

Scott Adsit, Henry Koperski, A Strange Loop, Sofia Viola & Dat Garcia and More! will take the stage this month nightly at Joe's Pub, 10/9-20. See the full lineup below!

This fall, Craft Recordings will reissue five albums from the Stax vault on 180-gram vinyl. In stores November 1st, the titles include The Bar-Kays'Gotta Groove, Melting Pot from Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Delaney & Bonnie's Home, David Porter's Victim of the Joke?...An Opera, and Johnnie Taylor's Who's Making Love. All LPs have been cut from their original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl and manufactured at Memphis Record Pressing. These reissues are part of a yearlong celebration of Stax, and of the 50th anniversary of the legendary label's “Soul Explosion”—an era of rebuilding following its separation from Atlantic Records. During this period, the newly independent label not only signed fresh, emerging talent but also released an impressive collection of 27 albums and 30 singles in just a handful of months.

Globally acclaimed Melbourne funk / soul band The Bamboos have released their much-anticipated orchestral album, By Special Arrangement, via BMG (8/2). The project reinvents Bamboos' songs within the setting of lush, sweeping strings, woodwind and brass, coaxing both the epic and intimate from classics taken from their eight studio albums. Australian singers Dan Sultan, Tim Rogers (of You Am I) and Washington join long serving Bamboos vocalist Kylie Auldist on the record. 

Country music veteran Deborah Allen was surprised with a special presentation by T.G. Sheppard, Kelly Lang and WSM's Devon O'Day at Nashville's 3rd & Lindsley Wednesday night during the 6th annual Country For A Cause, benefiting Monroe Carell Jr's Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. A proclamation from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, celebrating Deborah's 40 years in country music, was tearfully and happily received. The honor acknowledges not only her contributions as a singer, but also as a celebrated, successful songwriter having been awarded seven BMI One Million Air-Play Awards for her hit songwriting repertoire and one BMI Two Million Air-Play Award for her smash hit “Baby I Lied.”

The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra (WSO) have announced details for their exciting 90th Anniversary Season which promises exciting guest artists, pop programs, and the Ohio Valley's number one family event, Symphony on Ice.

Want to know what the life of an artist is really like? Then you need to join us for Blended Conversations. Guests are encouraged to join in as local artists share their real and raw stories about being a creative in today's world.

Craft Recordings is excited to announce a new deluxe reissue of Isaac Hayes' GRAMMY® Award–winning album Shaft. Set for a June 14th street date and limited to 5,000 copies worldwide, the two-CD collection will offer the newly remastered, classic soundtrack—as originally released in 1971—plus all of the original music from the film, which did not appear on the best-selling LP. In-depth liner notes from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompsonround out the set. A single-disc version consisting of only the remastered soundtrack will also be available.

1969 marked a year that was full of both trepidation and excitement for Stax Records. Just one year before, the Memphis soul outlet ended its relationship with musical giant Atlantic Records, effectively leaving the label as an independent entity, without a music catalog (which had previously included a formidable collection of hits by Otis Redding, Carla Thomas and Sam & Dave, among others). Under the guidance of co-owner Al Bell, the label proceeded to rebuild and release an impressive collection of 27 albums and 30 singles in just a handful of months—a period known as “Soul Explosion.” The gamble paid off, and at the 1969 Stax sales summit—themed “Getting It All Together”—the label reaffirmed its place as a soul powerhouse. Craft Recordings celebrates the 50th anniversary of this prolific, make-or-break moment for Stax—and its enduring legacy—with a wide selection of physical and digital reissues. Additionally, Craft will pay tribute to the label throughout the year with a series of playlists, original content, contests and more.