March

North America / Los Angeles / California

Brad Dutz, His endorsements include Innovative Percussion, Gon Bops, Remo, Yamaha, Paiste and Roland

While recording CD’s for artists like Kiss, Willie Nelson, Michael Wolff, Tribal Tech, David Benoit, Rick Braun, Vinny Golia, Alanis Morrisette, LeAnn Rimes, Mitch Forman, Kim Richmond, Rickie Lee Jones, Hands’Onsemble and even actors Jeff Bridges and Ronny Cox, Brad Dutz tries to bring the strangest percussion instruments he has to the session to create a unique sound.

He can be heard on TV shows King of the Hill, Family Guy, American Dad, Enterprise and Firefly. Some of the movies that Brad has played on include Last Vegas, Battleship, Bourne Legacy, Cowboys And Aliens, Prince Of Egypt, Syriana, Hildago, Rugrats Of Egypt, Syriana, Hildago, Rugrats Go Wild, Star Trek 5, Ocean’s Eleven, Anchorman, Hollywood Homicide, Transformers 1 And 2, Rush Hour 3, Run Down, I Spy and Imax Films’ Mysteries Of Egypt, Mt. Kilamanjaro, The Amazon and Island Of Sharks.

As a member of BMI since 1985, Brad Dutz has produced over thirty CD s as a leader and composed the entire body of music on more than twenty of those releases. He is the owner of the publishing company Leaky Spleen music. The ensembles he has written for cover a wide range of instrumental combinations.

In 1990, Brad Dutz started his composition studies of multiple scores mainly of 20th century music and privately with composers Terry Plumeri, Ron Jones, Russell Steinberg. In addition to CD projects, he has composed for dance companies and theatre as well as television, movies including a few silent films.

The main focus of his composition over the last twenty years however, has been his numerous CD releases.

Everything from solo pieces to nonets is featured on his compact discs. Last year saw the fourth release- ‘”Peripheral Hearing” ‘of his latest quartet project.

This unit has the unique instrumental combination of mallet percussion, oboe, cello and bass clarinet.

Other recent ensembles include The Other Three (a trio with Kim Richmond and John Fumo), Obliteration 4tet (found objects for percussionists), Polarity Taskmasters (keyboards, voice, Theremin, percussion) and the duet CD with reedman Vinny Golia.

In 2002 his Obliteration quartet was the subject of a documentary lm. As an educator, Brad has taught hand percussion at Cal State Long Beach since 1997.

He has conducted hundreds of clinics at colleges and high schools on a variety of topics (including studio work, composing for percussion, producing his own CD of world percussion and freelancing in the music industry) He has also conducted master classes, lectures at many schools including University of KY Cal Arts, Saddleback College, Chapman College, NIU, WINONA State in MN.

Cal state LA, Indiana University, UNT, WEBER College, USC, UCLA, EIU, Eagle Rock Community Center, Southern Methodist University, ISU, U. of I, MILLIKIN, Pierce College, University Nebraska, Southern Utah University, Brigham Young ,Utah state, University of Alaska- Fairbanks and many others.

In 1995, Brad Dutz was featured on four videotapes (now reissued on DVD) Have Fun Playing Hand Drums that taught newcomers about playing hand percussion.

In addition, for four years Brad Dutz wrote a monthly column for Drum Magazine on hand percussion and he has written three (3) books featuring his original compositions -Manipulations in Sound and Time, Music for Hand Percussion and Percussion Pieces for Duos, Trios and Quartets. There are brand new compositions since 2012 now published by Honey rock Music. His endorsements include Innovative Percussion, Gon Bops, Remo, Yamaha, Paiste and Roland.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.dutz/abo ut?lst=833588259%3A569504777%3A15 81456694

North America / United Stated / New York

Kirk Douglas “My greatest achievement un my long career was to help end the blacklist at the movies”

At the age of 103, Isuur Danielovitch Demsky, on February 5th, 2020 passed away. He was better known as Kirk Douglas. At the Sarah Lawrence College in Canton, new York. He discovered acting. He was rejected from the fraternities for being Jewish. However, eventually, Douglas became the president of the Student Council, the first time a Jew help that position. In his career he made over 90 film. He brought a certain air of powerful rebellion in his characters and left a legacy. A part of that legacy is the recognition for his humanitarian sense and “commitment to justice”

Douglas said that his greatest achievement was in helping to end McCarthyism. People from the industry were persecuted for their alleged communist affiliation. Artistic creativity was being censured. Douglas had hired screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to do the screenplay for Spartacus.

Trumbo was one of the highest paid screenwriters of this time, accredited with works like Oscar winning The Brave One, Exodus, Spartacus and Roman holiday and many other famous works. In 1950 Dalton spent 11 months in prison as one out he Hollywood 10. The Junior senator from Wisconsin Joseph McCarthy wanted to make a name for himself, along with attorney Roy Cohn, senator (later president) Richard Nixon, and Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. The committee assured that Blacklisted individuals wound’s work for years to come. Hedda Hopper organized a picket line at the opening of the film, urging her 35 million reader toy boycott the movies Spartacus.

Otto Preminger was the first to fight back against Joseph McCarthy and his witch-hunt, recognizing the work of Trumbo for Exodus. In 1955 Kirk Douglas had established his own production company. If Spartacus was boycotted, it would cause financial chaos for Douglas, and after being placed in the backlist, no one would work with him and Hollywood would ostracize him.

It took a great deal of courage for Mr. Kirk Douglas to stand up for his beliefs and fight to abolish blacklist and all that it meant. He joined the ranks with Otto Preminger. One of the first persons to cross Hedda Hopper’s picket line and give his support to Kirk Douglas was president elect John F. Kennedy.

Undoubtedly, the death of Kirk Douglas server for us to reflect on our role in society, and how we can contribute for our spaces, whether from art, film or music: and in different directions, beyond religion or politic. That sense of justice in the real legacy of Kirk Douglas. Some articles mention tha his already successful son Michael Douglas, how is married to actress Catherine Zeta Jones was left out o the will. Mr kirk Douglas left a vast part of his fortune to charity, His successful son Michael Douglas already is reputed to have a fortune in excess of $ 300,000,000 dollars.