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The Guardian
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Dame Cleo Laine obituary
Cleo Laine, who has died aged 97, was not only the most creatively and materially successful jazz singer the UK scene has known, but was also respected worldwide as one of a handful of truly original jazz-inspired vocalists. From modest beginnings in the pubs and dancehalls of austerity Britain in the 1950s, the diminutive singer with the majestic and agile contralto voice went on to achieve international fame in a career that also embraced acting and writing. Laine could travel easily in almost any idiom, from jazzy standards-singing to the frontiers of classical music and opera, and she was the only female singer to receive Grammy nominations in the jazz, popular and classical categories. When she became the first British artist to win a Grammy as best female jazz vocalist (for the third of her live Carnegie Hall albums) in 1985, she received two dozen roses from Ella Fitzgerald and a card inscribed: 'Congratulations, gal – it's about time!' Even late in her career, Laine's remarkable range, theatrical awareness of contrast and drama, sensitivity to melody and mood, and astute choice of high-class songs, prevented her from ever sounding remotely dated. Whether in coolly countermelodic duets with her husband John Dankworth, the alto saxophonist, in flat-out exercises in zigzagging scat or stomping swing, or in spacey moods of poignant reflectiveness, Laine was never less than the classiest of acts. In 1997, she and Dankworth were, fittingly, given a Royal Albert Hall Prom concert in honour of their joint 70th birthdays. As long-time stars of a usually low-profile British jazz scene, they brought together the worlds of dinner-jacket arts and unruly jazz. They helped put British jazz on the map, encouraged music education, smuggled jazz into the sensibilities of listeners who had thought they loathed it, and generally added a splash of style and confidence to a sometimes shadowy and defensive subculture. Laine's onstage glamour would give way to a far more worldly and down-to-earth magnetism as soon as the spotlight was off. A candid and personable woman, she impressed those who met her with her easygoing alertness, unexpectedly small stature for those who had previously only encountered her on a concert stage, and penetrating green eyes framed by dark curls. She was also – in the age of the ubiquitous psychotherapist – mock-guilty about her lightness of spirit, saying simply: 'I'm not a very neurotic person.' This realism allowed her to consider both her talents and her shortcomings with neither self-importance nor guilt. She would occasionally ponder whether two parents spending a lifetime on the road was not textbook childcare by some standards, but pointed out the independence and self-reliance of her children with Dankworth – their son, Alec, became a successful double-bassist and bandleader, and daughter, Jacqui, a vocalist, actor and songwriter with much of her mother's canny timing, emotional subtlety, and inclusiveness of taste. Laine was born in Southall, west London, one of three children of a Jamaican father, Alexander Campbell, and an English mother, Minnie Bullock, who took in lodgers. Raised as Clementina Campbell (the fact that her birth had been registered under her mother's name, before her parents married, did not emerge until she applied for a passport at 26, by which time she was performing as Cleo Laine), she showed early singing talent and was encouraged by her mother to take singing and dancing lessons. After leaving school at 14, she found work in a hairdresser's, milliner's, pawnshop, cobbler's and library, and married for the first time, to George Langridge, in 1947, while still in her teens. But she was restless and the example of her father – who sang, and loved music, but made his living selling goods door-to-door – had also given her an inkling that a life in music might provide an escape. Modelling herself on the black singers she heard in American musicals such as Cabin in the Sky, she unintentionally developed a sound that was conspicuously different to that of most popular female singers of the 40s and early 50s. Choosing black artists seemed obvious to her, and the threatening implications of being in a racial minority in Britain were not as evident as they were to become later in the 50s. Laine recalled, however, that as a child during the second world war she had speculated on where children like herself might hide if nazism won. In her mid-20s Laine began seriously to apply herself to singing. She had started out in pubs ('useful training for improvisation' she would ruefully recall) and eventually auditioned for the successful British modern jazz band led by Dankworth. Though she was a raw unknown, Dankworth and his musicians recognised her promise. 'I was amazed they liked me,' Laine told the Guardian in 1997. 'I had begun to think auditions were my hobby, I'd been rejected on dozens of them, and talent competitions too.' But Dankworth was after somebody different, and Laine was unusual as a rich-toned contralto. She listened closely to Billie Holiday for her presence and sense of drama, Fitzgerald for the thought processes and technique that allowed her to improvise so exuberantly, and Sarah Vaughan for her operatic range. The mature Laine was to exhibit all these qualities. She toured the UK extensively with the Dankworth band in the mid-50s. She divorced Langridge in 1957 and the following year married Dankworth, and shared the care of her first son, Stuart – by then 13 and sometimes a traveller with her on the road – with her mother and sister. She accompanied Dankworth to the US in 1959 for his appearance at the Newport jazz festival, and sang with the band at Birdland in New York on the same trip. She also began to read widely, and developed an enthusiasm for poetry – particularly that of ee cummings, one of whose pieces she was to record as a song. She also started to act and was initially confined to Caribbean roles, but her skill bloomed, and she was to regard her appearances at the Edinburgh festival in the 60s and in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1967, as high points. But there were many others: Flesh to a Tiger, directed by Tony Richardson at the Royal Court theatre in 1958, the English musical Valmouth, the title role in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, plus musical appearances in Show Boat, Colette, The Seven Deadly Sins, A Little Night Music and The Merry Widow. She also originated the role of Princess Puffer (and won several awards and nominations for it) in the Broadway hit musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1985. She took on parts as diverse as the voice of God in the BBC Proms' production of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde (1990) and the Witch in Stephen Sondheim's Los Angeles production of Into the Woods (1988). She recorded prolifically in the 60s, on show-song and soundtrack projects (Dankworth was an in-demand movie composer at the time) and straight jazz albums with guests including the British sax virtuoso Tubby Hayes and her vocalist contemporary Annie Ross, and in that decade she was also a frequent guest on the British TV satire That Was the Week That Was. Dankworth, meanwhile, had begun exploring jazz variations on non-jazz traditions in his own music, and broke through to a new public with arrangements of Shakespeare sonnets – Shakespeare and All That Jazz (1964), which won widespread acclaim and a five-star accolade in the US magazine DownBeat. Laine took to them eagerly – on slow pieces such as O Mistress Mine and Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day, she showed a remarkable ability to make the quietest sounds ring like tiny bells, and then be enveloped in a wash of resonant low notes. Classical audiences, too, were now beginning to wake up to Laine's skilful control, rich tones and spontaneous jazz sensibility. She was Julie in the spectacularly successful 1971 London production of Jerome Kern's Show Boat, made an acclaimed New York debut in 1972 and the first of her Carnegie Hall appearances (her Live at Carnegie Hall album from 1974 brought her a first Grammy nomination), and further expanded her palette in recording Arnold Schoenberg's poetry-cycle Pierrot Lunaire, which was nominated for a classical Grammy. Despite an increasingly frenetic working life, she and Dankworth also oversaw the development of their Buckinghamshire home at Wavendon as a working theatre. Over the next decades, Laine collaborated with the flautist James Galway (1980) and classical guitarist John Williams (1984), contributed to Michael Tilson Thomas's LSO series The Gershwin Years (1987), and a tribute to female songwriters including Joni Mitchell and Holiday (Woman to Woman, 1989). Her bluesily soulful encounter with Ray Charles (Porgy and Bess, 1976) was a highlight, as was a hip and swinging meeting with Mel Tormé (Nothing Without You, 1992). Laine also appeared alongside Frank Sinatra during a week of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in 1992. Following her autobiography, Cleo (1994), Laine also published You Can Sing If You Want To (1997) – an informal guide to learning to use the voice freely and confidently as an instrument. The Dankworths slowed down only marginally in their 70s – their concerts worldwide still continued to sell out – and when Laine hit 80 in 2007 (Dankworth's 80th having preceded hers by a month), she performed a series of UK shows, including a reunion of the John Dankworth Sextet that had set her stardom in motion. A four-disc box set, I Hear Music, was released documenting the pair's work from 1944 to 2005. Dankworth's health declined late in 2009, on a US tour that had to be curtailed. He died on the morning of 10 February 2010. He and Laine, plus a glitzy cast of guests, had been due to play at Wavendon that night, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Stables theatre. Impelled by the conviction that Dankworth would have wanted the celebration to go on, Laine went home from the hospital, played the gig, and broke the news of his death to a stunned audience only at the close. She continued to perform for some years, frequently with a Dankworth rhythm section including Alec on bass and the pianist John Horler, thus demonstrating, as at the Cheltenham jazz festival in 2011, that Laine could still deliver a classic jazz song such as Duke Ellington's Creole Love Call with a freshness not far away from Adelaide Hall's 1920s version of the original. Laine and Dankworth foresaw the contemporary developments that have led to the growing embrace of jazz innovation by audiences coming from the European art-music tradition, from western pop, or from cultures unrelated to either. Laine would readily agree that grand opera at its best was 'glorious … but Louis Armstrong is glorious, too, and operatic in his own way'. For her musicianship, and for that breadth of view, she acquired a raft of accolades and prizes, and in 1997 she was made a dame. Her achievements were a rich blend of the creative journey and the crusade, qualities of a musical life that she and Dankworth conducted with the lightest of touches. Despite all the globetrotting, the jet-lag and the impossible schedules, it seemed more fun to them than working. Stuart died in 2019. Laine is survived by Alec and Jacqui. Cleo Laine (Clementine Dinah Bullock), singer and actor, born 27 October 1927; died 24 July 2025
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Veteran trader turns heads with Netflix earnings review
Back in the Seventies, the question was, "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" This was the tagline of an ad campaign featuring Ella Fitzgerald, where Memorex said their cassette recordings of the legendary singer's voice were so clear that they could shatter a glass – just as her live singing could. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Today, TV viewers may want to know is it real or is it artificial intelligence, given that Netflix (NFLX) used generative AI in one of its TV shows for the first time. "We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper," Ted Sarandos, Netflix's co-chief executive told analysts. "There are AI-powered creator tools. So, this is real people doing real work with better tools." AI was used to create a scene of a building collapsing in the Argentine science fiction show, The Eternaut. "So the creators were thrilled with the result," he said during the company's second-quarter earnings call. "We were thrilled with the result. And more importantly, the audience was thrilled with the result." Bloomberg/Getty Images Netflix, home to such popular shows as Squid Games, Stranger Things and Ozark, beat Wall Street's earnings expectations for the quarter, and boosted its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $44.8 billion and $45.2 billion, up from an earlier call for $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion. This was the second quarter that Netflix did not release quarterly updates on subscription data. More Streaming: Walt Disney offers new perks for Disney+ membersBank of America sends strong message on NetflixNetflix has a genius plan to find its next hit show "Our higher forecast primarily reflects the weakening of the US dollar vs. most other currencies, plus healthy member growth and ad sales," Netflix said in a letter to shareholders. The company rolled out its proprietary Netflix Ads Suite in April, and co-CEO Greg Peters said, "We see good performance metrics across all countries, and the early results are in line with our expectations." "The most immediate benefit from this rollout is just making it easier for advertisers to buy on Netflix, Inc.," he said. "We hear that benefit, that ease, from direct feedback talking to advertisers. They tell us that it is easier." Several investment firms issued research reports following the earnings release, including Bank of America Securities, which reiterating its buy rating and its $1,490 price target. "In our view, Netflix shares will be fueled by continued positive subscriber and earnings momentum in addition to evolving advertising and live opportunities," BofA said. "Supported by its world-class brand, leading global subscriber scale, position as an innovator and increased visibility in growth drivers, we believe that Netflix will continue to outperform," the firm added. Wedbush analysts raised their price target on Netflix shares to $1,500 from $1,400 and reiterated their outperform rating, saying the company "continues to produce phenomenal results with ever more growth in its sights." "Even as investor expectations were high heading into the print, and shares reflected some disappointment in the size of the beat and raise, the quality of the beat and raise keeps us positive as we assess the ongoing expansion of Netflix's free cash flow," the firm said. Netflix shares are up 36% this year and the stock has surged 88% from this time in 2024. However, shares were falling on July 18, and The StreetPro's Stephen Guilfoyle wanted to know what was going on. Related: Netflix makes a bold move to find the next 'Squid Game' "It is apparent that the markets are not impressed in these Netflix earnings nor in the guidance," the veteran trader said in his recent column. Looking over Netflix's price chart, Guilfoyle, whose career dates back to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the 1980s, said that shares broke out from a double-bottom reversal this spring and into a June 30 high. "I think investors should be on the alert at this point, even if the stock rallied from here, that the shares have already created two thirds of a head-and-shoulders pattern of bearish reversal," he said. "This is not a healthy-looking chart." The daily moving average convergence divergence, which helps traders spot potential buy and sell signals, is now pretty bearish looking as well, he said. In addition, the stock is now trading below its 50-day simple moving average, which calculates the average price during a specified period of time, smoothing out price fluctuations to reveal overall trends. "There is a very good chance that if it does not look like the shares can retake that line before going into the weekend on Friday night that portfolio managers will be forced to reduce long side exposure by their respective risk managers," Guilfoyle said. "This, in my opinion, is not a dip to be bought, unless that line is retaken and held," he added. Related: Fund-management veteran skips emotion in investment strategy The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
The enduring magic of Dolly Parton's ‘Jolene'
I was raised in Tucson by a classical music fanatic from Cuba and a Great American Songbook devotee from New York. While other kids' parents might have had at least a passing interest in the music of the day — that day being the 1970s and 80s — mine generally cocooned us in the smooth stylings of Ella Fitzgerald, Vladimir Horowitz, Benny Moré and other icons of the early 20th century, with periodic exceptions for flamenco, mariachi and Yiddish classics. So devoid was this soundtrack of any nod to modernity that one of my babysitters — who'd been named a special teen correspondent to a local paper — dedicated an entire column to the agony of being stuck in a car while my parents deejayed. I offer the above by way of explanation, if not justification, for a grievous lapse: I got all the way to my 40s without knowing who, or what, 'Jolene' was. I mean, sure: Even as a kid, I eventually figured out there was such a thing as popular music and began self-educating with a clock radio tuned to KRQ, 'Tucson's No. 1 Hit Music Station.' But by then, 'Jolene's' big debut — first as a single in 1973, then as the title track of Dolly Parton's 13th solo studio album in 1974 — had long since escaped me, as had Olivia Newton-John's beloved 1976 cover. I'm not sure how to account for my obliviousness to the 2016 Pentatonix version that went on to win a Grammy. I won't even try. But two weeks after the a cappella group released that duet with Dolly Parton, I was heading into a babysitting gig of my own. My friends were visiting for a wedding, and I'd be spending the evening with their toddler, Ellis, who came with special instructions. If he started saying 'Doween' — and he certainly would — he was requesting 'Jolene,' and I was free and encouraged to find videos immediately. The directive was so matter-of-fact, I gathered I should know exactly who Jolene was. The only thing mitigating the embarrassment of not knowing? My friends were running late. So when I revealed I'd never heard of this lady, there was time for only the briefest 'Oh, honey' before they explained and dashed out. Right on cue, Ellis started asking for Doween and wanted very little else for the rest of the night — his fervor only increasing with each rewatch. I dug up every video I could, and found that he was especially taken with a 1974 clip from 'That Good Ole Nashville Music' with Dolly in a bell-bottom jumpsuit and sparkly lilac eye shadow. After dozens of back-to-back viewings, you either swear off 'Jolene' for all eternity or become a superfan yourself. Now I'm the kind of person who devours entire books about the song, of which there is — as far as I know — only one: the new 'Dolly Parton's Jolene,' written by Lydia R. Hamessley for the Oxford University Press Keynotes Series, an exploration of the Western music canon, one song or album per volume. The author is a professor at Hamilton College, where she teaches courses on country, medieval, Renaissance and film music — in addition to serving as resident Dollyologist — so the book naturally leans academic. But if, like me, you're someone who goes through postcollegiate life regretting all the fun courses you never took when you had the chance, Hamessley's professorial passion is a bonus. For some, the book will recall another stage of life, too. Remember those 'Read-Along' records? (Basically, children's books that came with vinyl soundtracks.) In an unintended throwback to that experience, 'Dolly Parton's Jolene' comes with a website full of meticulously organized music and video clips that you're routinely prompted to listen to or watch. So even if at first you don't understand a particular bit of music theory — for example, 'Von Blingin' further amped up ye olde sound by including the raised 6th scale degree as often as possible' — you click on the relevant music or video file, and everything makes sense. Or at least entertains you. Such analysis — of instrumentation, scales, tempo, form, lyrics or anything else that varies from version to version — is a clear forte of Hamessley's. But there's a lot more to the book, with particularly layperson-friendly sections on the juicy history of the country-pop rivalry, surprising new takes on 'Jolene's' commonly accepted backstory, the growing body of 'answer songs' (Chapel Hart's 'You Can Have Him Jolene' is a classic of the genre) and the extraordinary gift Parton has for songwriting. The best illustrations of that last point appear on Pages 30 and 31, where you'll find photos of the handwritten original lyrics to 'Jolene,' complete with Parton's notes to self about now-iconic word choices. (Turns out Jolene came perilously close to not having eyes of emerald green.) But my favorite section of the book speaks to the improbably wide world of 'Jolene' covers, of which there are hundreds. In the years since that fateful babysitting gig, I've become a collector of sorts, with a particular fondness for the version in English and Lingala by the Congo Cowboys, the cumbia version by Chiquis Rivera and Becky G and the short-film version by the Indigenous Australian artist Kaylene Whiskey, to name a few. I've found myself obsessed with the idea that this 202-word plea to a Tennessean temptress not to 'take my man' could become so globally resonant that even Nelson Mandela — when the Robben Island prison guards let him select music to play over the PA system — often chose 'Jolene.' His friend and fellow prisoner Tokyo Sexwale shared that detail on the 'Dolly Parton's America' podcast. 'No human being cannot be affected by 'Jolene,'' he said. 'We all don't want to lose.' In citing the Mandela example herself, Hamessley agrees that the song's outsize power comes at least in part from that universal fear of loss — 'not just the loss of a partner,' she writes, 'but the loss of something bigger and more abstract and ineffable.' Still, she contends, there's something more at play, and it's equally universal: yearning. As I read this section, I happened to be visiting my parents, and on a lark, decided to play 'Jolene' for them. When I asked what they heard in the song, they replied immediately, almost in unison: 'yearning.' Duly floored, I realized something in that moment. While they've never strayed from the musical cocoon I was raised in, maybe it was never as airtight as I thought. Abbie Kozolchyk is the author of National Geographic Books' 'The World's Most Romantic Destinations' in addition to articles on travel, food, culture and more. By Lydia R. Hamessley Oxford University Press. 192 pp. $18.99
South China Morning Post
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Drink in Focus: Clarified Bloody Mary at Ella
Known for its live music evenings, Ella – one of three venues that comprise Singular Concepts' music hub The Trilogy atop H Code – is one of the best joints in Hong Kong to sample classic flavours from the early 20th century, the era in which Ella Fitzgerald became the First Lady of Song. Ella now looks to double down on its classic jazz roots as Singular Concepts' new beverage manager Maikal Gurung launched Louisiana Gold, the venue's first menu at the end of May. The new line-up comprises elaborate signatures evoking New Orleans, complemented by twists on classics – but one drink stands out with its own category. Ella, part of The Trilogy music hub in Pottinger Street's H Code in Hong Kong, pays homage to jazz great Ella Fitzgerald. Photo: Eugene Chan The Clarified Bloody Mary is a polished take on the brunch classic, available both as a traditional cocktail and as a shot. 'The Clarified Bloody Mary,' Gurung explains, 'is inspired by the pickleback, which is a pickle brine given in a shot glass as a chaser to neutralise the taste and smooth the burn of whiskey.' The concept of the pickleback began in 2006 with Bob McClure, who founded McClure's Pickles in his kitchen just above Bushwick Country Club in Brooklyn, New York. The story goes that he handed off excess stock to the bar, which began serving the brine as a shot or paired with whiskey. The combo gained traction and media exposure through to the 2010s and, according to Punch, presented an easy, accessible way to enjoy a shot of whiskey contrasting with the rise of craft cocktails around the same time. In that same Punch piece, a first reaction to the drink was that it 'erased the shot [of whiskey]'. It reads as a story of a bar staying open to what's at hand, what could be interesting, and doing their utmost to give their guests a good time – not unlike early cocktail culture, which added elements to spirits to make them palatable, or even unnoticeable during Prohibition. Singular Concepts' beverage manager Maikal Gurung offers unique takes on classic cocktails. Photo: Handout The spec of the Clarified Bloody Mary reads similarly. The drink comprises vodka, tomato and lemon juices, green salsa, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco, salt, black pepper, Gurung's own secret blend of hot sauce, and pickle brine. Gurung and his team use a centrifuge to clarify the drink, then carbonate it using a soda maker. As is the tradition with a classic Bloody Mary, 'The reason to carbonate the drink is to intensify aromas and taste, making the drink more appealing and refreshing.'
Time Out
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Harlem's historic Apollo Theater is closing for a year for its $65 million makeover
The show's on pause, but the legacy is getting a serious glow-up. Harlem's iconic Apollo Theater officially closed its doors on July 1 for a $65 million, yearlong renovation—the most ambitious in its 91-year history. The lights on the famous marquee may be dimmed, but the vision for the future is anything but. Opened in 1914 and rebranded in 1934, the Apollo became a cornerstone of Black American culture, launching the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Lauryn Hill. Now, the 1,500-seat landmark is undergoing a comprehensive facelift, featuring a restored façade, upgraded LED marquee, expanded lobby, new seating and modern AV systems. Crucially, historic elements, such as the performer-signed 'signature wall,' will be preserved. 'It is the first large‑scale renovation of the historic theater in our 91‑year history,' Joy Profet, the Apollo's chief growth officer, told NY1. While work on the lobby began earlier this year, 'July 1 is really the full-scale.' The final in-house show before the closure was last Wednesday's grand finale of Amateur Night at the Apollo. Neverson Cadesca, performing under the name Nev, closed out the night. The $20,000 prize went to saxophonist Emanuel Garilus from Gainesville, Florida. While the main auditorium is shuttered, performances will temporarily relocate to the Apollo Stages at the Victoria, just down 125th Street. That complex includes two smaller theaters, part of the Apollo's ongoing expansion. Scaffolding is already up along the 125th Street exterior and temporary guest access is now rerouted through a covered entrance on 126th Street. A pop-up box office under the marquee is now serving guests. According to architects Beyer Blinder Belle, the renovation aims to make the Apollo feel more open and community-connected. A café and new street-facing windows will anchor the expanded lobby and the Wall of Fame is going digital. Work is expected to wrap by mid-2026. Until then, Amateur Night is on hold, but the Apollo's spirit is just down the block—still shaking things up, still center stage.
