New York, NY | DJ Cedric Woo apologises for stealing from New York record store: DJ Cedric Woo has apologised for stealing from Brooklyn’s Northern Lights Records according to an Instagram post. A clip showing a man who was ‘positively IDed as Cedric Woo’ removing a vinyl record from the shelves and hiding it behind his rucksack caused a huge reaction on the social network yesterday, Tuesday 7th May. The piece was a 12″ copy of ‘I’m Your Superman’ by Jan Leslie Holmes, worth $75. A London-based, French-born player and founder of the Beauty & The Beat parties, Woo— AKA Cedric Lassonde— was in New York to appear on The Lot Radio, according to his own social media updates. Following the accusation his Instagram and Facebook profiles, and website, were taken offline. An additional post by Northern Lights has now confirmed the DJ “reached out to us to apologize [sic] and has paid for the record.”
Chicago, IL | Chicago’s Heart & Soul: Remembering Darrell Woodson. Chicago DJ, producer, inspirational figure and house music sage Darrell Woodson has died. …Darrell is also remembered as a part (and probably a founding father) of the “Gramaphone family” – the former staff and alumni of the famous Chicago record store situated on Chicago’s Northside. Bear Who? once told me that working at Gramaphone in the ’90s would make you “probably the most educated DJ in the world.” That was certainly true of Darrell Woodson. He was a reservoir of knowledge for DJs and producers looking to source a record or a sample. Darrell Woodson’s mixtapes sold from Gramaphone were bestsellers before we had any means to measure such things – they were easily some of the most widely trafficked tapes in Chicago’s house scene. That’s probably how it’s best to remember him, if you are a fan of this music. Jesse de la Pena has announced that Vocalo Radio will be paying tribute to Darrell by featuring his mixes this Thursday 05/09 & Friday 05/10.
Palo Alto, CA | Library nonprofit turns to rare and vintage vinyl for latest fundraiser: Saturday sale features huge record collection of jazz, rock, classical, among other genres: Henry Yu and Frank McConnell have spent the last two months sorting through boxes and crates filled with vinyl records. Accumulated over the course of about five years, the vast collection features hundreds of rare and vintage albums from various genres including jazz, classical, funk, soul, classic rock and reggae, among others. There are so many records, they fill an entire room at Cubberley Community Center in south Palo Alto, covering most of the floor and stacked high along the walls. Yu and McConnell, volunteers for the nonprofit Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL), were tasked with individually pricing each record by this Saturday, May 11, when all of them will go on sale. They’ve spent hours on the job, fueled by a love for vinyl and a nostalgia for their 1970s childhoods — long before the days of CDs, MP3s and digital streaming. Among Yu’s favorite records were Journey’s “Infinity,” released in 1978 and The Ramones 1977 album “Rocket to Russia.” McConnell said that Tangerine Dream albums made for “good study music.”
Previously unreleased Stan Getz live performance unearthed on 3xLP: From 1961 at NYC’s Village Gate club. Jazz saxophonist Stan Getz’ Getz At The Gate is being released for the first time, on 3xLP this June via Verve/UME. Getz At The Gate features a quartet lead by Getz, with pianist Steve Kuhn, bassist John Neves and drummer Roy Haynes. Its 16-tracks including renditions of John Coltrane’s ‘Impressions’, Thelonious Monk’s ’52nd Street Theme’ and Sonny Rollins’ ‘Airegin’. The live recording captures Getz shortly before his deep dive into jazz samba, and now iconic releases with Charlie Byrd (Jazz Samba, 1962) and João Gilberto (Getz / Gilberto, 1964). Though the show was professionally recorded, it was never released. The 3xLP package includes liner notes by jazz historian Bob Blumenthal.
Woodstock ’69 Getting a Completists’ 38-Disc, 36-Hour Box Set for 50th Anniversary: f you want to hear three complete days of Woodstock music this August, you’re guaranteed it. No, not out at Watkins Glen with Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, et al. — that Woodstock still seems very much in flux — but via a completists’ audio box set of nearly every note played at the original 1969 Woodstock festival. The Rhino label is about to unveil “Woodstock 50 — Back to the Garden — The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive,” a 38-disc, 36-hour, 432-song CD collection that lays the ’69 fest out in chronological order, from the first stage announcements to muddy farewells. Amazingly, most of this material has never been issued before; 267 of the 432 songs have never seen an official release. The word “amazingly” comes into play because so much has come out in dribs and drabs since a hit three-LP set went to the top of the charts in 1970.
