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Colin D’Cruz-jazz bassplayer from India

What inspired you to become a jazz artiste? When did you decide that this will be your career?

Like most musicians, I got into music initially with school/college bands. We used to play pop/rock covers and even at that time I remember always wanting to play those tunes my own way. I was improvising even before I knew what jazz was all about. Soon after I finished college I worked as a copywriter for an ad agency. Around that time I also got into a five star hotel resident band. It was time to decide weather I would spend my life playing music or selling soaps and toothpaste. An easy decision for me.

Any particular jazz artistes or musicians who have played a role in your own development as a jazz artiste?
There are far too many great musicians who inspired me and continue to inspire me. The one that knocked the socks off me though, was a bassplayer by the name of Jaco Pastorius, a legend who took bass from a background blur right upfront and into the listeners face.

How did you train to become a jazz musician?
Most of my learning came from listening. I initially picked up stuff from recorded tracks by ear. Once I decided to play pofessionally, I realized I would need to know more about what I would be spending the rest of my life with. I taught myself to read music and then went through a whole lot of theory to enhance my musical vocabulary.

What are the components that go into the genre of jazz?
Spontaneous improvisation are the keywords to jazz. Any genre of music can be jazzed up with an improvised version. Today we have rock-jazz, pop-jazz, funk-jazz.. there’s a -jazz attached to every genre of music and there will be -jazz attached to every genre that comes along.

In your view, how popular is jazz as a music genre in India? Do you think people really appreciate it?
My contention has always been that, if jazz is improvised music then Indian classical music is jazz. One of the world’s greatest institute for jazz studies, the Berklee college of music in America, recognized the fact and introduced Indian classical music in it’s curriculum. How popular is jazz in India? Just as popular as Indian classical music! Jazz will never be as popular as pop music, if it did it would have to be called pop instead of jazz and the terrifying part is jazz musicians may have to do a Madonna and strut onstage wearing conical jocks.

What do you make of the present international scenario as far as jazz is concerned?
Jazz has a niche audience worldwide. Pop music will always rule. It will rule today and wil be ruled out tommorow, while jazz blisfully evolves, embracing all other forms of music along the way.

Did you try your hand at any other genres of music before deciding on this one?
I don’t think there’s any musician in this country who has played with the number of bands, musicians and music genre’s that I have. You can review some of the bands at my website www.jazzyatra.com

Tell us a bit about yourself and give us your take on how your career has progressed so far.
Music helped me get out of my shell and face the world with a song. If it wasn’t for music I would have been a light house keeper on Andaman Island or even worse, I would have been a doctor, lawyer or engineer. My career flows in the direction of my heart, I’m happy to be earning a living off something I’ve always been passionate about. I’ve performed and toured worldwide with some legendary international artistes as well as local icons like Sonu Nigam, Asha Bhosle and Remo Fernandes. I currently work on two resident band contracts in the afternoons at the JW Marriott hotel with my fusion ensemble called The Brown Indian Band for obvious reason and at night at the Taj Lands End hotel with my band called the Bassman’s Band for some strange reason.

You have mentioned in one of your previous interviews that it would be more appropriate to call jazz ‘world music’. Why do you say that?
Simply because jazz is the most open, alive and continously evolving form of music that embraces all other forms of music in the world today.

Which of your gigs would you recall as being the most memorable and why?
So far the most memorable would be the Hennessey XO international jazz tour that I did in 2005. This world renowned jazz tour has always been signing on artistes signed to the famed American ‘Blue Note’ record label. After hearing the band in Mumbai, Hennessey head honchos decided that they would break tradition and sign on a jazz band from far away India. A huge feather in the cap for Indian jazz musicians.

What are your other passions apart from the obvious one ? jazz
I’m also very passionate about passion

You had the opportunity to play with Daniel Pearl as part of Jazz Junction. What was it like playing with him in the same band? Daniel Pearl was an accomplished violinist who was very easy to get along with so it was always fun having him onboard.

Can you tell us about the concert you have lined up for October 10 to honour Daniel Pearl’s memory?
Me and my friend Meldon D’Cunha who owns Soul Fry were amoung the inumerable friends Daniel made wherever he went. We’ve been organizing this event every year to keep his memory alive. This year the event will be a jam session where I’ve lined up a house band made up of Jarvis Menezes on keyboards, Ian Enthiado on drums and myself on bass. We’ve invited just about every singer and musician who perform on the local circuit including some from Goa

Some pearls of wisdom for young people who might want to become jazz musicians.
Imitate, assimillate, innovate!

Something wacky that that no one would know about Colin D’Cruz..
I’ve been rehearsing the conical jock strut for years..watchout for my next pop gig!

So, Avril Lavigne wants to be my girlfriend! Sorry Avril, your song is like, so whatever. Why is that?At one time, the strategy for success in the recording business went something like this: A person that owned a recording facility, otherwise known as a producer, would scout artists on the basis of being creative, expressive, and unique, and seek to bring them under contract. Then, they would go into to the studio hoping to capture that “magic,” and beget a hit record.For a while cultural influence could easily be observed in the fact that there were musically distinct regional dialects. Cities such as New Orleans, Memphis, Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and Detroit all had their own sounds. Styles became more homogenized as the business grew, however.The famous Beatles’ album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” released in 1967, was a watershed for popular music. Rock music was formally elevated from the role of merely serving as ritual dance music to taking on the characteristics of serious art. By the 1970s, much of the rock music arguably had more artistic merit than most of the so-called art music being composed at the time. In fact, some of the rock musicians were refugees from that very scene. However, by the year 1978 an album called “Frampton Comes Alive” by Peter Frampton had shattered previous sales records and attracted the attention of business people who were not at all musically-oriented. These newcomers then began to buy into the music business. As they bought more and more, like all bean-counters, they began to influence the production process. Marketing specialists analyzed and scrutinized every aspect of the business. Rather than relying solely on the talent and creativity of people that could sometimes be unpredictable and difficult to manage, they developed ways to manufacture “hits” and “stars” through engineering and calculated marketing. What this meant, among other things, was that artists lost bargaining power and control over their careers.In the early 1980s MTV hit the scene. The music business adapted to a visual medium. Being that the visual aspects of product viability then equaled or surpassed the musical aspects in importance; and given the influence of other previously mentioned factors related to the new business model, the qualifications of the potential labor pool were significantly reevaluated. For example, why did guitar solos eventually almost disappear from rock and roll? Well, guitar solos are hard to play. From a labor management standpoint, the lower the skill level required, the less bargaining power labor has.There is also the issue of increased media conglomeration, where the same corporation owns the radio stations in every town. This does not encourage the type of market that is conducive to innovation, creativity or free expression.Urban music is dominating the current popular music scene. Back in the day, as it were, when people would ask me if I liked rap music I would reply, “How else can I find out what’s going on in the world?” This was actually before I heard Chuck D describing rap as the “black CNN.”However, I don’t care much for most of today’s big selling rap. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing personal against Young Jeezy. After all, a man has to eat. What I lament is that corporate leeches, people with no interest in the music whatsoever, exploit rap. What was once a culturally-based art form growing out of the courage of those faced with struggles imposed by circumstance is now in large part a packaged culture marketed to people who have never been near an inner city. Why would someone who is born into a situation where they have access to relative safety and economic opportunity wish to trade that for a lifestyle of street violence and crime? For every suburban or small town gangsta’ wannabe, there is likely someone from the projects who would have gladly saved them the embarrassment of all that posing and just traded places with them outright.Additionally, commercialization of rap tends to trivialize the aspects of social criticism in the music that can serve to draw attention to issues that we as a nation need to address.Making money has always been important in the music business. There was a time, however, when the most influential people did actually care about music. Those days are long gone.The real losers in this have been the musical audience, and our culture.Benjamin Harris is a senior guitar performance major and can be reached at dgp2h@mtsu.edu.

MORE than three decades have passed since Joy Division emerged from the cultural rubble of post-industrial Manchester, England to rechannel punk rock’s sound and fury into something more sublime.Over the group’s fleeting, three-year existence, its lyrics connected with fans by conveying emotional isolation and existential despair while the music arrived with the visceral impact of shattering glass. Just 50 Joy Division songs were recorded in all: darkly propulsive rock anthems and atmospheric soundscapes that demonstrate a kind of glacial grandeur, both serene and severe.Now, 27 years after the group’s charismatic lead singer and songwriter, Ian Curtis, hanged himself at age 23, the band is having a “moment.” Which is to say, after years as a cult phenomenon, Joy Division’s influence is suddenly turning up all over pop culture.But why Joy Division? Why now? In an era that has post-punk cultural touchstones such as skinny ties, danceable rock and distrust of the government making a comeback, many of those participating in the band’s revival seem more apt to frame debate around what Joy Division isn’t than to provide a new raison d’être for its current resurgence.”When people revisit it, there’s no cultural kitsch. It’s so pared down, it’s not retro,” said Grant Gee, director of the new documentary “Joy Division.” “Everything about the band has a minimalism that doesn’t age.”Added Anton Corbijn, director of the elegantly shot Curtis biopic “Control”: “Joy Division doesn’t feel fashionable in any way. It defined an era but it doesn’t really come from that era.” On Oct. 19, “Control” will begin its Los Angeles theatrical run. Co-produced and directed by the music-video ace and art photographer, it traces Curtis’ internal conflicts as a married family man who struggled to reconcile his fragmented existence as a rock star and closet intellectual prone to devastating epileptic seizures.”Control” cleaned up at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, winning the Regards Jeunes prize for best first or second directed feature and the Europa Cinema award for best European film being shown out of competition for the Palme d’Or. Last month, music-video helmer Gee’s rockumentary — which details the group’s fast rise and sudden end from the perspective of band members and those close to them — was acquired by the Weinstein Co. at the Toronto Film Festival. Although a release date hasn’t been set, “Joy Division” has caused a stir among band faithful for including a first-ever interview with Annik Honoré, Curtis’ mistress during his final days.Moreover, it’s become almost impossible to turn on modern-rock radio without registering the sonic debt owed Joy Division by a who’s who of buzz bands — most notably, the Killers, She Wants Revenge, Interpol, Bloc Party, the National and Moving Units. “It’s not like the hipsters have united and decided, ‘This is the best band,’ ” said Brian Aubert, singer-guitarist of Silver Lake indie-rock group the Silversun Pickups, which covered Joy Division’s “Shadowplay” on an early demo tape. “It’s always been the best band. A band you found out about through other people. It was never pushed on you.”Until now, that is. Cashing in on the interest, Rhino Records is releasing deluxe editions of Joy Division’s studio albums, “Unknown Pleasures” and “Closer,” and “Still,” a compilation of rare recordings; Joy Division ringtones, a special vinyl box set and the soundtrack to “Control,” which contains unreleased music by the Killers and New Order, the band composed of Joy Division’s three remaining members. Tom Atencio has managed New Order in North America for more than 20 years in addition to administering Joy Division’s catalog on this continent and executive producing “Joy Division.” He places the band’s purity of purpose against the disposable nature of most pop music today. “We live in a time of ‘American Idol’ where, if you’re a kid, you are being force fed pop music that is a direct descendant of a hit from six months ago,” Atencio said. “Yet here’s a band you could trust. They weren’t seeking the idolatry of a rock stage. This music was something they needed to express.”Then there’s something so moving in the sound of the music that people just want to identify with. Something in Ian’s deeply felt lyrics and delivery that’s unbelievably honest. It’s that dog whistle of instant recognition — in an era of branding, here’s a brand you can trust.”CHRIS Ott, who wrote the book “Unknown Pleasures” about the making of Joy Division’s epochal 1979 debut album, places Curtis’ reclaimed relevance in a different context: alongside fellow rock casualties Jim Morrison and Sid Vicious. “Because Ian Curtis killed himself, people can project whatever they want onto his life and music,” Ott said. “He’s not around to tell them otherwise.”To wit, “Control” arrives on the heels of an earlier Joy Division movie: director Michael Winterbottom’s “24 Hour Party People” in 2002. Depicting Manchester’s “Madchester” alternative music scene as it revolved around mogul Tony Wilson’s Factory Records, Curtis is portrayed as a brooding, erratic control freak. But the film angered some Joy Division purists by providing scant motive for the singer’s decision to commit suicide. Blame the dearth of archival Joy Division information — largely because of the notoriously press-averse, socially circumspect Curtis’ habit of singing his mind rather than speaking it — for its continuing mystique. “Bands now, you know every biographical detail,” said Gee. “With Joy Division, there was one audio tape and one major print interview — there are gaps around everything they did. If you’re discovering [the group] now, you have to work to fill in the gaps with your imagination. The image draws you in.”Toward that end, look no further than the fashion runway for evidence that Joy Division’s military-inspired, minimalist “look” — buttoned-up shirts, trench coats, suit trousers and apparent contempt for anything casual or synthetic — is indisputably now. But while rock, film and fashion have been in lock step for decades, the band’s influence has been popping up even further afield. This year, the U.K. Japanese restaurant chain Yo! Sushi began offering a boxed meal named in honor of Joy Division’s most famous song. The Love Will Tear Us Apart salmon and tuna box set includes a selection of nigiri, maki and sashimi as well as a salad topped with a piquant sunomono dressing. And even more incongruously, in April, the sportswear company New Balance commissioned artist Dylan Adair to design two pairs of limited edition Joy Division running shoes, one featuring the iconic pulsar wavelength artwork from the “Unknown Pleasures’ ” album cover. Not necessarily the roll-out you’d expect for a band that takes its name from concentration camp brothels for Nazi soldiers.She Wants Revenge frontman Justin Warfield isn’t convinced, however, that Joy Division’s resurgence is as sudden as it might appear. He ticks off other similar comebacks in recent years for influential underground bands including the Velvet Underground, the Ramones and Gang of Four. Still, Warfield allows that it’s not a coincidence that popular music — and especially indie rock — should take a turn away from frivolousness during wartime.”To me, this is a dire and ominous time, and if Joy Division influences music in no other way than to add a touch of darkness, that’s a great thing,” Warfield said. “There’s so much bright and shiny escapist music right now, we need music to reflect and inspire other emotions.”"I love dark music. But why is Joy Division popular? Because they’re a great band that’s been overlooked for a long time. And great music stands the test of time.”chris.lee@latimes.com

Back in the late 70s, I was working in an office, a place of casual racism and homophobia. I never spoke out against it because I felt I was in a minority and didn’t want the grief. On the streets, the National Front were marching through immigrant neighbourhoods, stirring up trouble and trying to divide communities.

I may well have carried on turning a blind eye were it not for the Clash. When their name was added to the bill of the first Rock Against Racism carnival in April 1978, I knew I had to be there. When I arrived at the rally, in east London, I was amazed to see 100,000 young people just like me - one for every vote the National Front had won in the council elections the year before.

I came away with a strong sense that this was where my generation was going to make its stand. Just as youth in the 50s had marched against the bomb and the longhairs of the 60s had opposed the Vietnam war, we were going to define ourselves in opposition to discrimination in all its forms.

Rock Against Racism was a watershed in the development of multiculturalism in this country and from its celebratory concerts sprang Two Tone, Red Wedge and the world music scene. We fought the narrow-mindedness of the National Front by widening our cultural horizons.

Now, new bands are lining up with Love Music, Hate Racism to take on the resurgent BNP. That heady mix of pop and politics will inspire another generation of songwriters to take on the issues of the day while their detractors carp as they carped of old. But does music make any difference?

Well, it was the music of the Clash that got me to the Rock Against Racism carnival. However, it wasn’t the songs they played that day, or the speeches that were made from the stage that changed my world. It was being in that audience. I went to work the next day determined to speak up against the racists, confident in the knowledge that I was not alone.

Tenor George Dyer and pianist Stratsimir Pavlov will give a recital of operatic and zarazuela arias, art songs and show tunes at 7 p. m. Tuesday at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, 4823 Woodlawn, Little Rock.

The program will include “Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert” by Franz Lehar; “Maria” from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein; “No Puede Ser (La Tabernera Del Puerto )” by zarazuela composer Pablo Sorozabal; the traditional Irish tune “Danny Boy”; “Sure on This Shining Night” by Samuel Barber; “Lenski’s Aria” from the opera Eugene Onegin by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky; classic Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio”; “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables (music by Claude-Michel Schonberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer ); “Music of the Night” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera; “Time to Say Goodbye” by Francesco Sartori and Lucio Quarantotto; and “Nessun dorma” from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini.

The recital is a benefit for the Chotard Institute of Music’s scholarship fund. Tickets are $ 30, $ 10 for students. Call (501 ) 664-7440.

Dyer will also give a master class for institute students and visit music classes in local schools. Vienna Trio

The Vienna Piano Trio — Stefan Mendl, piano; Wolfgang Redik, violin; and Matthias Gredler, cello — will perform at 7: 30 p. m. Monday in Riceland Hall of the Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

The concert is part of the Riceland Distinguished Performance Series.

The program will include the Piano Trio in e minor, Hob. XV / 12, by Franz Joseph Haydn; Piano Trio in g minor, op. 15, by Bedrich Smetana; and the Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, op. 87, by Johannes Brahms.

Tickets are $ 30 and $ 20; $ 23 and $ 15 for ASU faculty and staff, senior citizens and students in grades K-12; $ 10 and $ 6 for ASU students. Call (870 ) 972-2781 or (888 ) 278-3267, or visit the Web site, tickets. astate. edu. UCA winds

The University of Central Arkansas Wind Ensemble will give a concert at 7: 30 p. m. Tuesday in the Reynolds Performance Hall at UCA, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.

The program will include Mother Earth by David Maslanka; After a Gentle Rain by Anthony Iannaccone; Armenian Dances by Alfred Reed; and the Symphony for Band, op. 69, by Vincent Persichetti. Ricky Brooks conducts.

Admission is free.

Call (501 ) 450-5764. Trumpet studio

The University of Arkansas Trumpet Studio will give a recital at 7: 30 p. m. Wednesday in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Building, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

With Kristin Harwell at the piano, Will Nash and Adam Vanderbush will play movements from the Concerto in E-flat major by J. B. G. Neruda; Clint Rhodes will play the “Allegro con brio” movement of Sonate by Thorvald Hansen; Kris Still will play The Hollow Men by Persichetti; Doug Lindsey will play “Nocturne” and “Final” from Concerto by Henri Tomasi; Brian Glass will play the “Allegretto” movement from the Sonata by George Antheil; and Brant Gorham will play The Carnival of Venice by J. B. Arban.

Admission is free. Call (479 ) 575-4701. Breast cancer benefit

Dancer / choreographer Melanie Hymel and her modern dance company, lilium, will perform “Woven Lives / Woven Stories,” at 4: 30 p. m. Thursday in the Dance Studio, Arkansas Hall, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

Hymel will also teach a modern dance master class from 3 to 4: 15 p. m.

Admission to the master class and the performance are free, but donations will be accepted for area breast cancer organizations The Witness Project and Esperanza y Vida. Call (870 ) 230-5168. Weekend auditions

The Weekend Theater will hold auditions for two shows — Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel and Fat Pig by Neil LaBute — at 10 a. m. Nov. 3 and 7 p. m. Nov. 4 at the theater, West Seventh and Chester streets, Little Rock.

Auditions will consist of readings from the scripts; the theater will not make scripts available in advance. There are no roles for children. Production dates are Feb. 22-March 8 for Dancing at Lughnasa, March 28-April 12 for Fat Pig. Call (501 ) 374-3761 or visit the Web site, www. weekend theater. org. Seussical, Jr.

Arkansas Kids, a Northwest Arkansas youth theater group, will stage the musical Seussical, Jr. at 7 p. m. Saturday and 2 p. m. Oct. 14 at the Arend Arts Center, Bentonville High School, 1901 SE J Street, Bentonville.

The musical is a shorter version, primarily for younger performers, of Seussical the Musical, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Flaherty and Ahrens, based on the stories of Dr. Seuss. The cast ranges in age from 5 to 17.

Tickets are $ 10, $ 5 for children 3-12.

Call (479 ) 936-7653 or visit the Web site, www. ar-kids. com. Comedy at Harrison

The Theatre Company and the Ozark Arts Council will stage the comedy Dearly Beloved by Jesse Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten at 7: 30 p. m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p. m. Oct. 14 at the Lyric Theater, 113 W. Rush Ave., Harrison.

Comedy mayhem ensues when the bride and groom turn up missing for their Fayro, Texas, wedding.

Tickets are $ 10, $ 5 for students. Call (870 ) 391-3504 or visit the Web site, www. thelyric harrison. org.

LOS ANGELES —  It seems like Britney Spears has taken the term “Toxic” to a whole new level of loopy, and we are now a “Brit” worried for her well-being in the wake of another warped weekend.

Britney’s first formal family visit since losing custody last week was a diva disaster, TMZ.com reported.

The visitation (which was to be supervised by a parenting counselor) was scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday morning. However, Britney only wanted to hold the reunion at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills.

Ex-husband Kevin Federline’s attorney apparently flipped out and refused the “inappropriate” request. But when K-Fed’s bodyguard took Brit’s babies to her Malibu mansion, he buzzed and waited 40 minutes for the mama, but she was nowhere to be seen.

But our “Crazy” crooner can’t hide for long. She was caught that evening dining on tacos and tostadas at Casa Escobar, a Mexican restaurant in Marina Del Rey (just down the road from estranged cousin Alli’s new apartment — stalking, anyone?)

In spite of her week of scandals, sagas and losing custody of her sons, she told staff that she was “very, very happy” — that was, until her car wouldn’t cruise. After realizing that she was still in park, Brit Brit was finally able to blast off, but for the third night in a row she bumped up to a hotel — this time, The Viceroy in Santa Monica was the lucky location.

Rumors are running rampant about what will become of the storied rock dive-bar the Lager House.

Folks in the music scene and beyond have been hearing for months that the Corktown bar on Michigan Avenue was closing down and would reopen as anything from an Ethiopian restaurant to a blues or jazz club (the most popular rumor).

Better-known bands that have graced the Lager’s stage include the Hard Lessons, the Von Bondies, the Paybacks and the Muggs. Touring bands from as far away as New Zealand have also been booked there.

Some in the downtown rock scene have written off the club, going so far as to say that the bar is “done,” and independent rock music will cease there completely.

“The music is going to be the focus of this place,” says P.J. Ryder, who will close a deal on the club with his partner George Kelly later this month. “This is why George and I got into it. There’ll be independent rock bands, Detroit rock bands, blues, folk. I want to expose a whole bunch of people to a whole bunch of music.”

The Weakly family, which is selling the Lager House, has owned the club for three generations.

Ryder, who was born and raised in Detroit, is best known in the music community for P.J.’s Used Records in Ann Arbor, which he ran for15 years. Kelly owns a bookstore in Dearborn and is a working musician.

The owners say their goals are to put live music in the club nearly every night — as opposed to its recent sporadic schedule — and to improve the atmosphere for customers and musicians alike. The Lager will get new flooring, an updated sound system and better and more accessible restrooms. The staff will be mostly new, and the new owners say they will take a hands-on approach by working in the bar as well as managing it. As of right now, the name of the bar will also stay the same.

Time will tell if the new Lager House will be accepted by the downtown music scene that has sustained it thus far. With the new ownership, musicians and patrons will be trading in some of the freedoms of being in an almost-anything-goes dive bar for certain comforts that they’ve been requesting for years.

“I’ll still go there because it’s another venue that supports local music,” says Eddie Baranek, lead singer and guitarist for Detroit band The Sights. “At the end of the day, you have to let go of the allegiances and the grudges that play out in this city, because you’re a musician first.

“I could care less who owns it, so long as the people are there to see us, and it’s the same room.”

The new owners hope to have a minimal gap in entertainment while the changes are made. For now, bands that want to play the Lager House can stop in later this month and talk to the new owners, or call the bar at (313) 961-4668. Press kits can be mailed to the Lager House at 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI 48226.

You can reach Melody Baetens at (313) 222-2402 or mbaetens@ detnews.com.

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Jive Records) - Jive Records recording artist Britney Spears’ latest hit single ‘Gimme More’ is shaping up to be another worldwide hit. Domestically, within just one week of its release ‘Gimme More’ tops the iTunes Store’s Top Songs chart at No 1 with over 179,000 digital download sales and races up the charts with a meteoric jump from No 68 to No 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. In Australia and Canada the single ranks No 1 on iTunes while entering the Top 20 on the European Top 100 Airplay chart. ‘Gimme More’ is Spears’ highest charting hit since her debut single, ‘…Baby One More Time.’ The ‘Gimme More’ video is scheduled to be on sale exclusively via iTunes on Friday , October 5th and will officially premiere on all other video outlets on Monday, October 8th. Additionally, the song is receiving critical-acclaim. Rolling Stone describes ‘Gimme More’ as ’sleek’ and ‘catchy.’ It was produced by Nate ‘Danja’ Hills, the hit-making producer who has worked with Nelly Furtado, Timbaland and more. The first single from her highly-anticipated album titled Blackout. Britney Spears was very involved in crafting her fifth studio album, Blackout. She collaborated with top-notch producers and songwriters to produce an upbeat album with a nod to past musical influences and an ear toward the future. The album includes songs such as ‘Heaven on Earth,’ produced by promising newcomer Freescha and Kara DioGuardi whose credits include Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Walk Away.’ People magazine describes the songs as ‘and early fave… a throwback to [the] ‘I Feel Love’ era Donna Summer.’ Entertainment Weekly says the 25-year old singer ‘unleashes a more grown-up’ sound, evidenced on ‘Radar’ produced by the Swedish team Bloodshy & Avant, the duo behind Spears’ Grammy-winning ‘Toxic.’ Bloodshy & Avant also produced the much-talked about ‘Piece of Me’ which is one of her most ‘fierce’ and ‘personal’ songs with poignant lyrics according to EW. The album title, Blackout refers to blocking out negativity and embracing life fully and captures the dance-friendly nature of the songs. Britney Spears is one of the top-selling artists of the last decade, ever since her 14x platinum selling debut album …Baby One More Time (1999), she has led the resurgence of pop music and instantly changed the musical landscape. To date, she has sold in excess of 83 million units worldwide and has influenced the pop world with an ever-changing mix of cutting edge sound and forward thinking videos. With multi-platinum album sales that include Oops!…I Did It Again (2000), Britney (2001), and In The Zone (2003), seven No 1 worldwide singles and four consecutive No 1 albums, Spears is part of a rarified group of top-selling female artists in the SoundScan era that include multi-platinum superstars Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Shania Twain.

I knew I was going to like Karmina the minute I heard the band's first single "The Kiss." The title track of their five-track EP illustrates exactly what people love about pop music.

With a catchy melody, fun music, and Karmina's sweet voices, "The Kiss" is sure to win the ears and hearts of listeners. It's better than anything other popular two-girl-bands, such as M2M or The Veronicas, ever released. The way Karmina's going, I'm sure it will be much more successful, too. Karmina is made up of sisters Kelly and Kamille, who write their own songs and already have plenty of experience under their belts. When Kamille was younger, she worked with veteran producer David Foster and performed with a younger Josh Groban at various high-profile fundraisers. Kelly and Kamille have competed in various music and songwriting competitions, such as the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and the San Francisco Concerto Orchestra Competition among others. The sisters even won the California State Vocal Competition 27 times! Their first national exposure came when they competed and won in Disney Channel's "Two Hour Tour," which later led to Darren Hayes of Savage Garden mentoring the girls and selecting them to open for his band at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. All that experience and they are only 23 and 21 years old respectively!There is much to admire about Karmina, but I love the fact that the sisters write their own songs and that these songs are amazing. Other than the catchy title track of their album, The Kiss, they have four other beautiful tracks all of which I really like as well.

"Free" is a song that really touches you with its emotion and the keyboard and guitar melodies in this track haunt you with their bitter sweetness. "Stay" is a vocal-focused song, and shows the emotional power of the girls' voices. "The Whoa Song" is very sweet, melodious, fun, sexy, and seductive all at once. My favorite track in this album is "Inside of You", which is soft, dreamy, and so hauntingly beautiful that all I can do when I listen to this track is close my eyes and let it take me into a fantasy world where I'm a princess waiting for my prince to come rescue me.Karmina's The Kiss is a wonderful album of dreams brought to life. It showcases sisters Kelly's and Kamille's amazing musical talents in both instrument and voice.

The album is full of fun and catchy melodies, and the sisters' voices are beautiful and emotionally-packed. If you enjoy M2M or The Veronicas, you will love Karmina much more. There is more depth to Karmina's music that you don't find in the other bands.

Sometimes if you don’t have something nice to say, it’s better to say nothing at all.

That’s advice that rocker Kid Rock either never got or has decided to ignore.

The Motor City bad boy was on”Over the weekend, your ex-wife Pamela Anderson got married,” said Letterman.

“I wish somebody would have given me the advice that I’d like to give her husband,” Kid Rock said. “‘Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?’”Rock is currently out on a short club tour to promote his latest album, “Rock N Roll Jesus,” out Tuesday. He said that he plans to hit the road for a bigger tour later this year.

Last November Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, 36, and Anderson, 40, filed for divorce, after less than four months of marriage.

He has made other public statements denigrating his ex-wife recently, including an accusation she faked a miscarriage as a cry for attention shortly before they filed for divorce.

Anderson posted a message on her Web site in September saying she did not want to get drawn into a public battle with Ritchie.

“He’s bitter,” she wrote. “It’s sad to see. I don’t want to battle with him. I wish him the best. I’d hate to point out habits I had a hard time with. They are personal to him and that’s why we are not together. These are desperate attempts. I’ve moved on.”