Succes 2011: Sonny Rollins, jazz living legend

Theodore "Sonny" Rollins ((born in 1930) is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", and "Airegin", have become jazz standards.
Rollins received his first saxophone at age 13.
Rollins started as a pianist, changed to alto saxophone, and finally switched to tenor in 1946. During his high-school years, he played in a band with other future jazz legends Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor. He was first recorded in 1949 with Babs Gonzales ( J.J Johnson was the arranger of the group). In his recordings through 1954, he played with performers such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.
Rollins began to make a name for himself in 1949 as he recorded with J.J Johnson and with Bud Powell (in a famous session that is regarded as one of the first example of what would be later called "Hard Bop"), with Miles Davis in 1951, with the Modern Jazz Quartet and Thelonious Monk in 1953 , but the breakthrough arrived in 1954 when he recorded his famous compositions "Oleo" "Airegin" and "Doxy" with a quintet led by Davis. Rollins then joined the Clifford Brown–Max Roach quintet in 1955 (recordings made by this group have been released as Sonny Rollins Plus 4 and Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street; Rollins also plays on half of More Study in Brown), and after Brown's death in 1956 worked mainly as a leader.

Rollins was elected to the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1973.

Donald Fagen can be seen playing Rollins' 1958 LP Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders on the cover of his 1982 LP The Nightfly, while Joe Jackson replicated the cover photo for his 1984 A&M album Body and Soul as homage to the 1957 Blue Note album Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2.

In The Simpsons episode 12 season 5, the jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy makes his appearance playing his saxophone on a bridge in the middle of the night. This is a homage to Sonny Rollins, who famously retired from public and was not seen for three years, until a journalist discovered him playing the saxophone alone on the Williamsburg Bridge.

Rollins provided the soundtrack to the 1966 version of Alfie. His 1965 residency at Ronnie Scott's legendary jazz club has recently emerged on CD as Live in London, a series of releases from the Harkit label; they offer a very different picture of his playing from the studio albums of the period.

Succes 2011: Katey Sagal. Cui i-e frică de Peggy Bundy?

Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is well known for portraying Peggy Bundy on Married... with Children, the voice of Turanga Leela on Futurama, Cate S. Hennessy on 8 Simple Rules, and Gemma Teller Morrow on Sons of Anarchy, for which she won a Golden Globe in 2011.

Sagal began her career working the Hollywood circuit. She appeared in several made for TV movies between 1971 and 1975, including a small role as a receptionist in the Columbo film Candidate for Crime (directed by her father) and in 1973 working as a backing vocalist for various singers, including Bob Dylan and Tanya Tucker.

In 1978, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons asked her to sing background vocals on his self-titled solo album. During this time she was also a member of the rock group The Group With No Name. She also sang backup for Bette Midler, who hired her for her 1979 tour as one of The Harlettes.

Sagal returned to television in 1985 in the television series Mary starring Mary Tyler Moore. This led to her being cast as Peggy Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997). She portrayed the lower-class, sex-starved wife of shoe salesman Al Bundy. During her audition for the role, Sagal brought her own red bouffant wig and with the producers' approval, the look transitioned into the show. As Peg, she wore the wig, capri-length leggings with a large belt, and high slip-on heels, which were all fashion styles from the 1960s. Sagal's career focused strongly on this series for its 11-year run.

After the end of Married... with Children, several more television films followed, and she also contributed to the children's cartoon Recess as the voice of Spinelli's mother. In 1999, Matt Groening cast her as the purple-haired, cyclopian spaceship captain, Turanga Leela, in his science fiction cartoon comedy Futurama. The show developed a cult following, but was canceled after four seasons. However, airings in syndication on Adult Swim and Comedy Central increased the show's popularity and led Comedy Central to commission a series of Futurama direct-to-DVD films, which the network later rebroadcast as 16 episodes.

Autografe în marmură. De 135 de ori Brâncuși. Un "formalist burghez cosmopolit" înfierat cu mânie proletară de realismul socialist

Născut în data de 19 februarie 1876, Constantin este al cincilea copil al lui Nicolae și Maria Brâncuși. Prima clasă primară o face la Peștișani, apoi continuă școala la Brădiceni. Copilăria este marcată de dese plecări de acasă și ani lungi de ucenicie în ateliere de boiangerie, prăvălii și birturi.

După ce a urmat Școala de Arte și Meserii în Craiova (1894 - 1898) vine la București unde absolvă Școala de Belle-Arte în 1902. În timpul studenției, chiar în primul an, în 1898, lucrarea sa Bustul lui Vitellius obține "mențiune onorabilă", Cap al lui Laocoon din 1900 obține medalia de bronz, iar Studiu din 1901, câștigă medalia de argint. Timp de doi ani, între 1900 și 1902, cu ajutorul doctorului Dimitrie Gerota, realizează Ecorșeu, un studiu pentru reprezentarea corpului omenesc, lucrare căreia i se atribuie o medalie de bronz. Precizia detaliilor acestei lucrări va face ca Ecorșeul să fie folosit în școlile românești de medicină, după ce se vor face câteva copii, iar Marcel Duchamp va include fotografia Ecorșeului în expoziția pe care o va organiza la sfârșitul anului 1933 la Galeria Brummer din New York City.

Până în 1940, activitatea creatoare a lui Brâncuși se desfășoară în toată amploarea ei. Operele sale de seamă din ciclul Pasărea în văzduh, ciclul Ovoidului precum și sculpturile în lemn datează din această perioadă. În același timp, Brâncuși participă la cele mai importante expoziții colective de sculptură din Statele Unite ale Americii, Franța, Elveția, Olanda, Anglia.


În atelierul său din Impasse Ronsin, în inima Parisului, Brâncuși și-a creat o lume a lui, cu un cadru și o atmosferă românească. Muzeul Național de Artă Modernă din Paris (Centre Pompidou) are un număr important de lucrări ale lui Brâncuși, lăsate prin testament moștenire României, dar acceptate cu bucurie de Franța, împreună cu tot ce se afla în atelierul său, după refuzul guvernului comunist al României anilor 1950 de a accepta lucrările lui Brâncuși după moartea sculptorului. Statul român nu va pierde numai o mostenire spirituală, ci și sute de milioane de dolari.


În România, în epoca realismului socialist, Brâncuși a fost contestat ca unul din reprezentanții formalismului burghez cosmopolit. Totuși, în decembrie 1956, la Muzeul de Artă al Republicii din București s-a deschis prima expoziție personală Brâncuși din Europa. Abia în 1964 Brâncuși a fost „redescoperit” în România ca un geniu național și, în consecință, ansamblul monumental de la Târgu-Jiu cu Coloana (recunoștinței) fără sfârșit, Masa tăcerii și Poarta sărutului a putut fi amenajat și îngrijit, după ce fusese lăsat în paragină un sfert de veac și fusese foarte aproape de a fi fost dărâmat.


Citat favorit:"Il y a des imbéciles qui définissent mon œuvre comme abstraite, pourtant ce qu'ils qualifient d'abstrait est ce qu'il y a de plus réaliste, ce qui est réel n'est pas l'apparence mais l'idée, l'essence des choses."

Succes 2011: Charlie Watts şi Rolling Stones. Un jazzman în Modern Drummer Hall of Fame

Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts is an English drummer, known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, as well as a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder.

Charlie Watts was born to Charles Watts, a lorry driver for a precursor of British Rail and his wife Lilian (née Eaves) at University College Hospital, London, and raised (along with his sister Linda) in Islington and then Kingsbury. He attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, cricket and football.

Watts's parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz, and would practice drumming along with jazz records he collected. After completing secondary school, he enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company, and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs. In 1961 he met Alexis Korner, who invited him to join his band, Blues Incorporated. At that time Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner's offer when he returned to London in February 1962.

Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated as well as working at the advertising firm of Charles, Hobson, and Grey. It was in mid-1962 that Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian "Stu" Stewart, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs; but it wasn't until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join the Rolling Stones.

Watts has been involved in many activities outside his high-profile life as a member of the Rolling Stones. In 1964, he published a cartoon tribute to Charlie Parker entitled Ode to a High Flying Bird. Although he has made his name in rock, his personal tastes focus on jazz; in the late 70s, he joined Ian "Stu" Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK's top jazz, rock and R&B musicians. In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine, and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88. In 1991, he organised a jazz quintet as another tribute to Charlie Parker. 1993 saw the release of Warm And Tender, by the Charlie Watts Quintet, which included vocalist Bernard Fowler. This same group then released Long Ago And Far Away in 1996. Both records included a collection of Great American Songbook standards. After a successful collaboration with Jim Keltner on The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon, Charlie and Jim released a techno/instrumental album called simply Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project. Featuring the names of his favourite jazz drummers, Charlie stated that even though the tracks bore such names as the "Elvin Suite" in honour of the late Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, they were not copying their style of drumming, but rather, capturing a feeling by those artists. Watts At Scott's was recorded with his group, The Charlie Watts Tentet, at the famous jazz club in London, Ronnie Scott's. In April 2009 he started to do concerts with "The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie" together with pianists Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters plus his childhood friend Dave Green on bass.

Besides his musical creativity, he contributed graphic art to early records such as the Between the Buttons record sleeve and was responsible for the 1975 tour announcement press conference in New York City. The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic; a gimmick AC/DC copied later the same year, Status Quo repeated the trick for the 1984 video to "The Wanderer" and U2 would later emulate it in the 2004 video for "All Because of You". Watts remembered this was a common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates. Moreover, with Jagger, he designed the elaborate stages for tours, first contributing to the lotus-shaped design of that 1975 Tour of the Americas, as well as the 1989–1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour, the 1997 Bridges to Babylon Tour, the 2002-2003 Licks Tour, and the 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang Tour.

There are many instances where Jagger and Richards have lauded Watts as the key member of The Rolling Stones. Richards went so far as to say in a 2005 Guitar Player magazine interview that the Rolling Stones would not be, or could not continue as, the Rolling Stones without Watts. An example of Watts's importance was demonstrated in 1993, after Bill Wyman had left the band. After auditioning several bassists, Jagger and Richards asked Watts to choose the new bass player.[citation needed] Watts selected the respected session musician Darryl Jones, who had previously been a sideman for both Miles Davis and Sting.[citation needed]

In 1989, the Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the July 2006 issue of Modern Drummer, Watts was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame along with Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Steve Gadd, Buddy Rich and other highly esteemed drummers.

Succes 2011: Stan Tracey, jazz living legend

Stanley William Tracey is a British jazz pianist and composer, most influenced by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.

The Second World War meant that Tracey had a disrupted formal education, and he became a professional musician at the age of sixteen as a member of an ENSA touring group playing the accordion, his first instrument. He joined Ralph Reader’s Gang Shows at the age of nineteen, while in the RAF and formed a brief acquaintance with the comedian Tony Hancock. Later, in the early 1950s he worked in groups on the transatlantic cruise liners Queen Mary and Cardonia and toured the UK in 1951 with Cab Calloway. By the mid-‘fifties, he had also taken up the vibraphone, but later ceased playing it. At this time he worked widely with leading British modernists including drummer Tony Crombie, clarinettist Vic Ash, the saxophonist-arranger Kenny Graham and trumpeter Dizzy Reece.


The early 1970s were a bleak time for Tracey. Around 1970, he almost chose to retrain as a postman under pressure from the Unemployment Benefits’ office – “I would have quite a good pension by now” he quips – but his wife Jackie, formerly involved in public relations, took a more direct role in the development of Tracey's career.

He began to work with musicians of a later generation, who worked in a free or avant-garde style, including Mike Osborne, Keith Tippett and John Surman. Tracey continued to work in this idiom with Evan Parker at the UK’s Appleby Jazz Festival for several years, but this has always been more of a sideline for Tracey, who said that he "took more out of free music into the mainstream than I did from mainstream into free".

In the mid-seventies he formed his own record label, Steam and through it reissued Under Milk Wood (the major label which held the rights to it had allowed it to fall out of print). Over the next decade he also used the outlet to issue recordings of a number of commissioned suites. These included The Salisbury Suite (1978), The Crompton Suite (1981) and The Poets Suite (1984).

He led his own octet from 1976-85 and formed a sextet in 1979 (later called Hexad), touring widely in the middle east and India. In this context he had a longstanding performance partnership from 1978 with saxophonist (and physician) Art Themen, and his own son, the percussionist Clark Tracey, the latter continuing until this day. He was able to share the billing with arranger Gil Evans in a 1978 concert at the Royal Festival Hall, such was Tracey’s pre-eminence in the UK. In private, he played for Evans, Ellington recordings that he had not previously heard. He continued to record with American musicians on occasion as well, with dates taking place with Sal Nistico in 1985 and Monk associate, Charlie Rouse in 1987.

The Steam label ceased trading in the early ‘nineties, reportedly because of difficulties caused by the retail trade's need for its inventory to carry the barcode. However, in 1992 he benefited from Blue Note’s brief interest in UK musicians, leading to the Portraits Plus album and the commercial issue of the BBCs recording of the concert commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Tracey’s first professional gig, as well as Under Milk Wood’s debut on CD.

In 1995 his new quartet featuring Gerard Presencer recorded the For Heaven’s Sake album and also performed gigs together. In 2003 Tracey was the subject of a BBC Television documentary Godfather of British Jazz, a rare accolade nowadays for any jazz musician, let alone one from Britain. Tracey's catalogue from the LP era is being reissued on ReSteamed Records.

Already an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

Succes 2011: Ágnes Szávay, professional tennis player from Hungary

Ágnes Szávay is a professional tennis player from Hungary. She is the country's highest ranked tennis player. She was the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2007. She achieved her career high ranking of World No. 13 on April 14, 2008.
Szávay was born in Kiskunhalas, Hungary and grew up in Soltvadkert, Hungary. She started to play tennis at the age of six, with her parents acting as her first coaches and managers. Her previous coaches were Zoltán Újhidy, Levente Barátosi, Miklós Hornok, József Bocskay and Zoltán Kuharszky. Currently, her coach is Karl-Heinz Wetter. She has a younger sister, Blanka, who is five years younger than her and currently plays on the junior circuit.


Szávay trained intensely during the off-season, and started to play better than she had been in 2010. At the Brisbane International, she reached the second round beating Peng Shuai before losing to Daniela Hantuchová 6–3 6–1 . At the Sydney International, where she qualified to reach the main draw. She won her first round match again, beating Jelena Janković 5–7, 6–1, 7–5 for her first top ten win since defeating Venus Williams at the 2009 French Open before losing in a close two-set match to Aravane Rezaï in the second round. She finished the month at the 2010 Australian Open reaching the second round again, beating Stéphanie Dubois before falling to sixteenth seed Li Na 3–6, 7–5, 6–2 (Szávay led 4–2 and held two match points in the second set).

Szávay then played the 2010 Open GDF Suez and reached her first quarterfinal of the year. Szávay beat Olga Govortsova (who retired with illness) and Petra Martić before losing to Melanie Oudin 2–6, 6–4, 6–2. Next was the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL in Acapulco, Mexico. Ágnes was the second seed and played well to reach the quarterfinals, beating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 2–6, 6–1, 6–3 and Renata Voráčová 7–5, 6–1 however she was forced to retire while trying eighth-seeded Polona Hercog in the quarterfinals 6–4, 0–1 due to a left adductor strain. She also competed in the doubles tournament with Gisela Dulko, however they lost in the first round to Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 6–3, 6–3.


Ágnes continued by playing the Monterrey Open as the fifth seed, she defeated Germans Julia Görges 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 andAnna-Lena Grönefeld 6–1, 6–7 (4), 6–1. However, she fell in the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Dominika Cibulková 3–6, 6–3, 6–3. She then played at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open and 2010 Sony Ericsson Open reaching the third round of both events losing to Carla Suárez Navarro and Svetlana Kuznetsova. At the European Clay season she fell to Dinara Safina 7–6(5) 3–6 6–0 n the second round of the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and suffered a back to back loss at the 2010 Estoril Open and 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, which caused her to drop out of the top 40. At the 2010 French Open, she lost to Nadia Petrova 6–1 6–2 in the second round.


At the Grass season Szávay played at the 2010 AEGON International losing to Marion Bartoli in he second round. And at the 2010 Wimbledon she was lost to Ekaterina Makarova in the very first round 6–4 7–6(2). However she followed it up with back-to-back titles in 2010 GDF SUEZ Grand Prix upsetting Alexandra Dulgheru in the semifinals 6–1, 5–7, 7–5 and a repeat of last year's final defeating Patty Schnyder 6–2, 6–4 and in 2010 ECM Prague Open defeating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 6–2, 1–6, 6–2.

Agnes missed 2011 Australian Open and Australian season because of illness. Her next scheadule tournament was 2011 Open GDF Suez but she withdrew because of back injury. Agnes came back at 2011 BNP Paribas Open. There she won her first match in nearly five months by beating American veteran Jill Craybas. She will play against Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.

Succes 2011: Howard Webb, primul arbitru care a condus în acelaşi an finalele UEFA Champions League şi FIFA World Cup

Howard Melton Webb, MBE, (born 14 July 1971) is an English football referee who officiates in the Premier League and has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005.

Webb is counted amongst the top referees of all time by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), and has refereed the final of both the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup, being the first person to referee both matches in the same year.

Webb has drawn praise for his authoritative and respected approach to refereeing, from football bodies, pundits, colleagues, players, and managers including José Mourinho who said, "he is a man who seems to get the big decisions right".
Webb first took up refereeing in local Rotherham leagues in 1989. In 1993, he progressed to the Northern Counties East League as an assistant referee, becoming a referee for that league two years later.

In 1996, he was appointed as a Football League assistant referee, and, in 1998, fulfilled the same function in the Premier League, as well as being promoted to the Football Conference as a referee. He is a police officer with South Yorkshire Police but took a five-year sabbatical leave to concentrate on his refereeing.

In 2000, he was included on the National List of Football League referees, stepping up to the Select Group for the Premier League three years later. His first game in the top tier of English football was on 18 October 2003, when he took charge of the 0–0 draw between Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was appointed as a FIFA official in 2005.

Webb bore a one-week demotion from officiating in the Premier League down to the Football League Championship in April 2009, a punishment sporadically imposed on referees who make high-profile contentious errors. Webb had been earlier been appointed to referee the year's FA Cup Final, arguably the highest domestic honour for an official, when he awarded Manchester United a debatable penalty kick while they trailed 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. The penalty was converted and United went on to win the match 5-2. Webb later admitted he had made "a mistake" but had made the decision "honestly".

Since then, Webb has been appointed to referee some of the world's highest-profile football matches, including an FA Cup Final, a UEFA Champions League Final and a FIFA World Cup Final. Following in this section are some key matches Webb has refereed in his career since being promoted to the Premier League and FIFA list of referees.

RIP Gary Moore

Gary Moore died on 6 February 2011 while on holiday in Estepona, Spain.


Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011), known as simply Gary Moore, was a musician best recognized as a blues rock guitarist and singer from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey as early as his secondary school days, leading him to membership with the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, Colosseum II, Greg Lake and Skid Row (not to be confused with the glam metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.
Moore also played live with George Harrison in the last performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", performing the solo lead that Eric Clapton traditionally played through the years.

Succes 2011: Dean Young & Blondie comic strip

Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930. The success of the strip, which features a well-endowed blonde and her sandwich-loving husband, led to the long-running Blondie film series (1938–1950) and the popular Blondie radio program (1939–1950).

Chic Young drew Blondie until his death in 1973, when creative control passed to his son Dean Young, who continues to write the strip. Young has collaborated with a number of artists on Blondie, including Jim Raymond, Mike Gersher, Stan Drake, Denis Lebrun and currently, John Marshall. Through these changes, Blondie has remained popular, appearing in more than 2000 newspapers in 47 countries and translated into 35 languages, as of 2010. Blondie has been available via email through King Features' DailyINK service since 2006