Music

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CD Roundup

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Sunday January 11, 2009, 7:46 AM

The late Notorious B.I.G. gets the biopic treatment in the movie "Notorious," coming out Jan. 16. The rapper's hits also make up the bulk of the movie's soundtrack, due in stores a few days earlier.

Also included are new songs by Jay-Z (with Santogold) and Jadakiss (with Faith Evans), three Notorious B.I.G. demos, and a posthumous duet with his son, Christopher Wallace Jr., on "One More Chance."

Here are listings and links for this album and other notable upcoming releases.

JAN. 13

Superchunk: "The Clambakes, Vol. 4: Sur La Bouche -- Live in Montreal, 1993," (Merge)

Derek Trucks Band: "Already Free" (Sony BMG)

Various Artists: "Notorious: Music Inspired By the Motion Picture" (Bad Boy/Atlantic)

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Concert Roundup

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Friday January 09, 2009, 4:30 PM

Guy KokkenSteve Wynn performs Jan. 16 at The Saint in Asbury Park

Veteran singer-songwriters Steve Wynn (formerly of the moody alt-rock band, Dream Syndicate) and Willie Nile will be among the performers at a benefit for radio station 90.5 The Night, taking place at 8 p.m. Jan. 16 at The Saint, 601 Main St., Asbury Park. Wynn will be performing with his current band, The Miracle 3.

The show will also celebrate the Jeff Raspe's 20 years in radio; Raspe is the music director at 90.5 The Night (WBJB-FM), the public radio station at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, and also works as a DJ there.

Here are listings and links for this show, and other notable concerts coming up over the next six months:

Jan. 12, 8 p.m.: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, New York

Jan. 13, 8 p.m.: Boz Scaggs, Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood

Jan. 13, 7 p.m.: "On Your Radar", with Amy Correia, Kenny White and The Refugees (Cindy Bullens, Deborah Holland and Wendy Waldman), The Living Room, New York

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Benefit Concert for Russ Moy

by Zan Stewart/The Star-Ledger

Friday January 09, 2009, 4:23 PM

Singers Pam Purvis and Laura Hull, saxophonist and comedian John "Muzzy" Napadano, and harmonica whiz and blues singer Rob Paparozzi are among the top artists taking part in a benefit for drummer and educator Russ Moy tomorrow, 2 to 5 p.m., at the Bickford Theatre, Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road at Columbia Turnpike (county road 510), Morristown. Jersey-based Moy has severe health issues and proceeds from the affair will aid with medical expenses. Others on tap include pianist Rio Clemente, saxophonist Bob Ackerman and drummer Fred Taylor. $25. Call (973) 971-3706 or visit morrismuseum.org.

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NPR to preview Springsteen album

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Friday January 09, 2009, 3:19 PM

ARISTIDE ECONOMOPOULOS/THE STAR-LEDGERBruce Springsteen sings at December's Hope IV concert at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank.

A National Public Radio spokesman has confirmed that the network's Web site will offer an exclusive, free stream of Bruce Springsteen's upcoming album, "Working On a Dream," beginning at midnight Jan. 19.

This is a week ahead of the album's official release, Jan. 27; the album can be heard on the web site from midnight Jan. 19 until then.

Springsteen has already previewed several tracks from the album, via the Internet.

Archive of Bruce Springsteen photos

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Not his best is beyond good enough

by Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger

Friday January 09, 2009, 2:19 PM

ROOTS-ROCK SUMMIT
"Already Free"
The Derek Trucks Band
(Sony BMG)

He's not even 30, but Derek Trucks has nothing left to prove. The 29-year-old guitarist (who is the nephew of original Allman Brothers Band member Butch Trucks) has been holding his own as an Allman Brothers Band member since 1999. He also has been releasing albums under his own name since 1997, dazzling with his ability to fuse elements of jazz and world music with blues and rock. In 1994, when he was 24, Rolling Stone magazine named him one of the Top 100 guitarists of all time.

His sixth studio album with his Derek Trucks Band, "Already Free," is a casually virtuosic roots-rock album. It's not as adventurous as his best past work, but it's consistently tasteful and tuneful.

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