Latest news with #Latin-influenced
The Herald Scotland
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year announced
First place in the 2025 Solo Performer of the Year was awarded to Dunfermline High School student Inver Shand, who took up the accordion at the age of six. He performed two pieces as part of his seven-minute submission: the first was Carnevale, a challenging, Latin-influenced contemporary arrangement by Italian jazz musician and composer Renzo Ruggieri; the second piece was his own take on Phil Cunningham's much-loved and hugely atmospheric Loch Katrine's Lady. Inver drew praise for the speed and intricacy of his playing. (Image: Ian Georgeson) Hailing from a hugely musical family, in recent years Shand has performed in both France and Portugal, and has also collected numerous other awards. With his older brother Clelland and sister Blythe, he is part of 'The Shands' – a musical group recognised as Up and Coming Artist of the Year in 2023, and which was invited to perform during King Charles' visit to Dunfermline Abbey. Last year, Shand also won Senior All Scotland Accordion Championships despite being just sixteen years old, which is the lower age limit for the competition. Runner-up positions for Solo Performer of the Year were awarded to James Rippiner from Aberdeenshire and Aeronwy Gault from East Dunbartonshire. Violinist James Rippiner was an overall runner up and the winner of the strings category (Image: Ian Georgeson) Fourteen-year-old Rippiner of Banchory Academy was recognised following an impeccable violin performance featuring two pieces: Nocturne in C-sharp minor by Frederic Chopin and It Ain't Necessarily So from the opera Porgy and Bess. READ MORE In the other runner-up slot, fifteen-year-old Gault earned praise for a controlled, dynamic, and hugely expressive performance of La Cathedrale Engloutie from Claude Debussy's Preludes Book 1. A student at the Music School of Douglas Academy, she also plays both the violin and the harpsichord and is about to perform her first Keyboard Concerto. Aeronwy Gault's performance of a Debussy prelude earned her a runner up spot (Image: Ian Georgeson) The national final marked the culmination of a programme that, for the first time, included entrants from state schools in every local authority across the country. Each council area, as well as the independent schools sector, submitted a regional winner, all of whom then had the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience in the Stevenson Hall of the RCS. Alan Kerr, Chair of Scottish Young Musicians, said: 'Today marks an important milestone in Scottish Young Musicians history. From a standing start only four years ago, SYM has grown at a remarkable speed, and for the first time will have a talented finalist from all of Scotland's 32 local authority areas performing in the Solo Final. 'This represents the finale of an incredible year which saw our Festival of Music Competitions being offered to every secondary school. The brass and open ensemble competition have come of age to have their very own electrifying live final. 'Overall, hundreds of individual events included thousands of students from all backgrounds and levels of ability, making SYM the largest music education charity in the country. 'I am extremely grateful to the team that made this possible, and we are all energised to start again next year with the ambition to grow SYM even more, bringing opportunities and experiences to young people everywhere in Scotland.'
Irish Daily Star
28-04-2025
- Irish Daily Star
'My cousin's baby sounds more like a stripper – they picked an unfortunate name'
A woman was slammed for giving her baby a name that makes her sound more like a 'stripper'. Her family intervened after hearing she'd named her daughter Sextina – to be pronounced Seh-Tina. However, the moniker was quickly mistaken for Sex-Tina by strangers. This sparked concern – with the new mum's cousin taking to Reddit for advice on the baby name . She said: "We're Latino, so I asked my mum if it was supposed to be said with an accent but no. Her parents were fully Americanized so they weren't even pronouncing it with an accent or had any sort of 'mistranslation' excuse. They were just trying to be yoo-nique and different. They thought Christina was too plain. "The entire family was against it and bullied the cr*p out of Sextina's mum until she finally changed it when the kid was about two-years-old. I don't know what the new name is but it was normal." The family started to nicknaming the child 'Sexy' simply to prove a point and push her into changing her daughter's name before she started school. And thankfully, this seems to have done the trick in convincing the parents to change it. The Redditor added: "Spoke to my mum and she clarified that they (the parents) were calling her Sexy, which the rest of the family/everyone they met hated to the point someone called CPS (child protection services.) "Mum's not sure if it was family or the paediatrician because apparently the doctors/nurses at her check-ups did not like that. "According to the parents they didn't mean it in a sexual way but as a cute nickname. Like Richard turns into Dick which turns into Dicky. But… .obviously that didn't work here. "Accusations were thrown around but luckily they weren't actually abusing their kid. They were just really, really dumb. So the mum changed the name to avoid the accusations." In the comments section, people were relieved that the family had changed the baby name. They worried the child would be 'haunted' by Sextina for years – so it seems to be a good decision all round. Why is the name Sextina trending? The name "Sextina" is quite unusual and not commonly found among traditional or modern baby names. It doesn't have a widely recognized origin or meaning in most naming traditions. However, the name gained some attention in recent years due to its use in popular culture. "Sextina Aquafina" is a fictional character from the animated TV show "BoJack Horseman" on Netflix . In the series, Sextina Aquafina is a satirical portrayal of a pop star and celebrity, depicted as a sentient pink dolphin. She's an over-the-top satire of modern-day celebrities and the music industry, known for releasing provocative songs with humorous and absurd lyrics. Because of this, the name Sextina is often associated with this satirical character rather than as a traditional baby name. The name 'Sextina' could arguably be a play on other names like "Christina" or traditional Latin-influenced names ending in '-tina.' However, the beginning "Sex-" intentionally draws a provocative and edgy vibe, fitting the exaggerated persona of Sextina Aquafina in the show.
CBS News
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Jazz bass giant Stanley Clarke brings band to Yoshi's in Oakland
Legendary jazz bass player Stanley Clarke returns to Yoshi's for a three-night run with his latest band starting Friday night. One of the most prodigiously talented bassists to emerge during the '70s, Clarke was born and raised in Philadelphia, moving to New York after graduating from the Philadelphia Musical Academy. He would play with an array of established jazz greats including Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dave Brubeck, Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders and Stan Getz. It was working with Getz that put Clarke in contact with keyboard player Chick Corea, who would become one of his major collaborators. While widely recognized as a gifted young bass player, Clarke would rise to star status as part of Corea's band Return to Forever. Initially playing a Latin-influenced style of mostly acoustic jazz (save for Corea's Fender Rhodes electric piano), the group would go full fusion on the 1973 album Hymn to the Seventh Galaxy. Broadening the vocabulary of the electric bass with his groundbreaking slap-and-pop technique that expanded on the style borrowed from Sly and the Family Stone innovator Larry Graham, Clarke rose to become of the jazz world's preeminent virtuosos on the instrument. The group would reach greater heights after the 19-year-old six-string phenom Al DiMeola replaced departing guitarist Bill Connor for a run of best-selling, influential fusion albums starting with Where Have I Known You Before in 1974. Clarke would stay busy through the '70s between his successful solo career -- his albums Journey to Love and School Days remain jazz-funk landmarks -- and extensive collaborations with players like guitar hero Jeff Beck and keyboardist George Duke. Clarke would later find another creative outlet as a respected soundtrack composer (including such hit movies as Boyz N The Hood, the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got To Do With It, Romeo Must Die and The Transporter, but he has remained active as both a recording artist and touring musician, branching out by playing on two Paul McCartney albums in the early '80s and teaming with Police drummer Steward Copeland in the rock band Animal Logic. More recently, Clarke participated in the Return to Forever reunion that produced several live recordings and led a jazz power trio featuring Japanese pianist Hiromi and his RTF bandmate Lenny White on drums. While the Yoshi's website doesn't provide details on the current band he's touring with, Clarke's latest ensemble N 4EVER with drummer Jeremiah Collier, guitarist Colin Cook, pianist Beka Gochiashvili and saxophonist Emilio Modeste has explored a mix of Return to Forever songs and Clarke originals.
