By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - On Thursday I published a short note from my friend John Brock about their new rock band called Halodog that will be playing at the Rockin' Gorilla on Saturday night, 7 March 2009. What I didn't know at the time is the word "halodog" is used by the "Halo Disciples of Gaming" group (for those who play Halo 3 on the xbox360, for example.) In addition, it's also a brand of dog food. Surprisingly enough, less than 48 hours after publication, the article about the band is now in two of the top ten spots if you do a Google search for the word "halodog." This actually happens a lot - as soon as I publish something containing a few keywords, that article rockets to the top of the search engines. Please remember that when you're considering advertising on Panama-Guide, and thanks. Now, let's see how long it takes for this article to snap right up there... You're welcome, John.

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - And here's one for my friend John Brock: "Just a note to let you all know that after taking a year off for recording, a few friends and I have put a great new band together; HaloDog. We play a great mix to dance to including classic rock covers, some blues, a lot of original rock tunes and even a little bit of reggae. We'll be playing at the Rockin' Gorrilla on Saturday night, March 7. This great expat owned bar is on Via Argentina in El Cangrejo between El Prado and Manolos. Hope to see you there. Chad the owner promises to put together some great drink specials for this event. $5 cover at the door. John Brock" Hey John, I'll see if I can get a kitchen pass to hear you guys play...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

BOSTON (AP) — Salsa superstar and actor Ruben Blades has agreed to give his personal papers as well as rare recordings of rehearsals and concerts to Harvard University. The university's Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library will receive a complete collection of all the 60-year-old musician's LPs, CDs and liner notes. The archive will eventually grow to include material devoted to his political career, with posters from his failed run for the Panamanian presidency in 1994. Harvard librarian Virginia Danielson said the first components of the collection will be available in mid- to late-2009. The seven-time Grammy winner holds a masters degree in international law from Harvard. He recently announced he was leaving his post as Panama's tourism minister to return to recording music.

Cuba News Headlines - The sixth edition of the Panama Jazz Festival 2009 was opened last 12th of January in installations belonging to the Panama Canal. About 20 halls of the Ascanio Arosemena Auditorium and Training Centre are at disposal for this event that will receive students and teachers who take part in different musical institutions, indicated. The participation of several international musicians, such as the Cuban Chucho Valdés, the US Wayne Shorter and the Panamanian Danilo Pérez, considered all of them legends of jazz, are expected to take part in the Festival. The installations of the inter ocean way will also receive the famous quintet of the Puerto Rican saxophonist Marco Pignataro as well as a recital of the US pianist Edna Golandsky. The Ascanio Arosemena centre, as well as school for students, will be the stage of concerts and workshops given by the musicians who take part in this international event. The sixth edition of the Panama Jazz festival 2009 will be held for six days, from the 12 until the 17 of January. These events started in 2003 and since that moment on it has consolidated as one of the most important cultural events of the hemisphere. The festival also has concerts in the historic centre of the Panama capital and at the Anayansi theatre of the Atlapa Conventions Centre, located next to the shore of the Panama Bay. The organisers expect to have over 16,000 spectators, which is the number of public who attended last year edition.

Panama City, Panama (PRWEB) January 14, 2009 -- Panama City-based real estate company Templar Panama has organized a trip for children from El Valle to the 2009 Panama Jazz Festiva. The real estate company commissioned a minibus to bring 12 children and four parent chaperones to a the final performance of the festival, a free, open-air concert on in Casco Viejo's Plaza de la Catedral on January 17th. This effort grew out of Templar Panama's Christmas Toy Drive, explained Martin Lamb, Templar's President of Investment. "While organizing the toy giveaway, we had the chance to contact and develop relationships with needy families," Lamb said. "We couldn't help everyone and people's needs continue after Christmas. So we see little things like this as a way to reach more people and help them access Panama's many cultural opportunities year round." The excursion includes round-trip transportation to the concert and lunch for the group. This is the type of effort than any company can and should make, Lamb said, adding that admission to the Jazz Festival event is free, and the company rents cars for business every day. "We take things like going to a free concert for granted, but for families who can't afford transportation, even these events are usually out of reach."

By Jeff Tamarkin for the Jazz Times.com - Before the featured artists for the Panama Jazz Festival step on stage, Berklee College of Music will have already put many of the country’s young talents in the spotlight to audition for the prize of music education. In the past two years, the college has awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships for summer and full-time education. As part of the college’s unique worldwide search to identify outstanding musicians, a team of Berklee educators will conduct auditions and interviews on January 11 (Panamanian applicants), at Academia de Música La Nota (in front of the Multiplaza on Via Israel), 9 am-5 pm, and on January 15 (foreign applicants), at Ascanio Arosemena Theater (in classrooms behind the Theater), Panama Canal Authority, Balboa-Ancon, from 9 am-2 pm. They will select and announce winners on Saturday, January 17, at Cathedral Square, Old Panama City. Some of those chosen may attend Berklee as early as this summer. (more)

by John Oseid for the Daily Traveler - Should you be in the vicinity of Panama City next week (anywhere between Canada and Chile, basically), drop into the Panama Jazz Festival. The sixth annual event series runs January 12 through 17 and I promise you: It is going to jam. Has there been a more celebrated saxophonist working over the last 50 years than Wayne Shorter? The legendary Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis alum brings his quartet, while Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés leads his own quintet. Let the video above whet your appetite: The virtuoso Valdés reunites with his 90-year-old father Bebo, who just happens to be one of Cuba's greatest pre-Revolutionary pianists, to play Ernesto Lecuona's gorgeous classic "La Comparsa." (more)

Source: The Panama Jazz Festival Website: American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter's acclaimed quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade, and the legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes are among the headliners at the 6th annual Panama Jazz Festival, which will take place in Panama City January 12 through 17, 2009. The Boston-based Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, who founded the festival in 2003 and whose Danilo Perez Foundation coordinates its educational component, anticipates more than 16,000 attendees. "The Panama Jazz Festival has been a magical journey to a dream we've had for years in Panama," says Perez. "We, as a country, see the entire world pass through the Panama Canal every day, and we are honored to be the bridge of the Americas. But today, we are proud to say that every year -- for the past six years -- the Panama Jazz Festival has been the national event where the world does not pass by, but makes a stop in our wonderful land. The world's best jazz artists, as well as students and volunteers from all over the globe, unite in Panama with one goal in mind: to celebrate the world's diversity through jazz." The 2009 festival will be dedicated to the late bassist, composer, and arranger Clarence Martin Sr., whose contributions to Panamanian jazz date from the 1940s and have influenced several generations of musicians from many genres such as jazz, classical, and Caribbean music.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received this morning via email: "Wapping S&S Christmas Shoppers!!! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and Happy Mother's day to those mothers. Christmas is around the corner, and we wanted to remind you that ALL Shorty&Slim titles are on sale at Exedra Books, at the corner of Via Espana con Via Brasil, and at all CDPlace stores (Albrook, El Dorado, Los Pueblos). We are getting excited making preparations for our annual Christmas/New Years gig, which will be on Friday, 26 December 2008, at 9:00 pm, at the smoke-free LUM's Bar and Grill, located in Corozal West. This will be 4 years straight! This show, as always, is an All-Ages show to be held in the restaurant part of LUM's. Please pass on the news! Thanks. Alex (slim) www.shortyandslim.com"

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

(Jazz Police.com) - American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter's acclaimed quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade, and the legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes are among the headliners at the 6th annual Panama Jazz Festival, which will take place in Panama City January 12 through 17, 2009. The Boston-based Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, who founded the festival in 2003 and whose Danilo Perez Foundation coordinates its educational component, anticipates more than 16,000 attendees. "The Panama Jazz Festival has been a magical journey to a dream we've had for years in Panama," says Perez. "We, as a country, see the entire world pass through the Panama Canal every day, and we are honored to be the bridge of the Americas. But today, we are proud to say that every year -- for the past six years -- the Panama Jazz Festival has been the national event where the world does not pass by, but makes a stop in our wonderful land. The world's best jazz artists, as well as students and volunteers from all over the globe, unite in Panama with one goal in mind: to celebrate the world's diversity through jazz." (more)