Jimmy Page and Scarlett Sabet Are the Music-Poetry Power Couple the World Didn’t Know It Needed

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Published: 10 October 2019

Scarlett Sabet’s poetry is felt three-fold when she performs it. The written words aren’t the same when she says them; they are trance-like, told as if from memory. To call the London-based talent a poet and performer seems inadequate. She’s more so a musician, or, perhaps, a mystic. Her haunting readings have taken place at storied book shops such as San Francisco’s City Lights and Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, and she’s been invited to read at the likes of Wellesley College. She has published four collections of poetry on her own imprint: Rocking Undergound, The Lock and The Key, Zoreh, and Camille earlier this year. Today, she debuts her spoken word album Catalyst, produced by her partner, the legendary musician Jimmy Page. Interview sat down with the couple to talk about coming together for this project, the brilliance of the Velvet Underground, and paying to produce your own work.

Read the entire interview at https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/jimmy-page-scarlett-sabet-catalyst-led-zeppelin-couple

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Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Goes to Court (Again) on Monday

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Published: 22 September 2019

The music business will experience collective déjà vu next week when Led Zeppelin goes back to court facing claims that it ripped off its signature “Stairway to Heaven” from Spirit’s “Taurus.” But this time, the stakes are much higher.

After being tossed through years of flip-flopping decisions, the “Stairway to Heaven” case — in which Michael Skidmore, a trustee representing the estate of Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, is accusing Led Zeppelin of stealing its 1971 song’s opening guitar riff from Spirit’s 1968 instrumental track — will come before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco for en banc (full court) arguments on Monday, September 23rd. While jurors in the original case had decided in 2016 that “Stairway” did not infringe on “Taurus,” a Ninth Circuit panel ordered a new trial in 2018 due to errors in the jury instruction process.

Read the entire article at: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven-retrial-879298/

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Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones Announces First U.S. Show In New Duo

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Published: 09 October 2019

Led Zeppelin's legendary bassist, keyboardist, and chief arranger John Paul Jones is bringing his latest avant-garde musical project to the U.S. next March.

Jones debuted the new, curiously named duo, Sons of Chipotle, last month at a gig in Tokyo. This month, Jones and his partner, Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen, have revealed that they will perform in America for the first time at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, between March 26 - 29, 2020.

Jones will reportedly perform on piano and electronics. Karttunen will perform on cello and electronics.

In recent years, Jones has mostly gravitated towards improvisational situations with his music. Last March, he improvised a set with Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore at a fundraiser for the British broadcasting service Resonance FM.

Prior to forming Sons of Chipotle, Jones collaborated with Karttunen, alongside composer Magnus Lindberg in another improvisational exploration, called Tres Coyotes.

"Both musicians are known to be curious minds, always ready to learn and to discover," according to a description on Jones' website. "When they improvise, borders disappear, they are free to migrate beyond prejudices, across continents. In a world where walls are being built and people are told where they cannot go, Sons of Chipotle want music to be a place of openness."

While Sons of Chipotle's appeal might be limited, intrigue remains. Jones is, after all, the sonic force behind some of Led Zeppelin's most groundbreaking studio work, like When The Levee Breaks, No Quarter, Achilles Last Stand and In the Evening.

But if improvised electronic cello music isn't your thing (and how could you know the answer to that?), Dave Grohl suggested in August that Them Crooked Vultures might be returning soon. He noted that it's been a while since the trio got together and "...there's always something cooking."

From: https://www.iheart.com/content/2019-10-09-led-zeppelins-john-paul-jones-announces-first-us-show-with-new-duo/

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A Jimmy Page Guitar Case Story

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Published: 18 September 2019

After 47+ years, I can finally share the following story:

In June, 1972 I went to see Led Zeppelin perform at the Nassau Coliseum here on Long Island. There was one particular roadie, Mick Hinton, John Bonham’s drum tech, who I had said hello to the previous year, when the group played in Madison Square Garden in 1971. After the latter concert ended, I went up to the row of seats behind the stage at the coliseum and yelled down to him again. He seemed to recognize me from the 1971 concert and yelled hello back. On a whim, I asked if I might come down and help them pack up the equipment. To my complete surprise, he says yes. “How do I get down there?” He then picks and tosses a guitar case to me! I walked down, past two security checkpoints with the case in hand, up onto the stage, and handed it back to Mick. After the few minutes it took to pack up the drums, he says to me, “You can have that.” I was speechless, to say the least! “Where will the guitar go?” He took me over and showed me Jimmy Page’s number one Les Paul guitar in its brand new anvil road case. The case I was given was being discarded that night since its back was crushed and no longer afforded protection to the guitar. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

So began my decades-long possession of a genuine rock n’ roll artifact. But I also realized from that point onward that it was something I couldn’t talk about. While there have been a small handful of friends over the years who were aware that I had it, I had kept this a deep secret over the past 47 years in fear that someone might either burglarize my house or worse, threaten me in order to steal it. For this reason, I had decided a couple of years ago that I no longer wanted the guitar case.

Despite its certain significant monetary value to a collector, I had also decided that I wouldn’t ever sell it since making money off someone else’s fame is simply against my principals. I decided that I would find a way to personally return it to Jimmy Page. But how to accomplish this? How would I get in touch with the right people to set up a meeting?

Back in July, I went to see the “Play It Loud” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Jimmy Page’s number one Les Paul guitar was one of the instruments on display. I got the idea that maybe I could be put in touch with his people via the exhibit’s curator. A few days later, I called the museum and spoke with the curator’s assistant who asked me to send an e-mail with photos, which I did. About two weeks later, I got a call from a gentleman, Perry, who works with Jimmy. He asked to set up a meeting to personally examine the case and take several more detailed photos. About a month later, I received word that Jimmy wanted to meet me and have the case returned.

So, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in a hotel lounge in New York City, my two daughters, a close friend and I had the pleasure of a 1-hour sitdown and conversation with Jimmy, with him finally getting the guitar case back. When I opened it up, the look on his face was priceless: “What memories this brings back!” “Thank you so much!” In person, he is a genuinely warm and very welcoming gentleman. We talked about Led Zeppelin, he asked about my musical influences, asked my daughters what type of music they enjoyed and various other topics. I gave him copies of both my CDs, which he said he would listen to. He also had brought me a special limited box set edition of “Led Zeppelin 2” and signed its book as well as another book I had brought with me. I can honestly say that after the first few minutes, my nervousness completely disappeared and it felt like I was talking with an old friend. Nevertheless, the experience of having had the opportunity to sit down with the very person whose music not only greatly influences my own but also inspired to me to initially pick up and learn to play the guitar almost 50 years ago is something that I will never forget!

Thanks so much Jimmy and thank you Perry! Mission accomplished.

       

From: Facebook

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