Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Diddy’s music streams jump after arrest and indictment
NEW YORK | Sean “Diddy” Combs’ vast music catalog has seen a jump in streams since his arrest last week and the unsealing of an indictment against him.
Under his many musical monikers — including Diddy, Puff Daddy and P. Diddy — the industry data and analytics company Luminate said the mogul’s music saw an average 18.3% increase in on-demand streams during the week of his arrest compared to the prior week.
George Howard, a distinguished professor of music business management at Berklee College of Music, said he’s not surprised by the increase. To him, the streaming bump is akin to a Google search of the artist as a means of satisfying curiosity.
“Music just becomes another piece of of information as people try to comprehend the atrocities,” Howard told The Associated Press. “It’s like, ‘What would someone whose brain works like that, allegedly, what would their music sound like?’”
With Combs’ several business ventures — from Revolt TV to Ciroc vodka, both of which he’s no longer affiliated with — Howard said many people likely think of Combs as a businessman before they think of him as a musician.
“The natural curiosity that that these types of charges evoke makes sense,” Howard said. “It’s like driving by a car crash. People want to look.”
An increase in streaming numbers following controversy is not uncommon. After a documentary about R. Kelly accused the R&B singer of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls, his numbers nearly doubled.
Howard said the “anonymization” of streaming is also a factor that could have led to the increase for Combs and Kelly alike. “Imagine walking into a record store now like, ‘Yeah, I want to buy this Diddy CD,’” he said.
Combs is charged with federal sex trafficking and racketeering and the indictment, which details allegations dating back to 2008, accuses him of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.” He’s pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Jazz saxophonist and composer Benny Golson dies at 95
NEW YORK | Jazz great Benny Golson, a tenor saxophonist and composer of standards such as “Killer Joe” and “Along Came Betty,” has died. He was 95.
Golson died Saturday at his home in Manhattan after a short illness, said Golson’s longtime agent, Jason Franklin.
Over his seven-decade musical career, Golson worked with some of the biggest luminaries in jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton and John Coltrane. He built much of his reputation not as a performer but from his compositions, which also included “I Remember Clifford,” written in 1956 after trumpeter Clifford Brown, a friend, died in a car crash at age 25.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Golson began learning the piano at age 9 and switched to the saxophone at age 14. He was still in high school when he started performing with other local musicians, including Coltrane, a childhood friend.
Golson began writing and arranging music while attending Howard University.
After stints in Gillespie’s big band and in drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Golson co-founded The Jazztet in 1959 with flugelhorn master Art Farmer.
The Jazztet disbanded in 1962, and Golson moved on to writing music for movies and for television shows such as “Mannix,” “M-A-S-H” and “Mission: Impossible.” He also arranged music for performers including Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls and Dusty Springfield.
After a hiatus of more than a dozen years, Golson resumed playing the saxophone in the mid-1970s and launched a new version of the Jazztet with Farmer in 1982. He continued performing and writing music into his 90s.
He published “Whisper Not: The Autobiography of Benny Golson” in 2016.
Franklin, who worked with Golson for 25 years, said Golson stopped performing when COVID-19 shut down music venues in 2020 but continued working on projects, such as giving interviews for a forthcoming documentary, “Benny Golson: Looking Beyond The Horizon.”
Franklin said Golson saw a rough cut of the film a few weeks ago and loved it. “He was so happy he got to see it,” he said.
Golson released dozens of albums as a solo artist and as a member of various ensembles.
He appeared as himself in the 2004 Steven Spielberg movie “The Terminal,” in which the main character, played by Tom Hanks, travels to New York from a fictional Eastern European country to obtain Golson’s autograph, which he needs to complete a collection of signatures of all of the 58 jazz musicians who assembled for the famous 1958 group photo “A Great Day in Harlem.”
Actor and musician Steve Martin recalled the film scene in a post on X on Sunday and said, “Thanks for all of the great music.”
With Golson’s death, Sonny Rollins is the last living subject of the photo who was an adult when it was taken.
Golson’s survivors include his wife, Bobbie Golson, daughter Brielle Golson and several grandchildren. Three sons preceded him in death.
The 2025 Tony Awards set June 8 ceremony date at Radio City Music Hall
NEW YORK | Fans of Broadway, circle this date: This season’s Tony Awards will take place on June 8 at its familiar home of Radio City Music Hall.
Producers of the show announced the date and location Monday. For the last few years, the telecast has bounced around the city — two years ago originating from the United Palace Theatre, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, and this year at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Square.
Radio City can seat 6,000 people and has in the past been the long-time home of the awards.
The host will be revealed later.
The 2025 awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+. Getting buzz from appearing on the telecast can dictate a show’s future, both on Broadway and on tour.
The awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
—From AP reports
