John news only for 2004
December 4, 2004
John video &
audio clips with Reza
John Densmore
can be seen in a 4-minute
video clip talking about his forthcoming recording with Iranian musician Reza
Derakshani recorded at Hen House Studios. There are three MP3 audio clips
available on this site as well, at
http://www.henhousestudios.com/artists/mkpgartist.php?artistID=1120
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December 1, 2004
John Densmore's
birthday
John Densmore
turns 60 today.
Happy birthday to one of rock's most innovative and spontaneous
drummers. Fans can check out his new article in the November /
December issue of Utne Magazine in tribute to his idol, Elvin Jones ... or,
catch him in a re-run of a vintage episode of "Coach" from 1993 when it's re-run
on USA Channel on December 12.
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November 29, 2004
John tribute to Elvin Jones
John Densmore
authored a tribute article titled 'Elvin & Me' about
his hero Elvin Jones, who died earlier this year. The story appears in
the November / December 2004 issue of
Utne Magazine.
To see the magazine cover or to purchase the article on-line,
go here
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November 19, 2004
John on L.A. radio this morning
John Densmore
was an in-studio guest
on
SoCal radio station
KPFK 90.7 this morning on a
show called Global Village With Sergio. John was on the show to pay
tribute to the late drummer Elvin Jones. (thanks, David)
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November 9, 2004
John and Reza Derakshani CD release
John Densmore and Reza Derakshani
have a CD release entitled "The Ray of the Wine" set for release on November
1, according to an October 19th news release on
www.HenHouseStudios.com.
I do not find it listed there yet for sale, but it must be coming soon.
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October 6, 2004
John in rare re-run of 'Coach'
John Densmore
appeared in an episode
of
"Coach"
in 1993, which is currently in re-runs on
USA channel. Episode #6.6
is entitled 'Uneasy Rider' and was first broadcast October 26, 1993.
John plays Chuck, the motorcycle salesman who sells Hayden and Dauber bikes. This episode is scheduled to air at
3:00 a.m. (west coast time). Check local listings.
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September 20, 2004
John becomes a father-in-law
John
Densmore's daughter
Kelly was married
over the weekend in a neighboring state.
Best wishes to the Densmore family. Let's hope they enjoyed a wonderful
celebration and were able to tune out to the uncertainty of waiting for the jury
deliberations outcome -- now entering its third full week.
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September 3, 2004
Tribaljazz CD release <> more "Juvies" screenings
John Densmore's
long-awaited 'Tribaljazz' CD
is now mentioned on the
Hidden Beach website
when one searches by artist name. It only says that Tribal Jazz (now,
as two words?) is coming soon, so this is progress and hopefully a release
date will be made known shortly.
"Juvies" - the documentary film executive-produced by Leslie Neale (Mrs. John Densmore), John Densmore and actor Mark Wahlberg, has been added to the screening schedules of numerous more film festivals in the U.S. and in Europe. All of the upcoming events that are currently listed on the Juvies website have been added to the calendar above.
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August 13, 2004
John's Tribaljazz played earlier this evening
John Densmore's Tribaljazz played a
free show earlier this evening at the L.A. County Museum of Art in
Hollywood.
read more
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August 8, 2004
John mentioned in LA Sunday Times story
John Densmore has been affiliated
with the Rainforest Action Network for years, along with many other
celebrities. Today's LA Times Magazine section's cover story
is about Randy Hayes, founder of that organization.
John's activism in this cause is
mentioned numerous times in the story.
read it
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July 25, 2004
John performs at Native American festival
John Densmore is performing with
Keith Secola and Wild Band of Indians at
Ganondagan's Native American
Dance & Music Festival on July 24 and 25 near Rochester, New York. He
was recently interviewed by a Rochester area publication.
read interview
(thanks, Barb)
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July 21, 2004
John & Leslie are on petition to ban assault weapons
John Densmore
and
Leslie Neale are among the
more than 50 members of the entertainment community
who have sent a letter today to President Bush and Congress calling for the
federal assault weapons ban to be strengthened and renewed. Without action
by the President and Congress, the ban will expire on September 13th, 2004.
This information is from a press release dated today from Common Dreams website.
To see the entire press release and who else has joined in this effort:
go here
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July 19, 2004
John & Tribaljazz will perform free concert
John Densmore and
Tribaljazz will perform a free concert at the L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA)
as part of their Friday night jazz concert series. The performance will be
outdoors on the Times Mirror Central Court, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday,
August 13th. Tribaljazz is John on drums; Art Ellis on flute and
sax; Quinn Johnson on piano; Osama Affiffi on bass; Christina
Berio on percussion; and Azziz Faye & Marcel Adjibl on African drums.
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July 12, 2004
trial enters its third week
Testimony continues in the trial of
John Densmore, the Morrison family, and the
Courson family -vs- Ray and
Robby, et al. The first week was spent entirely on jury
selection, so this is only the second week of actual testimony.
Witnesses expected this week include the band's former business manager and
former attorney, among others. read
more
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July 9, 2004
first week of trial testimony
Week One of testimony in the trial of
John Densmore, the Morrison family, and the
Cuurson family -vs- Ray and
Robby, et al, is concluded. John spent about three
full days in the witness chair going through direct examination by the attorneys
for the plaintiffs, and then cross-examination by the attorney for the
defendants. read
more
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July 8, 2004 John
testified today <> Scottish story about D21C controversy
John Densmore
spent the entire day in the witness chair giving
testimony today at the jury trial in progress. Check the following
link later this evening for today's re-cap:
Diary
of a Doors Drama
The Scotsman, an on-line news service, runs a story today about band reunions and specifically mentions next week's upcoming show by The Doors of the 21st Century in Glasgow, and offers the writer's opinion on the tour and lawsuit. read it
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June 12, 2004
correction to translation of Italian story
Several Doors
fans from Italy who visit
this website have written me to advise that the English translation of the story
about the Genoa Poetry Festival is at fault in the mis-translation, resulting in
the curious statement: "...former drummer
with The Doors
Ray Manzarek". According to both of them, the
original Italian text does correctly refer to Ray as the keyboard player, not
the drummer. (thanks, Faith and Marco)
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June 11, 2004 Italy
story thinks Ray is the drummer
"...former drummer
with The Doors
Ray Manzarek" is an intriguing and confusing
quote from an online story from Italy about the Genoa International Poetry
Festival from June 17 to June 30. If this is really Ray that is
appearing, he's going to have a very busy month sandwiching this in
between D21C dates in Denver and Las Vegas later this month. On the
other hand, John Densmore has worked with
several poets and participated in poetry events over the years, so maybe this is
intended to reference him, instead. I guess time will tell.
(thanks, Beverly) read
it
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June 1, 2004 John
attended Topanga festival over the weekend
John Densmore
attended the
Topanga Days
Country Faire in Topanga Canyon over this past holiday weekend.
He was spotted with a friend at a vegetarian food stand, and was wearing
sunglasses, straw hat and bandana. (thanks, Gerry)
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May 31, 2004 FX channel has
upcoming re-run with John
John Densmore
appeared in an episode
of
"Beverly Hills 90210"
in 1992, which is currently in re-runs on FX channel. Episode #2.23
is entitled 'Cardio-Funk' and was first broadcast February 27, 1992.
John plays Ben, Dylan's sponsor. This episode is scheduled to air on
Saturday, June 12 at 7:00 a.m. (west coast time). Check local listings.
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May 26, 2004 update on release of John's Tribaljazz CD
John Densmore's Tribaljazz
will finally release their CD this fall on
Hidden Beach Records. It is a cultural jam where jazz runs into
rhythms from across the globe. Although primarily instrumental, a couple
of world-class guest artists contribute vocals. The renowned actress Alfre
Woodard makes her hip-hot debut, along with veteran conscious rapper Michael
Franti from Spearhead, doing his own lyrics concerning the state of violence in
the world. (thanks, Dave D.)
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May 18, 2004 political
fundraising event included drum lessons from John
John Densmore
donated four drum lessons which raised $9,000 in an auction, as part of a political fund-raising event for
the Liberty Hill Foundation held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 29th.
(thanks, Beverly)
read it
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April 22, 2004 John
will record with symphony orchestra
John Densmore is going
to play with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra and a Native American band
(probably Burning Sky) on a
forthcoming CD, according to a recent story about the conductor,
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March 30, 2004 'Road
To Return' can be purchased on video
"Road To Return"
is an award-winning, one-hour
documentary produced by Leslie Neale and
her husband, John Densmore in 1998.
This program was broadcast last night on L.A. channel 58, which may be the first time it has aired locally on cable television.
Narrated by actor Tim Robbins, this intense and thought-provoking film focuses
on a program in New Orleans that helps ex-convicts return to society.
Although Robby Krieger does not appear in
the program, his name is among those credited with Special Thanks. At the
end of the broadcast, information was provided for ordering a videotape of the
program: call 1-800-499-5202 to order by credit card, or send check
or money order for $29.95 to WYES-TV, 916 Navarre Avenue, New Orleans, LA
70124. A detailed summary can be found on the official
Doors website under John's bio, at
http://www.thedoors.com/band/john/?fa=road_info
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March 25, 2004 review
of John Densmore's conference appearance last month
John Densmore
appeared at a conference
in February sponsored by the C. J. Jung
Institute on the subject of "L.A. Myths" (see
prior story). The Santa Monica Mirror ran a story the following
week with a summary of that conference, including John's appearance.
read it
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March 23, 2004 "Juvies"
has multiple screenings in coming months
"Juvies"
is the latest documentary film from
Leslie Neale & John Densmore
and actor Mark Wahlberg.
The film chronicles the journey of Los Angeles area adolescents as
they make their way through the criminal justice system. The film has
already had screenings and received an award, and the screening schedule is
accelerating with showings scheduled so far at film festivals in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina and L.A., as well as other screenings scheduled at L.A.'s Loyola
Marymount University and in Santa Barbara, California. The dates have been
added to the above calendar of upcoming events. The following website link provides a history and
an overview of the documentary, the screening schedule, as well as how to order
a copy. go
here
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March 20, 2004 "Road To Return" will be broadcast on L.A. television
"Road To Return" is an award-winning, one-hour documentary produced by Leslie Neale and her husband, John Densmore in 1998. This program is scheduled to air on L.A. channel 58 at 10:00 p.m. and may be the first time it has aired locally on cable television. Narrated by actor Tim Robbins, this intense and thought-provoking film focuses on a program in New Orleans that helps ex-convicts return to society. I attended a screening of the film at UCLA when it was first released, and can tell you that John appears in the film several times discussing the program that is the film's subject. A detailed summary can be found on the official Doors website under John's bio, at http://www.thedoors.com/band/john/?fa=road_info
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March 16, 2004
new documentary film from Leslie Neale & John Densmore
"Juvies"
is the latest documentary film from
Leslie Neale and John Densmore.
The film chronicles the journey of Los Angeles area adolescents as
they make their way through the criminal justice system. It had its
world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 1st,
and has been awarded an OSI (Open Society Institute) Justice Media Fellowship to
show the film at major metropolitan area high schools across the United States.
The Open Society Institute is a private operating and grant-making foundation
based in New York City. The following website link provides a history and
an overview of the documentary, the screening schedule, as well as how to order
a copy. go
here
(thanks, Beverly)
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January 24, 2004
John to
participate in panel discussion
John Densmore will lead
a panel discussion entitled "The Flowering and Fading of the 1960s L.A.
Music Scene" at a weekend conference on Saturday, January 31st and Sunday,
February 1st at St. Mary's College in L.A. This two-day event is
sponsored by the C. G. Jung Institute of L.A., and is designed to evaluate and
chart the experience of living in L.A., as defined by the city's diversity,
history, mythology and culture.
more info
(thanks, Ilona)
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January 3, 2004
John's picks for Top 7 Bass Players
John Densmore
was asked by Rush Magazine to name his 'Top 7 Bass Players.' To
see his picks, go
here (thanks, Jim)
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January 2, 2004
John Densmore visited Dallas for
the holidays
John Densmore
spent the holidays in his wife's hometown of Dallas, Texas, according to a
story in today's The Dallas Morning News.
read it
(thanks, Beverly)
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John news 2003 <> John news 2002
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all Prior News & Reviews
http://www.henhousestudios.com/ John is involved in Hen House Studios, a community recording studio in Venice, CA
return to Ida's L.A. Woman Confidential home page
for more Doors news and reviews