The Middle East Rocks, Blue Note 7, Glastonbury

The Levantine Centre in Los Angeles describes itself as an oasis of peace as it seeks to build a bridge of knowledge and understanding between western and middle eastern cultures. They have put together a one day event called The Middle East Rocks on March 26 at The Joint in LA. Bands include Turkish artist Kutsal, Beirut based The Kordz and Lazywall.

This year Blue Note celebrates the 70th anniversary of the label. As part of its global celebrations The Blue Note 7 All Star Tribute band will be on tour in the US and around the world. The US tour will end with a week-long run at Birdland in New York April 14-19 and a European tour is planned for October-November. Earlier this year the septet released Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records, an eight-song collection of re-envisioned Blue Note classics.

Lastly we head to the UK for an update on Glastonbury Festival held at the end of June – Neil Young has just been confirmed as the third headliner joining Blur and Bruce Springsteen. The festival is already sold out - but there’ll be some cancelled tickets up for grabs on April 5th but you have to have registered on the website to be eligible.