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MUSIC NEWS

Wire reports

Right on the Edge

For the second year in a row, the Edge is putting his money where the music is.

The U2 guitarist announced April 23 he will donate two Gibson guitars and other items from his personal collection to the "Icons of Music" auction benefiting Music Rising, a charity the Edge co-founded to replace musical equipment lost or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

"No one could ever come close to repaying the debt of those who have established this form (of music) that we all take totally for granted, this hybrid of European melody and African-American rhythm that's given us jazz and R&B and rock 'n' roll," he told The Associated Press by phone from Dublin, where he and his U2 bandmates are crafting a new album. "There's something powerful about musicians giving instruments they own to an auction to aid musicians who are going through a particularly difficult time." The Edge, whose real name is David Evans, created Music Rising in 2005 with record producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson Chairman Henry Juszkiewicz to preserve New Orleans' rich musical culture after the devastation of Katrina. "A lot of musicians were forced to leave the city, leaving behind their instruments and record collections, everything they needed to do what they do," Edge said. "The kind of organic community music academy that was so supportive of handing down the traditions of this music from generation to generation was really vulnerable."

Music Rising has provided grants to replace instruments and equipment for 2,700 professional musicians and 50,000 students and church parishioners to date, he said.

The "Icons of Music" sale, hosted by Julien's Auctions, features guitars played by Kurt Cobain, Slash and Johnny Cash, a trumpet played by Miles Davis, and handwritten notes by Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Janis Joplin. Highlights from the collection will be exhibited in Chile, Ireland and Los Angeles before the May 31 auction at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. Aaron Neville is scheduled to perform at the event, which the Edge will host.

Meanwhile, he and U2 have been recording in their native Ireland. A new album is taking shape, Edge said, offering no hints about its sound or release date. "It won't be in the next few months," he said.

"We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up," he said. "We're starting to get serious now."

Cue the violins

A Grammy-nominated violinist has been reunited with a $4 million violin he left in the back of a cab.

Grammy-nominated violinist Philippe Quint exited a minivan cab at New York City's Battery Park early April 21, leaving the 1723 Antonio Stradivari "Ex-Keisewetter" inside.

The violin spent the remainder of the night on the seat of the cab, which owner Mohamed Khalil parked on a Newark street. By the morning, he was still unaware of what he was carrying.

By then, the frantic Quint was calling the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Newark's Taxi Commission, which put the word out that the violin was missing.

Later that day, Khalil checked his taxi while at Newark Liberty International Airport and discovered the violin case with the instrument inside.

Quint soon arrived, dropped to his knees and shed tears of joy.

Royalties dispute

A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit by a former Ramones drummer who says he was cheated out of royalties.

U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said in a ruling April 18 that a contract Richard "Richie Ramone" Reinhardt signed when he performed with the Ramones between 1983 and 1987 clearly covered digital uses of his songs.

She noted that the contract defining phonograph records contained the words "now or hereafter known" when referring to forms of reproduction, making it clear that future technologies are covered by the agreement.

Reinhardt filed a lawsuit last year claiming he was owed nearly $1 million in royalties on songs sold over the Internet. He wrote six songs for the group, "Smash You," "Somebody Put Something in My Drink," "Human Kind," "I'm Not Jesus," "I Know Better Now" and "(You) Can't Say Something Nice."