Funeral services have been set for Tuesday (Nov. 5) for the late Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, the rap pioneer and DJ of Run-D.M.C. who was shot to death Wednesday evening at his Queens, N.Y. recording studio.
The funeral will be preceded by a wake on Monday (Nov. 4) at the Jay Foster-Phillips Funeral Home, 179-24 Linden Blvd, St. Albans, Queens. A private viewing for friends and family will be held from 2-6 p.m., followed by a public viewing from 7-9 p.m. The funeral will take place the next morning at Allen A.M.E Cathedral, 110-31 Merrick Blvd, Saint Albans, Queens.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mizell Children’s Fund, c/o Terri Corley-Mizell, P.O. Box 3497, New Hyde Park, N.Y. 11040. The fund has been set up to provide for Mizell’s three children.
— Troy Carpenter, N.Y.
NBC’s top-rated “Today” morning show is kicking off its fall concert series Tuesday (Nov. 5) with a performance by operatic star Andrea Bocelli. Justin Timberlake, Toni Braxton, and Shania Twain will also be part of the concert series. The live performances will take place inside at the New York-based show’s Studio 1-A or outside at Rockefeller Plaza. Only the outdoor Rockefeller Plaza concerts will be open to the public. The shows are free and on a first-come, first-served basis.Here is the schedule for the concert series:
Nov. 5: Andrea Bocelli (Studio 1-A)
Nov. 6: Tony Bennett and k.d. lang (Studio 1-A)
Nov. 8: Justin Timberlake (Rockefeller Plaza)
Nov. 11: Donny Osmond (Studio 1-A)
Nov. 15: Phil Collins (Rockefeller Plaza)
Nov. 25: Toni Braxton (Rockefeller Plaza)
Nov. 26: Shania Twain (Rockefeller Plaza)
Nov. 27: Tim McGraw (Rockefeller Plaza)
— Carla Hay, N.Y.
A host of acts were up to Halloween antics last night (Oct. 31) in New York, including the Foo Fighters, who took the stage at New York’s intimate Supper Club dressed in the matching black suits and white neckties favored by the Hives. The Foos opened the show with a cover of the Hives’ rock airplay hit “Hate To Say I Told You So” before running through a mix of old favorites and new cuts from their latest RCA album, “One by One.”Further uptown at the Flaming Lips/Beck show at the Beacon Theatre, the Lips performed flanked by more than a dozen people dressed in head-to-toe animal costumes. Band members also got in on the fun, with multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd sporting a pig outfit and frontman Wayne Coyne dousing himself with fake blood and engulfing the stage with a fog machine. Beck’s headlining set later featured a performance of his early hit “Loser” which was dedicated to late Run-D.M.C. DJ Jam Master Jay.
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.