This past Sunday Feb 5th J&R Jr. in Downtown NYC hosted a Blogger Preview Day for all the NY-area prominent Tastemakers and their kids. We held two events – a morning “mimosa” brunch #mkJRjrbrunch for the Macaroni Kid NY-area Moms (actually some came in from St. Louis!), and a fabulous “Super Bowl kickoff” afternoon party #JRjrkickoff co-sponsored by KidzVuz and MomTrends.

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Musicians and music dealers flock to Anaheim California as NAMM exhibits new products aimed at the music and entertainment markets.

The National Association of Music Merchants is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads, and strengthens the $17 billion global music products industry. The association—and trade shows—serve as a hub for people wanting to seek out the newest innovations in musical products, recording technology, sound and lighting. NAMM’s activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages.

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In celebration of our new expanded Roland Drums Department, we are giving you the opportunity to “Show Us Your Chops.” Come on down to the store and try your skill on Roland’s TD4K2S 2-4PM on Saturday for a chance to win a Roland Rhythm Coach Metronome! Must be 18 to enter, no purchase necessary. See store for details.

Plus we have great deals on Roland products and free seminars all day long. ALL ROLAND DRUMS AND DRUM SETS ON SALE! In store only! 10% off all Roland Display Pianos! In store only! Directions.

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World Series Champion and All-Star Right fielder Nick Swisher has added one more credit to his professional resume - recording artist. Swisher has released his first full-length twelve song kids CD entitled Believe. A portion of the proceeds will be going to Swish’s Wishes, Nick’s charitable foundation which is dedicated to enriching lives and lifting the spirits of children who are facing vital health issues. On Believe, Swish is joined in the recording studio by an all-star band of musicians including drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge), bassist Leland Sklar (James Taylor, Phil Collins), guitarist Tim Pierce (Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson) and keyboardist Matt Rollings (Tim McGraw, Lyle Lovett). Special musical guests playing guitar on the album include former all-star centerfielder and Latin GRAMMY Nominee Bernie Williams and pitcher Barry Zito. Also accompanying Nick on the album is a group of talented kids ages eight to thirteen years old who sing backup vocals on each song. Included are kids from the nationally acclaimed music education franchise School Of Rock, as well as thirteen year old Natalie Prieb, granddaughter of Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Directions.

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My name is Jason Friedman. My parents, Joe and Rachelle Friedman (“J” and “R”), started J&R Music World together 40 years ago. My father had an engineering degree and a love for electronics and gadgets so opening an electronics store was a natural for him. My mother had a chemistry degree but had a strong passion for music so it was equally fun for her to sell LPs and flip through their vast collection after hours. 3 years later when my mother was pregnant with me and had to work from home (in the days before VPNs and Email) she realized there were other people at home that would find home shopping convenient, and hence J&R’s mail order / Toll-Free division was born, which of course would be the precursor to JR.com.

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Are you ready for five non-stop days of indie music and films? This year’s edition of the CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival features over 1,300 musical acts and dozens of cutting edge films in over 80 venues. Hosted by the College Music Journal, the events are expected to be attended by over 120,000 musicians, bloggers, record and film execs, film makers and just general cultural taste makers. CMJ has become — over the course of more than a decade — THE place to hob-knob and connect for the young and breaking. Plus, there are over 70 panels on all aspects of the ever-changing music industry.

So, with so many acts to see, where to start at this year’s event? We obviously can’t cover the entire thing, but we’ve got a handful of recommendations for you.

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Singer and actor Harry Connick Jr. returns to Broadway, November 12, in a new production of the Broadway classic show, “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”.

Although the original cast production that opened in 1965 only ran for 280 performances, a movie version, starring Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand, was very successful.

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The people began lining up early on Park Row on September 27. Eventually, over 600 rabid fans stretched down the street and around the corner waiting for a chance to meet & greet with J Cole, the newly anointed Prince of Hip-Hop.

J Cole spent hours at J&R Music World, shaking heads, posing for pics and (most importantly) signing copies of his brand-spanking new CD COLE WORLD: THE SIDELINE STORY.

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Tablets and Smartphones appear to be dominating the market place and competition is becoming as fierce as the war between Radio, Television, and Movies in the 1950’s. Marketing groups are seriously examining and reaching out to that 18-34 demographic that usually mark business trends into the future.

The Millennial Generation — also known as Gen Y or the WE Generation — is the new demographic that businesses compete to attract. Millennials fall into the age 18-29 brackets, reaching their teens at dawn of the 21st century. This is the generation for whom the PC and Mac were always a reality. MP3 players, particularly iPods and iPhones, have been necessities instead of options.

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The Roku 2 is a simple little device designed for anyone. It opens up new viewing opportunities and channel selections for advanced entertainment. For example, let’s say you’re a member of Netflix and you get DVD or Blu-ray discs sent to your home. You can skip those discs with Roku and stream movies directly off the Netflix site. No PC is required.

You do need access to broadband Internet service and have a wireless router. When you connect Roku to your TV, it communicated with the Internet and makes audio and video streams possible for view on your TV. The mainstream channels registration or paid subscriptions but they offer access to thousands of TV shows and movies.

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