Ronald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez (born October 18, 1934), is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989.^[1] From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in the cabinet of Governor Buddy Roemer. In 1992, Gomez, as a Democrat, launched a strong but unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Lafayette. He ran for office each time as a "good government reform" candidate without emphasis on party affiliation.

Early years and education[link]

Gomez's paternal grandfather was Antoine "Neat" Gomez, who was of both French and Spanish descent and spoke both languages form birth. He married a fully French woman named Marie Griffon, Gomez's grandmother. Gomez's third novel. entitled Neat, is based on the life of his grandfather, who lived to be 101. Gomez's maternal grandfather was John Alleman, fully French, and married to a French woman by the name of Lambert. She died when Gomez's mother was only twelve. Gomez's heritage is hence at least three-fourths French but he has an Hispanic surname.^[2] Gomez was born and reared in Baton Rouge to Laurence Fletcher Gomez (1897–1964) and the former Anastasie Marie Alleman (1896–1983),^[3] originally from Donaldsonville, the seat of Ascension Parish. The senior Gomez served during World War I in the United States Army infantry in France. Laurence Gomez had nine siblings and spoke only French until he entered school. Similarly, Anastasie Gomez and her six siblings were brought up speaking only French. Originally a farm couple, the Gomezes moved to Baton Rouge in the 1920s and reared five children. Laurence Gomez first worked for the Standard Oil Company refinery in Baton Rouge but prior to the Great Depression procured a position as a rural letter carrier from the downtown United States Post Office in Baton Rouge. Ron Gomez says that his father could have been jobless during the depression had he not found the low-paying but steady postal position. Ron Gomez was born at home in the 1800 block of Highland Road in Baton Rouge, the last baby that Mrs. Gomez's physician delivered at home; thereafter, the doctor handled all of his deliveries in a hospital. In 1940, the family moved to a house on Ferndale Avenue in the University Gardens subdivision near the Louisiana State University campus.^[4]

When Huey Pierce Long, Jr., was assassinated in September 1935, Gomez was less than a year old. His mother placed him in a stroller and went to the new Louisiana State Capitol building to stand in line as citizens shuffled through to pay their respects. Gomez said that his mother was not necessarily a Long supporter but wanted to participate in an historic event of such magnitude. It was Long who had directed the building of the skyscraper-shaped capitol in only fifteen months from 1930-1931.^[5]

As a boy growing up in Baton Rouge, Gomez said that he felt a kinship with the capitol building because of its physical, political, and cultural dominance of the city. He played in the downtown area during the 1940s, spending time in parks and theaters, while his mother worked as a seamstress at a department store. His two brothers, Griffin (1923–2009) and Hewitt Gomez, and two sisters, Dorothy Frazee and Elaine Cortelloni, were already grown by that time; both brothers served in World War II.^[6]

Gomez graduated in 1952 from Baton Rouge High School and attended Louisiana State University (LSU) for one year before enlisting in the United States Air Force. Thereafter, he enrolled for a single semester at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.^[2]

Journalist and civic leader[link]

After several years of broadcasting high school football play-by-play, Gomez was selected as the 'color' announcer for J. C. Politz, when he broadcast LSU games in 1958. He thereafter became the radio voice of the UL Lafayette (then University of Southwestern Louisiana) Ragin' Cajuns football and basketball teams from 1961-1979.^[7] The Cajuns football team played in the Grantland Rice Bowl in 1973, and that game was televised but apparently reached a smaller audience than Gomez's audio coverage of the regular games. In 1978, Gomez was the president of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, from which position he laid the groundwork for construction of the popular Cajundome sports complex. Representative Gomez worked to secure funding for the stadium in the David C. Treen administration, but it was not opened and dedicated until November 10, 1985, by which time Edwin Washington Edwards had returned to the governorship.^[8]

Gomez appeared on Lafayette's KATC-TV from 1963-1965 on an early morning show called simply "A.M.", with Bob Hamm, Frank Hosea, and John Plauche. He also continued with the radio play-by-play and hosted a weekly coach's program until 1977, with assistance from coaches Russ Faulkinberry and Augie Tammariello. In the spring of 1965, Gomez became the KPEL radio station manager, with ownership of 10 percent of the company.^[2]

In his 2000 autobiography, My Name Is Ron And I Am a Recovering Legislator, Gomez recalls how his early interest in communications came to fruition:

"My earliest ambition was to be a radio announcer, specifically, a play-by-play sportscaster. I was fortunate enough to fulfill that ambition at an early age. In my [since fifty-seven] years in the broadcasting industry, I worked in almost every position, commercial announcer, disc jockey, copywriter, news and sports reporter, sales representative, manager, and finally, owner of three South Louisiana radio stations", KPEL and KTDY in Lafayette and KTQQ in Sulphur near Lake Charles.^[7] In 1979, Gomez was named "Louisiana Broadcaster of the Year.".^[9] He sold the stations in 1988.^[2]

In 2008, Gomez became operating partner and publisher of a free, weekly, conservative newspaper, The Acadiana Gazette, which is distributed primarily in Broussard, Youngsville, and south Lafayette. In 2010, the paper expanded into Scott. In addition to his memoir and the novel Neat, Gomez has published two other books, Pelican Games, a novel based on a Louisiana gubernatorial campaign, and Slam Dunked, based on the behind-the-scenes story of the basketball suspension of USL by the NCAA in 1973.^[2]

Lafayette legislator[link]

The open seat in District 44 developed when Representative Allen Bares ran successfully that year for the state Senate seat vacated by failed gubernatorial candidate Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr. of Lafayette. In the 1979 general election Gomez defeated a Republican woman, Mary Regan, the wife of a prominent Lafayette psychiatrist. She had been a volunteer nurse at the state Capitol and had developed an interest in politics through that experience. Gomez led in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 42 percent of the vote, and Regan trailed with 20 percent. Gomez recalled Regan as having "a very sweet demeanor, and I really didn't look forward to having to debate her" throughout a second election. Gomez ultimately defeated Regan, 76-24 percent.^[10] He prevailed again in 1983 with 82 percent of the vote against a single Democratic opponent with the unlikely name of Cleophile "Bobby" Babineaux, who carried the backing of organized labor.^[11]

Though a Democrat in the legislature, Gomez opposed most populist and liberal measures pushed by his party. He worked closely with fellow Lafayette representative, Mike Thompson, a Democrat-turned-Republican who was unseated in 1987 in a bitter campaign by an Independent, Don Bacque.^[12]

Gomez worked in 1986 to repeal the Louisiana blue laws, among the last Sunday-closing requirements in the nation. Gomez determined that retailers along the borders of Louisiana were operating at a disadvantages because the surrounding states had already ended their restrictions on Sunday shopping. After debate centering upon business and religion issues, the legislature ended the blue laws, effective December 1, 1986. Gomez commented: "When I drive past large shopping centers and malls now on Sundays and see their parking lots overflowing with shoppers' vehicles, it's hard to believe that could not be seen in Louisiana just over [twenty] years ago.^[13] Gomez also obtained passage of a regional banking bill despite opposition from then U.S. Representative Buddy Roemer, a former banker.^[14]

Gomez failed in attempts to obtain tort reform. The House Committee on Civil Law consisted mostly of plaintiff trial attorneys, and the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association mobilized its membership against the reform. The association invited consumer advocate Ralph Nader to appear at a committee hearing and to hold a press conference opposing Gomez's bills. Gomez also noted the lack of grass roots support for his reform proposals: "Most people had no idea what we were trying to do. Only individuals who had been sued or business owners who were fighting the liberal tort laws for survival could relate."^[15] In 1992, Gomez became executive director of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, an interest group which worked to educate the public on the abuse of the civil justice system through what Gomez termed "decades of liberal legislators, governors, judges, and a small put politically powerful group of plaintiff trial attorneys."^[15] Several of the reforms that Gomez had sought were later enacted in the administration of Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.^[16]

Relations with Governors Edwards and Treen[link]

In a 1986 address before the Louisiana Broadcasters Association, Gomez criticized Governor Edwards, Edward J. Steimel, the president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, and House colleague Kevin Reilly of Baton Rouge. In his book Gomez explains:

"Louisiana doesn't need a governor threatening to quit if he doesn't get his way (Edwards had said if we didn't pass his gambling proposals he would resign.), a business leader (Steimel) insinuating the state's education system sucks, or an influential legislator (Reilly) portraying Louisiana's people as 'plain dumb.' . . . I think we need the governor to govern, he's a brilliant man. We need him to use that brilliance to try to solve the problems in ways other than [threatening resignation]. . . . We need to stop blaming and start working toward solutions. I feel as though there is a group of us in the middle of all this who are trying to calm down the rhetoric, trying to tell the governor, 'you can't get gambling passed, so please use your brilliance to do something else.'"^[17]

After the 1986 session, Gomez was listed as the "Most Valuable Player" to business. The columnist John Maginnis wrote: "Gomez . . . is not an attorney, but he sponsored the liability reform package before the lawyer-packed House Civil Law Committee, a heretic before the inquisition. He mastered and cogently argued the issue in committee -- to no avail, though the fault was in the lobbying, not in the sponsorship. Gomez also guided through the interstate banking bill which will change the face of banking, again, in Louisiana."^[18]

Gomez did not endorse gubernatorial candidates but attended more than one reception for Mouton for governor in 1979. He later disclosed that he had voted in 1983 for the incumbent Republican Governor Dave Treen, who was decisively unseated by the return of Democrat Edwin Edwards. At a political gathering in Lafayette in which most in attendance went to the microphone to say "I endorse Edwin Edwards for governor", Gomez declined to do so, having hence acquired the wrath of Edwards' brother, Marion Edwards, who had organized the event. Representative Raymond "La La" Lalonde of Sunset also refused to endorse Edwards before the gathering. Like Gomez, Lalonde eventually became a Republican.^[19]

Edwards had long been critical of Gomez, having once called the lawmaker "a good-government son-of-a-bitch".^[20] and claimed that Gomez had been "f______ the poor people."^[21] Gomez said that he had initially been "persuaded by Edwards' 1983 campaign rhetoric. I thought he really was ready to change. I had been made a floor leader in my freshman term under Dave Treen partly through the efforts of his executive counsel 'Sonny' Mouton and partly because I was older and thus presumably more mature than . . . the other freshman legislators. That gave me a taste for being in the center of the action. I believe in my leadership abilities and believed that Edwards truly wanted to use his vast powers and personal talents to right the ship of state. [Because of] the state's economic woes and his own personal traits, Dave Treen [had not been] an effective governor."^[22]

Other political moves[link]

As Governor Roemer's human resources secretary from 1990–1992, Gomez concentrated much of his efforts on preservation of the shrinking Louisiana coast lands, managed through the Office of Coastal Restoration. He also chaired an Oil Spill Task Force which made recommendation enacted by the legislature in 1991 to reduce the impact of future oil-spillage accidents.^[23]

As his tenure as natural resources secretary ended, Gomez entered the Lafayette mayor's race held on March 10, 1992, in conjunction with the presidential primaries in Louisiana. The incumbent Republican Dud Lastrapes, a former journalist and an insurance agent who later became his party's state chairman, did not seek a fourth term. Gomez led the primary field with 12,127 votes (40 percent) and went into a second race with former Mayor Kenny Bowen, a Republican-turned-Democrat, who had previously held the position from 1972-1980. Bowen trailed in the first primary with 10,301 (34 percent). Two other candidates also ran, Democrat Kathy Ashworth, with 7,344 (24 percent) and Republican Emile Vidrine, with 603 votes (2 percent).^[24] In the all-Democratic general election allowed under the Louisiana primary system and held on April 11, Bowen defeated Gomez by 166 votes, 14,677 to 14,511.^[25] Gomez described his opponent, Mayor Bowen as "acrimonious" [with a] usual confrontational, self-serving, and cynical mode."^[26]

Personal life[link]

Gomez is divorced from the former Purdy Linton, now Purdy Gers of Baton Rouge. In 1975, he married his second and current wife, the former Carol Ross, a USL graduate originally from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, who assists him in the current operation of The Acadiana Gazette. Carol Gomez has an advertising agency known as Edge Communications. Her clients include the Lafayette Surgical Specialty Hospital. Gomez has three living children from the previous marriage, Ronald James "Jimmie" Gomez, Jr., of Baton Rouge, Nanette Oliver of Lafayette, and Laurence Hughes Gomez of Austin, Texas. He held the custody of the children after the divorce. A third son, Gregory Stephen Gomez, died in 1996 in Austin in an accident at the age of thirty-three. As of 2010, Gomez had six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. ^[2]

Gomez recalls his mother's warning to him as a guiding light to integrity when he announced for state representative in 1979: "If you're not careful, you'll end up just as crooked as all those other politicians." Gomez said, "I never forgot her warning. The honesty, integrity and humility of this saintly woman as well as my father's simple but solid principles were pounded into all five children with regularity."^[27]

References[link]

Beryl Cylde Shipley (August 10, 1926 – April 15, 2011)^[1] was an American former basketball coach. Shipley was born in Kingsport, Tennessee. He was a longtime coach at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, where he broke the color barrier at that school, and faced intense criticism and opposition for doing so. In 1975 he became coach of the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors.^[2] After this, he retired from coaching and became involved in the oil distribution business. Shipley suffered two heart attacks in the 1980s and later had surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 which eventually spread into his brain. Shipley died on April 15, 2011 at the age of 84.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Full-Court Press: Tribute to a coaching legend
• RememberTheABA.com: San Diego Conquistadors
• BasketballReference.com: Beryl Shipley

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Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born June 12, 1941)^[2] is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.

Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever.^[2] Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett, he has been described as one of the major jazz piano voices to emerge in the post-John Coltrane era.^[3]

His career has been driven by his will to operate as a free agent and compulsively explore different avenues of music making. This hunger has positioned him as an important catalyst in the world of serious, mainstream acoustic jazz, and he is one of the most influential and widely studied figures in the last 40 years.^[4]

Corea continued to pursue other collaborations and to explore various musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He is also known for promoting and fundraising for a number of social issues, such as eradicating social illiteracy,^[5] and is a Scientologist.^[6]

Life and career[link]

Youth[link]

Armando Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of Sicilian and Spanish descent.^[7] His father, a jazz trumpet player who had led a Dixieland band in the Boston area in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by bebop and stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young. At eight Corea also took up drums, which would later influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument.

Corea developed his piano skills by exploring music on his own. A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo from whom Corea started taking lessons at age eight and who introduced him to classical music, helping spark his interest in musical composition. He also spent several years as a performer and soloist for the Knights of St. Rose, a drum and bugle corps based in Chelsea.

Given a black tuxedo by his father, he started doing gigs when in high school. He enjoyed listening to Herb Pomeroy's band at the time, and had a trio which would play Horace Silver's music at a local jazz club.

He eventually decided to move to New York where he studied musical education for one month at Columbia University and six months at The Juilliard School. He quit after finding both disappointing, but liked the atmosphere of New York where the musical scene became the starting point for his professional career.

Early career[link]

Corea's first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway. Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell's quintet on The Thing To Do. This album features his composition "Chick's Tune", a clever retooling of "You Stepped Out of a Dream" that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea's personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young Al Foster.)

His first album as a leader was Tones for Joan's Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with Roy Haynes on drums and Miroslav Vitouš on bass.^[2]

He made another sideman appearance with Stan Getz on 1967's Sweet Rain (Verve Records).^[2]

Avant garde period[link]

Chick Corea, 2007

From 1968 to 1971 Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of Miles Davis, his recordings with Circle, and his playing on Joe Farrell's Song of the Wind album on CTI Records.

In September 1968 Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in the piano chair in Davis' band and appeared on landmark albums such as Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew. In concert, Davis' rhythm section of Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette combined elements of free jazz improvisation and rock music.^{[citation needed]} Corea experimented using electric instruments with the Davis band, mainly the Fender Rhodes electric piano.

In live performance he frequently processed the output of his electric piano with a device called a ring modulator, producing sounds reminiscent of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Using this style, he appeared on multiple Davis albums, including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His live performances with the Miles Davis band continued into 1970, with a great touring band of Steven Grossman, tenor sax, Keith Jarrett, additional electric piano and organ, Jack DeJohnette, drums, Dave Holland, bass, Airto Moreira, percussion, and Miles on trumpet.^[2]

Holland and Corea left to form their own group, Circle, active in 1970 and 1971. This free jazz group featured multi-reed player Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. This band was documented on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from soloing in an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached in the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971 or 1972 Corea struck out on his own.

The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life – in 1968, 1969 or so – was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I did not even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later.^[8]

Jazz fusion[link]

Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2008

In the early 1970s Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz elements. He founded Return to Forever in 1971. This band had a fusion sound and even though it relied on electronic instrumentation it drew more on Brazilian and Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music. On its first two records, Return to Forever featured Flora Purim's vocals, the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and Joe Farrell's flute and soprano saxophone. Airto Moreira played drums. Corea's compositions for this group often had a Brazilian tinge. In 1972 Corea played many of the early Return to Forever songs in a group he put together for Stan Getz. This group, with Stanley Clarke on bass and Tony Williams on drums, recorded the Columbia label album Captain Marvel under Getz's name.

Only Clarke remained from the group's first lineup; Bill Connors played electric guitar and Lenny White played drums. No one replaced vocalist Purim. (Briefly, in 1977, Corea's wife, Gayle Moran, served as vocalist in the band.) In 1974 Al Di Meola joined the band, replacing Connors. In this second version of Return to Forever, Corea extended the use of synthesizers, particularly Moogs. The group released its final studio record in 1977 named "Romantic Warrior". Thereafter, Corea focused on solo projects.^[2]

Corea's composition "Spain" first appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album Light as a Feather. This is probably his most popular piece, and it has been recorded by a variety of artists. There are also a variety of subsequent recordings by Corea himself in various contexts, including an arrangement for piano and symphony orchestra that appeared in 1999, and a collaborative piano and voice-as-instrument arrangement with Bobby McFerrin on the 1992 album Play. Corea usually performs "Spain" with a prelude based on Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1940), which earlier received a jazz orchestration on Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' "Sketches of Spain".

In 1976 he issued My Spanish Heart, influenced by Latin American music and featuring vocalist Moran and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.The record was somewhat misunderstood at the time but it is considered nowadays as a true example of Corea's ability to write fussion material. The album combined jazz, flamenco, supported by plenty of mini- moog backup and a powerful horn section.

The late Ana Mazzotti, a Brazilian jazz pianist and vocalist, dedicated what is perhaps her last ever recorded track, "Grand Chick", to Corea. The song may be found on her "Ao Vivo Guaruja 1982" album. As Ana Mazzotti worked with Brazilian jazz fusion masters Azymuth in her first album, it was further testament to Corea's influence in the genre.

Duet projects[link]

In the 1970s Corea started working occasionally with vibraphonist Gary Burton, with whom he recorded several duet albums on ECM, including 1972's Crystal Silence. They reunited in 2006 for a concert tour. A new record called The New Crystal Silence (which has received 3 nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards) was issued shortly into 2008. The package includes a disc of duets and another disc featuring the Sydney Symphony.

Later, toward the end of the 1970s, Corea embarked on a series of concerts and two albums with Herbie Hancock. These concerts were presented in elegant settings with both pianists formally dressed, and performing on Yamaha concert grand pianos. The two jazz greats traded playing each other's compositions, as well as pieces by other composers such as Béla Bartók.

In December 2007 Corea recorded a duet album, The Enchantment, with banjoist Bela Fleck.^[9] Fleck and Corea toured extensively behind the album in 2007. Fleck was nominated in the Best Instrumental Composition category at the 49th Grammy Awards for the track "Spectacle."^[10]

In 2008 Corea collaborated with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara on the live album Duet (Chick Corea and Hiromi). The duo played a concert at Tokyo's Budokan arena on April 30.^[11]

Later work[link]

Corea performs with Béla Fleck, March 1, 2008

Corea's other bands include the Elektric Band, the Akoustic Band, and Origin.

The Akoustic Band released a self-titled album in 1989, and featured John Patitucci on bass and Dave Weckl on drums. It marked a turn back toward traditional jazz in Corea's career, and the bulk of his subsequent recordings have been acoustic ones. The Akoustic Band also provided the music for the 1986 Pixar short Luxo Jr. with their song The Game Maker.

In 1992 Corea started his own label, Stretch Records.^[2]

In 2001 the Chick Corea New Trio, with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard on bass and drums, respectively, released the album Past, Present & Futures. The 11-song album includes only one standard composition (Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"). The rest of the tunes are Corea originals.

He also participated in 1998's Like Minds, which features Gary Burton on vibes, Pat Metheny on guitar, Dave Holland on bass and Roy Haynes on drums.

Recent years have also seen Corea's rising interest in contemporary classical music. He composed his first piano concerto – and an adaptation of his signature piece, Spain, for a full symphony orchestra – and performed it in 1999 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Five years later he composed his first work not to feature any keyboards: His String Quartet No. 1 was specifically written for the Orion String Quartet and performed by them on 2004's Summerfest.

Corea has continued releasing jazz fusion concept albums such as To the Stars (2004) and Ultimate Adventure (2006). The latter album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.

In 2008 the second version of Return to Forever (Corea, keyboards; Stanley Clarke, bass; Lenny White, drums; Al Di Meola, guitar) reunited for a worldwide tour. The reunion received positive reviews from most jazz and mainstream publications.^[12] Most of the group's studio recordings were re-released on the compilation Return to Forever: The Anthology to coincide with the tour. A concert DVD recorded during their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was released in May 2009. He is recently working on a collaboration CD with the Grammy Award winning jazz vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, due to be released in August 2009.

A new group, the 5 Peace Band, which features Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin, began a world tour in October 2008. Corea had previously worked with McLaughlin in Miles Davis' late 1960s bands, including the group that recorded Davis' album Bitches Brew. Joining Corea and McLaughlin in the 5 Peace Band are saxophonist Kenny Garrett and bassist Christian McBride. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta played with the band in Europe and on select North American dates; Brian Blade played all dates in Asia and Australia, and most dates in North America.

Scientology[link]

Corea says that Scientology has helped deepen his relationships with others, and helped him find a renewed path.^[3] Under the "special thanks" notes, found in all of his later albums, Corea mentions that L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, has been a continual source of inspiration. In 1968 Corea discovered Dianetics, Hubbard's principal work, and in the early 1970s developed an interest in Hubbard's science fiction novels. The two exchanged letters until Hubbard's death in 1986, and Corea had three guest appearances on Hubbard's 1982 album Space Jazz: The Soundtrack of the Book Battlefield Earth, noting, "[Hubbard] was a great composer and keyboard player as well. He did many, many things. He was a true Renaissance Man."^[6]

Corea said that Scientology became a profound influence on his musical direction in the early 1970s:

I no longer wanted to satisfy myself. I really want to connect with the world and make my music mean something to people.^[13]

Due to Corea's religious affiliation, he was banned from performing in a concert to be held in Stuttgart, Germany, on August 15, 1993.^[14] Members of the U.S. Congress sent letters to the German government concerning a violation of basic human rights that are upheld by the German Constitution. The ban was not upheld, and in later years Corea performed in festivals in Germany, including several times at the government-supported International Jazz Festival in Burghausen where he was awarded a plaque in Burghausen's "Street of Fame" in 2011.^[15]

In 1998, Corea and fellow entertainers Anne Archer, Isaac Hayes, and Haywood Nelson attended the 30th anniversary of Freedom Magazine, the Church of Scientology's investigative news journal, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to honor 11 human rights activists.^[16]

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

Over the years, he has been nominated for 51 Grammy Awards out of which he has won 18:

Corea has also won two Latin Grammy Awards.

His 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 2010, he was named doctor honoris causa at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).^[17]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Jazz portal
	Scientology portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chick Corea

• Analog synthesizer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Official discography
• Jazzreview.com biography
• Verve Records Archived October 13, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• An Interview with Chick Corea by Bob Rosenbaum, July 1974 (PDF file) "You put these notes together and you come out with that sound, and isn't it beautiful. So what? What does it do to another person? What does it do to your neighborhood?"
• Chick Corea talks to Michael J Stewart about his Piano Concerto

Ron Carter
Ron Carter performing at the European Jazz Expò 2007
Background information
Born	(1937-05-04) May 4, 1937 (age 75)
Origin	Ferndale, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Orchestral jazz Mainstream jazz Third Stream
Occupations	Professor Clinician Jazz musician
Instruments	Double bass Cello Piccolo bass Electric bass
Years active	1960–present

Ron Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that instrument.^[1]

Biography[link]

Carter was born in Ferndale, Michigan. He started to play cello at the age of 10, but when his family moved to Detroit, he ran into difficulties regarding the racial stereotyping of classical musicians and instead moved to bass. He attended the historic Cass Technical High School in Detroit, and, later, the Eastman School of Music, where he played in its Philharmonic Orchestra. He gained his bachelor's degree at Eastman in 1959, and in 1961 a master's degree in double bass performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

His first jobs as a jazz musician were with Jaki Byard and Chico Hamilton. His first records were made with Eric Dolphy (another former member of Hamilton's group) and Don Ellis, in 1960. His own first date as leader, Where?, with Dolphy and Mal Waldron and a date also with Dolphy called Out There with George Duvivier and Roy Haynes and Carter on cello; its advanced harmonies and concepts were in step with the third stream movement.

Carter came to fame via the second great Miles Davis quintet in the early 1960s, which also included Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams. Carter joined Davis's group in 1963, appearing on the album Seven Steps to Heaven and the follow-up E.S.P., the latter being the first album to feature only the full quintet. It also featured three of Carter's compositions (the only time he contributed compositions to Davis's group). He stayed with Davis until 1968 (when he was replaced by Dave Holland), and participated in a couple of studio sessions with Davis in 1969 and 1970. Although he played electric bass occasionally during this period, he has subsequently eschewed that instrument entirely, and now plays only acoustic bass. Carter was close to Davis and even revealed to an interviewer in 1966 that the famous trumpeter's favorite color was fuchsia.^[2]

Carter also performed on some of Hancock, Williams and Shorter's recordings during the sixties for Blue Note Records. He was a sideman on many Blue Note recordings of the era, playing with Sam Rivers, Freddie Hubbard, Duke Pearson, Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Horace Silver and others.

After leaving Davis, Carter was for several years a mainstay of CTI Records, making albums under his own name and also appearing on many of the label's records with a diverse range of other musicians. Notable musical partnerships in the 70's and 80's included Joe Henderson, Houston Person, Hank Jones, and Cedar Walton. During the 1970s he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet.

He appears on the alternative hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest's influential album The Low End Theory on a track called "Verses from the Abstract". He also appears as a member of the jazz combo the Classical Jazz Quartet.

In 1994, Carter appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine. In 2001, Carter collaborated with Black Star and John Patton to record "Money Jungle" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington.

Carter was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Music Department of The City College of New York, having taught there for twenty years,^[3] and received an honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music, in Spring 2005 ^[4]. He joined the faculty of the Juilliard School in New York City in 2008, teaching bass in the school's Jazz Studies program.

Carter made a notable appearance in Robert Altman's 1996 film Kansas City. The end credits feature him and fellow bassist Christian McBride duetting on "Solitude".

Ron Carter sits on the Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors of The Jazz Foundation of America as well as the Honorary Founder's Committee.^[5] Ron has worked with the Jazz Foundation since its inception to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians including musicians that survived Hurricane Katrina.^[6]

Carter appeared as himself in an episode of the HBO series Treme entitled "What Is New Orleans."

Carter's authorized biography, "Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes," by Dan Ouellette was published by ArtistShare in 2008.

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• 1961: Where? (Prestige Records) with Eric Dolphy, Charlie Persip, Mal Waldron, George Duvivier
• 1966: Out Front (Prestige)
• 1969: Uptown Conversation (Embryo Records)
• 1973: Blues Farm (CTI)
• 1973: All Blues (CTI)
• 1974: Spanish Blue (CTI)
• 1975: Anything Goes (Kudu)
• 1976: Yellow & Green (CTI)
• 1976: Pastels (Milestone)
• 1977: Piccolo (Milestone)
• 1977: Third Plane (Milestone)
• 1978: 1+3 (JVC) trio live with Hank Jones or Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams
• 1978: Peg Leg (Milestone)
• 1978: Standard Bearers
• 1979: Parade
• 1980: New York Slick (Milestone)
• 1980: Patrao
• 1980: Empire Jazz
• 1980: Pick 'Em (Milestone)
• 1981: Super Strings (Milestone)
• 1990: Carnaval
• 1991: Meets Bach (Blue Note)
• 1992: Friends (Blue Note)
• 1994: Jazz, My Romance (Blue Note)
• 1995: Mr. Bow Tie (Blue Note)
• 1995: Brandenburg Concerto (Blue Note)
• 1997: The Bass and I
• 1998: So What (Blue Note) trio with Kenny Barron and Lewis Nash
• 1999: Orfeu (Blue Note)
• 2001: When Skies Are Grey (Blue Note)
• 2002: Stardust (Blue Note)
• 2003: The Golden Striker (Blue Note)
• 2003: Eight Plus
• 2003: Ron Carter Plays Bach
• 2006: Live at The Village Vanguard
• 2007: Dear Miles featuring his quartet Stephen Scott, piano, Payton Crossley, drums and Roger Squitero, percussion
• 2008: Jazz and Bossa

As sideman[link]

With Toshiko Akiyoshi

• Toshiko at Top of the Gate (1968)

With Gato Barbieri

• Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata (Impulse!, 1974)
• Chapter Four: Alive in New York (Impulse!, 1975)

With George Benson

• Giblet Gravy (1968)

With Bob Brookmeyer

• Bob Brookmeyer and Friends (1962)

With Kenny Burrell

• God Bless the Child (CTI, 1971)

With Henry Butler

• The Village (Impulse!, 1987)

With Donald Byrd

• Electric Byrd (Blue Note, 1970)
• Kofi (Blue Note, 1969–70)

With Billy Cobham

• Spectrum (1973)

With Alice Coltrane

• Ptah, The El Daoud (Impulse!, 1970)

With Harry Connick, Jr.

• Harry Connick Jr. (1987)

With Tadd Dameron

• The Magic Touch (Riverside 1962)

With Miles Davis

• Quiet Nights (Columbia, 1962)
• Four & More
• My Funny Valentine
• Live at the Plugged Nickel
• Miles Smiles
• ESP
• Miles in the Sky
• Seven Steps to Heaven
• Sorcerer
• Filles de Kilimanjaro
• Water Babies
• Nefertiti

With Eli Degibri

• Israeli Song (2010)

With Paul Desmond

• Summertime (A&M/CTI, 1968)
• From the Hot Afternoon (A&M/CTI, 1969)
• Bridge Over Troubled Water (A&M/CTI, 1970)
• Skylark (CTI, 1973)
• Pure Desmond (CTI, 1975)

With Eric Dolphy

• Out There (Prestige, 1960)
• Far Cry (Prestige, 1960)

With Lou Donaldson

• Lush Life (1967)
• Sophisticated Lou (1973)

With Roberta Flack

• First Take (1970)
• Quiet Fire (1971)
• Killing Me Softly (1973)

With Bill Frisell

• Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian (Nonesuch, 2006)

With Johnny Frigo

• Live from Studio A in New York City (1988)

With Red Garland

• Red Garland's Piano (1957)

With Stan Getz

• Voices (1967)

With Astrud Gilberto

• Gilberto with Turrentine with Stanley Turrentine (CTI, 1971)

With Giorgio

• Party Of The Century (2010)

With Jim Hall

• Concierto (CTI, 1975)
• Live at Village West (1984)
• Telephone (1985)
• Alone Together (1986)

With Chico Hamilton

• The Further Adventures of El Chico (Impulse!, 1966)

With Herbie Hancock

• Empyrean Isles (Blue Note)
• Maiden Voyage (Blue Note)
• Speak Like a Child (Blue Note)
• VSOP (Columbia)
• Quartet (Columbia, 1981)

With Eddie Harris

• The In Sound (Atlantic, 1965)
• Mean Greens (Atlantic, 1966)
• The Tender Storm (Atlantic, 1966)
• Plug Me In (Atlantic, 1968)
• Excursions (Atlantic, 1966-73)
• How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)

With Gene Harris

• Gene Harris of the Three Sounds (Blue Note, 1972)

With Coleman Hawkins

• Night Hawk (1961)

With Joe Henderson

• Power to the People (Milestone)
• The State of the Tenor, Vols. 1 & 2 (Blue Note)

With Andrew Hill

• Grass Roots (Blue Note, 1968)
• Lift Every Voice (Blue Note, 1969)
• Passing Ships (Blue Note, 1969)

With Freddie Hubbard

• Red Clay (CTI, 1970)
• Straight Life (CTI, 1970)
• First Light (CTI, 1971)

With Bobby Hutcherson

• Components (Blue Note, 1965)

With Jackie and Roy

• Time & Love (CTI, 1972)

With Milt Jackson

• Big Bags (Riverside, 1962)
• Invitation (Riverside, 1962)
• Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art (Limelight, 1965)
• Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet (Verve, 1968)
• Sunflower (CTI, 1972)
• Goodbye (CTI, 1973)
• Olinga (CTI, 1974)

With Quincy Jones

• Gula Matari (CTI, 1970)

With Steve Kuhn and Gary McFarland

• The October Suite (Impulse!, 1966)

With Hubert Laws

• Laws' Cause (Atlantic, 1968)
• Crying Song (CTI, 1969)
• Afro-Classic (CTI, 1970)
• The Rite of Spring (CTI, 1971)
• Wild Flower (Atlantic, 1972)
• Morning Star (CTI, 1972)
• Carnegie Hall (CTI, 1973)
• In the Beginning (CTI, 1974)
• The Chicago Theme (CTI, 1974)

With Herbie Mann

• Glory of Love (CTI, 1967)

With Helen Merrill

• Duets (1987)

With Wes Montgomery

• So Much Guitar (1961)
• Tequila
• California Dreaming

With Airto Moreira

• Free (CTI, 1972)

With Oliver Nelson

• Sound Pieces (1966)
• Happenings (1966)

With David "Fathead" Newman

• Mr. Gentle Mr. Cool : A Tribute To Duke Ellington (1994, Kokopelli Records)

With the New York Jazz Quartet

• In Concert in Japan (1975)

With Hermeto Pascoal

• Hermeto (1971)
• Slaves Mass (1976)

With Duke Pearson

• Sweet Honey Bee (Blue Note, 1966)

With Austin Peralta

• Maiden Voyage (2006)

With Sam Rivers

• Fuchsia Swing Song (Blue Note, 1964)
• Contours (Blue Note, 1965)

With Shirley Scott

• On a Clear Day (1966)

With Gil Scott-Heron

• Pieces of a Man (1972)

With Don Sebesky

• Giant Box (CTI, 1973)
• The Rape of El Morro (CTI, 1975)

With Marlena Shaw

• From the Depths of My Soul (1973)

With Wayne Shorter

• Speak No Evil (Blue Note, 1964)
• The All Seeing Eye (Blue Note, 1965)

With Horace Silver

• Silver 'n Brass (Blue Note, 1975)
• Silver 'n Wood (Blue Note, 1976)
• Silver 'n Voices (Blue Note, 1976)
• Silver 'n Percussion (Blue Note, 1977)
• Silver 'n Strings Play the Music of the Spheres (Blue Note, 1978)
• The Hardbop Grandpop (1996)
• A Prescription for the Blues (1997)

With Grace Slick

• Manhole (1973)

With Phoebe Snow

• Second Childhood (1976)

With Gábor Szabó

• Spellbinder (Impulse!, 1966)
• Mizrab (CTI, 1972)

With Livingston Taylor

• In Harmony (1980)

With Bobby Timmons

• In Person (1961)
• Born to Be Blue! (1963)
• The Soul Man! (1966)
• Got to Get It! (1967)

With Charles Tolliver

• Paper Man (1969) - Black Lion Records

With A Tribe Called Quest

• The Low End Theory (1991)

With McCoy Tyner

• The Real McCoy (Blue Note)
• Expansions (Blue Note)
• Trident (Milestone)
• Counterpoints (Milestone)
• Fly with the Wind (Milestone)
• Supertrios
• Extensions

With Mal Waldron

• The Quest (1961)

With Grover Washington Jr.

• Inner City Blues (Kudu, 1971)
• All the King's Horses (Kudu, 1972)
• Soul Box (Kudu, 1973)

With Randy Weston

• Blue Moses (CTI, 1972)

With Kai Winding

• The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones (Impulse!, 1960)
• Israel (A&M/CTI, 1968) with J. J. Johnson
• Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI, 1969) with J. J. Johnson
• Stonebone (A&M/CTI (Japan), 1969) with J. J. Johnson

Filmography[link]

• 2003: Ron Carter & Art Farmer: Live at Sweet Basil with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins^[7]
• 2002: Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ron Carter Official Website
• Interview with Ron Carter
• 2006 Interview with Ron Carter
• Interview with Ron Carter (2007)
• Ron Carter at All About Jazz
• Bassist Ron Carter, an Interview With Editor Jake Kot
• Ron Carter's dedicated page on the Party Of The Century project
• Video interview with Ron Carter at allaboutjazz.com

Selena Gomez
Gomez attending "The 6th Annual Hollywood Style Awards", Beverly Hills, CA on Oct. 10, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Selena Marie Gomez
Born	(1992-07-22) July 22, 1992 (age 19) Grand Prairie, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Pop, dance, pop rock[1]
Occupations	Actress, singer, Fashion Designer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar, drums
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Hollywood
Associated acts	Selena Gomez & the Scene, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift
Website	SelenaGomez.com

Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992)^[2] is an American actress and singer best known for portraying Alex Russo in the Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place. She subsequently ventured into feature films and has starred in the television movies Another Cinderella Story, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, and Princess Protection Program. She made her starring theatrical film debut in Ramona and Beezus.

Her career has expanded into the music industry; Gomez is the lead singer and founder of the pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene, which has released three RIAA Gold certified studio albums, Kiss & Tell, A Year Without Rain, and When the Sun Goes Down, spawned three RIAA Platinum certified singles, "Naturally", "Who Says" and "Love You Like a Love Song" and charted four No. 1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.^[3] Gomez has also contributed to the soundtracks of Tinker Bell, Another Cinderella Story, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Shake It Up after signing a record deal with Hollywood Records.

In 2008, Gomez was designated a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.^[4]

Early life[link]

Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas.^[2] She is the daughter of former stage actress Amanda Dawn "Mandy" Teefey (née Cornett) and Ricardo Joel Gomez.^[5][6][7] Her father is of Mexican ancestry, and her mother is of part Italian descent.^[8][9] Regarding her Hispanic heritage, Gomez said: "My family does have Quinceañeras, and we go to the communion church. We do everything that's Catholic, but we don't really have anything traditional except [that we] go to the park and have barbecues on Sundays after church."^[10] Her birth parents divorced when she was five years old, and she was raised as an only child by her working mother.^[5][11] In 2006, Mandy remarried Brian Teefey.^[12] She was named after Tejano singer Selena, who died almost three years after Gomez was born.^[13] In a 2009 interview with People, Gomez mentioned that she developed an early interest in acting from watching her mother prepare for and act in theater productions.^[11] She earned a high school diploma through homeschooling in May 2010.^[14]

Career[link]

[edit] 2002–06: Barney & Friends and early work

Gomez began her acting career at age seven, playing Gianna on Barney & Friends.^[15] She later had minor roles in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and the TV film Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire. Gomez also starred in the television movie Brain Zapped. (Selena Gomez also found out that she wanted to be an actress because in E Special she states that "I would also watch my mom on stage do her lines".)

In 2004, Gomez was discovered by the Disney Channel in a USA-wide scouting.^[16] Gomez appeared as a guest star on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and had a guest appearance – that later turned into a recurring role – on Hannah Montana from seasons two to three. Gomez previously taped two different pilots that were spin-offs to two previous Disney series.^[17] The first one, What's Stevie Thinking?, was the spin-off to Lizzie McGuire. Gomez played Stevie Sanchez, Miranda Sanchez's little sister. The other show was titled Arwin!, the spin-off to The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, in which she played Alexa. Neither series was picked up.

[edit] 2007–09: Wizards of Waverly Place and Selena Gomez & The Scene

Gomez on the studio set of Wizards of Waverly Place before filming an episode for the show's first season in April 2007

In early 2007 Gomez was cast in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place as one of the three main characters, Alex Russo. The show premiered to an audience of 5.9 million, becoming a hit. Many news outlets began dubbing Gomez the next 'Miley Cyrus' causing some controversy and a reported 'feud'. Gomez clarified that there was no feud and that she was flattered by the comparison, saying: "It's a little overwhelming, but I think really, it's a compliment. She's obviously extremely successful, and I think she's a wonderful performer ... So being compared to her, I was very, very flattered."^[18] Gomez recorded four songs, one of which was a cover, for theWizards of Waverly Place soundtrack, only one single (Magic) from the album was released.

In 2008, Gomez recorded a cover of "Cruella de Vil"—which included a music video—for the compilation albumDisneyMania 6. Gomez also recorded "Fly to Your Heart" for the 2008 animated film Tinker Bell. In July 2008, before Gomez' sixteenth birthday, she signed a recording deal with Hollywood Records, a music label owned by Disney.^[19] In May, of the same year, Gomez was featured, with Forever the Sickest Kids, on a duet version of the non-album song "Whoa Oh!".^[20] The same year Gomez appeared in Another Cinderella Story, the direct-to-DVD sequel to the 2004 Hilary Duff film, opposite Drew Seeley. She also had a minor voiceover role as one the Mayor's ninety-six daughters in Horton Hears a Who! which released in March of that year. In April, Lacey Rose, of Forbes ranked Gomez as being fifth on their "Eight Hot Kid Stars To Watch" list; and Rose described Gomez as having been "a multitalented teen".^[21] Gomez recorded three songs for the movie's soundtrack.

In 2009, Gomez formed the teen pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene. Kiss & Tell, the band's debut studio album and was released on September 29, 2009 by Hollywood Records. On March 5, 2010, the album was certified Gold by RIAA.^[3] The album's single, "Naturally", was certified Platinum by the RIAA on July 15, 2010.^[3] In February 2009, Gomez signed on to star as one of the two female leads in Ramona and Beezus, a film adaption of the children's novel series by Beverly Cleary.^[22][23] Gomez stated that she felt no pressure in taking more adult roles: "I think I’m fully aware of my audience and I’m still just a kid myself. I wouldn’t do a role I don’t feel comfortable doing or that my audience wouldn’t feel comfortable seeing."^[24]

In June 2009, Gomez did a guest appearance as herself in one episode of best friend Demi Lovato's Disney Channel television show, Sonny with a Chance, entitled "Battle of The Network Stars". That same month Gomez appeared alongside Lovato in the made-for-television Disney Channel movie, Princess Protection Program.^[25] The telecast garnered 8.5 million viewers becoming, at the time, the third most watched Disney Channel Original Movie.^[26] One month later, Gomez, along with two cast members of Wizards of Waverly Place appeared in a television three-way cross-over episode with Hannah Montana and The Suite Life on Deck, entitled Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana.

On August 28, 2009 two months after appearing in Princess Protection Program, Gomez starred in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, a made-for-television film based on the show.^[27] The film premiered to an audience of 11.4 million viewers becoming cable's No. 1 scripted telecast of 2009 and Disney Channel's second most-viewed film premiere after High School Musical 2.^[28] In September 2009, Wizards of Waverly Place won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards.^[29] In 2010, the film adaptation won the series its second consecutive Emmy for "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards.^[29]

[edit] 2010–2011:Theatrical film debut, A Year Without Rain and When The Sun Goes Down

Gomez on location in Paris, France filming Monte Carlo in June 2010

Gomez's first theatrical film Ramona & Beezus premiered on July 23, 2010 and met with generally positive reviews.^[30] In March 2010, Variety reported that Gomez was set to star as one of the three lead roles in Monte Carlo, alongside Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy.^[31] In the film Gomez plays Grace, a girl who’s “mistaken for a socialite while on a trip to Paris.”^[32] To prepare for the role Gomez learned how to play polo and also took two weeks of vocal training to learn two different British accents.^[33][34] The same year Gomez confirmed that the fourth season of her hit Disney Channel show, Wizards of Waverly Place, would be its last.

Gomez performing at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards.

On September 17, 2010 , Selena Gomez and The Scene released their second studio album, A Year Without Rain The record debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 4, selling 66,000 copies. On January 19, 2011, the album was certified Gold by RIAA.^[3] As of April 2011, the band has sold 1,354,000 albums in the United States.^[35] To support the album, the band embarked on the mini-tour A Year Without Rain Tour. In February 2011, Deadline.com reported that Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment had acquired the novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher with Gomez attached to the lead.^[36] That same month TV Guide reported that Gomez would make a cameo in the Muppets film.^[37] On March 23, 2011, Hollywood Records announced through a press release that Selena Gomez & The Scene would be embarking on their third concert tour in the United States, the We Own the Night Tour ran during the summer of 2011.^[38] Production for the final season of Wizards of Waverly Place came to a wrap on May 14, 2011.^[39] Gomez co-hosted the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards on June 19.^[40] She also hosted the 2011 MTV EMAs on November 6, 2011, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she performed her band's single "Hit the Lights". Near the end of 2011, it was reported Gomez was in talks to star in two upcoming films. Deadline.com announced in October that Gomez would take part in the comedy Hot Mess.^[41]

In early November, Variety reported that Gomez was in talks to star in the upcoming film Spring Breakers alongside James Franco and Vanessa Hudgens.^[42] Gomez confirmed to MTV that she had signed on for the project and that production will begin in early 2012.^[43] On June 28, 2011, Selena Gomez & the scene released their third studio album, When the Sun Goes Down, previously titledOtherside,^[44] The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200, selling 78,000 copies its first week and the following week, the album rose to number 3 on the Billboard chart, becoming the band's highest charting album to date.^[45][46] On November 17, 2011, the album was certified platinum.^[3] The album's lead single, "Who Says" was certified Platinum by RIAA on June 23, 2011 and has become the band's highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 to date, peaking at number 21.^[3][47] The second single, "Love You Like a Love Song", was certified Platinum by RIAA on December 2, 2011, and became the act's first to sell over two-million copies.^[3][48]

2012–present: Focus on film[link]

In January 2012, Gomez announced that she would put her music career on hold.^[49] This was later reaffirmed as Gomez wrote on her Facebook page that she was taking a break from music in order to focus on her acting career, "my band and I are going our separate ways for a while. This year is all about films and acting and I want my band to play music wherever with whoever. We will be back but, it will be a good while."^[50] In February 2012, Gomez announced that the band would be taking a hiatus, so that she could focus on film for the year. She encouraged her band mates to work with other artists during the hiatus.^[51] The same month, it was announced that Gomez will replace Miley Cyrus in the animated comedy Hotel Transylvania playing Mavis, the daughter of Dracula who will be voiced by Adam Sandler.^[52] As of March 2012, Gomez has been cast in four upcoming films; in which three of them she has been cast as a lead role. She will first appear in Hotel Transylvania, an animated film, voicing the character of Mavis, who was originally supposed to be voiced by Miley Cyrus, however Cyrus dropped out of the film in early 2012 in order to focus on her music career.^[53] The film is scheduled to be released on September 21, 2012.^[54] Next, Gomez will appear in Spring Breakers, which is currently being filmed on location in Sarasota, Florida. The film is being written and directed by Harmony Korine.^[55] Gomez has also been cast as the main role of Hannah Baker in the film adaptation of young-adult fiction novel, 13 Reasons Why. The novel was written by Jay Asher.^[56] She will also play the lead role in a film called Hot Mess, a comedy film directed by Dave Meyers.^[56] On April 7, 2012, Gomez posted a video for fans in which she revealed that she will be filming a new movie called "The Getaway" in Bulgaria. ^[57]