Musicians Health

Bill Ward's life has been a lesson in the importance of second chances. Now Ward, drummer of the tremendously popular and influential British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, needs another one. His efforts these days are focused on doing all he can to make his next second chance come through.

The nation's five major record labels agreed for the first time to provide health benefits for all artists on their rosters as part of a new union pact announced Tuesday. The deal is a breakthrough for working musicians, many of whom didn't earn enough in album royalties to qualify for union health benefits under the old contract.

Evan Wilson, principal viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will appear as soloist with that orchestra at its subscription concerts this week, replacing Russian violist Yuri Bashmet, who has withdrawn for medical reasons. The programs at these performances--Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.--remain the same. Wilson will play the Viola Concerto by Bela Bartok. Information: (213) 850-2000.

"Practice Safe Sound!" shouted out Dee Williams, who stood in a booth inside the bustling L.A. Convention Center on Saturday. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she held out a clear bowl filled with foam earplugs in little plastic bags. Four young hip-hop deejays, led by Yoga Frog, walked by in puffy ski jackets. Each scooped up a handful of plugs and sashayed away. "That's good," remarked Williams. "We want everyone here to take home the plugs. I call them 'condoms for your ears.'

"Practice Safe Sound!" shouted out Dee Williams, who stood in a booth inside the bustling L.A. Convention Center on Saturday. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she held out a clear bowl filled with foam earplugs in little plastic bags. Four young hip-hop deejays, led by Yoga Frog, walked by in puffy ski jackets. Each scooped up a handful of plugs and sashayed away. "That's good," remarked Williams. "We want everyone here to take home the plugs. I call them 'condoms for your ears.'

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences opens its "Grammy Week" activities in New York with tonight's announcement of a new health-care program for uninsured musicians. This evening's black-tie dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a prelude to the Feb. 20 Grammy Award presentation, will be used to raise seed money for the academy's MUSICARES health-benefit system.

Yo-Yo Ma will not perform at four sold-out concerts beginning tonight at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The cellist has pneumonia and pleurisy, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Instead of Ma, 25-year-old Chinese pianist Xiang-Dong Kong will serve as soloist in an altered program, including Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. Kong, who lives in Orange County, had been scheduled to make his Philharmonic debut Aug. 3 at the Hollywood Bowl.

Today's health tip: Don't play the harmonica for six hours at a stretch. Doctors at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, say they puzzled over a patient who periodically spit up blood, but only on Saturday and Sunday nights. Then they discovered that the problem started after the man began attending a club each weekend where he played the harmonica for up to six hours at a time.

For drummer Gary Brown, the beat can still go on--as long as he does his wrist flexibility exercises. That bit of good news came for Brown, 25, who is suffering from tendinitis, just when he feared he might be told by his doctor that he should stop performing for a couple of months. But Dr. Gerald Ho of La Palma merely cautioned Brown, telling the percussionist that with some adjustments to his drum set and preventive exercises, he could keep playing with his reggae band.

Despite the lightheadedness that caused Van Cliburn to interrupt his concert Monday night at the Hollywood Bowl, a spokeswoman for the pianist said Tuesday that he is in good health and will continue his 16-city United States tour with the Moscow Philharmonic as planned. Cliburn's Los Angeles performance was the first official appearance on a comeback tour after going into retirement in 1978. The pianist also performed in a preview concert Saturday in San Diego.

Bill Ward's life has been a lesson in the importance of second chances. Now Ward, drummer of the tremendously popular and influential British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, needs another one. His efforts these days are focused on doing all he can to make his next second chance come through.

Yo-Yo Ma will not perform at four sold-out concerts beginning tonight at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The cellist has pneumonia and pleurisy, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Instead of Ma, 25-year-old Chinese pianist Xiang-Dong Kong will serve as soloist in an altered program, including Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto. Kong, who lives in Orange County, had been scheduled to make his Philharmonic debut Aug. 3 at the Hollywood Bowl.

Despite the lightheadedness that caused Van Cliburn to interrupt his concert Monday night at the Hollywood Bowl, a spokeswoman for the pianist said Tuesday that he is in good health and will continue his 16-city United States tour with the Moscow Philharmonic as planned. Cliburn's Los Angeles performance was the first official appearance on a comeback tour after going into retirement in 1978. The pianist also performed in a preview concert Saturday in San Diego.

For drummer Gary Brown, the beat can still go on--as long as he does his wrist flexibility exercises. That bit of good news came for Brown, 25, who is suffering from tendinitis, just when he feared he might be told by his doctor that he should stop performing for a couple of months. But Dr. Gerald Ho of La Palma merely cautioned Brown, telling the percussionist that with some adjustments to his drum set and preventive exercises, he could keep playing with his reggae band.

Evan Wilson, principal viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will appear as soloist with that orchestra at its subscription concerts this week, replacing Russian violist Yuri Bashmet, who has withdrawn for medical reasons. The programs at these performances--Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.--remain the same. Wilson will play the Viola Concerto by Bela Bartok. Information: (213) 850-2000.

Today's health tip: Don't play the harmonica for six hours at a stretch. Doctors at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, say they puzzled over a patient who periodically spit up blood, but only on Saturday and Sunday nights. Then they discovered that the problem started after the man began attending a club each weekend where he played the harmonica for up to six hours at a time.

The nation's five major record labels agreed for the first time to provide health benefits for all artists on their rosters as part of a new union pact announced Tuesday. The deal is a breakthrough for working musicians, many of whom didn't earn enough in album royalties to qualify for union health benefits under the old contract.

Broadway musicians, who staged a four-day strike in 2003 that cost New York City's economy about $10 million, agreed to a three-year contract with producers, both sides announced Tuesday. The contract requires producers to increase contributions to the musicians' health plan and expands the number of musicians eligible to participate. In return, musicians gave up two wage increases over the course of the deal.

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences opens its "Grammy Week" activities in New York with tonight's announcement of a new health-care program for uninsured musicians. This evening's black-tie dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a prelude to the Feb. 20 Grammy Award presentation, will be used to raise seed money for the academy's MUSICARES health-benefit system.