Latest news with #Elling
San Francisco Chronicle
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Jazz Festival makes bold debut with expanded format, big ambitions
With a New Orleans style brass band blasting out a second line over the traffic roaring down Franklin Street, the revamped San Francisco Jazz Festival introduced itself to Hayes Valley as a trial run for bigger parties to come. Friday the 13 th isn't an auspicious date to launch a new, three-day festival, particularly when a wave of national protests coincides with the next day's programming. But SFJazz offered a glimpse of what the future might look like in the venue-rich neighborhood given a little luck and a lot of great music. With three shows in the SFJazz Center's Robert N. Miner Auditorium, four sets in the intimate Joe Henderson Lab, and another four performances in a tent covering a parking lot on Oak Street, Friday's roster offered a successful proof of concept. The cars zooming through the intersection of Franklin and Fell streets didn't seem to faze festivalgoers, many of whom moved back and forth between the building and the nearby tent throughout the day. Playing the opening Minor Auditorium set with the SFJazz Collective, Grammy Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling greeted the half-filled room by welcoming 'everyone playing hooky from something.' Premiering newly minted arrangements by SFJazz Collective Music Director Chris Potter, Elling delivered a bravura program of his lyrics set to tunes by the great fusion band Weather Report. Most of the venue's seats were full by the time he concluded. At the same time in the Joe Henderson Lab, velvet-smooth jazz crooner Sachal Vasandani performed in a stripped down trio with guitarist Charles Altura and Dayna Stephens on tenor sax and bass-line-supplying Electronic Wind Instrument. Whether interpreting Sade or his confessional originals, he offered a fascinating counterpoint to Elling's fine-grit tone and thickly orchestrated, percussion-driven charts. Don Was, the recipient of the SFJazz Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization's gala on Thursday, June 12, led his powerhouse Pan Detroit Orchestra through a torrid set of originals and extravagantly reimagined Motor City material. He's not a flashy bassist, but he powered the ship with authority. SFJazz Executive Artistic Director Terence Blanchard has made it clear that his vision for the festival extends far beyond the current footprint. The festival tent on Oak Street — closed to make room for several food trucks, a merchandise table, a beer garden and a dining area — was reimagined with a different programming focus. It featured acts aimed at broader and possibly younger audiences, including a quartet led by Snarky Puppy guitarist Mark Lettieri and a hip-hop-inflected quintet led by drummer and emcee Kassa Overall. The strategy seemed to work. Among those drawn in were 17-year-olds Keira Kennedy of Oakland and her friend Michael Norris, who said he'd never been to an SFJazz event before. Standing near the back of the festival tent during Overall's set, the two teens lit up as the drummer gave a shoutout to Bay Area legend E-40. 'It's been amazing,' said Michael, a hip-hop fan eager to check out related musical styles throughout the festival, which wraps up Sunday, June 15. Burkhard Hopper, SFJazz's director of artistic programming, was strolling the Oak Street midway with his wife, Australian pianist and jazz vocalist Sarah McKenzie, and their toddler son. Friday's ticket sales were the lightest of the weekend, while day two might stretch the Miner Auditorium's capacity, 'particularly for the Stanley Clarke and Gonzalo Rubalcaba show,' he said. There were a few first-day hiccups, starting with an understaffed check-in table. At 2 p.m. Friday, the line was slowly creeping along, but by mid-afternoon the bottleneck had been resolved. As the evening turned chilly, heat lamps by the dining tables would have been welcome. Miner Auditorium was nearly full by the time tenor sax legend Charles Lloyd took the stage with his Sky Quartet, featuring pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Eric Harland. Nearly six decades after his landmark 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival set, which yielded the million-selling 'Forest Flower,' Lloyd's presence felt like a benediction for the newly reimagined festival. After dropping out of the jazz scene in the 1970s Lloyd toured with the Beach Boys and recorded in Brian Wilson 's home studio. Much as he'd beautifully evoked the spirit of his former Sangam bandmate Zakir Hussain at the SFJazz Gala the night before, he mourned the recent loss of another singular creative force by opening the set with a prayer-like rendition of 'God Only Knows.'
New York Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Ex-McKinsey partner to serve 6 months in jail for destroying records on work to ‘turbocharge' OxyContin sales
A former senior partner at McKinsey & Company was sentenced on Friday to six months in federal prison for destroying records of the firm's work to 'turbocharge' Purdue Pharma's OxyContin sales during the opioid crisis. Martin Elling, 60, pleaded guilty in January to obstruction of justice related to criminal investigations into McKinsey's consulting work with opioid manufacturers. McKinsey last year agreed to pay $650 million to settle those probes. 'Today's sentencing sends a resounding message: those who attempt to obstruct justice and conceal the truth – no matter how senior, sophisticated, or well-connected – will be held accountable,' Leah Foley, US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement. Advertisement 3 Martin Elling, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company. McKinsey & Company In a statement, Elling's legal team confirmed the sentencing and said he is 'extremely sorry.' 'He intends to spend the remainder of his life seeking to regain the trust of those whom he disappointed with his conduct, by supporting his family and friends and giving back to the less fortunate, as he has done for the past decades,' his lawyers told The Post. Advertisement Elling's sentencing took place at a federal courthouse in Abingdon, Va., a town in Appalachia – one of the regions hit hardest by the opioid crisis, which killed more than 42,000 people across the country in 2016 alone, according to the National Library of Medicine. Purdue Pharma engaged McKinsey in 2013 to drive OxyContin revenue and 'turbocharge' sales, according to court documents. Elling, who was also ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service and pay a $40,000 fine, served as the director of the team for about 30 of McKinsey's engagements with the pharma giant, according to the Department of Justice. In 2018, Elling emailed another senior partner with concerns that a Purdue board member was being sued by state attorneys general. Advertisement 'It probably makes sense to have a quick conversation with the risk committee to see if we should be doing anything other [than] eliminating all our documents and emails. Suspect not but as things get tougher there someone might turn to us,' Elling wrote. 3 Purdue Pharma reportedly engaged McKinsey & Company to 'turbocharge' OxyContin sales. REUTERS A forensic analysis found that Elling had deleted materials from his company-issued laptop related to their work with Purdue – after seemingly emailing himself a reminder. The subject line of a 2018 email to himself read 'When home,' and the items listed included: 'deleted old pur documents from laptop,' according to court documents. Advertisement He later emailed himself another reminder: 'Remove Pur folder from garbage,' according to the analysis. Elling was fired from McKinsey in 2020. The consulting firm in December apologized for its work with Purdue and 'the actions of a former partner who deleted documents related to his work for that client.' 3 McKinsey & Company agreed to pay $650 million to settle investigations into its work with opioid manufacturers. REUTERS Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Elling to a year in prison. 'This is a rare case: a well-educated senior partner at one of the world's foremost consulting companies was caught destroying documents relating to the investigation of OxyContin, a powerful opioid narcotic drug, against the tragic backdrop of the opioid crisis,' prosecutors said in a memo signed by Randy Ramseyer. Ramseyer led a probe into Purdue in 2007 that secured guilty pleas from its executives for misleading doctors and patients about OxyContin risks. McKinsey, one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, employs more than 700 senior partners who are typically paid millions of dollars a year.
India Gazette
23-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Martin Elling, Ex-McKinsey partner sentenced to prison for obstructing justice by a US court
New Delhi [India], May 23 (ANI): Martin Elling, former partner at McKinsey & Co., received a six-month prison sentence for obstructing justice, Reuters reported on ex- McKinsey partner was involved in destruction of documents related to the consulting firm's advice to Purdue Pharma on how to aggressively increase sales of their opioid painkiller, reported by Reuters, U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou delivered the sentence in Abingdon, Virginia, after McKinsey's December agreement to pay USD 650 million to settle related charges from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding their work for in the case had sought a one-year prison term after Elling's guilty plea in January. His lawyer argued that any jail time would be 'devastating' and bar him from living in his new residence in Thailand.A representative for Elling's legal team confirmed the sentence and stated that he is apologetic for his Pharma itself admitted guilt in 2020 to charges related to the misconduct related to its marketing and sale of its prescription played a role in securing McKinsey's work with Purdue in 2013, which led to the New York-based firm developing a strategy to significantly increase OxyContin detailed that this strategy involved targeting 'high-value' medical professionals, including those who prescribed opioids documents revealed that Elling was among a small group of McKinsey partners who attended a 2013 meeting with the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, who ultimately approved McKinsey's July 2018, after learning about a lawsuit filed against Purdue by the Massachusetts attorney general, Elling emailed a McKinsey colleague questioning whether they should 'eliminate all our documents and emails.'The following month, Elling emailed himself a reminder to 'delete old pur (Purdue Pharma) documents from laptop,' and prosecutors stated that a forensic analysis confirmed he did so. (ANI)
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-McKinsey partner who advised opioid maker Purdue Pharma sentenced to prison
By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - A former McKinsey & Co partner was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison for obstructing justice by destroying records related to advice the consulting firm gave Purdue Pharma on how to "turbocharge" sales of the opioid painkiller OxyContin. Martin Elling, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou in Abingdon, Virginia, after his former employer agreed in December to pay $650 million to resolve related charges by the U.S. Department of Justice over its work for Purdue. Prosecutors argued Elling deserved a year in prison after he pleaded guilty in January. His lawyers countered that any prison sentence would be "devastating" as it would bar him from ever entering his new home of Thailand. The sentence was confirmed by a representative for Elling's legal team, which said he is "extremely sorry" for his conduct. Purdue in 2020 pleaded guilty to charges concerning misconduct related to its marketing and sale of prescription painkillers. Prosecutors said Elling was involved in helping McKinsey land work for Purdue in 2013 that resulted in the New York-based firm crafting a strategy to boost OxyContin sales. The strategy involved targeting "high-value" prescribers in the medical field, including ones who prescribed opioids for illegitimate uses, prosecutors said. According to charging papers, Elling was among a few McKinsey partners who participated in a 2013 meeting with members of the Sackler family who owned Purdue Pharma and ultimately adopted McKinsey's proposal. In July 2018, after reading about a lawsuit Massachusetts' attorney general filed against Purdue, Elling emailed a McKinsey partner about whether "we should be doing anything other that [sic] eliminating all our documents and emails." A month later, Elling emailed himself to "delete old pur (Purdue Pharma) documents from laptop," prosecutors said. They said a forensic analysis confirmed he did just that.
