Saturday, October 24, 2015

Trouble Don't Last


Trouble Don’t Last is a poetic stage play featuring 16 Detroit based poets whose pens have been pushed to poetically deliver what’s troubling the world. Travel with Mama Rose through this outstanding poetic work of art which tackles issues that are frequently swept under the rug. Trouble Don’t Last will make you laugh and cry, hopefully sparking flames in the audience that the time to do something about anything is NOW!

TROUBLE DON’T LAST features the spoken words of:

Sheezy Bo Beezy, Shaun Moore Bey, Verlycia Douglas, Ju Hall, Intellect, Azizi Jasper, Kevlar, Knowledge, Saesha Nix, Peace, Poetic, Cassie Poe, Blk Smith, Sasha Speaks, Phoenix Swagg, Caesar Torreano, Ber-Henda Williams and One Single Rose as Mama Rose

Since the first production in 2012, so many people have asked when Trouble Don’t Last would hit the stage again. That time is now...

Saturday, October 24, 2015
2:00 p.m. matinee $15.00
7:00 p.m. evening show $20.00

At the International Institute
111 E. Kirby
Detroit, MI 48202

Tickets are available on Brown Paper Tickets
http://troubledontlast.brownpapertickets.com/
or
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1978559


This is a Poetry House Entertainment, Ke Event Designs and One Single Rose Production
 

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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Journey to Jazz with Carmen Lundy on The #DetroitJazzFest Series


“We live in a time where music and the role of the musician has a very crucial contribution to how we get through our days every day.” – Carmen Lundy 

Join Carmen Lundy at The #DetroitJazzFest on Monday, September 7th at 3:15 pm to experience her live performance on the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage. 

For More information about the Detroit Jazz Festival visit www.DetroitJazzFest.com

For More Information about Carmen Lundy visit www.CarmenLundy.com 

Carmen Lundy began her professional career in Miami, FL as a jazz vocalist and composer when there were very few young, gifted and aspiring jazz vocalists on the horizon. Over four decades later, Ms. Lundy is celebrated throughout the world for her vocal artistry and is highly regarded for her jazz innovation.

Currently on the Afrasia Productions label, Carmen released her 14th album in the Fall of 2014. Almost two years in the making, it consists of new original songs by Lundy, and a few very special collaborations. The album features legendary artists - specialists on their respective instruments - including Patrice Rushen, Geri Allen, Randy Brecker, Ada Rovatti, Warren Wolf, Bennie Maupin, harpist Carol Robbins, and Simphiwe Dana, a stunning South African vocalist and composer, among others.“Soul To Soul” is on several Top Ten Albums of 2014 lists, including Downbeat.

The highly regarded 2012 release “Changes” (Afrasia Productions) is also on several ‘Top 10 Albums of 2012’ lists, and continues to garner many accolades. Said James Nadal of All About Jazz, "With her release of Changes, veteran singer Carmen Lundy rises to that proverbial summit to enjoy the rarefied air of the chosen few."

Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project - Grammy Winner for Best Jazz Vocal Album of 2011 - features the Carmen Lundy composition “Show Me A Sign”, with Ms. Lundy’s original performance from the album “Solamente” reinvented on the arrangement.

Carmen has had several Top Ten albums on JazzWeek (“Jazz and the New Songbook-Live at The Madrid”, “Come Home”, and “Changes”) and a #3 spot on Billboard’s Jazz Chart for 23 weeks with her debut album “Good Morning Kiss”. Among her other awards and recognitions, especially rewarding was Miami-Dade's County Office of the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners proclaiming January 25th "Carmen Lundy Day”, along with handing Ms. Lundy the keys to the City of Miami.

Having recorded more than twelve albums as a leader, Carmen’s far-reaching discography also includes performances and recordings with such musicians as brother and bassist Curtis Lundy, Ray Barretto, Kenny Barron, Bruce Hornsby, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kip Hanrahan, Courtney Pine, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Cobb, Ron Carter, Marian McPartland, Regina Carter, Steve Turre, Geri Allen, Robert Glasper, Jamison Ross, Kenny Davis, Darryl Hall, Patrice Rushen and the late Kenny Kirkland. Ms. Lundy’s 2005 release, the hugely successful “Jazz and The New Songbook-Live at The Madrid”, features some of the jazz world’s best known musicians paying tribute to Ms. Lundy.

Carmen Lundy’s work as a vocalist and composer has been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Washington Post, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Downbeat and Vanity Fair among many others, as well as numerous foreign publications. Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times writes "Carmen Lundy, as beautiful inside as out, has accomplished the near impossible for a jazz singer by maintaining a solid, successful, three-decade career while focusing largely on original, self-penned material." And Don Heckman of The Los Angeles Times – “Lundy’s performance was the product of talent that has ripened fully. Her far-ranging, fluidly mobile voice roved through and around the melodies, and her innate sense of theatricality illuminated every layer of drama in her story-driven songs.”

As a composer, Ms. Lundy’s catalogue numbers over 100 published songs, one of the few jazz vocalists in history to accomplish such a distinction, and has led to the first publication of the Carmen Lundy Songbook (2007). Her songs have been recorded by such artists as Kenny Barron ("Quiet Times"), Ernie Watts ("At The End Of My Rope"), and Straight Ahead ("Never Gonna Let You Go"). Officially endorsed by Neumann microphones, Carmen Lundy continues to compose and expand her vast catalogue.

Her own recordings consist of 1985’s “Good Morning Kiss” (CLR/Afrasia Productions), “Moment To Moment” (Arabesque/Afrasia Productions), “Night And Day” (CBS/SONY and re-issued by Afrasia in 2011), “Old Devil Moon” (JVC), “Self Portrait” (JVC), “Something To Believe In” and “This Is Carmen Lundy” (both for Justin Time), “Jazz and The New Songbook – Live at The Madrid” (2-disc set and DVD, Afrasia Productions), “Come Home” (Afrasia), “Solamente” and the 2012 release “Changes” (Afrasia Productions). Her newest recording “Soul To Soul” was almost 2 years in the making, and was released in the Fall of 2014 on Afrasia Productions.

A native of Miami, Florida, Carmen Lundy's path to being one of today's most talented, respected and sophisticated jazz singers began at age six, with her first piano lessons. She was deeply inspired by her mother who was then lead singer in the gospel group, The Apostolic Singers. Ms. Lundy attended The University of Miami as an Opera major, but soon discovered that jazz was where her talent really shone. While working steadily in the Miami Jazz scene, she graduated with a degree in Studio Music and Jazz - one of the first singers to do so. Lundy then moved to New York City in the spring of '78 and immediately began working in jazz circles throughout the Tri-State area, and from Harlem to Greenwich Village, quickly impressing the notoriously critical jazz cognoscenti and audiences alike. Esteemed critic Gary Giddins stated (in 1983), "Jazz singing stopped regenerating itself about 20 years ago, and it's not hard to see why, so it's with some trepidation that I call your attention to an authentic young jazz singer named Carmen Lundy - she's got it all." Armed with a devoted following and critical kudos, the uncompromising Ms. Lundy continued to make waves, not just in North America, but in Asia and throughout the UK and Europe.

Teaching, too, is an important activity for Ms Lundy; she's given Master Classes in Australia, Denmark, Russia, Japan, Switzerland, New York, Washington, D.C., Northern California, Los Angeles and other cities around the world. Since its inception in 1998, Lundy has and continues to participate in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Program at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as Resident Clinician and guest artist. She has also worked with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz as guest artist and clinician.

Ms. Lundy is also a gifted actress active in theater. "Acting," as she told Dr. Billy Taylor in 2006, "helps me to get more comfortable and acquainted with the art of performance." She performed the lead role as Billie Holiday in the Off-Off Broadway play "They Were All Gardenias" by Lawrence Holder, as well as the lead role in the Broadway show, Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Ladies," and she made her television debut as the star of the CBS Pilot-Special "Shangri-La Plaza" in the role of Geneva, after which she relocated to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.

In addition to her recordings, Carmen Lundy has also composed and arranged for the Sonoton Music Library, the largest independent production music library in the world. Her music has been featured on such TV shows as “Mad Men”, “The L Word”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “So You Think You Can Dance”, “Baby Story”, and many others; as well as Feature Films and Documentaries including “9/11 – A Remembrance”.

Carmen Lundy is also a celebrated mixed media artist and painter, and her works have been exhibited in New York at The Jazz Gallery in Soho, at The Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, and at a month-long exhibition at the Madrid Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

Lundy resides in Los Angeles, CA.


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Thursday, September 3, 2015

Will Calhoun of Jungle Funk on The #DetroitJazzFest Series


"Jazz was my first love." - Will Calhoun

 

September 6, 2015 - Jungle Funk at 36th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival

Jungle Funk, the groundbreaking power trio you have to see/experience to believe, combines Drum & Bass, Funk, R&B, Electronic, World and Jazz music styles as only they can. The band consists of Vinx de Jon Parette on Vocals, percussion, loops & samples, Will Calhoun Drums, percussion, electronics & loops, and Doug Wimbish Bass, vocals, electronics & loops.

Performance at 5 PM

 

Detroit Jazz Festival
Main Stage
Detroit, MI

 

Check out the Detroit Jazz Festival Website at www.DetroitJazzFest.com to learn more about the event, and confirm details.

 

For More Information about Will Calhoun visit his website at www.WillCalhoun.com or www.WillCalhounArt.com 

Will Calhoun, the widely acclaimed drummer from the Bronx, New York, graduated from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where he received a Bachelors degree in Music Production and engineering. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Buddy Rich Jazz Masters Award for outstanding performance by a drummer.

Special Kudos for Will's drumming virtuosity include:

  • Best New Drummer by Modern Drummer Magazine's Readers Poll
  • Number One Progressive Drummer by Modern Drummer Magazine's Readers Poll three times
  • Best Drummer by Rolling Stone Magazine's Critics Poll


Will Calhoun's unique blend of improvisational and hard rock drumming can be found on each of Living Colour's four Epic releases: the ground breaking multi-platinum debut, Vivid, the critically acclaimed sophomore LP, Time's Up, the Biscuits EP, and Stain, as well as their latest release on Sanctuary Records, CollideØscope. A prolific song writer, Will has co-written many Living Colour compositions and wrote the critically acclaimed song, Pride, on the Time's Up album and Nothingness on the Stain album. As a member of Living Colour, Will received a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance by a group and another Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Living Colour also won an International Rock Award for Best Rock Band.

In addition to his work with Living Colour, Will has recorded and/or toured with diverse artists including B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Jaco Pastorious, Harry Belafonte, Pharoah Sanders, Jack Dejohnette, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, The Allman Brothers, Lauryn Hill, Marcus Miller, Dr.John, Carly Simon, Herb Alpert, Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, Wayne Shorter (on the Grammy-winning CD "High Life"), Lauryn Hill, and recorded with rappers Run-DMC and Public Enemy. As a producer, player, and songwriter, Will has worked on Herb Alpert's Grammy-nominated CD, Colors

During Will's down time he has managed to record two solo projects Housework and Drum Wave. These discs provide an alternate canvas for his acoustic drumset artistry as well as his push for electronic tonal expressions.

Will, Doug Wimbish, and Vinx joined forces to form the groundbreaking Ambient World Music band JUNGLE FUNK. Their live CD Jungle Funk is available on Zebra Records in the States. The group combines mastery of technology with musicianship. This rare and cutting edge disc was given the Album of the Year mention in Australia. 

Will's first jazz CD as a bandleader is entitled The Will Calhoun Quintet: Live at the Blue Note. The disc is an adventurous journey through Will's approach to acoustic Jazz, World and Ambient music. The line-up features Bobby Watson-sax, Terrell Stafford-trumpet, John Benitez-bass and Orrin Evans-piano. Will's song writing, arrangements and drumming on this CD are ground breaking. Although this was Will's first attempt at fronting a jazz group, Down Beat Magazine, Jazz Times, and BillBoard Magazine have given the CD top ratings. Drum Magazine's readers poll voted Will's CD 1st runner up for Drummer/Band leader. 

Will has worked with rapper Mos Def, both as a producer and performer. Will brought together an all-star lineup for this project, featuring artists like: Bernie Worrell on keys, Doug Wimbish on bass, Doc Know, the guitarist from Bad Brains, and other special guests. The Band is titled Black Jack Johnson, and several tracks from this band were featured on Mos Def's CD The New Danger. Keep your eyes and ears open for a full length Black Jack Johnson CD. It will be in the usual cutting-edge Calhoun fashion.

For all you Living Colour fans, the band is touring again and working on new material. They have performed regional U.S. tour, as well as tours in South America, Australia and Europe over the past several years. Check the Tour Schedule page often for updates. 

One of Will's latest creations is his follow-up release on the Halfnote label: Native Lands. Native Lands can be described as Jazz meets World, meets trance-inducing Urban music. This is a double package - CD/DVD in which Calhoun marries his far reaching interests in a genre-bending collection that taps key expressionists from various backgrounds. Among those contributing are Pharoah Sanders, Mos Def, Buster Williams, Stanley Jordan, Kevin Eubanks, Marcus Miller and Wallace Roney, as well as Nana Vasconcelos from Brazil and Cheick Tidiane Seck from Mali. The album includes a DVD with over ninety minutes of music videos and documentary materials that chronicle the last ten years of Will's life and travels. Will is presently touring in support of this project with his group, variously called "AZA" or "Native Lands", which features various artists from the album and other outstanding musicians. 

Not many artists have the vision and artistic energy to be Grammy winners and contribute to so many genres: jazz, rock, hip-hop, ambient, et al, while concurrently producing, touring, creating new projects, working on films, and continually pushing the envelope. Will Calhoun has this creative vision, and he is doing an extraordinary job keeping music a spiritual and motivating force in his life. 


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Sunday, August 23, 2015

Bert Johnson Unchained - Where Politics and Real Life Intersect


"People have forgotten that there’s no position in the country like citizen activism. I don’t have the power, you do. " - Senator Bert Johnson 

Senator Bert Johnson shares his story about how he went from being convicted of a crime and doing time, to being convicted to contribute to his community.

Additional topics that Senator Johnson addresses include: the school to prison pipeline, how to support young men of color, his journey to manhood and how he found his purpose. 

Bert Johnson is a progressive State Senator from Michigan’s 2nd District which includes Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper Woods and the five Grosse Pointe communities.

This is the recording of the live and candid conversation with Senator Johnson that took place on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at The Jungle Juice Bar in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. 

For More information about Senator Bert Johnson visit www.Facebook.com/SenBertJohnson 


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Monday, August 17, 2015

Numbers Never Lie


Feelings and emotions might be fuzzy, but numbers are cut and dry. We often let our feelings and emotions lead us. We react to life even when times are great. But what if we took a moment to measure our true well-being by the numbers in our lives? 


Last week, I took my own advice and practiced self-care by slowing down and making space. While there, I finally had the room, time and clarity to make a shocking discovery. My weight was at an all-time high and my credit score was at an all-time low. Based on that data, I realized that it was due time to get back to ME. 

What do your numbers look like? For you, it might not be weight or credit score, but it might be your blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar, hours reading, hours watching television, hours of work versus hours of play, hours of sleep, or time spent with family and your loved ones that matter to you most. One thing that I’ve learned in the business world is that when in doubt, check the numbers, because numbers never lie. Now I’ve come to learn that numbers also matter in your personal life as well, particularly when it comes to health, personal finances and even your relationships. 

This week I challenge you to identify which numbers in your life are out of balance. Once you do that, make the necessary adjustments to get back on track and back to you. Here are a few of the things that I did to give you some ideas… 

  • Joined Curves for Women (again) with my Mom as my workout buddy for fitness and quality family time. 
  • Today I’m going to buy a bicycle so I can go riding regularly with my best friend.
  • I unsubscribed from several of the email lists that were filling up my inbox that I never had time to read. 
  • I paid off some small debts that I had no other reason not to pay off other than just being too darn busy to sit down and do it. 
  • I went on a grocery shopping spree and purchased enough fresh and healthy items to last me all week.
  • I could go on and on, but those are just a few ideas to get you started. 


What will you do? 

Even when you are lying to yourself about the quality of your life, your numbers will tell you the truth.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Cornell Batie on The Detroit Jazz Festival


"For anything that you're going after, anything that you want to be part of your circle, take a look at yourself and say, 'Have I deposited these things into who I am?', because if you have not, then how can you expect for it to come back to you?" - Cornell Batie

In addition to being the Executive Vice President and Chief Operation Officer of the Detroit Jazz Festival Cornell Batie is also a Lifestyle Coach, Ballroom Instructor and Fitness Trainer

The Detroit Jazz Festival is a major cultural institution, providing year-round concerts and educational programming that culminates in one of the world’s premier jazz festivals on Labor Day Weekend.

Now in its 34th year, the festival takes place over several city blocks in downtown Detroit – from Hart Plaza to Campus Martius – with five stages and 100 acts over four days. It also offers educational activities for adults and children, fireworks, late-night jam sessions, rare opportunities to meet the artists and much more. And it’s all FREE.

The Detroit Jazz Fest's mission is to:

Foster the history and nurture the development of jazz

Perpetuate Detroit’s significant jazz legacy through educational and collaborative opportunities accessible to all and to present a world-class signature event that makes Detroit a tourist destination

For more information about the Detroit Jazz Festival visit www.DetroitJazzFest.com

For more information about Cornell Batie visit www.CornellBatie.com


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Friday, July 24, 2015

Legendary Jazz Bassist Marion Hayden on Jazz in Paradise


"Go for your dreams. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to believe in your own ideas and support the things that you do unequivocally. Don't be the critic for yourself." - Marion Hayden

Marion Hayden is one of very few female jazz bassists, in her case deciding to stay close to home while becoming one of the more enduring instrumentalists in the Midwestern United States. Born in Detroit, MI, in 1952, she is the daughter of Marion and Herbert Hayden, her father an avid record collector and jazz pianist himself. Growing up on the industrial west side of the Motor City, she took up piano at the age of nine, followed by the upright acoustic bass at 12. In the summer Metro Arts program she met Wendell Harrison and Marcus Belgrave, who would become teachers, and in time lifelong collaborators. Hayden attended Cass Tech High School and graduated from Henry Ford High School, took classes at Michigan State University and then the University of Michigan, gaining a liberal arts degree with a minor in entomology. She took a position with the Michigan Department of Agriculture while working the nightclub circuit playing jazz with Belgrave, pianist Charles Boles, Teddy Harris, Jr., the Jimmy Wilkins Orchestra, Buddy Budson, LaMonte Hamilton, saxophonist George Benson, Marvin "Doc" Holladay, Randy Gelispie, Donald Walden, Kenn Cox, and Stan Booker.

Briefly disillusioned with the jazz scene in the early '80s, she took a two-year hiatus before her career was revived through playing again with Cox, and most notably master percussionist Roy Brooks in his combo the Artistic Truth. For a time while married to guitarist Bill Banfield, she worked on joint projects with him including symphonic and cinematic music reflecting her classical training. From there her career took off as one of the founding members of the all-female ensemble Venus, followed by the band Straight Ahead in collaboration with Regina Carter. As the band was signed to Atlantic Records, the personnel of Straight Ahead changed; as Carter began a solo career, vocalist Michelle Braden was replaced by Cynthia Dewberry and Hayden, pianist Eileen Orr, and drummer Gayelynn McKinney carried on. As the commercial landscape for jazz changed, so too did Hayden's focus, playing in both R&B and mainstream contexts.

This versatility led her to a wide variety of engagements, but also gave her the opportunity to become a high-level educator. She became a professor of bass instruction in the jazz department of Tri-C College in Cleveland, OH, and was installed in the faculty at the University of Michigan School of Music. She has performed or recorded with such jazz veterans as Kirk Lightsey, Ralph Peterson, Jr., Terry Callier, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Fortune, Kenny Burrell, Steve Turre, Cecil Bridgewater, fellow Detroiter James Carter, and countless other professionals passing through. Straight Ahead has maintained a local presence beyond their recordings, while Hayden is also heard with the band of saxophonist Allen Barnes, and is a member of the Modern Jazz Messengers led by drummer Sean Dobbins. Her solo CD Visions was released in 2008, and she has composed a suite based on the writings of poet Phyllis Wheatley.

Marion Hayden is currently celebrating 20 years of marriage to Artist, M. Saffell Gardner www.saffellart.com

For more information about Marion visit her website at MarionHayden.com (Coming Soon)

About Jazz in Paradise...

Saturday, July 25, 2015

30394 Glenmuer St.

Farmington Hills, MI 48334

6:30pm - 10:30pm

$30 Minimum Fundraising Donation

Entertainment, Food and Beverages

Hosted by Maxine Michaels

Featured Vocalists: Shahida Nurullah and Robert McCarther

Featuring Marion Hayden on Bass, Larry Smith on Saxophone and Sean Dobbins on Percussion

For More information visit www.facebook.com/maxine.michaels.1


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