Review

“The mission of NBAF is to engage, cultivate and educate diverse audiences about the arts and culture of the African Diaspora and provide opportunities for artistic and creative expression.”

www.nbaf.org

We all know that he writes, he sings, he’s a poet, he’s a musician - he just received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” Nice, but, did you know that Bob Dylan also paints?!

His book of his art work, [...]

“Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul”

This fabulous CD (October, 2007), covers the years 1966 to 1974. It has some unreleased songs, some outtakes and of course some of those familiar classics that did make it onto the radio such as, “Rock Steady”, “You’re All I Need To Get [...]

I have to say a glimpse because I was in Belize for only one week and wasn’t even aware of the trip until two days before (not much time for researching). So, this past week, I had the pleasure and honor of working on Nyasha Liang’s documentary “Punta Rock”, about the musical culture in Belize. [...]

                                   
The song “Because of You”, number #1 pop single of 1951, was my introduction to Tony Bennett. My mother loved that song and when my mom loved a song, she would play it over and over. (I occasionally shock myself when I hear something on the radio or in a movie and I start [...]

                       
“Jazz Icons“, 8 and 9 DVD box sets, contain a fabulous group of Jazz artists captured on film.  Some pieces are from television shows of the 50’s/ 60’s, others are film clips from old Jazz festivals, etc.
I don’t know if Jazz is “In” or “Out” today? Perhaps it depends on who is writing about this [...]

 She sings the music of Cape Verde, an island off the west coast of Africa which declared independence from Portugal in 1975.
Singing both in Portuguese, and in the language of her small country, Lura mixes some of the musical traditions, like “Morna”, with a more contemporary, urban sound.  Different from the better known tragic, emotional [...]

  A Voice in Time: 1939-1952, issued in Sept. 2007, is a Frank Sinatra CD box set with music from the early years of his career (when I think his voice was at its best - creamy smooth, distinctive - he didn’t sound like anyone else).
The songs are mostly about love, romantic, sentimental, whether joyous [...]

I seem to be going thru a stage where I’m admiring “longevity”.  Artists, entertainers, anyone who just keeps going (like that obnoxious TV bunny).  I look at people of a certain age and think, “still doing good work, still chasing”. I saw a piece on Chaka Khan on CBS Sunday Morning the other day and [...]

October 20th, The Kawambe-Omowale African Drum & Dance Theatre, a Phoenix, Arizona-based performing arts company, celebrating more than 20 years in the Valley of the Sun! 

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