Author Archive
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
 Cal Tjader was undoubtedly the most famous non-Latino leader of Latin jazz bands, an extraordinary distinction. From the 1950s until his death, he was practically the point man between the worlds of Latin jazz and mainstream bop; his light, rhythmic, joyous vibraphone manner could comfortably embrace both styles. His numerous recordings for Fantasy and Verve and long-standing presence in the San Francisco Bay Area eventually had a profound influence upon Carlos Santana, and thus Latin rock. He also played drums and bongos, the latter most notably on the George Shearing Quintet’s puckishly titled “Rap Your Troubles in Drums,” and would occasionally sit in on piano as well.
Tjader studied music and education at San Francisco State College before hooking up with fellow Bay Area resident Dave Brubeck as the drummer in the Brubeck Trio from 1949 to 1951. He then worked with Alvino Rey, led his own group, and in 1953, joined George Shearing’s then hugely popular quintet as a vibraphonist and percussionist. It was in Shearing’s band that Tjader’s love affair with Latin music began. It was ignited by Shearing’s bassist Al McKibbon, nurtured by contact with Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaria, and Armando Peraza, and galvanized by the ’50s mambo craze.
 When he left Shearing the following year, Tjader promptly formed his own band that emphasized the Latin element yet also played mainstream jazz. Bobo and Santamaria eventually joined Tjader’s band as sidemen, and Vince Guaraldi served for a while as pianist and contributor to the band’s songbook (“Ginza,” “Thinking of You, MJQ”). Tjader recorded a long series of mostly Latin jazz albums for Fantasy from the mid-’50s through the early ’60s, switching in 1961 to Verve. Under Creed Taylor’s aegis, he expanded his stylistic palette and was teamed with artists like Lalo Schifrin, Anita O’Day, Kenny Burrell, and Donald Byrd. Along the way, Tjader managed to score a minor hit in 1965 with “Soul Sauce,” a reworking of Dizzy Gillespie/Chano Pozo’s “Guacha Guaro,” which Tjader had previously cut for Fantasy. Tjader returned to Fantasy in the 1970s, then in 1979 moved over to the new Concord Picante label, where he remained until his death.
~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi
http://mog.com/artists/bio/mn4908/cal-tjader
Posted in Artist of the Month | 6 Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
North Carolina Central University will, for the first time, hold separate spring commencement ceremonies on Friday and Saturday to award baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Graduate and professional degrees will be awarded on Friday afternoon in McDougald–McLendon Gymnasium. The baccalaureate ceremony will be on Saturday morning in O’Kelly–Riddick Stadium.
Graduate and Professional Commencement
Master’s degrees and law degrees will be awarded to 424 recipients on Friday, May 13, at 3 p.m., in McDougald–McLendon Gymnasium on the NCCU campus (616 E. Lawson St.). The speaker will be Dr. Norman B. Anderson, a 1997 NCCU graduate who is chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.
Seating is limited in the gymnasium. The ceremony will be telecast to overflow audiences in B.N. Duke Auditorium, the University Theatre in the Farrison–Newton Communications Building and the School of Law.
Baccalaureate Commencement
The university will award 534 bachelor’s degrees on Saturday, May 14, at 8 a.m., in O’Kelly–Riddick Stadium on the NCCU campus. The speaker will be John Lewis, civil rights leader and member of Congress from Georgia.
In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held in McDougald–McLendon Gymnasium, and will be telecast for overflow audiences in B.N. Duke Auditorium, the University Theatre in the Farrison–Newton Communications Building and the School of Education.
PARKING:
For the Friday ceremony, ample free parking will be available in the Latham Parking Deck at 705 E. Lawson St. and in the upper and lower parking lots next to the BRITE building on Lawson Street. The easiest access to the parking deck is from Lawson Street via Alston Avenue. The easiest access to the BRITE lots is from Lawson Street via Fayetteville Street.
For the Saturday ceremony, parking is open throughout the campus with the exception of the lots adjacent to the Hoey Administration Building. Visitors are strongly encouraged to arrive early.
Posted in Public Affairs | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
 It has been one of the best-kept secrets in the NCCU athletics department, probably because the team rarely plays at home.
But if things keep getting better and better, soon the exploits of the Eagle bowling team are going to be well known in the NCCU community.
The Eagle rollers went 34-30-1 this season, the best campaign since the university left the CIAA bound for membership in the MEAC. That came after a combined 53-172 over the previous three seasons, including a 13-59 mark in 2010.
“We have a bowling team?” sophomore Laverne Jones said is the most common response she hears when people find out she’s on an athletic scholarship.
“Then they say ‘You can’t beat me,’” added Toria Silver, who will graduate with a degree in child development this weekend, but still has eligibility left and will continue studies at NCCU. “We’ve been challenged twice by the football team and the baseball team, but they never showed up. Most people think of bowling as a hobby, and not a sport.”
It certainly wasn’t just a hobby for this season’s Eagles, who had a lot to brag about for the first time since NCCU’s inaugural varsity team won the inaugural CIAA championship in 2001.
“I think we had a really good season,” NCCU coach Karen Sanford said. “The young ladies worked hard. We had our first 1000 set (a 1036 against Elizabeth City State on Feb. 11) and Laverne broke the school record with a high game of 256 (to lead that victory over the Vikings.)”
The squad had only six players this season, but Sanford said she would never want more than seven anyway. Five compete in each match, and substitutes are allowed during a game if someone gets an injury or is just having a bad day.
The four others on this season’s team were seniors LaTia Blacknell from Durham Riverside and Shelisha Ejimakor from Raleigh, sophomore Khrystal Richardson from Matteson, Ill., and freshman Kristyne Garrett from Raleigh Enloe.
But they didn’t compete on high school teams before coming to NCCU.
“Laverne found me,” Sanford explained. “Her cousin sent me an e-mail and said she was looking for a place to go. I e-mailed her and called her and signed her, and here she is. I used to work with Toria’s mother (Victoria), so I knew her before she was born.”
Jones was also a guard on the basketball team and played on the back row for the volleyball team at Goldsboro’s Eastern Wayne High.
Jones, the “anchor,” who bowls the fifth and tenth frames when the Eagles play a Baker game, averaged a 177.8 this season. She started at the age of eight on the recommendation of her mother Nenita, and remembers her best recreational game at 264.
“Sometimes it takes a toll, but I started getting used to it after a while,” Jones said of the weekend matches, in which a player may roll as many as 40 games. “I know Coach has confidence in me. I’m hoping we can win some championships next year.”
Silver, who had played volleyball and basketball at Shepard Middle School, attended the Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High on campus.
Silver, who has been rolling since she was seven when her mother got her into it, is the leadoff or “sparkplug” in Baker games and averages 167.4. She had a 273 in an exhibition game against Bethune-Cookman last season.
“I was happy we got to be a better Baker team this year,” Silver said. “And when we shot that 1036 it was awesome. I want to finish No. 1 in the MEAC South next year.”
MEAC championships may be a bit of a different goal in bowling than in other sports, too.
Maryland-Eastern Shore won NCAA National Collegiate titles – the designation in which there are not Division I and II and III but just one champion – this season and in 2008.
And the Hawks have had to beat schools from major conferences like the Big XII (Nebraska) and the SEC (Vanderbilt) to do it.
“Everybody wants to go to the nationals, but our goal for next year will be to make the MEAC Championships,” said Sanford, who has a recreational team named the ‘Eagle Rollers’ that competes for USBC national championships. “The top four in the South will make it. I think we’ll be looking pretty good. We’ll lose two seniors, but we have two good recruits coming in. We want to win some championships and put a banner on the wall.”
Posted in Public Affairs | 3 Comments »
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
 The Durham Arts Council (DAC) presents the 9th annual exhibition of innovative art quilts organized by the Professional Art Quilters Alliance-South (PAQA-South), opening on Friday, May 20 with a free, public reception. The exhibition is titled “ARTQUILTSmovement” and includes entries from all over the United States and Canada.
Official jurors for the exhibition are Sara Powers, Executive Director of the Visual Art Exchange gallery in Raleigh and Ann Harwell, a quilt artist with Artspace in Raleigh. The jurors selected 38 works related to the exhibit theme with a focus on technique, design, originality and craftsmanship. Each work reflects the artist’s interpretation of the concept of movement.
From May 20 through July 17, 2011, ARTQUILTSmovement will be on view in the Allenton and Semans Galleries of the Durham Arts Council as part of the DAC’s rotating exhibitions program. The public is invited to the opening reception on Friday, May 20, from 5-7pm at the DAC’s historic downtown Durham facility which will feature live acoustic music in the galleries as well as wine and refreshments.
PAQA-South and the DAC are sponsoring a 2-day workshop for artists in conjunction with the ARTQUILTSmovement exhibition, titled Shameless Self-Promotion: A No-Excuses Art Marketing Workshop, led by national art business coach, Alyson B. Stanfield. The workshop will be held on Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21 at the DAC. The fee for the workshop is $150 and topics will include: artist website management, getting results from your mailing lists and why social media is worth the effort.
For more information about PAQA-South, ARTQUILTSmovement, or the Shameless Self-Promotion workshop, please visit www.artquiltersouth.org, email [email protected] or visit Alyson Stanfield’s website at www.artbizcoach.com.
Posted in Public Affairs | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
A Blog Supreme
Where The Tuba Lives: 5 New Orleans Songs Featuring The Fat Horn
Many things make New Orleans a one-of-a-kind music town, but one is the tuba, the monstrous brass instrument worn like a python squeezing its victim.
Piano Jazz
Bela Fleck On Piano Jazz
Fleck joins host Marian McPartland and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi for trio renditions of “In Walked Bud,” “All the Things You Are” and “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.”
A Blog Supreme
Here Are The Best Jazz Photos And Short Videos Of The Year
At least according to the Jazz Journalists Association, which announced its JJA Jazz Award nominations for 2011 this morning. Winners are named in a ceremony on June 11, 2011, which will also be streamed as a live video webcast.
A Blog Supreme
How We Don’t Talk About Musicians
Drummer Scott Clark is one of the best to be found in Richmond, Va., anchoring a number of excellent bands. But in an interview, he reveals that the life of a musician isn’t as easy as his playing looks.
A Blog Supreme
‘Treme,’ Episode 11: Fourteen Months After
As season two opens, not much has really changed in post-Katrina New Orleans — and what has changed isn’t necessarily good. Luckily, the city’s music remains a constant. Read a recap of the live performances, featuring Christian Scott, The Subdudes, Bonerama and Juvenile.
Posted in Music News | 3 Comments »
Sunday, May 1st, 2011
 Bobby Sanabria, a drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, filmmaker, conductor, educator, multi-cultural warrior and multiple Grammy nominee, has performed with a veritable Who’s Who in the world of jazz and Latin music, as well as with his own critically acclaimed ensembles. His diverse recording and performing experience includes work with such legendary figures as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Charles McPherson, Mongo Santamaría, Ray Barretto, Marco Rizo, Arturo Sandoval, Roswell Rudd, Chico O’Farrill, Candido, Yomo Toro, Francisco Aguabella, Larry Harlow, Henry Threadgill, and the Godfather of Afro-Cuban Jazz, Mario Bauzá.
Bobby, the son of Puerto Rican parents, was born and raised in the “Fort Apache” section of New York City’s South Bronx. Inspired and encouraged by maestro Tito Puente, another fellow New York-born Puerto Rican, Bobby “got serious” and attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music from 1975 to 1979, obtaining a Bachelor of Music degree and receiving their prestigious Faculty Association Award for his work as an instrumentalist. Since his graduation, Bobby has become a leader in the Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and jazz fields as both a drummer and percussionist, and is recognized as one of the most articulate musician-scholars of la tradición living today.
Bobby has been featured on numerous Grammy-nominated albums, including The Mambo Kings and other movie soundtracks, as well as numerous television and radio work. He was the drummer with the legendary “Father of the Afro-Cuban Jazz movement,” Mario Bauzá’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra.  With them he recorded three CD’s, two of which were Grammy-nominated, that are considered to be definitive works of the Afro-Cuban big-band jazz tradition. Bobby was also featured with the orchestra in two PBS documentaries about Bauzá and also appeared on the The Cosby Show performing with the orchestra. He also appeared and performed prominently in a PBS documentary on The Life of Mongo Santamaria and on camera in the CBS television movie, Rivkin: Bounty Hunter.
Learn more are www.bobbysanabria.com
Posted in Artist of the Month | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
 For the first time in Eddie Palmieri’s 50-year history as a musician he hosts four hour-long programs, from May 9 – 12, without news breaks.
The eight-time GRAMMY® award winner hosts Caliente Latin Jazz with Eddie Palmieri and will share with us an insight into the world of jazz and Latin jazz through his music.
Latin jazz lovers new and old will enjoy great musicianship, collaboration and conversation provided with both humor and passion by Eddie and his special guests including Monty Alexander, David Sanchez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Brian Lynch, Joe Locke and Conrad Herwig. The musical selections include many of Palmieri’s original compositions as well as standards like Tin Tin Deo and In Walked Bud!
Pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Eddie Palmieri, who celebrated his 50th year as a professional musician in 2005, was the recipient of a 2006 Grammy in the Latin Jazz category for his 2005 release “Listen Here!” his eighth Grammy and first recording to include jazz standards.
Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Palmieri began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late salsa legend and pianist Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of the barrio. Possessed by a desire to play the drums, Palmieri joined his uncle’s orchestra at age 13, where he played the timbales. Says Palmieri, “By 15, it was good-bye timbales and back to the piano until this day. I’m a frustrated percussionist, so I take it out on the piano.”
Palmieri remains a powerhouse of brilliance and sound that has stirred audiences for over 50 years, captivating and elevating the senses while taking listeners down paths of intensity to a place where there are no musical boundaries.
Schedule
Monday, 5/9, 9pm – “The Melodic Eddie” with David Sanchez
Tuesday, 5/10, 9pm – “The Original Rhythms” with special guests Giovanni Hidalgo and Brian Lynch
Wednesday, 5/11, 9pm – “Caribbean Unity, It’s About the Riddim” with Monty Alexander
Thursday, 5/12, 9pm – “El Sonido Nuevo Revisited” with guests Joe Locke and Conrad Herwig
Posted in Music News | 5 Comments »
Monday, April 18th, 2011
Join bassist Bernard Harris and Marvin Mumford as they travel the country to spread a musical message of health and healing to hearts and souls all across hospitals in America. Their musical message has been a reoccurring request to the patients at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh. The musical inspiration that will be delivered through the musicians will encourage the hearts of patients, family and staff of the hospital from Georgia to North Carolina.
Tour Dates
4/18 Cape Fear Hospital Fayetteville NC
4/18 Calvary Chapel Fayetteville NC
4/19 Durham Regional Hospital Durham NC
4/19 Durham Urban Ministries Shelter, Durham NC
4/20 INSP Charlotte, NC
4/20 United Family Services Shelter For Battered Women, Charlotte NC
4/20 Levine Chrldren’s Hospital, Charlotte NC
4/20 Borders Bookstore Charlotte NC
4/21 Alamance Regional Hospital Alamance County
4/21 Moses Cone Hospital, Greensboro NC
4/21 Villiage at Brookwood in Alamance County
4/21 First Presbyterian Hot Meals & Hope Shelter, Greensboro NC
4/22 WakeMed, Raleigh NC
4/22 Raleigh Salvation Army Shelter for Wonmen and Children
4/22 GiGi’s Bistro Good Friday Jam, Youngsville NC
To learn more about the artists, visit www.bernardharris.com or www.marvinmumford.org.
Posted in Public Affairs | 6 Comments »
Monday, April 4th, 2011
 Norman B. Anderson, chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association and a North Carolina Central University alumnus, will deliver the commencement address at the university’s inaugural ceremony for graduate and professional students on May 13.
Anderson was named the association’s CEO in 2003. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional association for psychologists in the world.
This year for the first time, NCCU will hold separate commencements for undergraduates and for master’s and professional students. The upper-level degrees will be awarded at 3 p.m. in McDougald –McLendon Gymnasium on Lawson Street.
The speaker for the undergraduate ceremony — on May 14 at 8 a.m. in O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium — will be announced later.
NCCU will confer about 590 undergraduate, 300 graduate and 160 law degrees during the two weekend ceremonies.
“Dr. Anderson has been in the forefront of behavioral and social science research in the United States for decades,” said NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms. “As a product of our university, he offers graduate and professional students an inspiring case study, combining success with service to society. We are deeply gratified that he will deliver our first graduate-level commencement address.”
Anderson earned his undergraduate degree in psychology at NCCU in 1977, and then master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He took additional clinical and research training at the schools of medicine at Brown and Duke universities, including postdoctoral fellowships in psychophysiology and aging at Duke.
He has been a professor at both Duke University Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.
As CEO of the American Psychological Association, Anderson manages a $112 million annual budget and a central office staff of more than 550 professionals. The Association’s membership is over 154,000 including psychologists, psychology students and teachers.
Before his APA tenure, Anderson was the founding associate director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in charge of behavioral and social sciences research, and was the first director of the institutes’ Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. He oversaw behavioral and social research across all of the then-24 NIH institutes and centers, including those conducting research in areas such as cancer, heart disease, mental health, diabetes and aging.
His research and writing on the effects of stress on biology and risk for hypertension have received several awards from scientific societies and universities. He is editor in chief the American Psychological Association’s flagship journal, American Psychologist and of The Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior. With his wife, writer P. Elizabeth Anderson, he authored a health book for lay audiences titled Emotional Longevity: What Really Determines How Long You Live.
Posted in Public Affairs | 3 Comments »
Monday, April 4th, 2011
 Rebbie Jackson, the eldest child of the Jackson family of musicians, is coming to Durham, North Carolina to headline a very important cause. Ms. Jackson, whose own daughter Yashi Brown, suffers from bipolar type 2 and other mental health issues is headlining the 2011 National Alliance on Mental Illness Pick Up The Phone Mental Health Awareness Concert Tour.
The tour moves into the Hayti Heritage Center at 7 p.m. and The NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble will perform a special 45 minute set to kick off the night while the South Durham High School dancers and the Green Hope High School Jazz Band will also perform before Ms. Jackson takes center stage to perform notable Jackson favorites such as her own “Centipede,” and Michael Jackson’s “You Rock My World,” “Rock With You,” the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back,” “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” and others.
Rebbie Jackson first performed on stage with her siblings during shows in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in 1974, before subsequently appearing in the television series The Jacksons.
At age 34, Jackson released her debut album Centipede (1984). The album featured songs written by Smokey Robinson, Prince and her younger brother Michael, whose contribution (the title track “Centipede”) became Rebbie’s most successful single release. By the end of the 1980s, the singer had released two more albums in quick succession: Reaction (1986) and R U Tuff Enuff (1988).
Rebbie Jackson returned with the 1998 album Yours Faithfully. The production of the album, her last to date, had the singer collaborate with artists and producers such as Men of Vizion’s Spanky Williams, Keith Thomas and Eliot Kennedy. It also featured contributions from her children. Most notably, the album would feature the last time Michael Jackson ever recorded a duet with a family member on the memorable, yet un-released “Fly Away.”
Now, the eldest of the Jackson clan and the caretaker to Michael, Janet, and the others is taking on the biggest and most fulfilling challenge of her long and storied career.
Mental illness is a major problem in our community as it is in others. A major problem as to why many don’t seek help is the stigma, the embarrassment that so many feel.
Rebbie is delighted to announce that she is headlining a major tour and partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to help raise awareness to various mental illnesses. Ms. Jackson’s concert tour has been dubbed the “2011 Rebbie Jackson Pick Up The Phone Mental Health Awareness Tour.”
Thus far the tour has gained national attention with Ms. Jackson and her daughter, Yashi Brown who suffers from bipolar disorder, being interviewed on ABC’s “The View,” and NBC’s “Today Show.”
National and local coverage is expected at each of the show’s planned 40 stops in U.S. cities.
Rebbie invites all to come join us for a special event that will help raise awareness to Depression, BiPolar, Mental Illness, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Eating Disorders, ADHD, Schizophrenia, Autism, Alcohol and Substance Abuse and Suicide.
LINKS:
http://bethesda.wusa9.com/news/arts-culture/rebbie-jackson-s-pick-phone-2011-tour-kicks-tonight/54467
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/02/16/exclusive-rebbie-jackson-pain-raising-daughter-bipolar-disorder-schizophrenia/
http://www.venicemag.com/news-article/rebbie-jackson-answers-the-call/342
http://www.aunniydesign.com/blog/2011/02/24/Rebbie-Jackson-A-Very-Beautiful-Mother-Wife-and-Sister-of-the-Legendary-Jackson-Family.aspx
Posted in Music News | Comments Off on NCCU and Local High School Band and Dancers to Open for Rebbie Jackson in Durham
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