Hey Folks:

Thanks to my very dear friend Ms. KO, last night I was comped tickets to BAM – The Brooklyn Academy of Music – to see Alvin Ailey; and honey I am still speechless. The show was fabulous! The music, the movement and the MEN! Honey these beautiful black people had it going on!

I really hope you had a chance to take a look at the video I posted just to get a taste of the choreography of the great Alvin Ailey.

The video I posted is a dance that is a part of the Revelations collection which is laced with the beautiful sounds of spiritual hymns and songs. Songs like, Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel and Fix Me Jesus, Take Me To The Water and the classic Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham. Each dance was awe inspiring and breathtaking… I sat on the edge of my seat the entire night! BAM is a beautiful theater and the perfect setting for this Dance Company to perform.

The program began with five modern dances that were phenomenal, the women in the show were absolutely gorgeous and 100% African American with hips and curves to prove it. The men, chile the men were exceptionally fit (that was tame enough right?) their bodies were well oiled machines (literally) picking up women and tossing them around. Made me want to jump on stage and do a grande plie! My very cultured friend and I had the time of our lives looking at the fabulous eye candy… I mean look at the picture to your left! Need I say more?

The music in the modern set featured Nina Simone and Duke Ellington, dance tributes to Zora Neal Hurston, W.E.B. DuBois and Langston Huges. The Welcome to Harlem set made it feel like Black History Month in that theater. I’m  so glad I was a witness to this show during Black Music month instead!

What a wonderful tapestry of talent we African American’s are!

Just in case you’ve never heard of him here is a bit of information on Mr. Ailey and his dance company.

Alivn Ailey American Dance Theater grew from a now-fabled performance in March 1958 at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Led by Alvin Ailey and a group of young African American modern dancers, that performance changed forever the preception of American dance. The Ailey company was gone on to perfrom for an estimated 23 Million people in 48 states and in 71 countries on six continents, including tow historic residencies in South Africa. In 2008, the US Congress designated the Company as “a vital American cultural ambassador to the world,” promoting the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance heritage.

Born in Rogers, Texas on January 5, 1931, Alvin Ailey was introduced to dance by performances of Katherine Dunham Dance Company and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. His formal dance training began with an intoducton to Lester Horton’s classes by his friend, Carmen de Lavallade.

When Mr. Ailey began creating dances, he drew upon his “blood memories” of Texas, the blues, spirituals and gospel as inspiration, which resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work – Revelations.

Although he created 79 ballets over his lifetime, Alvin Ailey maintained that his company was not exclusively a repository for his own work. Today, the Company continues Mr. Ailey’s mission by presenting important works of the past and commissioning new ones. In all, more than 200 works by over 80 choreographers are part of the Ailey company’s repertoire.

Before his untimely death in 1989, Alvin Ailey asked Judith Jamison to become Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Remaining committed to furthering Alvin Ailey’s legacy, she brought the Company to unprecedented success.

Until next time…

Keep Jammin!

It’s Black Music Month, here are a few of my favorite Black Music Movies. If you haven’t seen them go find them online or rent them from Netflix!

Mo’ Better Blues

DreamGirls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Q5zqd7yqo

The Wiz

Beat Street

Mahogany

Until next time…
PEACE!

On my quest to spotlight some awesome blues music I’ve decided that my first artist would be Robert Johnson.

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) is now among the most famous of Delta blues musicians. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend, including a Faustian myth. 

If you are anything like me the only reason why you know about Robert Johnson is because of the Blues Brother’s — the movie that is! It’s because of their rendition of Mr. Johnson’s original Sweet Home Chicago that I even know who Robert Johnson is!

Food for thought…
According to legend, as a young black man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Robert Johnson was branded with a burning desire to become a great blues musician. He was “instructed” to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the Devil) who took the guitar and tuned it. The “Devil” played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. This was, in effect, a deal with the Devil mirroring the legend of Faust. In exchange for his soul, Robert Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.

Be sure to stop by and see who I spotlight next.

PEACE!

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written and for that I do apologize. I have had a lovely musical spring and am truly look forward to having just as much fun this summer!

The title of this post is not about me really having the blues or being sad; but it’s about NUTTIN’ BUT THE BLUES — blues music that is!

In honor of Black Music Month — which was designated by President Jimmy Carter in June 1979 — I want to take some time to talk about the blues.

According to Wikipedia–

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre created primarily within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.

This week I had an opportunity to hang out with The Back Alley Players at the Sugar Bar in NYC; and boy did I get my fill of the Blues. The legendary Ashford and Simpson launched a brand new series on Tuesday nights that’s titled “Nuttin’ But The Blues”. Every Tuesday night folks come out in droves to share their brand of blues. This past week the show was hosted by Madam Pat Tandy with the Back Alley Players as the house band. She sang one of my new favoriate song “I want a Big Fat Daddy! Y’all I had a blast!