Life drawing meets cabaret… Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School will begin from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, July 19, at the Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. 4th St., Tulsa. Admission is $7 (cash or check only) and is for mature audiences only.
Started in Brooklyn by artist and burlesque girl Molly Crabapple, Dr. Sketchy’s now has 60+ branches around the globe, including Hollywood, London, Berlin, Edinburgh, Oklahoma City, Tokyo, Paris, Kansas City, and now Tulsa. There will be local, and regional Burlesque performers, notable artists, musicians, and all kinds of other beautiful, and interesting people, modeling just for participants.
For more information, call 918-633-8666 or go online to http://www.nightingaletheater.com.
Author: mitchmuse
Global communicator, Journalism, Entrepreneur, Web editor, Blogger, Freelance writer, Jazz enthusiast
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Mitch’s Reflection: “Yes, Lord”
I was viewing this video on YouTube and listening to the song “Yes Lord” took me all the way back to those times, singing acappella as a little girl at my grandfather’s church in the country. It’s a song that no way how one sings it, it was always heartfelt, linking generations to generations. I still get emotional hearing it. May this excerpt bless you today as much as it has blessed me.
Concord Music Group will celebrate the legacy of Lester Young with the August 4 release of “Lester Young: Centennial Celebration.”
The 10-track compilation is the latest installment in Concord’s ongoing Centennial Celebration series, which honors the 100th birthdays of some of the most iconic and influential figures in jazz history.
Compiled and produced by Nick Phillips, Concord Music Group’s vice president of Jazz and Catalog A&R, “Lester Young: Centennial Celebration” draws primarily from recordings made in December 1956, during Young’s week-long run at Olivia Davis’ Patio Lounge in Washington, D.C. Young was accompanied in the first seven tracks by the Bill Potts Trio, the house band at the Patio Lounge: pianist Bill Potts, bassist Norman Williams and drummer Jim Lucht.
Even during his lifetime, Young’s approach had become highly imitated in jazz by such luminaries as Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and John Coltrane.
Youth Onstage will perform “Grease” at 8 p.m. July 17 and 18 and 2 p.m. July 19 at the Studio Theatre on Tulsa Community College’s Southeast Campus at 81st Street and Highway 169.
Made up of more than 60 teens from seven school districts and home schools in
the Tulsa metro area, Youth Onstage is an all-volunteer teen acting troupe of
high school and middle school students (starting with 6th grade),
completing its 9th season. The troupe provides young people with an
affirming environment which nurtures love of theatre through teaching
such skills as acting, directing, producing, set design, make-up,
lighting and sound. Past performances include 4 Summerstage shows:
“Leader of the Pack,” “Smile,” “Babes in Arms” and “Schoolhouse Rock,”
and 2 musicals at TCC: “Leader of the Pack” and “Pajama Game.”
Youth Onstage, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, has never,
and will never, charge its members any fees for becoming a member of its
acting troupe.
Its efforts are made possible by donations from the community, from
ticket and concession sales at our performances, and the active
participation of our wonderful parents.
For more information about the troupe, auditions, or “Grease,” call Morgan K. Powell, Youth Onstage president at (918) 625-2165.
Trumpeter-bandleader and Mack Avenue Recording artist Sean Jones has not only performed at the Jazz Studio at the White House, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama, in June, but Jones is preparing to release a new project “The Search Within” in August.
“The Search Within,” Jones’ fifth project, is described as “a journey inside my soul that’s taken place over the past 10 years.” He says “it’s an assessment of where I am in the present as well as how I’ve learned from my mistakes and triumphs as a way of looking into the future. This album goes very deep for me. It’s a spiritual and sonic journey for me.”
Jones and his quintet, consisting of Orrin Evans (piano), Brian Hogans (alto sax), Walter Smith (tenor sax), Luques Curtis (bass), and John Davis (drums) – will perform at a CD release event at Jazz Standard at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 11 and Wednesday, Aug. 12. For more information, go online to http://www.seanjonesmusic.com/.
Count Basie Orchestra presents “Swinging, Singing, Playing: The Count Basie Orchestra Salutes the Jazz Masters,” a 11-track CD that salutes jazz titans as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Freddie Hubbard and John Coltrane, in addition to such living legends as Bennett, Quincy Jones, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Jon Hendricks, Curtis Fuller, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and others.
Produced by Mack Avenue’s executive vice president of A&R Al Pryor and CBO producer / conductor of special projects Dennis Wilson, Count Basie Orchestra achieves just what the CD title boasts: a swinging good time of extraordinary blues-fueled performances that hail various jazz legends. There are top-drawer performances by the big band and its all-star guest list that includes Jones, Wess, Hendricks, Fuller, Geri Allen, Nnenna Freelon, Janis Siegel, Butch Miles, Rufus Reid and, in a nod to the younger generation that embraces Basie music, sparkplug singer/pianist Jamie Cullum. The project will be released on Aug. 25 on Mack Records.
Vibraphonist-composer Stefon Harris is set to release his 7th album as a bandleader in August. The 10-track “Urbanus” picks up where 2004’s “Evolution” left off in that it features Harris’ ensemble Blackout that’s as versed in modern jazz as it is with rhythms, melodies and soundscapes associated with R&B, pop, hip-hop and funk.
Marc Cary complements his acoustic piano with Fender Rhodes and alto saxophonist Casey Benjamin lends his captivating vocoder work to the proceeding. Harris’ broadening textures and colors comes to play with his sensational woodwind and string arrangements on a few of the compositions. New Blackout bassist Buster Williams rounds out the group.
Harris and Blackout will be on tour to promote “Urbanus” (on Concord Jazz label) starting in September 2009.
Direct descendants of U.S. Territorial Marshals that served out of the district court of the famous Judge Parker have combined forces to produce a movie about their ancestors. Screenwriter Lyndon McGill, great-grandson of U.S. Deputy Marshal John McGill and independent film producer Oscar D. Ray Sr., great-grandson of U.S. Deputy Marshal Rufus Cannon will produce the movie “Stairway to Heaven.”
The screenplay, which follows the exploits of John McGill’s last days as a deputy marshal is based around actual events and real people and is a dramatic and action packed account of life during one of the most dangerous times and places in the old West.
The story takes place in Oklahoma and Indian territory during the late 1800s and will be shot entirely on location. Perennial cowboy favorite Sam Elliott has been offered the part of John B. McGill.
“For people back east Oklahoma and Indian Territory was the true wild west and more western gunfights occurred in the twin territories than any other place in the old West. As a matter of fact more U.S. Marshals were killed in a 50-mile radius of Muskogee OK than in any place in the nation” says ShIronbutterfly Ray, co-producer and Unit Production Manager for the film. Ray is also the executive director of the BareBones International Independent Film and Music Festivals.
The story, considered a cross between films “Tombstone” and “Unforgiven,” is scheduled to begin production in the spring 2010.
Other talent being considered for key roles in the film are Ryan Merriman,(“Lonesome Dove-Comanche Moon”) and Jane Seymour(“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”).
Spotlight Children’s Theater, 1381 Riverside Drive in Tulsa, is proud to present “EXCALIBUR! The Story of Young King Arthur,” a drama based on the ancient British legend of King Arthur, directed by Catherine Christie.
Participants will enjoy a lighthearted look at the life of Arthur (Shawn Fisher) before he became the famed King of Camelot. See Merlin (Tyler Robins) in all his magic and mystery and discover how Arthur came to be in the care of Sir Ector (Clayton Bradshaw) and Lady Enid (Elizabeth Medrick). And, don’t forget the villain. Morgan Le Fay (Kathryn Hartney), Arthur’s own aunt and Merlin’s former student, is going to do everything she can to thwart Merlin’s plans for the young king.
Performances are June 25-28 2009; Thursday and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. For more information, call Spotlight Children’s Theater at (918) 587-5030.
The New Playwrights Forum at Heller Theatre @ Henthorne has
transitioned into a once-a-month program. Beginning June 23, the
Forum will meet every fourth Tuesday of the month, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Upcoming dates through the summer are July 28 and Aug. 25.
Playwrights only are welcome to bring works-in-progress they would
like to hear read out loud. If you are interested in only being a
reader, please send your contact information to susan.apker@gmail.com. There may be instances when readers will be brought in for an evening.
Sharpen your pencil and begin to write now for possible production in Heller’s 10-minute play festival (“Heller Shorts – Off, Off Brookside”) coming in August, 2010!
The group is being organized by Susan Apker and is intended for adults. For more information, call Heller Theatre at (918) 746-5065.