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Tanya is the ordinary wife and mother of three littles 5 and under – who loves to see God do extraordinary things. Her passion is to come alongside and encourage other moms, particularly as they seek to stay at home with their little ones. At Blogelina, Tanya shares blogging advice, tips, and inspiration to help other bloggers start and maintain their own successful blogs.
Lavish Records artist Tracy Randall isn’t supposed to be here. In 2006, he was diagnosed with acute blastic leukemia and after aggressive rounds of chemo and radiation therapy, his doctors gave up and in February 2007 told him to go home and prepare to die.
“The doctor told me to get my affairs in order because he didn’t know if I had 3 months or 6 months to live,” Randall said in a news release. He left the office that cold, rainy afternoon and started walking.
“I began to pray and talk to God not about me but about my family and their survival because I’m the breadwinner,” as he walked past the 42nd Street subway where he usually caught the train and kept walking, talking. “By the time I got to 96th Street, this voice said, `You’re going to be okay.’”
Randall fought his illness back with his renewed faith and improved his diet. He also began an expensive medical therapy that isn’t covered by insurance.
“I don’t want people to think that I no longer have the illness,” Randall says. “I have pain and depression. There are times that I don’t sleep for days because I am afraid to sleep. However, my faith has grown tremendously. I am still growing, and I still get mad and ask God, ‘Why me?’ Yet, He touched my soul, and I am still here.”
It’s against this backdrop that Randall wrote his new radio single, “It Feels Good,” a bouncy track guaranteed to make the stiffest body move.
“I opened up my eyes and thanked God for a new day,” he sings on the up-tempo beat. “I’ve been blessed in so many ways if I wanted to write ’em down there wouldn’t be enough pages.”
The song is the latest single from Randall’s sophomore CD “Troubled Times” that features 14 tracks of what he calls rhythm & gospel.
“It’s gospel music,” Randall said. “But it has that urban R&B beat.”
He just wrapped a new concept video on the track and has now incorporated pop radio with his inspiring tune “I Am All You Need” debuting at No. 36 on the Top 40 Main chart this week with almost a 50 percent increase in spins.
The Lake Charles, La., native grew up on a musical diet of Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. After completing his undergraduate degree from LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Randall was signed to the Isley Brothers’ T-Neck/Island Records label. After Universal/Polygram took over the company in 1999, he left to start Lavish Records. He released his first gospel CD “Sinners Have Souls, too” in 2007 and has done a lot of behind the scenes work in the music industry.
Randall co-wrote four songs on Shaggy’s Grammy Award nominated “Summer in Kingston” CD that reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Reggae Albums chart in 2012.
According to a recent news release, Black Liberated Arts Center Inc. (BLAC Inc.) will present the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Frederick A. Douglass High School Auditorium, 900 N. Martin L. King Jr. in Oklahoma City. The 40-year-old Denver-based company, in the middle of its Spring tour, will travel to Crested Butte, Colo., and Seattle, Wash., before the Oklahoma City appearance.
Led by its founder, executive director and choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson, the company has performed in Iceland, Singapore, Hawaii, Nassau, Belize, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and throughout Europe and Africa. Parker Robinson holds an honorary doctorate degree from Denver University (1991), an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Colorado College (2003) and an honorary doctorate of Public Service from Regis University, Denver (2008).
In 1998, President Clinton named Parker Robinson as one of two artists to be appointed to the National Council on the Arts in Washington, D.C., where she served until 2005. She received a Kennedy Center Medal of Honor during the center’s “Master of African American Choreographers” series.
The dance ensemble will arrive on Feb. 20 and will work with Oklahoma City fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from several area schools. Selected students will perform a welcome dance at Douglass on the same stage as the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble.
This performance is made possible by the MetLife Community Connections Fund of the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project. Major support for the National Dance Project is also provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Local support is provided by the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Ad Astra Foundation.
Tickets for the performance are on sale at Learning Tree Toys, Charlie’s Jazz, Rhythm & Blues Store and Hopkins HairCare at $20 general admission. VIP tickets that include reserved seats and a reception are $50 and can be purchased at BLAC Inc. offices using MasterCard, Visa, checks or cash. Discount tickets are offered at BLAC Inc. For more information, call (405) 524-3800.
Mack Avenue Records is proud to announce the signing of Cécile McLorin Salvant, winner of the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. The announcement comes as the 23-year-old prepares for her debut album in 2013, titled Woman Child.
“Recording for Mack Avenue has been a truly wonderful experience,” said Salvant in a news release. “As a young artist, I have found the support and encouragement that is paramount in this stage of my development.”
Al Pryor, Mack Avenue Record’s executive vice president of A&R, said, “Cécile has the preternatural ability to delve deeply into the core of a song and then serve it up to an audience. Calling on the vocal techniques of Ella, Sarah and Betty Carter, together with the intelligence of Billie Holiday’s phrasing and the wisdom of Bessie Smith’s lyricism, she heralds a new generation of female jazz vocalists. We are thrilled to partner with Cécile as she adds the vocation of recording artist to her journey as a jazz singer and performing artist who will undoubtedly contribute to the legacy of those artists who came before her.”
Salvant was born and raised in Miami, Fla., of a French mother and a Haitian father. She began classical piano studies at age five, and began singing in the Miami Choral Society at age eight. Early on, she developed an interest in classical voice, began studying with private instructors, and later with Edward Walker, vocal teacher at the University of Miami.
In 2007, Salvant moved to Aix-en-Provence, France, to study law as well as classical and baroque voice at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory. It was in Aix-en-Provence, with reedist and teacher Jean-François Bonnel, that she began learning about improvisation, instrumental and vocal repertoire ranging from the 1910s on, and sang with her first band. In 2009, after a series of concerts in Paris, she recorded her first project Cécile (self-released), with Jean-François Bonnel’s Paris Quintet. A year later, she won the Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington D.C., judged by Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Al Jarreau and Dianne Reeves.
With performance experience in Europe as well as the United States, Salvant has been accompanied by renowned musicians such as Jean-Francois Bonnel, Rodney Whitaker, Aaron Diehl, Dan Nimmer, Sadao Watanabe, Jacky Terrasson (with a noted collaboration on his latest album, Gouache), Archie Shepp, and Jonathan Batiste, among others. She has performed at numerous festivals, including Jazz à Vienne, Ascona, Whitley Bay, Montauban, Foix, the Spoleto Jazz Festival, and the Detroit Jazz Festival; with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in New York’s Rose Hall and Chicago’s Symphony Center; and with her own band at the Kennedy Center. Additionally, for the second consecutive year, her sole voice can be heard backing the CHANEL® “Chance” ad campaign.
The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame presents numerous options for fans at the Jazz Depot, 111 E. First Street (Upper Level) in Tulsa, OK.
From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday, fans can enjoy Depot Jams, an evening of soulful jazz by talented local musicians.
For those who enjoy live music at lunchtime, you can’t miss our weekly Jazzwich Wednesday. From 11:30 to 1:00, join us at the Jazz Depot and grab a tasty “jazzwich” as 7Blue performs.
Then, on Friday, February 3rd at 7:30, the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Famepresents Dancing at the Depot! Sweet and Hot Productions is back at the Jazz Depot for their next diva-packed installment in their exciting dance series. The jazz divas perform as dancers of all ages burn up the Depot’s classic dance floor with everything from swing dance to salsa!
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call Mrs. Bettie Downing at (918) 281-8609 or attendees can buy them at the Jazz Depot.
The only indigenous people in the EU area, the Sámi, are getting their own cultural centre in Inari, Finnish Lapland. Opening on January 2 2012, Sami Cultural Centre Sajos, which opened on January 2, will become the headquarters for Sámi culture and administration.
The purpose of Sajos is to preserve and develop Sámi culture and the variety of Sámi languages, to create better possibilities for Sámi business ventures and to manage their cultural self-government.
Sajos is the new home of the Finnish Sámi Parliament and a bastion of multiculturalism. The Centre aims to actively communicate on all issues concerning the Sámi. Sámi traditions run deep in their native area, which covers largely the northern parts of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. Traditional sources of livelihood include reindeer herding, hunting, fishing and handicraft.
Trivia: The Sámi are known for their mythical tales and a belief in everything having a soul. Sámi shamanism is a well-known concept in Finland. According to Sámi legend, the Northern Lights are caused by a Fox running across the Arctic fells and lighting up the sky with sparks flying from its tail whirling up the snow. The modern Finnish term “revontulet” meaning “the fox’s fires”, derives from this myth.
Among the honored guests at Black Liberated Arts Center, Inc.’s 17th annual Recognition and Benefit Dinner with Silent Auction are actress Jacqueline Ann Shaw-Ross and internationally renowned speaker Zora Brown. The event will be 6 p.m. Oct. 22, 2011, at the Petroleum Club in Oklahoma City, OK.
Other honorees are Susan Bumgarner, Robin Dorner, Greg Eskridge, Rosetta Funches, Jordan Janelle Harris, The Links, Inc., Beverly Story and Sandra Thompson.
According to a recent news release, Jacqueline Ann Shaw-Ross, a native Oklahoman, began entertaining at an early age. At age 14, she won the state title of Hal Jackson’s Talented Teen International and made her first trip to Hollywood, Calif., to compete in the national talent pageant. After returning, she started performing in theatrical plays and musicals at John Marshall High School. Her talents led to an offer for a full theatrical scholarship at the University of Central Oklahoma.
While at UCO, she appeared in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “No Snakes in this Grass.” Jacqueline continued acting in local commercials and won the title of Miss Oklahoma Petite through JoAnn Fullerton’s Modeling Agency. She became the first Miss Black UCO. Today, an award is given out to the most photogenic contestant called “The Jackie Shaw Award.”
After earning a bachelors’ degree in oral communications, she was a broadcast news anchor at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City for two years before moving to Hollywood, where she landed her first starring role in the critically acclaimed Disney film, “The Ernest Green Story,” a historical film which told the story of the “Little Rock 9” filmed in Arkansas. The film is often seen on television during Black History Month. Shaw-Ross worked with notables in the acting field including Morris Chestnut, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, CCH Pounder and others.
Shaw-Ross has appeared in guest starring roles on ABC’s “Family Matters” and NBC’s “California Dreams.” She is married to Shavar Ross, a veteran actor and former child star who is best known for his role as Dudley, Gary Coleman’s best friend on the 1980s hit television show “Diff’rent Strokes.” She and her husband are now film producers.
Zora Brown is an outspoken advocate for minority and women’s health issues, presenting at both national and international forums. She was a featured speaker at both the 1992 and 2004 Republican National Conventions. She has served as consultant to the U. S. Conference of Mayors since 1996. Zora was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to the National Cancer Advisory Board and the National Cancer Institute. Her experience includes administrative assistant at the White House and an assistant in the national affairs office of Ford Motor Co. She serves on numerous boards nationally and internationally.
She is founder of Rise, Sister, Rise, a breast cancer support group model for African American women. Zora founded Cancer Awareness Program Services (CAPS) and the Breast Cancer Resource Committee (BCRC). Under her leadership, BCRC is responsible for the television broadcast production “Life: Rising Above Breast Cancer.” She is co-author of a book with Dr. Harold Freeman. She co-produced a CD-ROM utilizing the breast cancer risk assessment tool set to original jazz. Brown has appeared on the networks and CNN and other media as an expert on women’s health.
Brown is the recipient of numerous awards including the Magic Johnson Foundation, Gift of Life Award,the 1992 Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Community Service Award, 2001 Spelman College Community Service Award, and the 1996 Howard University Cancer Center Community Service Award. Brown, along with Oprah Winfrey, was named one of the 1997 ten Women’s Health Heroes. She received a special citation in the Congressional Record in 1995. Brown is special assistant for Health and Minority Initiatives at INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City.
The elegant evening of honor and fine dining at the Petroleum Club will include stellar auction items including Art Quilts by Lola Jenkins, Uniquely Designed BLAC Inc. Limited Edition Jewelry for men and women by Naifeh Jewelry, a weekend golf outing in Scottsdale, Ariz., with reception hosted by Horace Stevenson in his 6,600-square-foot home with swimming pool surrounded by 79 orange trees and includes hotel and airfare, VISA gift cards, drawings and a $17 auction table to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the event. For more information, call (405) 524-3800.
Announced in a recent news release, the43rd Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival is set to commence Sunday, Oct. 16 through Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. The month and a half-long celebration will feature performances by Maria Schneider Orchestra, Vijay Iyer Trio, Rudresh Mahanthappa Samdhi, Eliane Elias Brazilian Quartet, Randy Weston and hisAfrican Rhythms Trio, Michel Camilo ‘Mano a Mano’ with Giovanni Hidalgo and Charles Flores, Madeleine Peyroux, Buena Vista Social Club with Omara Portuondo, Pat Metheny with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart, Dave Holland with Flamenco guitar legend Pepe Habichuela, Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau, Michael Janisch-Aruan Ortiz Quintet with Greg Osby and Raynald Colom, and Ken Vandermark’s Made to Break.
This 40-day marathon has something for everyone with more than 60 concerts and artists not just from Italy, which will be featured in a festival within a festival from Nov. 7-14, but also Luísa Sobral from Portugal, Marcin Wasilewski from Poland, The Pepper Pots from Catalonia and 16-year-old sensation Andrea Motis from Barcelona, as well as Paolo Conte, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jaques Morelenbaum, Tigran Hamasyan Trio anda concert with the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, a big band comprised of members who range in age from seven to 19, with special guests Jesse Davis, Terrell Stafford and Wycliffe Gordon, among others.
Umbria Jazz and Barcelona International Jazz have formed a new partnership titled in Italian Umbria Jazz Barcelona. These two respected festivals feel it is important to support musical culture and one of the most exciting jazz scenes in Europe. Italy is a big country with many influences and a vibrant and lively jazz scene. The festival will present world caliber Italian Jazz performers in a week-long celebration from Nov. 7-14, 2011. Featured are Danilo Rea with Flavio Boltro, Gabriele Mirabassi Trio, Giovanni Guidi andGianluca Petrella, Enrico Rava Tribe, Omar Sosa with Paolo Fresu, and Stefano Bollani.
Spain hosted their first professional jazz festival in 1966, it began with a concert at the historic Palau de la Música in Barcelona featuring pianist Dave Brubeck with his classical quartet. Despite surviving the turbulent times of the Franco dictatorship, the festival ceased operations in 1977 and 1980, which ironically were the first years of a democratic Spain. Since the late ’80s, the festival has been organized by The Project, a year-round presenting organization whose efforts reach upwards of 300,000 people annually. The Project was founded in 1988 by producer Tito Ramoneda, who today serves as the organization’s president. In 2011, the festival celebrates its 43rd edition with around 400 musicians, again making the Barcelona Jazz Festival one of the largest and most ambitious jazz festivals in Europe. For more information, go to http://www.barcelonajazzfestival.com/ or http://barcelonajazzfestival.blogspot.com/
The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Photo credit: John Abbott
The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) kicks off its landmark 10th anniversary season with the program, “Andy & Jerry’s: A Tribute to the González Brothers.” The event is at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street in New York. Tickets are $50/$40/$30 for members; $40/$32/$24 for students and seniors, and $15 for children.
The ALJO will pay tribute to Andy and Jerry González, founders of the pioneering, Bronx-born Fort Apache Band and arguably the most important siblings in Latin jazz. The orchestra will cast the brothers in a retrospective of their greatest moments and will premiere O’Farrill’s Ft. Apache Concerto.
Firehouse 12 Records will release on Nov. 8, 2011, Apparent Distance, the third recording from the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet. The group’s current personnel features the leader/composer on cornet, Jim Hobbs on alto saxophone, Bill Lowe on bass trombone and tuba, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Ken Filiano on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums.
The album is made up of a four-part suite, commissioned through a 2010 New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Via a news release, Bynum says: “InApparent Distance, my goal is not just to blur the lines between composition and improvisation (a long-time pursuit), but to try to upend the listeners’ expectations in other ways: circular melodies without beginnings or ends, disguised unisons and non-repetitive vamps, transitions that are simultaneously jarring and organic. Most importantly, I want to spotlight the striking individuality and virtuosity of all the players, albeit in a context where the needs of the ensemble reign supreme – a concerto for sextet, if you will.”
Since the composition’s premiere in August 2010, the sextet has performed the work on tour and at the Saalfelden Jazz Festival (Austria), the Banlieues Bleues Festival (France), and the Crosscurrents Festival (New York).
The Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet has been Bynum’s primary working ensemble for the past five years, releasing two previous albums and performing throughout the world.
In addition to his sextet, Bynum leads the chamber ensemble SpiderMonkey Strings and the little big band Positive Catastrophe, works with such collective ensembles as the Tomas Fujiwara/Taylor Ho Bynum Duo, The Thirteenth Assembly, Book of Three, and The Convergence Quartet, and performs with such artists as Jason Kao Hwang, Myra Melford, Joe Morris, and Tyshawn Sorey. Bynum’s ongoing association with Anthony Braxton is recognized as one of the most fruitful partnerships of that iconic composer’s long career, and his work with Bill Dixon produced some of the departed trumpet innovator’s late masterpieces. In addition, he is the vice president of Dave Douglas’s Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT Music), a founding partner of Firehouse 12 Records, and the president of Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation.
