Brooklyn Moment #4: Hypnotic Brass @ Weeksville July 31, 2008

Walking along Schenectady Saturday evening on my way to see the aptly named Hypnotic Brass Ensemble perform at the Weeksville Heritage Center, I heard symphonic horn blare and the left-right pound of the snare reverberating along the Avenue. Could that be HBE?  “No,” I thought. The feeling was more Drumline than Second City and I [...]

Honoring the Ancestors July 30, 2008

I was moved by the sight of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, leading a white-robed procession to inaugurate the first of ten Bench in the Road placements (by the Toni Morrison Society) honoring the memory of slaves near their point of entry into this country.  On July 26, the seventy-seven year-old Ms. Morrison, braved blazing South [...]

Just Because… July 28, 2008

I love me some Alice Smith.  Certainly because of her phenomenal voice but also because the DC native didn’t come to New York, get all new and try to lose the Capitol City twang which reminds that Washington is, in fact, below the Mason-Dixon line.  Had I been able to make last week’s BAM MetroTech [...]

Maiysha Marathon July 28, 2008

I’ve mentioned Maiysha in an earlier post about her upcoming release, This Much is True, now I want to hip you to the opportunity to see/hear her live. Starting tonight, she’ll be making the rounds for seven straight days, performing sets in the NYC-area. Some of the venues are intimate, so it’s best to call [...]

Ba-Rock Obama July 25, 2008

Thanks to Honeychild Coleman for the head’s up on the July 26 grassroots fundraising event, Ba-Rock Brooklyn to benefit Obama for America.
Honeychild’s band, Apollo Heights, is one of nineteen performing at four Greenpoint venues.  A twenty-dollar donation grants access to all-related activities–music, both live and DJs, film screenings, food from The Queen’s Hideaway, [...]

Thorough ‘Good July 25, 2008

I recently saw, within days of the late Thurgood Marshall’s 100th birthday, Laurence Fishburne become the civil rights legend in a 90-minute inspired “lecture” which understandably has won the actor both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Outstanding Solo Performance in Thurgood and garnered him a Tony nomination.
I’m always impressed with actors [...]

Blogged Determination July 24, 2008

I don’t have a blogroll.  My one-column blog format doesn’t allow much room for one.  I would, however, like to give a shout to a few folks I know who also find themselves in the addictive realm of the blogosphere.
Grrrl-about-town Nicole Moore has been kicking it in cyberspace for years.  The veteran blogger keeps her [...]

Drawing on Experience July 23, 2008

When I first saw the beautifully rendered graphite drawings of artist Daniel Bretton Tisdale, they called to mind the Harlem Renaissance-era portraits of Winold Reiss, with their fully articulated faces and simple outlines suggesting clothing.  The Watts, California native, armed with an MFA from Otis/Parsons School of Design is proficient in several mediums including drawing, [...]

Brooklyn Moment #3: BK Bastille July 18, 2008

For the past seven years, each July 14 (or the Sunday closest to it), Francophiles from all over flock to a small stretch of Smith Street in Boerum Hill to party like it’s 1789. At the behest of local bistros Bar Tabac and Robin des Bois, Smith between Bergen and Pacific Streets is cordoned off, [...]

Washing Away the Dust July 17, 2008

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life ~Berthold Auerbach
Over the past week, I have had the utter thrill of enjoying widely differing live musical performances from the Latin rhythms of Si*Se to yodeling Swiss sojourners; Primordial Punk’s mosh mash-up at Galapagos on Friday night to the big band sound of Swing [...]