"HOPE"

SHENOLE LATIMER




THE BEGINNING:
Shenole Latimer was born on June 21, 1973, at Huntington Hospital on Long Island, NY. The very same hospital that John Coltrane passed away in. In his early years, Shenole grew up in a household that included his mother, grandmother, and one of his aunts. As his mother would tell you, one had to enter the house with care because Shenole was known to be a "head hunter", throwing any nearby object at visitors' heads. From an early age, Shenole showed a strong interest towards music. His aunt, who lived with he and his grandmother at the time, owned an electric organ that she would play every day. Fascinated by the sound that the instrument would produce, Shenole often would sneak up the stairs to listen to his aunt play. Eventually, Shenole grew bold enough to even reach his 3 year old hand through the cracked door to try and play the organ with his aunt. This gesture, though cute at first, soon became annoying and when the time came for his aunt to move away, she left Shenole a gift - a brand new electric organ just like the one she owned. He quickly taught himself how to play.

THE FAMILY: Many members of Shenole's family are musically inclined. His mother was a violinist in her youth and gained much acclaim on Long Island for her skill and the fact that she was the only left handed violinist in any of Long Island's school districts at the time. Aside from the aunt that lived with him, he had another aunt that was a very talented pianist. Then, there are several of his cousins who are purcussionists. One of them, Emile Latimer, or "The Distinguised One" as Shenole likes to call him, has recorded and performed with legends like Stevie Wonder, Spyra Gyra, Nina Simmone, Richie Havens, and a host of others. Shenole always enjoys any family gatherings because the festivities are almost brought up several notches when everyone takes out their instruments and spontaneous jam sessions errupt.

THE PATH OF MUSIC: As mentioned earlier, Shenole Latimer had a very early interest towards music. When he was 9 years old, Shenole attended a school assembly where the school's band director was demonstrating the various band instruments for the children, in the hopes of gaining new recruits for his band. The children in the auditorium sat in quiet awe at the various instruments were brought out and performed by the band director. But, this silence was suddenly broken when the director took out a saxophone and Shenole, unable to hold back his excitement, yelled out, "oh my God, what's that thing?". About a month later, Shenole found himself in the school's band, playing the alto saxophone. Later, Shenole would admit that the reason he wanted to learn the saxophone was because it was shiny and looked complicated to play because of all of the keys that it had. Shenole's interest in jazz, though always present, found a new level of intensity when he met jazz bassist Todd Coolman during his undergraduate studies at Stony Brook Unversity on Long Island. Coolman's professionalism and breadth of knowledge about jazz fascinated Shenole and made him give consideration towards pursuing jazz for a living. This feeling was cemented, however, when a friend loaned Shenole a CD by Chick Corea called "Three Quartets", which featured Michael Brecker on the tenor saxophone. All it took was Michael Brecker's solo on the very first track of the CD to have Shenole make up his mind that jazz was what he wanted to do with his life. Shenole had never, up until that point, heard a saxophone played in such a manner.

SHENOLE'S OTHER SIDE: Aside from music, Shenole is known for his love of movies. He and his wife Renee, own nearly 400 DVD titles. They are both self professed "geeks", being huge fans of sci-fi films like Star Wars and also of director Peter Jackson and his "Lord of the Rings" films. Additionally, Shenole often will perform for charity events to help raise awareness about certain issues. In addition to years of support for organizations like the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women, Shenole has also donated his time to do performances for The Marcie Mazzola Foundation, which is an organization with a mission to, "help better the lives of abused and at-risk children; and to build community awareness regarding the needs of children". Shenole also give a lot of himself to family members. He recently had an aunt on his wife's side of the family run for a democratic seat in New Jersey's 2nd congressional district. Her name is Viola Thomas-Hughes. Though she lost to her republican opponent, Viola Thomas-Huhges miraculously managed to go from being a complete unknown in the field, to gaining nearly 40% of the vote from the voters in her congressional district. A feat that she credits to the website that Shenole designed for her, which boasted advanced features such as Flash animation and interactive surveys.

Shenole's DEBUT CD "FRONT and CENTER" Is available NOW!!


TABITHA DeGRUY

Tabitha DeGruy aka Poetic SunShyne, was born August 1, 1971 in New Orleans, Louisiana is a mother, spoken word artist, music lover and founder of CreoleGyrl Productionz. CreoleGyrl Productionz is the umbrella which holds under it two of the most popular Internet radio shows. Da Nawlinz Groove, which was conceived in 2004 with the hope of bringing REAL MUSIC back to the world. The show features and highlights Indie artists of various genres. The Second Show titled Rhyme Or Reason is a monthly segment featuring some of the greatest and newest spoken word artists hitting the scene today.

Poetic SunShyne also uses her entrepreneurial and artistic talents to help promote another very important cause, a relief fund for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. A survivor of the 2005 hurricane disaster herself, Poetic Sunshyne knows first hand the challenges to rebuild a life and your family from such destruction. With the help of 17 talented artists including a dynamic duo musical production team (DaWonda Twinz), Poetic Sunshyne has created, “Perfect Reality,” a Hurricane Katrina Benefit CD. “This CD was created out of love and commitment for those who were deeply affected by Katrina. 100% of the proceeds are being used to help surviving families get on their feet and hopefully mend some very deep and hurtful wounds,” Poetic Sunshyne explains.

She is founder of The Second Wind Club, which helps those less fortunate stand upon their own two feet by offering help of various levels. Having numerous goals and having achieved nearly half of them already you can rest assure you will be hearing many more wonderful things from this New Orleans bred entrepreneur.