TYRSA PRATCHER and KERSTEN STEVENS

Tyrsa Pratcher

Tyrsa Fawn Pratcher, a true Stamford native, was born in the Stamford hospital in 1965, and received her education throughout the Stamford public school system. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Connecticut, where she received the “Stamford Campus Scholar in English,” and the “Award for Excellence” in English. She has served her country through an enlistment in the United States Marine Corps, where she received the Navy Achievement medal, and an honorable discharge. During “Operation Desert Storm” in 1991, she was recalled to active duty and later discharged at the rank of Sergeant.

Tyrsa is the author of “Keeping the Store,” an increasingly popular book of poetry, that is inspiring, truthful, funny, and real. As one reader put it, “it has teeth!” She published this first book through her own company Fawn Publishing. Tyrsa expects to release her much anticipated, second book of poetry, entitled “Broken in Pieces” in 2007, and is at work on her third book. Another one of her goals is to help other aspiring authors pursue their dream of publishing. Her book is available through BORDERS bookstores, UCONN Co-op downtown Stamford, and on her website www.fawnpublishing.com.

When I asked Tyrsa to name her favorite jazz musician she said, "Kersten Stevens God-given gift as a violinist serves as an awesome inspiration to me as a poet. This is a divine connection, which I am delighted to be paired with. When she plays, my poetry is taken to new levels. To put it poetically: the poetry is given wings of an eagle – which allows it to soar into the heart of the listener."

What is the relationship between jazz and poetry, and what is the importance of each to our culture? I asked.

"Jazz and poetry are related in the sense that they are very deep expressions of the heart, birth out of the pain and joys of the human experience. Jazz reaches the soul of man through the ear, while poetry is absorbed through the eye as well as the ear. Both jazz and poetry cause us to look beyond the surface,
which is essential in raising societal awareness in our culture."


Kersten Stevens

Kersten Stevens, the musically gifted, beautiful, virtuosic & poised professional violinist, is truly a gift. Being blessed with a talent for jazz, gospel and classical performance, she has excelled from a local star hailing from Stratford, Connecticut to a national buzzworthy artist! A recent graduate of the Yale University Class of 2006 with a B.A. in Music and African American Studies, KERSTEN’s musical journey began with classical violin instruction at the age of three. She began studying and performing jazz, gospel and contemporary styles at age fourteen! Kersten has since been the opening act for the late Ray Charles, made a 2004 appearance for the National Boys and Girls Clubs at the request by Denzel Washington, appeared in 2005 as a featured soloist with Dionne Warwick and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, performed with world-renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter, has studied with violinist John Blake, Jr., and has twice taken Showtime at the Apollo by storm, winning competitions in 2003 and 1999!

KERSTEN’s stirring violin improvisational skills have received a number of awards and recognitions. In 2007 she was awared Gospel Instrumentalist of the Year by Connecticut's Holla Back Video Awards. She was crowned the Hal Jackson's Talented Teen Miss Connecticut 2000 and International 1st runner up and in 2002 was the Gold Medal winner of the NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics in the Music/Instrumental Contemporary category. Also in 2002, she received awards from the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Youth Orchestra for musical excellence and from Vivian Ayers-Allen and Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rischad for her musical accomplishments. Recently, she was awarded for artistic excellence by the Afro- American Cultural Center at Yale University.

Kersten has completed two solo projects. The Beginning, released in 2002, features jazz classics like Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” and funk charts like Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster.” September 2005 celebrated the release of Kersten’s highly anticipated sophomore gospel album entitled Walks of Faith. A fusion of contemporary jazz and gospel, the project features such legendary musicians such as bassist Lonnie Plaxico and is complete with gospel standards “The Lord’s Prayer,” contemporaries like “Shabach” and spirituals like “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child.” The album is truly an electrifying musical and spiritual experience!

The dynamic virtuosity of Violinist Kersten Stevens distinguishes her as one of the most uniquely gifted artists to hit the scene today! She continues to perform across the country and looks forward to sharing her music across the world.

A CONVERSATION WITH NIKKI GIOVANNI

Nikki Giovanni is a Black American poet, essayist, and lecturer, whose work influenced many throughout the years of the BAM. Giovanni was born Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr., in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1943. She attended Fisk University where she received her degree in 1967. Giovanni has since further studied at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Work and Columbia University's School of Fine Arts. In 1970 Giovanni founded a publishing company called Niktom Limited. She now works as a professor in the English department of Virginia Polytechnical Institute.

Giovanni believes that change is necessary for growth. Her poetry is renowned for its call of urgency for Black people to realize their identities and understand their surroundings as part of a white-controlled culture. She is considered a leader in the Black poetry movement. Her collection of poetry, Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement, captures the militant attitude of the civil rights and Black Art movements of that time. In other works, Giovanni also focuses on her family and personal relationships. She is known for her recordings of her conversations with prominent African-American writers James Baldwin and Margaret Walker. Giovanni continues to write, speak and teach about the history and future of Black people and has become a symbol of the BAM, as well as for Black women and women writers today.

Awards and Honors
1970 Ebony Magazine, Woman of the Year
1971-99 Keys to more than a dozen cities, including Dallas, Miami, New York, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Los Angeles
1971 Mademoiselle Magazine, Woman of the Year
1972 Ladies Home Journal, Woman of the Year

National Association of Radio and Television Announcers (N.A.T.R.A.) Award for Best Spoken Word Album, for Truth Is On Its Way
1973 Life Membership & Scroll, The National Council of Negro Women

National Book Award Nomination for Gemini
1974 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Honorary Member)
1983 YWCA Woman of the Year, Cincinnati Chapter
1985 The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame

Outstanding Woman of Tennessee
1986 The Post-Corbett Award

Distinguished Recognition Award, Detroit City Council

Duncanson Artist in Residence, The Taft Museum
1988 Cincinnati Bi-Centennial Honoree

Silver Apple Award, Oakland Museum Film Festival

The Ohioana Library Award (for Sacred Cows)

McDonald's Literary Achievement Awards: Poetry Award to be presented in the name of Nikki Giovanni in perpetuity

Spin A Soft Black Song selected by the United States Information Agency for Inclusion in the Exhibition to the Soviet Union

The Children's Reading Roundtable of Chicago Award (for Vacation Time)

National Festival of Black Storytelling Initiates the Nikki Giovanni Award for Young African American Storytellers
1991 Utrecht International Poetry Festival, Featured Poet

The Cecil H. and Ida Green Honors Chair, Texas Christian University, April 16-19

"Two Friends." Incorporated as a Permanent Tile Wall Exhibit by the Oxnard Public Library, California
1992 Martin Luther King, Jr., Visiting Professor, University of Oregon, January 15-22

Portland Art Beat, Featured Poet

Community Volunteer of the Year Award, Warm Hearth Village

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Roanoke Chapter) initiates The Nikki Giovanni Annual Artistic Award

The Beach Lecturer, University of Minnesota

The John Tate Lecture for Excellence in Academic Advising, University of Minnesota
1993 The Hill Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota
1994 Keys to the cities of Kokomo, Indiana; Mobile, Alabama; and Morgantown, West Virginia

Black Women's Honor Society Award, University of Southern California

Tennessee Writer's Award, The Nashville Banner
1995 Visiting Professor of English, University of Indiana/Kokomo

The Jeanine Rae Award for the Advancement of Women's Culture, National Women's Music Festival
1996 1996 Tennessee Governor's Award In the Humanities.

The Tennessee Humanities Council.

Honorary Citizenship, City of Baltimore. 27 January 1996.

Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni nominated for NAACP Image Award. 6 April 1996.

Featured Writer. Literacy Partners Benefit Reading. Lincoln Center. New York. 29 April 1996.

Keys to the Cities of Natchez, Mississippi and Birmingham, Alabama.

Outstanding Humanitarian Award. The House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 25 June 1996.

Artist-in-Residence. The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 28-29 June 1996.

Knowledge Heritage Award. The Knowledge Afrocentric Empowerment Coalition, Augusta Correctional Center. 27 September 1996.

Contributor's Arts Award, The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing. 26 October 1996.

The Langston Hughes Award for 1996. City College of New York. 7 November 1996.

Selected Author for The Literacy Letters Auction. Sponsored by Literacy Partners, Inc. Sotheby's. 5 December 1996.

Parents' Choice Award for The Sun Is So Quiet.
1997 Esther Eberstadt Baldwin Scholar. College of Notre Dame of Maryland. 9-10 February 1997.

Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies. Virginia Tech.
1998 NAACP Image Award for Love Poems.

Belle Ringer Image Role Model Award. Bennett College. 20 March 1998.

Distinguished Visiting Professor, Johnson & Wales University. 1-2 April 1998.

Robert E. Dennard Visiting Scholar. St. Mark's School of Texas. Dallas, Texas. 15-17 April 1998.

Invited Guest. Millenium Evening at the White House. 22 April 1998.

Living Legacy Award. Juneteenth Festival of Columbus, Ohio. June 1998.

National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. The Gwendolyn Brooks Center of Chicago State University. 16 October 1998.

The Appalachian Medallion Award. University of Charleston. 3 December 1998.

The 1998 Tennessee Governor's Award in the Arts
1999 Invited Participant at Children's Defense Fund Symposium. Organized by Marian Wright Edelmann. Other participants included Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Education Donna Shalala, Toni Morrison. March 1999.

University Distinguished Professor. Virginia Tech. Blacksburg, VA. August 1999.

Blues: For All the Changes. Nominated for Library of Virginia 2000 Poetry Award. September 1999.

Blues: For All the Changes. NAACP Image Award for Literature. 12 February 2000.

Membership in The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, The State of North Carolina. 5 November 1999.

Capitol Citation. State of North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. 5 November 1999.

Voted Ohio's Favorite Author of Poetry by Ohioans. Ballot sponsored by Ohioana Library Association. October 1999.

Black Feeling, Black Talk. Included in "Some 100 classic millennial books," Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., The New York Amsterdam News, 30 December 1999 – 5 January 2000, p. 20.
2000 N.A.A.C.P. Image Award for Blues: For All the Changes

Member, 2000 Council of Ideas, The Gihon Foundation

Virginia Governor's Award for the Arts.

Judge, Poetry Panel. The National Book Awards.

Distinguished Member Recognition Award. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Wilberforce Alumnae Chapter. Wilberforce, Ohio.

Appreciation given to Nikki Giovanni by the Virginia Dept. of Correctional Education.

Certificate of Appreciation. The Black Caucus of Virginia Tech.

City Council Resolution Honoring and Welcoming Nikki Giovanni. City of Youngstown, Ohio. Proclamation of welcome by Mayor George M. McKelvey. City of Youngstown, Ohio.

Member. Council on Ideas. Gihon Foundation. Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Commendation. State of California.

Certificate of Appreciation. City of Los Angeles.

Commendation. County of Los Angeles.

United States Senate Certificate of Commendation. Presented by Senator Barbara Boxer.

Hollywood Walk of Fame. A Celebration of Poetry, Art, & Music. Los Angeles, California.

Official Welcome. Resolution, Erie County Legislature. Buffalo, NY. Resolution: Nikki Giovanni Day. City of Buffalo Common Council. Plaque of Appreciation. Nu Kappa Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. University of West Florida.

Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni. Top 10 Books on MosaicBooks.Com.
2001 Keys to the Cities of Saginaw, Michigan and Dallas, Texas.


2002 The SHero Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award. (First recipient.)
2003 American Library Association's Black Caucus Award for Non-fiction (for Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea)

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (for Quilting)

Honorary Citizen of Louisville, Kentucky

Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Delta of Tennessee Chapter, Fisk University

Honored in a Proclamation from the Mayor of Hartford which proclaimed that 10 April 2003 was "Nikki Giovanni Day In the City of Hartford".

"Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea." Selected as one of Top 10 Adult Picks in the 2003 African American Booklist. Detroit Public Library.

Name one of the "HistoryMakers" in 2003.


2004 Nominated for a Best Spoken Word Grammy in the 46th Annual Grammy Awards for her album "The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection."

Nominated in the poetry category for the 7th Annual Library of Virginia Literacy Awards.

Nominated for NAACP Image Award for Literature.

Honored by Robert Baker from Texas Tech University by naming a species of bat in her honor (Micronycteris giovanniae).

Named one of "Women of Strength & Courage." American Legacy. New York, NY. 26 February 2004.

Featured in the "African American Wisdom Knowledge Cards" compiled and illustrated by Bob Johnson and Mary Margolies. Rohnert Park: Pomegranate Communications Inc.

Featured in the "Literacy Encounters" 2004 Calendar by Jill Krementz. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. 15-21 November 2004.

Featured in the "Freedom Forum's First Amendment Calendar" for 2004. 17 August 2004.

Featured in "The Ohio Reading Road Trip".

Elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Chapter of Tennessee as an alumnae member.

Winner of the Atlanta Daily World 2nd Atlanta Choice Awards. The East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame Award for Poetry. 27 Apr. 2004.

Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea selected for the 2004-05 Adelante! Book Club of the American Association of University Women.


2005 Key to the City – City of Grambling. Grambling, LA. 2005.

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, Poet-In-Residence Award. 2005.

Virginia Arts Celebration in NYC. Special guest of the Governor. 09 Apr. 2005.

The Mu Zeta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Certificate of Appreciation. 14 Apr. 2005.

"The Legends" designation from The Oprah Magazine. Aug. 2005.

Iowa State Representative Wayne Ford, Fourth Humanitarian Award. 06 Aug. 2005.

The 2005 John Henry "Pop" Lloyd Humanitarian Award. Atlantic City, New Jersey. 1 Oct. 2005.

The Federal City Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Certificate of Commendation. 20 Nov. 2005

The 2005 ALC Lifetime Achievement Award. 01 Dec. 2005.


2006 Kappa Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Certificate of Appreciation. 18 Jan. 2006.

University of Virginia Women's Center, HUES Leadership Network for Women of Color Award. 18 Mar. 2006.

Theta Mu Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Certificate of Appreciation. 26 Jan. 2006.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Texas A & M University – Commerce, Certificate of Appreciation. Spring 2006.

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award for Rosa. 2006.

Rosa named Child Magazine's Best Children's Book of the Year, Oct. 2005.

Rosa selected as the Anchor Book for Celebrate with Books. Cleveland Public Library.

Rosa is #3 on New York Times bestseller list. 12 Feb. 2006.

Rosa named a Caldecott Honor Book.

Rosa receives the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration.

GROVER WASHINGTON JR.

Grover Washington, Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was a jazz-funk musician born in Buffalo, New York. Along with George Benson, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the smooth jazz genre.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington made some of the genre's most memorable hits, including "Mr. Magic", "Black Frost", and "The Best is Yet to Come". In addition, he performed very frequently with other artists, including Bill Withers on "Just the Two of Us" (still in regular rotation on radio today) and Phyllis Hyman on "A Sacred Kind of Love".

He is also remembered for his take on a Dave Brubeck classic, called "Take Another Five", and for his hit "Soulful Strut".

His mother was a church chorister, and his father was a collector of old jazz 78s and a saxophonist as well, so music was everywhere in the home. He grew up with the great jazzmen and big band leaders like Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, and others like them. At the age of 8, with the desire for him to be more than he could be, Grover Sr. gave Jr. a saxophone. He practiced and sneaked into clubs to see famous Buffalo blues musicians.

He left Buffalo and played with a midwest group called the Four Clefs. He was drafted into the US Army shortly thereafter, but this was to be to his advantage, as he met drummer Billy Cobham. Cobham, a mainstay in New York City, introduced Washington to many New York musicians. After leaving the Army, Washington freelanced his talents around New York City, eventually landing in Philadelphia in 1967.

Grover's big break came at the expense of another artist. Alto sax man Hank Crawford was unable to make a recording date with Prestige Records, and Washington took his place, even though he was a backup. This led to his first album, Inner City Blues. He was talented, and displayed heart and soul with soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones. Refreshing for his time, he made headway into the jazz mainstream. His fifth album, 1974's Mister Magic was a commercial success, and introduced guitarist Eric Gale in as a near-permanent member in Washington's arsenal.

A string of acclaimed records brought Washington through the 1970s, which culminated in the signature piece for everything Washington would do from then on. 1980's Winelight was the album that defined everything Washington was about. The album was smooth, fused with R&B and easy listening feel. Washington's love of basketball, especially the Philadelphia 76ers, led him to dedicate his first track, "Let It Flow" to Julius Erving (Dr. J). The highlight of the album, and a main staple of radio airplay everywhere, was his great collaboration with soul artist Bill Withers, "Just The Two of Us". It was also the final step away from Motown, landing him on Elektra Records and into a new era of jazz excellence. The album went platinum in 1981, and also won Grammy Awards in 1982 for Best R&B Song ("Just The Two of Us"), and Best Jazz Fusion Performance ("Winelight"). "Winelight" was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

From that point, Washington is credited (or scorned, as some may say) for giving rise to a new batch of talent that would make its mark in the late 80s and early 90s. He is known for bringing Kenny G to the forefront, but also credited with bringing such smooth jazz artists as Walter Beasley, Steve Cole, Pamela Williams, Najee, George Howard and The Philadelphia Experiment.

The tragedy and irony of Washington's life was that while he was able to get his big break from another artist's absence, Washington lived long enough to bring smooth jazz to the last points of the old millennium, but didn't outlive Hank Crawford, whose absence gave him his big break (and is still alive, as of 2005). On December 17th, 1999, while waiting in the green room after taping four songs for the The Early Show, at CBS Studios in New York City, Washington collapsed. He was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:30 p.m. His doctors determined that he had suffered a massive heart attack. He was 56 when he died.

Grover Washington Jr.'s legacy lives on in the futures of up-and-coming jazz artists, and his life is celebrated from college campuses all around the nation to the hallowed streets of his own Philadelphia, his adopted hometown.

SONIA SANCHEZ

Sonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. Born Wilsonia Benita Driver in Birmingham, Alabama on September 9, 1934, she has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books.

When Sanchez was only a year old, her mother died and she was sent to live with her paternal grandmother. In 1943, she moved to Harlem to live with her father, her sister, and her stepmother who was her father's third wife. In 1955, she received a B.A. in Political Science from Hunter College, where she had also taken several creative writing courses. Later, Sanchez completed postgraduate work at New York University where she studied poetry with Louise Bogan. Sanchez married poet Etheridge Knight and she had three children with him. They later divorced. In 1972, she joined the Nation of Islam, but left the organization after three years in 1975 because her views on women's rights conflicted with theirs.

Sanchez has taught as a professor at eight universities and has lectured at over 500 college campuses across the US, including Howard University. She advocated the introduction of Black Studies courses in California. Sanchez was the first to create and teach a course based on Black Women and literature in the United States. Sanchez was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University where she began working in 1977, where she held the Laura Carnell chair until her retirement in 1999. She is currently a poet-in-residence at Temple University. She has read her poetry in Africa, the Caribbean, China, Australia, Europe, Nicaragua, Canada, and Cuba. Sanchez has also appeared on Bill Cosby's CBS show in the 1990s.

The author is a member of the Plowshares, the Brandywine Peace Community and MADRE. She also supports MOMS in Alabama and the National Black United Front.

Sanchez was a very influential part of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Arts Movement. Sanchez was an advocate for the people. She was a member of CORE (Congress for Racial Equality), where she met Malcolm X. She wrote many plays and books that had to do with the struggles and lives of Black America. Sanchez has edited two anthologies on Black literature, We Be Word Sorcerers: 25 Stories by Black Americans and 360° of Blackness Coming at You.

Sanchez is also known for her innovative melding of musical formats - like the blues - and traditional poetic formats like haiku and tanka.

In 1969, Sanchez was awarded the P.E.N. Writing Award. She was awarded the National Education Association Award 1977-1988. She also won the National Academy and Arts Award and the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award in 1978-1979. In 1985, she was awarded the American Book Award for Homegirls and Handgrenades. She has also been awarded the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the Lucretia Mott Award, the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Humanities, and the Peace and Freedom Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

DIANE REEVES

Diane Reeves, born 23 October 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, known more for her live performances than her albums. Alongside her peers Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diana Krall and Cassandra Wilson she is considered one of the most important female jazz singers of our time. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Dianne came from a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke is a well known piano and keyboard player and producer.
Dianne and her sister Sharon were raised by their grandmother in Denver, Colorado. As a child Dianne took piano lessons and sang at every opportunity. When she was 11 years old her interest in music was enhanced by an inspiring teacher who thought that music was the best way to bring students together. Dianne discovered a love of music and that she wanted to be a singer.
Her uncle, Charles Burell, a bass player with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, introduced her to the music of jazz singers, from Ella Fitzgerald to Billie Holiday. She was especially impressed by Sarah Vaughan.
At the age of sixteen she was singing at the George Washington High School (Denver) in Denver, in a high school big-band. That same year the band played at a music festival (Convention of the National Association of Jazz Educators). Her Band won first place and it was there she met the trumpeter Clark Terry, who after discovering her became her mentor.
A year later she began studying music at the University of Colorado, before she moved in 1976 to Los Angeles. In L.A. her interest in Latin-American music grew. She began experimenting with different kinds of vocal music and finally decided to pursue a career as a singer. She met Eduardo del Barrio, toured with his group "Caldera" and sang in Billy Child's jazz band "Night Flights". Later she toured with Sergio Mendes.
From 1983 until 1986 she toured with Harry Belafonte as a lead singer. This period saw her first experiences with world music. In 1987 she became the first vocalist to sign with Blue Note records. She moved back to Denver from Los Angeles in 1992. She sang at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

Grammy Awards
She has currently won 4 Grammy Awards for "Best Jazz Vocal Performance" for her albums
2001 In the Moment
2002 The Calling
2003 A Little Moonlight
2006 Good Night, and Good Luck (Soundtrack)
She is the only singer to have won this Grammy for three consecutive recordings.

KEVIN MAHOGANY

Kevin Mahogany was born in 1958 in Kansas City, Missouri. During high school, he taught clarinet and was a featured baritone saxophonist and pianist in several jazz bands. He shifted his focus to singing while attending Baker University.

Kevin Mahogany grew up with the sound of Memphis and Mowtown as well as the ever-evolving rock 'n' roll in the turbulent '60s. He attended the Charlie Parker Foundation in his hometown of Kansas City, and was teaching clarinet by the time he was 14. He also studied piano and became an accomplished baritone saxophonist, performing with three jazz bands while still in high school. His interest in singing did not materialize until he attended Baker University in Kansas where the industrious Mahogany founded a jazz choir. He entered the school in 1976 and graduated with a BFA in Music and English Drama in 1981. After College, Kevin established two groups, ensembles focusing on contemporary R&B, crossover jazz and classic '60s soul music. At the same time Kevin was very attracted to singers such as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and Eddie Jefferson.

Kevin recorded three well-recieved albums with the German independent Enja before landing at Warner Bros. Records in 1995. With his self-titled Warner Bros. debut in 1996, Kevin won acclamations from NewsWeek, which described him as "the standout jazz vocalist of his generation." Esteemed writer Whitney Balliet declared in The New Yorker, "There is little Mahogany cannot do," while the L.A. Times pronounced Mahogany to be "one of the first truly gifted male vocalists to emerge in years." The album also earned excellent reviews including four stars from USA Today. That same year, Mahogany appeared in Robert Altman's film Kansas City portraying a character inspired by Big Joe Turner.

Since then, Kevin has been in high demand. He appears on the upcoming Malpaso release Eastwood After Hours, a Clint Eastwood ensemble project performed and recorded live at Carnegie Hall earlier this year. Additionally Kevin headlined this year's IAJE Benefit, also at Carnegie Hall.

If Kevin Mahogany had set out to prove he is the quintessential jazz vocalist, he could not have made a more convincing album. But Kevin leaves those concerns to the critics. He simply sings with great feeling and subtlety, transporting the listener to regions of the heart and soul - to "Another Time, Another Place" his second release on Warner Bros. Records - which is the real sign of a great jazz artist. Filled with rich originals as well as swinging standards, Kevin Mahogany delivers a focused and mature collection of jazz tunes with a mega-watt panache that so impressed his listeners in his critical acclaimed self-titled debut release last year. He encompasses blues, soul, gospel, and jazz, or as Mahogany once said, "I listened to everything while I was coming up. If all that is in your background, you should be able to sing anything..."

JOHNNY HARTMAN

John Maurice Hartman was born on July 3, 1923 in Chicago, IL
Though he was never the most distinctive vocalist, Johnny Hartman rose above others to become the most commanding, smooth balladeer of the 1950s and '60s, a black crooner closely following Billy Eckstine and building on the form with his notable jazz collaborations, including the 1963 masterpiece John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Born in Chicago, he began singing early on and performed while in Special Services in the Army. Hartman studied music while at college and made his professional debut in the mid-'40s, performing with Earl Hines and recording his first sides for Regent/Savoy. After Hines' band broke up later in 1947, Hartman moved to the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band and stayed for two years, recording a few additional sides for Mercury as well.

Johnny Hartman's first proper LP came in 1956 with Songs from the Heart, recorded for Bethlehem and featuring a quartet led by trumpeter Howard McGhee. He recorded a second (All of Me) later that year, but then was virtually off-record until 1963, when his duet album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman appeared on Impulse. A beautiful set of ballad standards including top-flight renditions of "Lush Life" and "My One and Only Love," the album sparked a flurry of activity for Hartman, including two more albums for Impulse: 1963's I Just Dropped by to Say Hello and the following year's The Voice That Is. During the late '60s and early '70s, he recorded a range of jazz and pop standards albums for ABC, Perception and Blue Note. Hartman recorded sparingly during the 1970s, but returned with two albums recorded in 1980, one of which (Once in Every Life) earned a Grammy nomination just two years before he crossed over on Sep 15, 1983 in New York, NY.

CARMEN McRAE

Carmen Mercedes McRae, born April 8, 1920 was an American jazz singer. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th Century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable.

Carmen McRae was one of the earliest, and best, bop vocalists. Her scat improvisations and choice of material would have been daunting for any singer, but her real fortitude was in the emotional depth she brought to every lyric
McRae was born in Harlem, New York City , to West Indian parents. She began studying piano as a child. As a teenager she came to the attention of Teddy Wilson and his wife, the composer Irene Kitchings Wilson. Through their influence, one of McRae’s early songs, "Dream of Life", was recorded by Wilson’s longtime collaborator Billie Holiday.

By the late 1940s she was well known among the modern jazz musicians who gathered at Minton's Playhouse, Harlem's most famous jazz club, where she was the intermission pianist. But it was while working in Brooklyn that she came to the attention of Decca’s Milt Gabler. Her five year association with Decca yielded 12 LPs.
Her live 1987 duets with Betty Carter are highly regarded.

The musicians she sang with include Benny Carter, Mercer Ellington, Count Basie, Sammy Davis Jr., Dave Brubeck, and Louis Armstrong. As a result of her early friendship with Billie Holiday, she never performed without singing at least one song associated with Lady Day.

She was married to drummer Kenny Clarke and the double bassist Ike Isaacs.
"She had the musical sense to know that when she had five notes to hit, she'd find the one in the range where she heard it in her head and would go for it," said drummer Joey Baron, who recorded with McRae. "That left so much space that was full of feeling rather than filled up with cluttered clichés. And she just swung so hard!"

McRae was a prodigy on piano, she wrote "Dream of Life," which Billie Holiday recorded while McRae was in her teens. She sang with Benny Carter's orchestra in 1944 and with Count Basie and Mercer Ellington a few years later. During this time she also worked as a singer and pianist at Minton's Playhouse where she absorbed rhythmic ideas from the boppers who made the New York club their headquarters. She began recording as a leader in 1953 and continued to work for various labels and lead different groups for the next four decades. In 1988, she recorded a unique album of Thelonious Monk compositions.

McRae crossed over on Nov. 10, 1994.

"SPOTLIGHT ON JAZZ & POETRY" Celebrates One Year On The Air

Clayton E. Corley, Sr. aka Bigtrigger is celebrating his one year anniversary of bringing the best in Jazz and Poetry to the world via his internet radio program, "Spotlight On Jazz And Poetry" on National Artist League Radio. Although he began back in April of 2006 he considers his REAL program launch as of December 3, 2007.

He's just as passionate and driven today about bringing you the best that the Jazz and Poetry world has to offer, as he was one year ago. He says "Jazz and Poetry have so much in common there's no doubt that these two art forms fit together like hand in glove. They are so deep and rich in history and they're major ways of communicating with one another and negotiating agendas.




On Sunday, September 30th, 2007 "Big Trigger" received a Versatility and Image Award in recognition of his ground breaking work in support of jazz musicians and poets through the program. Accompanying Clayton Corley were a few of the artists that have greatly benefitted from the exposure from his program from right: poet Lamont "Napalm" Dixon, poet Safiyyah Amina Muhammad and saxaphonist Shenole Latimer.(pictured above)


One of the first things that you notice about Clayton is the amount of love and respect that he has for artists and their work. He grew up listening to jazz and has virtually an encyclopedic knowledge of it and its history, and both the columns that "Big Trigger" has written for Shenole Latimer's newsletter "On The Inside" and this Liner Notes blog, stand as clear illustrations of this fact.


CONGRATULATIONS BIGTRIGGER & SOJP ON A GREAT YEAR OF JAZZ & POETRY!

Here's What Folks are saying about Bigtrigger and SOJP;

Best wishes to you and congratulations on your one year anniversary. Keep up the good work!
Best regards, Claire

hardy congratulations 'trigger'...
blessings to you for shining light on those who are deserving but may otherwise go unnoticed or under-noticed...
kudos and keep doing what you do!!!!

~lorenda~

Congrats my divine brother. You do a phenomenal job at what you do and so many are blessed to partake in the gifts you share.~~ Truth Theory

DAKOTA STATON

Dakota Staton was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1931. Although hers was not a musical family, Dakota claims to have known from early on that performing was her destiny. "When I was four years old, I started singing and dancing like Shirley Temple," she recalled in a recent interview. Staton further developed these budding abilities at Pittsburgh’s Filion School of Music. "When I was sixteen, I was in a stage show called Fantastic Rhythm. From that show, I was chosen to be a vocalist with the top band in the Pittsburgh area, Joe Wespray and his orchestra.
I sang with him for two years. Then I went to Detroit, Michigan, and worked in all the show bars there.." While in Detroit, Staton made a particularly strong impression at The Flame Show Bar. From there, she followed a nightclub circuit that led as far afield as Toronto and Montreal in Canada before returning stateside and passing through Indianapolis; Minneapolis; Cleveland and St. Louis before eventually winding it’s way to New York.

It was while singing in a Harlem nightclub called the Baby Grand that Staton was discovered by Capitol producer Dave Cavanaugh and signed to the label. "My first record was a single release on Capitol in 1954," she recalls. "It was called ‘What Do You Know About Love?’ and on the other side was ‘You’re My Heart’s Delight’. Staton attracted enough attention to win the prestigious Down Beat award for the most promising new comer of the year 1955. Although at this point there was still enough of an R&B tinge to her presentation to merit her inclusion, along with the likes of Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino, in fabled disc jockey Alan Freed’s first New York area Rock ‘n’ Roll party stage shows at the St. Nicholas arena, she was rapidly evolving into the dynamic, jazz based stylist whose debut Capitol album, ‘The Late, Late Show’ (1958) would quickly rise to #4 in the album charts. Staton freely admits that Dinah Washington was both a personal favorite and an important stylistic influence, and deep impression she made on Dakota is evident from the first album and throughout all her subsequent recorded work.

For her second Capitol effort, "Dynamic!’ (1958), which reached #22 in the album charts later that year, Cavanaugh turned the musical reins over to a close friend, the gifted arranger and conductor Sid Feller, with whom Staton was to enjoy a long and fruitful collaboration. Feller had arranged for Jack Teagarden’s big band before a hitch in the Army during World War II, and in 1951 he began a longtime association with Cavanaugh and Capitol records (Feller later moved on to the ABC label where he began arranging and conducting for Ray Charles, a pursuit that would occupy him for over thirty years). "I remember when Dave drove me down to a nightclub in Philadelphia to meet Dakota Staton," recalled Feller recently. "When she opened her mouth to sing and I heard that voice, I was overwhelmed. I thought she was just a marvelous singer.

She’s very underrated." "I don’t think that Dakota ever got the breaks she deserved that would’ve helped her become a major pop singer, but I know she’s always been very well respected in the jazz community." Regrettably, Feller’s assessment of Staton’s career development has the ring of truth about it. A wonderfully gifted singer with a thorough grounding in jazz, Staton was always oriented toward albums and never enjoyed the hit single that might have broadened her appeal to a larger market. This, coupled with the fact that she first arrived on the scene after the rock and roll revolution had altered the game rules of popular music forever, has to a degree robbed Dakota of the widespread name recognition she so richly deserves.


Dakota Staton crossed over on April 14, 2007

DIANE MARINO

Diane Marino, singer/pianist was born in Manhattan, NYC. She received her early piano training of classical studies and improvisation from the age of 10. Diane was accepted on NYC’S ‘Famed’ High School for the Performing Arts as a classical piano major. She later attended the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan where she studied piano with world-renowned concert pianist Murray Perahia. While working towards her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance, Diane began singing with small groups in the NYC tri-state area, After graduating from Mannes, she was singing professionally 6 nights a week. It was only natural and a matter of time before she would combine her singing and piano playing skills.

Diane performed solo gigs for several years in the NYC area before teaming up with bassist Frank Marino. The duo formed the nine member Brazilian group, ‘Som Brasileiro’ (Sounds of Brazil) in 1993 and have performed at numerous jazz festivals, venues and concerts in the Southeast sharing the bill with artists such as Tania Maria, Pete Escovedo, Joe Henderson and Dr. John, to name a few.

Diane’s debut jazz quartet CD ‘A Sleepin’ Bee’ was released in 2003 and has received national acclaim charting on the national charts as well as receiving extensive radio airplay and rave reviews. This CD offers a wide array of vocal and instrumental traditional jazz standards, Latin jazz, and Brazilian jazz (sung in Portuguese).

Diane’s second CD ‘On the Street Where You Live’, released in May of 2004 has also received national acclaim charting on the national jazz charts and proves once again that Diane is a natural whether playing, singing, or both. This CD will take the listener to the very depths of emotions. There is a re-current theme throughout that tells stories of love, and love lost, as well as playful gems of Latin and Brazilian jazz. Diane is joined by bandmates Frank Marino (bass), Mitch Reilly (saxes/flute), and Chris Brown (drums).

Diane Marino and her quartet’s CD ‘On The Street Where You Live’ once again delivers to the listener, masterful musical magic and another gift for the ears to treasure.

GEORGE V. JOHNSON, JR.

George V. Johnson Jr is a talented young jazz vocalist that specializes in a brand of jazz singing popularized most notably by Jon Hendricks and Eddie Jefferson called Vocalese. In fact, the title of this CD, Next in Line bring to bear the very words uttered by Eddie Jefferson (heard in the opening seconds of the disc) proclaiming his protege' George V. Johnson as the successor to the throne. On this CD, Johnson sings with exuberance on a number of varied standards, including tunes by Charlie Parker, Jimmy Heath, and Miles Davis.
The original “Opening Night” laments the lack of recognition that the major record companies give to serious aspiring jazz artists, and will strike a chord with every jazz musician that has ever solcited a record company in hopes of a record deal. Johnson has a smooth, graceful, and soulful style, and is supported very well in this regard by bandmates that can groove alongside, and underneath him. George V. Johnson shows us on Next In Line that he is a man dedicated to the art of song and singing, bringing forth both tradition and intuition. The promise first heard over twenty years ago is finally seeing the light of day, as Johnson is can be heard scatin' and singin' the night away. It's as if he was singing the world a lullaby; giving it everything he's got, and asking nothing in return. George V. Johnson Jr. The “V” is for Vocalese .

Track listing: Eddie Jefferson sound bite: Opening Night; My Little Suede Shoes; Star Eyes; Nigerian ju ju Highlife; Gingerbread Boy; Freedom Jazz Dance; Bitches Brew.
Personnel: George V. Johnson Jr. (vocals); Tina Prat (jazz tap); Arnold Sterling (alto sax); Bernard Samuel (piano); Herman Foster (piano); Tom Mc Kenzie (bass); Mark Johnson (drums); Victor Jones (drums)


Considering himself the musical offspring of the highly entertaining jazz singer Eddie Jefferson, George V. Johnson, Jr.'s common surname has sometimes led to confusion, particulary in the early days of his career when neither the middle initial nor "junior" status were attached to his credits. Some discographers thus see a double image in which a man named George Johnson was involved in modern jazz singing projects, including credits for vocal arrangements in 1979. Then along comes George V. Johnson, Jr. a few years later, hanging in for the long haul and finally enjoying the benefit of releases under his own name with the ironically titled Next in Line in 2000.

Not to be confused with scat singing, which consists of nonsense syllables and sounds, this vocalist belongs to a singing tradition in which lyrics are concocted to fit the ebb and flow of a jazz soloist's performance, often including the original improvised horn solo. While Johnson, Jr.'s excellent efforts included a version of John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" for one of Pharoah Sanders' highly-praised Evidence recording dates in the early '80s, the singer's efforts were reduced to part-time status for a good portion of the ensuing decades due to having to hold a day job. Nonetheless, he performed regularly as part of the James Moody group, a fitting setting since after all it was where Jefferson himself had been featured quite regularly. After the release of not one but two discs under his own name in 2000 Johnson, Jr. apparently decided to notch up his efforts and try to make it as a fulltime performer

ART TATUM

Art Tatum was born Oct. 13, 1909 in Toledo, Ohio and despite being blind in one eye and only partially sighted in the other he became arguably the greatest jazz piano player who ever lived. He came from a musical family and when younger had some formal training at the Toledo School of Music, however he was largely self-taught. His teacher their recognized his talents and tried to steer him towards as a career as a classical concert pianist. Tatum was more interested in the music of Fats Waller, which would be a strong influence on his music. At 18 he was playing interludes at a local radio station and within a short period of time he had his own show. In 1932 he was heard by the singer Adelaide Hall who brought him to New York as her accompanist. One year later he made his first recordings, among which was "Tiger Rag". This song which features breakneck tempo and rippling left- andright-hand cascades and crashing bass notes had every pianist in the country amazed by his astonishing dexterity.

While in New York he established his reputation in "cutting contests" with other top pianists, which he never lost. He spent the next few years playing in Cleveland, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles and even England in 1938. During this time he established himself as a major figure in jazz circles. In the early 1940s Tatum formed an extremely popular trio with bassist Slam Stewart and guitarist Tiny Grimes. He spent much of the next decade touring North America. In 1953 Tatum signed by producer Norman Granz and recorded extensively both as a soloist and in small groups with Benny Carter, soloist and in small groups with Benny Carter, Buddy De Franco, Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, Ben Webster and others. His incredible talent allowed him to be extremely productive during this time. Ray Spencer in his biography, noted that Tatum was constantly "refining and honing down after each performance until an ideal version remained needing no further adjustments". This allowed him to achieve a remarkable work rate. For example, his solo sessions for Granz were mostly completed in two days. That is a total of 69 tracks and all but three of them needed only one take.

The starting point of Art Tatum's style was Fats Waller's stride. As Tatum once said, "Fats, that's where I come out of and, man, that's quite a place to come from". From this beginning he went on to create and superbly original and creative style of playing piano. His left-handed figures where similar to stride but he was really known for the way that he explored harmonic complexities and unusual chord progressions. When improvising, Tatum would often insert totally new chord sequences (occasionally with a chord on each beat) into one or two measures. He also developed the habit of quoting from other melodies, something that became a standard practice among modern jazz musicians. What really set Tatum apart was his amazing technical abilities which combined with his willingness to explore the imagined limitations of the orthodox keyboard which produced astonishing rhythmic and harmonic complexities. It is claimed that he could identify the dominant note in a flushing toilet. Perhaps the greatest tribute to the excellence of Art Tatum lies in the opinions of his peers.

His influenced many musicians including Bud Powell, Herbie Hancock, and even non-pianists such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Many would say that he inspired the bebop revolution in jazz. When Oscar Peterson first heard him play he thought it was two people and he considered Tatum the best jazz instrumentalist of all time. Legend has it that classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz was so awed by Tatum's wizardry that it brought him to tears. Fittingly, his strongest support comes from one of his early influences, Fats Waller. One time in 1938 Tatum dropped in to hear Waller play at a club. By way of introduction Waller told the audience, "I just play the piano, but God is in the house tonight."

Sadly, on Nov. 4, 1956 his prodigious output was cut short when he died of uremia, however his artistic influence has been strong and long-lasting.

STERLING BROWN

Sterling A. Brown was born May 1, 1901, into a black middle-class Washington, D.C. family. His father was a pastor at a local church and a teacher at Howard University’s School of Religion. His mother was a graduate of Fisk University. Brown attended Dunbar High School where writer Jessie Fauset taught him. In 1918, he graduated with honors and received a scholarship to Williams College. After graduating cum laude in 1922, he began Harvard University where he received his master’s degree in English in 1923.

During the Harlem Renaissance, Sterling took a unique approach to his style of writing. Unlike the majority of other black poets and writers, he chose to write in the dialect of country black folk. Even though at the time this was an unpopular style, his extraordinary talent and his ability to reveal humanity in his poetry won over the most ardent critics of this style.

After graduating from Harvard, Brown accepted a teaching position at Virginia Seminary and College. It was during this three-year time in Lynchburg that Brown began learning and studying the dialect of the town’s rural black residents. He spent time with local residents and listened to blues music and spirituals. These first hand accounts with rural blacks later influenced his use of dialect poetry.
After returning to Washington to teach at Howard in 1929, Brown’s poetry was published a few years later. Not surprisingly, his poetry reflected rural black speech patterns. Black writers who considered it demeaning often dismissed this type of poetry. However, Brown’s use of the voice of black folk in traditional forms of sonnets, ballads, and villanelle, proved successful in his work Southern Road (1932). Even writer and opponent of this style, James Weldon Johnson declared that Brown had successfully replicated rural black dialect.

His other important work included The Negro in American Fiction (1937), Negro Poetry and Drama (1937), and The Last Ride of Wild Bill and Eleven Narratives (1975). Brown was a contributor of poetry and reviews to Opportunity, The New Republic, Phylon, and the Journal of Negro Education. In the 1930s, he served as editor of Negro affairs for the Roosevelt Federal Writers Project. In 1969, Brown retired from his position at Howard. He died on leukemia on January 13, 1989.

Sterling Allen Brown defied popular black poetry. Instead of writing in the voice an intellectual, Brown’s poetry captured the dialect of rural black folk. Brown’s poetry was an artistic expression that revealed the humanity of the characters of his poetry.

Sterling Brown crossed over on January 13, 1989

OMAR SOSA

Omar Sosa was born April 10, 1965, in Camagüey, Cuba. he is a composer, bandleader, and virtuoso jazz pianist.

He began studying marimba at age eight, then switched to piano at the Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana, where he began to study jazz. Sosa moved to Quito, Ecuador in 1993, then San Francisco, California in 1995. In San Francisco he became deeply involved in the local Latin Jazz scene and began a long collaboration with percussionist John Santos.

The next year Omar made his U.S. recording debut on Otá Records with Omar Omar, followed in 1997 with the first in a trilogy of groundbreaking world-jazz recordings: Free Roots, Spirit of the Roots (1998) and Bembon (2000).
In 1998 Omar began his collaboration with noted Bay Area percussionist and educator John Santos. The duo released a live recording, Nfumbe, in conjunction with their appearance at the San Francisco Jazz Festival that year. The following year, revealing more of the contemplative side of his musical sensibilities, Omar released his second solo piano recording, Inside, a Top-20-selling CD in France for distributor Night & Day. Capping an extraordinarily productive period, Omar also travelled to Ecuador in 1999 to record his critically acclaimed large-ensemble CD Bembon. In approximately 1999, Sosa moved to Barcelona, Spain.

With Prietos (2001) and Sentir (2002), Omar stretches his genre-expanding fusion still further with the use of traditional vocals and instruments from the Gnawa culture of North Africa. We find tongues in Arabic, English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Yoruba, as well as instruments like the guembri, oud, djembi, balafon, and marimba. These recordings are world music in its finest sense: strong, uncompromising sounds, yet always welcoming and honest. Throughout we hear Omar's genius as an arranger and his extraordinary inspiration at the piano.

MANNIE HAGER "Defiant Sun"

Mannie Hager aka Defiant Sun, was born in Ponze, Puerto Rico at home on the couch out my mothers womb in 1973, moved to Brooklyn in 1985, where he couldn't speak any real english, Mannie learned English by watching cartoons.  His mother who is German spoke to me in German and his father who was Puerto Rican spoke to him in Spanish.  He was born in a house hold of torn religious views.  He is the product of Christianity and Islam and somewhere in between there was peace.  Mannie a Brooklyn native of Puerto Rican and German decent, relocated to Lawton, Oklahoma in 2002. Mannie spent 9 years on active duty where his highest achieved rank was Staff Sergeant. While in the military, he went on numerous campaigns which included being deployed to Somalia, Rwanda, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, and Bosnia. After he left the military in 2001 he resided in Newport News, VA where he worked for Coca-Cola Enterprises until his mother had a stroke and then moved to Lawton, Oklahoma to help take care of his mother. Since his stay in Lawton, Oklahoma, Mannie decided to started school, which at a late age is a struggle. He attends Cameron University where his major is History and Political Science. He will be graduating in May of 2007. Mannie has overcome many obstacles which include surviving cancer in 2005, a battle that he is still fighting to win every day and surviving running over a land mind in Somalia. His story is fascinating on many levels; his poetry is energetic, entertaining, and heartfelt. Mannie speaks from his heart.

His passion for poetry comes from the depth of his soul, at an early age Mannie started to write poetry. He was exposed to spoken word while being stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas where he went to a book store called Under One Roof in 1999, This was his poetic birth and was hooked ever since. His energetic performance and strength are heart felt within his performance. He can speak on many topics which include political, love, erotica, and history.

Mannie has been writing poetry for about a total of about 15 years and started performing his art 8 years ago. He as had many accomplishments which include organizing some of the hottest shows in the state of Oklahoma on both a University level and professional level. He has also been published on www.poetry.com , www.destee.com, www.openmic.com and an article in the Dallas Examiner where he as received honors for his work. He has been interviewed by the Cameron University Collagen and been interviewed on CUTV for his poetic craft, and has been in rotation with Jazz Poetry Café Radio hosted by Phillip G. www.jazzpoetrycafe.net

He has shared stages along sides of some of the hottest poets in the country such as Taalam Acey, Mahogany L. Brown, L.I.F.E, Nuyorican Grand Slam Champion Archie the Messenger, Rob Hylton, Nathan P, Noodles, SahdoKat, Andrew Tyree, Atryn, HBO Def Poetry Poet Rockbaby, HBO Def Poet Joaquin Zihuatanejo, HBO Def Poet Gemineye, HBO Def Poet Big Mike, Michael Guinn, Stacey Williamson, Jenean Livingston, AJ Houston, Anthony Douglas, Silence, Vocab, Cocoafire, and Austin Grand Slam Champion 2 times in a row Christopher-Michael, and the Dallas raining grand slam champ Colin Gilbert just to mention a few.

He has preformed on many venues to include hosting at the Verbal High in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Book and CD
Openly Crying CD 2006 www.cdbaby.com/defiantsun
Out of the mouth of Mannie 2006
Speaking from the Heart 2007 available on www.lulu.com

ARTHUR PRYSOCK

Arthur Prysock was perfectly at home singing jazz, blues, or RB, but his smooth-as-silk baritone made him a superbly effective (and underappreciated) pop crooner in the manner of his chief influence, Billy Eckstine.

Prysock was born January 2, 1929, in Spartanburg, SC, and was the brother of saxophonist Red Prysock. As a teenager, he moved to Hartford, CT, where he worked in the aviation industry and sang with several small bands by night. He was discovered in 1944 by jump blues bandleader Buddy Johnson, who signed him as lead male vocalist and brought him to Harlem. Prysock sang on a number of Johnson's hits for the Decca label before going solo in 1952 to tour the chitlin circuit (sometimes with his brother). He quickly landed an RB hit with "I Didn't Sleep a Wink Last Night," and subsequently made his name among black audiences as an emotive balladeer. During the '50s, Prysock recorded for several smaller labels, but his popularity in concert gradually gained him more exposure. He began a long relationship with the Old Town label, scoring RB hits with "I Worry 'Bout You" in 1958, Ray Noble's old ballad "The Very Thought of You" in 1960, and "It's Too Late Baby, It's Too Late" in 1965. That year, he fulfilled a dream by recording an album with Count Basie on Verve, the label he remained with for most of the '60s. Prysock performed at ~Carnegie Hall in 1966, and hosted his own TV show for a short time. By the end of the '60s, Prysock had returned to Old Town, where he recorded several albums while touring the club circuit. He had an unexpected disco hit in 1976 with "When Love Is New," but otherwise remained largely out of sight.

Prysock returned to active recording in 1985 with the well-received A Rockin' Good Way album on Milestone, and also sang a well-known jingle for Lowenbrau beer. Two more albums for Milestone followed, 1986's This Guy's in Love With You and 1987's Today's Love Songs, Tomorrow's Blues, before Prysock receded from the limelight again. He died on June 21, 1997.

This Is My Beloved

This Is My Beloved is not so much a record to be listened to as an experience to be shared; the listener feels as if he were eavesdropping on an intensely private monologue in which a man is reliving a crucial love affair.

The album, a reading of a long narrative poem, is a radical departure for Arthur Prysock. Though he has made two narrative short discs (Maman and the intensely popular, A Working Man’s Prayer). Prysock is chiefly known to his army of fans as the most masculine of pop baritone singers, with hit records spanning two decades. The fans will be startled by this one! Even those who have seen him on the Johnny Carson show and noted his easy stage presence and the depth and richness of his speaking voice, are going to discover with a shock that Arthur is a natural actor. In his portrayal of a desperate man who loves, “not wisely but too well,” Prysock speaks with the same direct simplicity, the same lack of pretense which marks his singing style. The result is a very moving characterization.

The poem divides naturally into two sections. Side One is love shared, Side Two is love lost, love remembered. The first two haunting bars of music introduce Prysock’s quiet portrayal as he tells his girl how much he needs her love in a time hate, and from that moment we are caught up in the personal story of a man who shares with us his most intimate thoughts as he memorizes every detail of the woman he loves. We share the recurring premonition that it cannot last. And as the first side ends, it is already later than the lovers think.

“I waited years today. One year for every hour.”

He had bought her favorite food and wine for their private supper, he had bought the purple asters she loved, to set between them on a candle-lit table.

“But you did not come.”

As suddenly as that, the affair is over. There is only the bitter aftermath to come-and we live through that, too, in Prysock’s quiet characterization, movingly underplayed and completely real from beginning to end.

Prysock’s reading gets a fine assist from the sensitive musical score by Mort Garson, whose arrangements have enhanced previous Prysock Albums. To underline the loneliness of the lover, Garson has chosen a transparent approach in which every instrument and group-solo flute, string quartet, rhythm section-comes through cleanly and separately, each a solitary voice. Living and working in Hollywood, Garson has composed an accompaniment in the best tradition of film scoring. The original music provides a moody backdrop for the story, never intruding on it except by design, when the intrusion is that of the outside world intruding upon the lovers with the clatter of a subway train or the ticking of a clock.

The free-verse poem which provides the text was written by Walter Benton during World War II, but like all good love poems it is impervious to time. In Prysock’s interpretation, it takes on new meaning; the “time of hate” in which Prysock lives is different from that of which Benton wrote. But love does not change, and because it doesn’t the poem’s appeal is universal.

This Is My Beloved is not an album for Prysock fans alone-or for poetry lovers alone. It is an album for any man or woman who has ever “loved and lost,” the story of a love affair with Prysock telling it like it is-and was and will be.

SHIRLEY SCOTT

Shirley Scott was born on March 14, 1934 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An admirer of the seminal Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott has been one of the organ's most appealing representatives since the late '50s. Scott, a very melodic and accessible player, started out on piano and played trumpet in high school before taking up the Hammond B-3 and enjoying national recognition in the late '50s with her superb Prestige dates with tenor sax great Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Especially popular was their 1958 hit "In the Kitchen." Her reputation was cemented during the '60s on several superb, soulful organ/soul-jazz dates where she demonstrated an aggressive, highly rhythmic attack blending intricate bebop harmonies with bluesy melodies and a gospel influence, punctuating everything with great use of the bass pedals. Scott married soul-jazz tenor man Stanley Turrentine, with whom she often recorded in the '60s. The Scott/Turrentine union lasted until the early '70s, and their musical collaborations in the '60s were among the finest in the field.

Scott wasn't as visible the following decade, when the popularity of organ combos decreased and labels were more interested in fusion and pop-jazz (though she did record some albums for Chess/Cadet and Strata East). But organists regained their popularity in the late '80s, which found her recording for Muse. Though known primarily for her organ playing, Scott is also a superb pianist -- in the 1990s, she played piano exclusively on some trio recordings for Candid, and embraced the instrument consistently in Philly jazz venues in the early part of the decade. At the end of the '90s, Scott's heart was damaged by the diet drug combination, fen-phen, leading to her declining health. In 2000 she was awarded $8 million in a lawsuit against the manufacturers of the drug. On March 10, 2002 she died of heart failure at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia.

GWENDOLYN BROOKS

Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 7, 1917, the granddaughter of a runaway slave, and grew up in the slums of Chicago. Her parents were David Anderson Brooks, a janitor, and Keziah Corinne (Wims) Brooks, formerly an elementary schoolteacher. From the time she was one month old, Ms. Brooks lived with her family, which later came to include a brother, Raymond, in the sprawling black ghetto on the South Side of Chicago.

Her economically deprived but respectable upbringing was enriched by her parents’ love of education and culture. Keziah brooks composed songs and “storyettes” to amuse her children; David Brooks read them daily selections from his prized set of Harvard Classics. Encouraged by her parents, Ms. Brooks read widely and was especially fond of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the Canadian novelist who wrote Anne of Green Gables, and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the black poet.

When she was thirteen, one of her poems “Eventide,” was published in American Childhood, a popular children’s magazine of the period. Urged by her mother, she sent samples of her work to James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes and received encouraging comments from both men. After graduating from Englewood High school in 1934, she completed her formal education at Wilson Junior College, now known as Kennedy-King College, in 1936, majoring in English literature. Gwendolyn Brooks had been a regular contributor to “Lights and Shadows,” a column of miscellany in the Chicago Defender, the city’s black daily newspaper. When she obtained her college degree, she hoped for work as a Defender reporter.

In the mid-1940s such established literary magazines as Harper’s, the Saturday Review of Literature, the Yale Review, and Poetry, began to publish Ms. Brooks’ poems. Encouraged, she submitted nineteen poems to Harper & Brothers, which agreed to publish them on the recommendation of Richard Wright, the black novelist. In his appraisal Wright said: “[Ms. Brooks] easily catches the pathos of petty destinies, the whimper of the wounded, the tiny incidents that plague the lives of the desperately poor, and the problem of common prejudice. . . . There is not so much an exhibiting of Negro life to whites in these poems as there is an honest human reaction to the pain that lurks so carefully in the Black Belt.”

Gwendolyn Brooks was an "objective" poet, one who has discovered the neglected miracles of everyday life. A lifelong resident of Chicago Brooks wrote unflinchingly about the lives of its impoverished blacks, particularly its women, in wrenching portraits that are social documents as well as works of art. Despite the narrow focus of her work, her poems have a universal appeal.

In 1946 and 1947 Brooks received a Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing and in 1946 a $1,000 grant in literature from the National Institute of Arts and letters. Mademoiselle magazine named her one of its Ten Women of 1945.

To Blyden Jackson, who analyzed her work years later in Black Poetry in America: Two Essays in Historical Interpretation (1974), Annie Allen was representative of Ms. Brooks’ method: the study “of the flower in the crannied wall.” “Her genius operates within its area of greatest strength,” he wrote, “the close inspection of a limited domain, to reap from that inspection . . . a view of life in which one may see a microscopic portion of the universe intensely and yet, through that microscopic portion, see all truth for the human condition wherever it exists.” Annie Allen won for Brooks the Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize from Poetry magazine in 1949 and the Pulitzer for poetry in 1950. It was the first time the award was conferred on a black woman.

On Sunday, December 3, 2000, world-renowned writer, and humanitarian Gwendolyn Brooks passed away at her Chicago, Illinois residence; she was 83. Brooks is survived by her son, Henry Blakely III, her daughter, Nora Brooks Blakely, and countless family members, friends, and fellow poets. Her husband, Henry Blakely, II, preceded her in death.

The legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks consists of her immeasurable contribution to literature as well as the cultural and social contributions made by those she influenced in myriad ways.