Alice Coltrane Love Supreme

In September Mrs. Coltrane and her son Ravi gave an inspired performance at the University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium to mark John’s 80th birthday. Her Baptist church meets celestial organ-playing accompanied by Ravi’s torrent of notes, Charlie Haden’s fluent bass and Roy Hayne’s urbane drumming completed a stately jubilee for the man who took modal jazz as far as it could go. A spiritual force in her own right she maintained John’s legacy and continued her growth as a musician.

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Tribute
What the Godfather of Soul Meant to Me
Aretha Franklin, Ice Cube, Reverend Run, and other peers and disciples remember James Brown
SOUL POWER Brown in 1964

All About
James Brown
By Leah Greenblatt

Say it loud! Following the Dec. 25 passing of James Brown, a.k.a. the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Soul Brother Number One, among many other monikers — most of which he coined himself — EW’s music team gathered a rich and varied collection of never-before-published quotes from his admirers. Be they contemporaries, musical descendents, or merely bystanders, all were touched in some way by his supreme funkiness. Here we offer an extended recollection of the memories and moments that made the man The Man, from some of his biggest bold-faced fans.

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul
”His performance, you just can’t get away from that. Whatever else you might think of, you cannot get away from that. He was one-of-a-kind, an original, [like] a Rembrandt or a Picasso. The first time I heard him, I was traveling with my father as a teenager, and [Brown] had just joined the Famous Flames, I believe. We were driving in Florida and I heard this record, ”It Was You,” on the radio, and I just loved it instantly.

”And then I must have been about 19 or 20 when I first met him in person. We never actually performed much together, though I remember a show [we did] here in Detroit around ‘86 or ‘87 [with] me and Wilson Pickett. Oh my Lord.

”He was a showman extraordinaire, a social activist, and he was certainly concerned with the human condition. When I first heard about [the passing of] Gerald Ford, I thought oh, wow, that’s very sad, but I also thought that James might be overshadowed by that, but I don’t think he was at all. I think that the media and the people at large absolutely gave him his respect.”

Exhibition Title: Black Rock: The Metamorphosis of Home from Isolation to Connection Task Force Exhibition (Black Rock) January 27 – February 24, 2007

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE TO THE PUBLIC

OPENING RECEPTION, Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm, performances by Maurice Chesnut, Shaka Zulu Overdrive and Nadine LaFond at 8:30 pm. REBORN @ Gallery Aferro, 73 Market Street, Newark, NJ

Newark, NJ – December 19, 2006 – Gallery Aferro and REBORN proudly present a two level multimedia group exhibition of 22 contemporary artists and changemakers of African descent and those influenced by the forms, traditions and history of the African Diaspora. Spanning more than 11 countries these artists of the Caribbean, South America, Europe and West Africa claim Home in a post -Civil Rights Movement era by gathering, re-imagining and dreaming a deeper connected community (albeit complex and scary) – together.

Black Rock engages sight, sound, mind, and heart through art, music, film and video, community panels and interactive workshops. It is an explosive cultural exhibition of artists and cultural activists whose work innovate cultural forms to engage our most challenging fears and greatest visions of living as individuals within community of Home – the self, local community, nation and world.

Black Rock features three large – scale installations including a life size Black comics installation, a home being uprooted by its roots and a vinyl record temple. The second floor features three video projections and a gift shop.

Organized by independent artists/curators, Noelle Lorraine Williams and Kevin Darmanie. Black Rock is their fourth community-based exhibition featuring the work of emerging and established contemporary artists examining our deepest individual fears and greatest visions of living in community. Please visit www.rebornhome.com for complete schedule and information.

“The twentieth century revealed a tense relationship between the artist of African descent and relevance of culture in their art practice. Sometimes celebrated, often disdained but mainly debated this exhibition illustrates that one can have a conversation within and about Home and still be in the realm of the imaginary, the truthful the visionary,” stated Noelle Lorraine Williams (REBORN).

Gallery Aferro is located at 73 Market Street in downtown Newark. For directions visit our website at www.aferro.org or www.rebornhome.com. The Gallery is open Wednesday 12:00-4:00 PM, Thursday and Friday 4:00 – 8:00 PM and Saturday 11:00 – 6:00. Each Saturday in February Black Rock will feature film, video, community workshops and panels. We are also happy to make appointments as needed. For groups a visit with lecture about the art on display can be arranged.

Please call 646.220.3772, www.aferro.org or www.rebornhome.com .

Black Rock is produced by Noelle Lorraine Williams (REBORN) and co-curated with Kevin Darmanie. Lead sponsorship from Newark’s newest art supply store Newark Art Supply www.newarkartsupply.com located at 61 Halsey Street (Corner of Halsey and New St). Support also provided by Lincoln Park Cultural Coast District and The Museum of African American Music and Over the Edge (A Funky Little Store) located in Montclair, NJ. We would also like to give special thanks to AfroLez® Productions and Wapinduzi Productions and all the artists and community members who have shared their time and energy on this project.

FACTSHEET – Exhibition Title: Black Rock: The Metamorphosis of Home from Isolation to Connection Task Force Exhibition (Black Rock) January 27 – February 24, 2007

Gallery: Gallery Aferro
Event Producer: Noelle Lorraine Williams (REBORN)
Guest Curators: Noelle Lorraine Williams (REBORN) and Kevin Darmanie

Address:
73 Market Street @ WASHINGTON
Newark, NJ

Event Schedule:
Saturday, January 27, 2007 7:00 – 10:00 Performances @ 8:30

EVENT Title: Musical Riot! A Call and Response
Hosted by Jerry Gant, Performances by Maurice Chesnut, Dancer, Shaka Zulu Overdrive,
Nadine LaFond of Swampedelica

ALL Saturday Events Begin @ 1 pm . Please check website for details.

Saturday, February 3, 2007
EVENT Title: Black Renegade Remix: Spirits and Rebels
Films:

Afro Punk by James Spooner
66-minute documentary that explores race identity within the punk scene.

Quilombo Country: Afro-Brazilian Villages in the Twenty-First Century with Chuck D by Leonard Abrams
No other film currently in release addresses these communities and illustrates all of these important Afro Brazilian contributions to Brazilian and world culture. It is narrated by Chuck D, the legendary poet, scholar, media commentator and front man of the iconic hip hop band Public Enemy.

Saturday, February 10, 2007
EVENT Title: Black Comics Reception

Saturday, February 17, 2007
EVENT Title: Nightmares Dreams, Sex and Art: Black Women Working with Home

Films:
NO! A Rape Documentary by Aishah Shahidah Simmons
NO! is a feature length documentary about rape and healing in African-American communities.” If the Black community in the Americas and in the world would save itself, it must complete the work this film begins.”
Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author, The Color Purple

PREMIERE- Sunshine Boutique by Kagendo Murungi
Sunshine Boutique is experimental documentary film that celebrates the values of African life and the leadership of African Women of all sexualities around the world.
The film depicts how these artists manage and portray intersections between racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia through their art and activism.

Saturday, February 24 2004
EVENT Title: Relentless Love: Defending the Beloved Community – Panel
Mr. Devious – My Life by John Fredericks

Mario ”Mr. Devious” van Rooy, an enigmatic hip-hop mc, is stabbed to death in his
Neighborhood of Beacon Valley, Mitchell’s Plain, leaving a deafening silence.
Filmmaker, John Fredericks struggles to make sense of his close friend’s untimely
passing. Honoring a pledge, John comforts Devious’ wife, Natalie, who is left to
fend for her three kids. As Devious in his own words, takes us into his life, Natalie and John discover the legacy of a fiery street poet. Natalie takes charge of her life as she boldly picks up the mic & music of her late husband.

Artists:
Jamyla & Pete Bennu, Maurice Chesnut, Lowell Craig, Rob Cruz, Easton Davy, Asha, Ganpat, John Fredericks, Jerry Gant, Darrell Goza, Tamara Harris, Nadine LaFond, Kagendo Murungi, Ibou Ndoye, Wura Ogunji, William Oliwa, Veruska Outlaw, Dread Scott, Shaka Zulu Overdrive, Ade Tugbiyele Sedita, Aqueelah Shaheed, Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Nyugen E. Smith, SDNicholas, Joya Angola Thompson, Mary A. Valverde, Bisa Washington, Jesse Wright

Countries, Territories and Commonwealths Represented in the Show:
Trinidad, Jamaica, Cuba, Nigeria, Haiti, Rome, Senegal, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Kenya, United States

Noelle Lorraine Williams
REBORN

www.rebornhome.com
reborn@rebornhome.com
973.493.5174

NEXT EVENT
“Black Rock: The Metamorphosis of Home from Isolation to Connection Task Force”
January 24 – February 26, 2007
Gallery Aferro
73 Market Street, Newark, NJ

transforming fear. innovating vision.

Seeking the next Eminem
‘(White) Rapper Show’ debuts Monday on VH1

January 7, 2007

BY KELLEY L. CARTER

FREE PRESS MUSIC WRITER

Blame Vanilla Ice and thank Eminem.

The only thing the two rappers really have in common is that they’re, well, white guys.

Unlike Ice, the Detroit rapper didn’t need to fabricate a saucy past life — and wear blinding, shiny outfits — in order to win fans. And even though Eminem has sold millions of albums and is one of the best-selling artists of the past decade, it’s still hard out there for a white rapper.

That cultural divide is front and center of a new VH1 reality series, “The (White) Rapper Show.” The show, coproduced by Ego Trip, a team that produces multimedia projects, is on a mission to discover the next great white rapper — and dig a bit into America’s attitudes about race, cultural legitimacy and an art form that was created (and has been historically dominated) by African Americans.

The show’s concept: A group of aspiring rappers moves into a house in the Bronx and goes through a series of competitions — with one contestant eliminated each episode.

And the host? Hip-hop legend MC Serch (real name Michael Berrin), who in the late ’80s was part of 3rd Bass, a ( 2/3 white) rap group that earned much respect in hip-hop circles and is best-known for the hit “Pop Goes the Weasel,” which famously trashed Vanilla Ice.

Serch, who lives in Oakland County with his wife, Chantel, and their three children, until last spring hosted the morning show at WJLB-FM (97.9). Serch chatted recently about the new show, which premieres at 10:30 p.m. Monday.