“BLACK CULTURAL EVENTS IS YOUR GATEWAY TO RICH CULTURAL LIFE OF BLACK GREATER LOS ANGELES. THE ONLINE CALENDAR AND DIRECTORY OF WHAT’S HAPPENING AND WHERE TO GO, THAT WILL KEEP YOU IN THE KNOW.”
Black Cultural Events is your gateway to the rich cultural life of Black Southern California. There’s a lot going on in this wonderful metropolis of ours. We know the experience of trying to keep up with it all, or of hearing too late about some event you really would have liked to experience. So we’re getting it all for you – right here in one place. We also have listings of restaurants, cultural institutions, art centers and landmarks. We are updating frequently with new opportunities to experience and explore, so please – visit us often and share with friends. ~
The Black Cultural Events Team Leaders
Pamela Ashe-Thomas is co-founder of Black Cultural Events and BCE Media. A psychologist in private practice and at California State University, Long Beach, Pamela is a life long Black culture lover with a commitment to exposing students and community members to the cultural arts.
David Ashe is co-founder of Black Cultural Events and BCE Media. Prior to Black Cultural Events David was embedded via the 10 Up Agency at Microsoft working with the worldwide corporate storytelling division. He has managed web and digital projects for DirecTV, Toyota, Oprah Winfrey Network, FX Networks, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment.
Eric Thomas is a General Partner and Chief Operating Officer for BCE Media. As an itinerant theatre arts instructor for the Arts Education Brand of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the veteran music, broadcast and interactive media production executive brings a wealth of experience to the mission of Black Cultural Events.com.
World Debut of Hazel Scott inspired Children Book Series and Television show coming soon to a channel and book shelf .
It was announced by a media spokesman for the LONDON5 STUDIOS. Creation and Books authored by Melanie Greene.
Little Melanie Children’s book series is a development and creation of London 5 Studios, headed up by Melanie Greene and her brilliant team of artists, writers and musical geniuses. the very first book, My Grand Piano is solely based on a little girl’s dream to become as great as the Jazz legend Hazel Scott on piano. Even insisting on exclusively playing only a Steinway piano, which was the signature choice by the great Hazel Scott. Little Melanie also has a positive quality about her that’s simply unmatched in children’s programming today. the series is muscular 150+ books, followed by London-based TV show that reflects a very diverse cast of characters, and special guests to be added later on as the Little Melanie unfolds into a its’ full potential. This writer will be keeping you informed about the latest developments involving this grand presentation and innovative series/TV show. follow it also at twitter #@blues2jazzguy…www.hipstersanctuary.com.
“Profound Simplicity”- A Glimpse of Dwight Trible” by Kristina McBride
I’ve been spinning quite a bit of music lately, listening to the inner urge of Joe Henderson’s tenor sax, Lee Morgan’s blistering trumpet solo telling it like it is, Black Arthur breaking down Lenox Ave on my new Rega RP3 with a fantastic vintage Scott 382-B amplifier and speaker combination. The music and sound combination that comes at me is sensational, bringing me closer to the music more than ever. I’ve begun to listen to and feel music more deeply over time. Through music I travel freely through time and space, exploring my inner-most emotions and dreams. In the spellbinding voice of Dwight Trible, I embark on a musical voyage, exploring new depths of musical consciousness.
He is a vocalist-songwriter, poet and musical healer. That he is so shamefully under-acknowledged in the music world is especially contemptible considering how badly the world needs his music. He successfully fuses jazz, blues, and gospel while also being known to reference opera and Gregorian chants during his presentation. He’s collaborated with contemporaries such as J-Dilla, Kamasi Washington, and John Beasley. I stumbled upon his music on a balmy Florida afternoon while I listened to WPFW in Washington, D.C. I heard Trible’s sonorous voice laced on top of the lush, romantic piano, string and percussion ensemble of Quasimode as he sang “Midnight Flower”. I was captivated straight away, my body becoming warm and I became aware of the sensual arousal I felt as I listened. His voice beckoned me, touching my soul with the immediate force evoked by the supernatural allure of his voice.
Trible is a full-bodied baritone that can ascend to a soul-stirring falsetto that is unwavering at any tempo or volume. His profound connection to music is present in each song he approaches. Trible’s masterful interpretation of Andy Bey’s “Celestial Blues” is the epitome of spiritual jazz singing, where he showcases his masterful, soul-stirring vibrato and vocal range. Trible’s singing is evocative of vibrant colors and textures, of romance, peace, and happiness. It has healing power, a unifier, a beacon of hope and light.
Trible grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio with three siblings and both his parents. He began singing as a young child, inspired by his mother. “I remember sitting on the couch when she cleaned up, and I couldn’t have been more than two or three years-old. But I would just sit there and listen to my mother sing, mesmerized, almost in a trance. So, I guess she was probably my first inspiration for singing. Judging from my personality and my makeup perhaps I really didn’t have a choice in the matter, because when I look back on what else I could have done had I not been involved in that…for the most part I cannot think of anything else that it would be,” he remembered.
“From my perspective, I try to get to the core of what it is…I look at it as profound simplicity. For something to be profound it doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be something that nobody understands what it is. Be who you are. And you be the most Dwight Trible you can be. And that’s all it is.”
when I asked him how he began singing, and what he aspired to be when he grew up. His mother would send them to the local theater after church every Sunday, and to keep from growing bored while watching the film, he began improvising to the music.
“I wonder what your siblings thought of you doing that,” I asked him, laughing as I imagined him with his then short legs dangling from the chair as he crooned to the music.
“Oh, they would be so angry with me. I remember once, my brother coming home and telling my mother, ‘Dwight was in-there singing again! He was in-there singing again!’” he recalled with a boisterous laugh. “’Cause God knows how loud I was singing. I guess I did it so much and it probably used to get on their nerves, but it was my nature to do it.” Surely these early singing experiments brought him a long way to becoming a master of his craft.
Trible was saturated with music throughout his childhood, drawing inspiration from Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, and Linda Jones, who had the 1967 hit “Hypnotized, tune that had a major influence on his singing style. “I was a Linda Jones freak! She was somebody that really resonated with me, and I would say that I was influenced by her more than anyone else, “ he remembered. He later sang with local R & B and gospel groups before outgrowing the Cincinnati music scene. He deeply felt he had to go abroad in order to grow as an artist, and was encouraged by his peers and fellow musicians.
He set his sights on Los Angeles, California, arriving at an extremely fertile time, and was quickly ushered into the L.A. music community by the late legends pianist Horace Tapscott (whom he later dedicated a whole album to) and drummer Billy Higgins. When I asked him what it was like being mentored by Tapscott, he was full of enthusiasm in his response and gave a funny anecdote: “Everything that I thought I knew about music, when I heard this guy play for the first time, it just blew my mind in such a way that, everything I knew, had to go, because I’d seen the light! And, it was strange because when I first saw him, he would come to the club where I was performing, and I’d be on stage and he’d be at the door watching. I would close my eyes and sing a few bars, and by the time I’d open my eyes, he’d be gone! He always did this. It was something else, man… and then one day, he told me to come to his house. I showed up and he had all these plans laid out for me to join The Ark (the nickname for the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra). And I was stunned because I didn’t think I was ready for all of that. I guess he felt I was.”
Tapscott appointed Trible to vocal director of the Pan-Afrikan People’s Arkestra shortly after, a move that would boost his confidence as a musician and would expand his profile throughout the music scene.
He later had the fortune of meeting the great Billy Higgins, who thrusted him out of his shyness and exposed his immense, unique talents to several giants of the jazz world: Pharaoh Sanders, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Lloyd, and Mulgrew Miller. Although he and Pharaoh were familiar with each other, their musical collaboration didn’t come until after Higgins passed away. “Higgins was a guy who made everybody that he played with sound better. He had this way of sizing you up really, really quickly. He had this sort of telepathy where he knew, when you first started playing with you, he could get inside you, find out who you were, and what you needed. Then he would give you that “thing” to take you over the top. He just had that magic.
That’s why everybody, from Herbie Hancock on down, loved playing with Billy Higgins,” he reflected with nostalgia and deep affection in his voice. He later met the late vocalist Betty Carter, and was impressed by her artistry and professionalism, and would go on to incorporate a great deal of her style in his own singing. “And I would say that’s really it for me. And all the rest is me and the spirit working together, “he says optimistically. This writer could feel the peace he had within himself in his words, brimming with optimism.
The Leimert Park arts scene in L.A. is a significant part of Trible’s identity and purpose as an artist and community advocate. He has served as the musical director of the World Stage for the past five years and has worked with the numerous grassroots organizations to fight against the threat of gentrification that targets the historic black cultural epicenter of the West Coast. He can often be found performing at the Blue Whale or The World Stage with a stellar lineup of musicians.
When he’s not singing in L.A. he can be found on a trans-Atlantic flight to London, as he recently did to cut a record with Matthew Halsall titled “Inspirations” (Gondwana label), released in June. He travelled across the pond to London to record with Halsall, as well as touring several cities throughout Europe.“Everywhere we went, you know…the people really, really loved it. Every house was completely packed, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house every time we finished,” he told me when I asked him about the tour. I can see how that could totally be the case. His voice stirs something inside you when he sings. No matter what language you speak, where you’re from, your age, it reaches you. Sadly, he’s not well-known here in the U.S. where he has been singing for nearly 50 years.
It is beyond comprehension that he could have sung and collaborated with heavy-hitters such as Kenny Burrell, Harry Belafonte, Harold Land, Patrice Rushen, and Kenny Garrett, yet still be low-profile. When I asked him his thoughts about this low-profile in the music world, he replied, “Yeah, it’s kinda interesting how I can go over there and probably work as much as I want to, whereas here, in this country, it is probably more difficult for me to get work here than it is over there.”
“It’s kinda sad,” I replied to him solemnly. “A hard time to be an artist. Too many musicians are struggling to find work here and there’s nowhere for them to play anymore. All the venues are drying up because of rising rents for venues and the cost of living for the artists, and widespread gentrification in the places where the music is popular. And the musicians hardly get paid anything on a gig most of the time. It’s a travesty and a great disservice to the music.”
His optimism and beautiful spirit radiated in his reply:
“Well, you know, I don’t look at it as sad really. I just think that it’s just the way things went, and the beautiful thing is, again, every day I get the opportunity to wake up and do what I love to do. And that’s the main thing. So as long as that can happen, I don’t think of any of it as sad. It’s all good, as far as I’m concerned.”
The album title came from the feeling that the world needs inspiration to carry on in these dark times, in the era of Donald Trump and uncertainty, hopelessness, and anxiety felt amongst many people right now. He delivers a spellbinding version of “What the World Needs Now”, a swinging waltz much like the feeling and style of Coltrane’s signature tune “My Favorite Things”. This writer wondered, if he got inspiration from Coltrane to record this song in this manner, with him as a being a major influence on Trible. The addition of a harpist (Rachel Gladwin channeling a bit of Alice Coltrane in this tune) gives the song an ethereal, jubilant feeling that propels your spirit forth into an ocean of good vibes. Trumpeter Matthew Halsall executes a soulful, yet melancholy solo calling for hope and love for humanity through his horn. Trible finishes out the song and takes us to church, getting down and gritty with his gospel-styled ad-libs. He puts his trademark on several standards throughout the album such as “Feeling Good” and “Ooh, Child”, but you will not get bored hearing them again. Dwight put his signature style on each and everyone of them.
There are many vocalists out here singing, yet Dwight Trible stands-out on an island of his own. He’s truly an artist with such versatility that has something for everyone, and plenty to give. He has an ingenuity that is clearly present in his singing… and that radiates from his spirit. He’s not in this for the fame or fortune (if only!!), but in my mind, be a messenger of love and peace, which are common themes of many of the songs he sings.
He broke down his philosophy for me and outlook on life: “From my perspective, I try to get to the core of what it is…I look at it as profound simplicity. For something to be profound, it doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be something that nobody understands what it is. Be who you are. And being the most Dwight Trible I can be. And that’s all it is.” ### (follow Kristina Mcbride on this blog)
Soul Sauce: l-r shown – Pablo Calagero, Ross Schodek,Peter Burke, Bryan Valasco, Rafael Feliciano, Don Littleton, Andrew Acosta
It’s not everyday you can jump in your car and drive to a spot, then wind up in the middle of the 1960s jazz scene Los Angeles. Back then you could still catch great latin jazz bands coming through like Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria or Tito Puente. Well.. maybe I didn’t wind up in the middle of the 1960s, BUT, I had the next best thing..I drove to Roscoe’s Seabird Lounge in Long Beach where I was able to experience the Cal Tjader legacy band, Soul Sauce.Right now this group of heady musicians are keeping the Latin Jazz legacy alive with a “no-nonsense” or frilly over-produced electronic sound presentation..Working directly with the Cal Tjader songbook, Soul Sauce is conjuring up the hey-days of the Hollywood Palladium or the Lighthouse jazz cafe in the early to late 1960s. Toss in a large group of fun people who love old school latin dancing of Cha-Cha-Cha, Mambos and Boleros. It’s a great recipe for a fun-filled evening, complete with all the appropriate cocktails.(try the Golden Cadillac Margaritas)
I first saw the group at the LA County Art Museum with special guest saxophonist, Justo Almario. Group spokesman, Don Littleton told me, the group had not played the club for a couple of years or so, “I thought it would be a great spot to come in on Sunday afternoons from 5-9pm, a perfect time for “Angelenos” looking for a place that’s fun, has live music and, you can dance to it.”
Members in the Band are Peter Burke Vibes, Bass Ross Schodek, Rafael Feliciano on Timbales/Conga, Bryan Valasco Piano/Keyboards, Don Littleton on Trap Drums, Conga, Bongos & Timbales. Special Guest players, Pablo Calogero Sax/Flute and Andrew Acosta – Conga, assorted Percussion.
Band spokesman, Don Littleton Congo solo out front with Andrew Acosta in background
Currently the Soul Sauce Band is playing on Sundays afternoons at 5pm until 9pm at Roscoe’s Seabird Lounge 730 E Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802 (562) 522-8488 Call for the performance schedules or go to website~ http://www.seabirdloungelbc.com
file photo by Robert Carmack Patrice Rushen & Carmen Lundy shown at Ford Theater Hollywood
Once in a lunar eclipse weekend you might get some pretty good entertainment in selected spots around Los Angeles, but to get great jazz, that requires planning ahead and research. for the last 39 years , in an unlikely area of south central Los Angeles wedged between a Junior high school , railroad tracks, some proud residents, and a Los Angeles landmark , built by an immigrant, Simon Rhodia of concrete, steel and broken glass.
The Watts Towers Jazz Festival took its familiar bow September 26 & 27th . The festival features a “Day of the Drum“, with supporting activities of all cultures and ethnicities celebration of drums, throw in Jazz from around the world by local, regional and international musicians performing on a live stage that looked like a revival tent. This writer had planned in advance to get there in time to catch Carmen Lundy & Patrice Rushen performing as single acts , but also together as well.
carmen Lundy
Carmen took the stage with her own group featuring her iconic bassist and brother, Curtis Lundy. After a couple of hot jazz numbers , Carmen called up Patrice to sit in with her group on selections from her 14th new CD as a leader. Rushen was simply stellar in her improvisations on cuts like “Life is a Song in Me” and title track, “Soul to Soul”. In my humble opinion , this is Grammy material. grab a copy at your usual source for purchasing music online.
Patrice Rushen and Ndugu are both products of the Watts community ,while being alumni of Locke High school under the mentorship of musician /Educator Reggie Andrews. Patrice and Ndugu fronted an all-star band of Nedra Wheeler on Bass and Justo Almario on saxophone, Munyungo Jackson on percussion. In their set they chose to celebrate the genius of several iconic jazz masters, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver, and a couple of others to the audience’s delight.
photo by Chuck Koton
Weekend’s events were beautifully MC’d by Jazz program host James Janisse, and Poet Laureate and Griot ,Kamau Daood.
Jazz drummer Fritz Wise, Poet/Jazz griot Kamau Daood with Music journalist Robert J. Carmack @ Watts Towers Jazz Festival photo by Joyce Wilson
DALE FIELDER with PAT SENATORE TRIO at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill Jazz
2930 N Beverly Glen Cir, Los Angeles, California 90077
The Players:Dale Fielder saxes, Tom Ranier, piano
Pat Senatore bass, Ramon Banda, drums
Check out some vintage Dale Fielder music
1993 Free Flow – Clarion Jazz
1994 Know Thyself – Clarion Jazz
1995 Dear Sir: Tribute to Wayne Shorter – Clarion Jazz
1996 Ocean of Love and Mercy: A Passion Suite-Cadence Jazz
2000 Romance Serenade – Blueport
2002 The Hipster -Clarion Jazz
2003 Howling Monk – Clarion Jazz
2004 Suite: Clarity – Clarion Jazz
2005 Baritone Sunride – Clarion Jazz
2007 Dale Fielder Quartet Plays the Music of Pepper Adams
Dream Dancing: Live A Divine Union-Clarion
Stellar Moments – Clarion
(click on the link above to access the radio program)
Radio programming produced and hosted by James Graves
McCoy Tyner with Robert J. Carmack
Robert J. Carmack Editor in Chief,Hipster Sanctuary.Com.
Robert grew up in Los Angeles (Watts & Compton) and has spent almost five decades in entertainment as musician, actor,producer ,writer and photo/journalist across many genres including Jazz, Soul/R&B and Blues. Co-founded The Paul Robeson Players, The Atlanta International Jazz Society, The SFBAAAM (San Francisco Bay-Area African American Musicians)works as publicist,promoter and producer for live concerts and awards shows.
An expert in Jazz & blues history, Robert studied Music, Communications and Theater Arts in college. He holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree from California State University Dominguez Hills. A passionate patron of Youth in the Fine Arts & Education.
This collects the photographs of legendary musician Les McCann; he documented the jazz scene and its players—Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Count Basie, and many others—from the inside, across several decades.
LES MCCANN PHOTOGRAPHY OF A LONG AND ECLECTIC CAREER IN MUSIC
Les McCann Documented Jazz History- “HE WAS THERE”
“His perfect marriage of church and swing captured the spirit of the times in the same way that Ray Charles’ mixture of gospel and blues heralded the arrival of soul.” Joel Dorn
Les McCann during his Les McCann LTD. days at Pacific Jazz Records
Dale Fielder Quartet and Robert J. Carmack set for Jazz Appreciation Month Celebration
“The stories DFQ tell through their instruments are like classic volumes in your personal library.” Robert J. Carmack Publisher/Editor Hipster Sanctuary
THE DALE FIELDER QUARTET & SPECIAL GUEST POET ROBERT J. CARMACK@ KINGSTON CAFE
333 FAIR OAKS Ave. Off DEL MAR Ave. PASADENA, CALIFSATURDAY APRIL 18 2015 7pm to 9pm $15 admission (at door only) Limited Seating
2015 is proving to be a very special year for both talents as The Dale Fielder Quartet is celebrating 20 years as a group together, virtually unheard of in today’s music business. Robert J. Carmack and Glenn Davis co-founded a jazz newsletter 17 years ago (The Hipster) as part of the Atlanta International Jazz Society,that’s now grown into a full blown music E-Zine dedicated to classic Jazz, Blues and Soul music. www.hipstersanctuary.com.
Both are Leos, Dale Fielder & Robert Carmack are longtime friends and artists in constant creative mode. Fielder is set to produce his 16th CD later in 2015. A release date has not been set yet. Carmack has written and is currently producing a unique musical revue set in the 1950s/60s Los Angeles, weaving a story around the music scene in Los Angeles, while paying homage to the music of Nellie Lutcher, T-Bone Walker,Ray Charles, Etta James, Bobby Blue Bland and Sarah Vaughn , including some Doo-Wop.
writer ,actor, musician and journalist Robert J. Carmack
“CHITLIN’ CIRCUIT” is debuting a Sneak Preview Summer 2015, as part of a Black Music Series produced by RJC Mediatainment & Hipster Sanctuary.Com. “I met Dale while hanging out at a very popular coffeehouse of the time, 5th Street Dick’s in Leimert Park. It was in early 1993 as the area was trying to get back on track after the riot in 1992 and an entire community of artist all came together inside a small area called Leimert Park (Village) a group of small business people, often marketing Afro-centric wares, and crafts. One was a former homeless person living on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, who parlayed his 12 step-recovery and saved enough money to open a Jazz coffee house, which he gave a willing Dale Fielder a spot hosting the jam sessions at midnight every weekend, while jazz flowed downstairs and out into the 43rd & Degnan’s sidewalks, the people came and came and, came including, the media cameras, movie celebrities and all the best young cats in jazz.” This all coincided with what was happening nationally with the Wynton Marsalis crowd and an upsurge in Jazz spots in L.A. once again because of three spots, Marla’s Memory lane, 5th Street Dick’s and Billy Higgins, master jazz drummer & Poet Kamau Daaood developing a performance gallery, the World Stage. Dale Fielder was at the forefront of all that. He went on to win the Jazz Discovery artist at TV network BET in 1995/96. By then, he had already produced two very solid CDs, including “Dear Sir” a moving tribute to Wayne Shorter’s music and was getting wide rotation and coverage on radio across the country. Fielder even had the blessings of Wayne Shorter himself as Dale performed songs from the newly released CD with the maestro himself in the house staying late and digging on the young saxophonist peppering the solos. Dale Fielder has been all around the world practically with either the Quartet, or Quintet. After 20 years, the passion has only gotten stronger with Dale, and his historic band of Pianist Jane Getz, Drummer Thomas White and Bassist, Bill “The Count” Markus. This band just knows how to squeeze every drop of soul power, passion and sometimes romance out of the notes. The stories they tell through their instruments are like classic volumes in your personal library.
Don’t miss out on celebrating 20 years of fun-filled excitement and adventure with the leader of the DFQ. Save the date April 18th 7pm to 9pm @ The Kingston Café Pasadena, California More Info: 951-840-7120
Pamela Ashe-Thomas is co-founder of Black Cultural Events and BCE Media. A psychologist in private practice and at California State University, Long Beach, Pamela is a life long Black culture lover with a commitment to exposing students and community members to the cultural arts.
David Ashe is co-founder of Black Cultural Events and BCE Media. Prior to Black Cultural Events David was embedded via the 10 Up Agency at Microsoft working with the worldwide corporate storytelling division. He has managed web and digital projects for DirecTV, Toyota, Oprah Winfrey Network, FX Networks, Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment.
when I asked him how he began singing, and what he aspired to be when he grew up. His mother would send them to the local theater after church every Sunday, and to keep from growing bored while watching the film, he began improvising to the music.
When he’s not singing in L.A. he can be found on a trans-Atlantic flight to London, as he recently did to cut a record with Matthew Halsall titled “Inspirations” (Gondwana label), released in June. He travelled across the pond to London to record with Halsall, as well as touring several cities throughout Europe.“Everywhere we went, you know…the people really, really loved it. Every house was completely packed, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house every time we finished,” he told me when I asked him about the tour. I can see how that could totally be the case. His voice stirs something inside you when he sings. No matter what language you speak, where you’re from, your age, it reaches you. Sadly, he’s not well-known here in the U.S. where he has been singing for nearly 50 years.
It is beyond comprehension that he could have sung and collaborated with heavy-hitters such as Kenny Burrell, Harry Belafonte, Harold Land, Patrice Rushen, and Kenny Garrett, yet still be low-profile. When I asked him his thoughts about this low-profile in the music world, he replied, “Yeah, it’s kinda interesting how I can go over there and probably work as much as I want to, whereas here, in this country, it is probably more difficult for me to get work here than it is over there.”
