Coming August 22/29 The World Stage Performance Gallery
Pocket Jazz Series Saturday August 22, 7:30pm
The Genius of DUKE PEARSON:Thanks Uncle Duke
Uncle Duke Legacy Band–Bobby WEST pianist/music director, Reggie Carson bassist,Ishmael Hunter drums,Derf Reklaw Flute/sax/percussion, Pat Sligh , Mechelle LaChaux and Jana Wilson Vocals; M.C./Poet:Robert J. Carmack
Photo by Robert J. Carmack Drumming Circle- Leimert Park Village , LA Calif.
Hipster Sanctuary.Com is promising some excellent coverage of Jazz in April and International Jazz Day
Coming April 1st !
POETS, MUSICIANS, DANCERS and DRUMMERS , and The DRUMMERS, and Did we say the DRUMS!
All month we will be celebrating Jazz and The people that keep it going, especially The Drummers! Stay Tuned! Follow us Today
SPECIAL EVENT by Hipster Sanctuary.Com
Celebrating 17 years of covering and extending the Legacy.
DFQ is Celebrating 20 years as a Jazz Group
SATURDAY APRIL 18 7-9 pm $15 admission at door
JAZZ SPOKEN HERE
DALE FIELDER QUARTET & ROBERT J. CARMACK
Jazz and spoken word performances
@ KINGSTON CAFE 333 FAIR OAKS Ave.
Off DEL MAR Ave. PASADENA, CALIF
SATURDAY APRIL 18 2015 7pm to 9pm
$15 admission (at door only) Limited Seating
DALE FIELDER QUARTET & ROBERT J. CARMACK
Robert J. Carmack journalist,producer,writer, actor, poet, music archivist
Dale Fielder, Band leader, musician, ethnomusicologist,producer and educator
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of “A Message From the Hood.”
Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.
posted by Eric L. Wattree via R.J. Carmack #blues2jazzguy
Quincy Jones is one of the last truly GREAT composers and arrangers to come out of jazz, or any other form of music, in quite some time. NOBODY is greater, and no one ever has been. He stands among Ellington, Basie, Mancini, and Gershwin in complete comfort, so we shouldn’t take him for granted, because Quincy is easily among the greatest men who have ever lived, and that’s not meant as hyperbole.
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Yes, we already recognize him as a celebrity, but he’s much more than just that. Due to our contemporary philosophy of “de-education” – or the dumbing-down of society – we fail to recognize Quincy’s true statue as an artist, or what he represents to the history of music as a whole. Quincy Jones is not just famous, he’s an icon of the arts of a historic stature, and we should all recognize and honor such greatness within our midst, because there is nothing of more value to humanity than those who have achieved Quincy’s level of excellence, greatness, and accomplishment.
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People such as Quincy enhance all of humanity. They serve as living testaments to what man is capable of at his best. Their contributions represent the ultimate political, spiritual, and moral statement of mankind as a whole. They also stand as a constant reminder of what man can, and should be, and of the kind of excellence that we should all strive for.
Q in session with the great William “Count ” Basie 1959
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Thus, this is my tribute to a GREAT man, and a great artist, who has managed to achieve the ultimate in our human endeavor – immortality. (The lyrics were written to be sang by a woman).
. QUINTESSENCE lyrics by ERIC WATTREE
I____ love the sound____ of maestro\Quincy Jones____.
His music____ is so____ divine______.
When I sing____his songs____ I know I can’t____go wrong,
because I’m filled____with the soul____of Quincy Jones______.
*
Q’s____serenades_____ are always so refined________
The mel-o-dies linger____ on_____.
They sing of love for you____from a guy_______ known
as “Q”_____,
A name____that will always_______ sing for
you______
And then when Phil____ begins to play,
Quin-tes-sence\in his\own____and special way____
he seems to know\ . . . . exactly what the Q had to say.
They sung about jazz and love\ and of \ling___er___ing
Sunsets__________,
and______ blessed the dawn________with this song__
They sung of love\ and when your heart is full,
trem-bl-ing lips\ beneath a mistletoe____
they made my heart____ stand still_______.
So as I sing____ this song____ I know I\Just\ can’t____ go wrong______,
because it flowed____ from the pen ____ of
Maestro, Quincy Jones______.
I____ love the sound____ of maestro\Quincy Jones____.
His music____ is so____ divine______.
When I sing____his songs____ I know I can’t____go wrong,
because I’m filled____with the soul____of Quincy Jones______.
And then when Phil began to play\ Q just let him have____ his own way_____,
and Phil said, \”Maestro\ . . . I just love the sound of this
mel-o-dy.”
Then picked up his horn\ and started to
soar________like an angel__________,
and joined____ the immortals____ in fame_____.
Genius like this\ you never see no more____, \kissed
by the Gods\ as they walk through the door;
\A genius where time____stands still___________.
So as I sing___ his song______I know I____
can’t________ go wrong_________,
because I am wrapped\ in the soul_____ of Maestro____ Quincy Jones______.
*
Beauty is Q’s genre, and
he uses our heartstrings as his ax.
The fabulous Quincy Jones and the great Clark Terry!
INVITATION by Q and Orchestra with sax solo by Phil Woods
About the writer
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of “A Message From the Hood.”
“Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.”
KINGSTON CAFE Upscale Jamaican Cuisine restaurant featuring all of your favorite entrees, along with a fully-stocked Bar for your pleasure and delight .
2015 is proving to be a very special year for both talents as The Dale Fielder Quartet is celebrating 20 years as a group, virtually unheard of in today’s music business. Robert co-founded a jazz newsletter 17 years ago (The Hipster) as part of the Atlanta International Jazz Society, thats grown into a full-blown music Blog dedicated to classic Jazz, Blues and Soul music makers and their roots/history.
Both Leos, Dale Fielder & Robert Carmack are longtime friends and artists in constant creative mode. Fielder is set to record his 16th CD; “RESILIENCE.” A release date has not been set yet.
Carmack has penned another unique musical revue set in the 1950s and 60s Los Angeles, weaving a story around the music scene in L.A. while paying Homage to the music of, Nellie Lutcher, Ray Charles, Etta James, Bobby Blue Bland and Sarah Vaughn to name a few.
“CHITLIN’ CIRCUIT” written,directed and produced by Carmack, is debuting a Sneak Preview in late June 2015, as part of Black Music month (www.hipstersanctuary.com) production. “I met Dale while hanging out at a very popular coffeehouse in the 90s, 5th Street Dick’s in Leimert Park, said Carmack. It was in early 1993 as the area was trying to get back on track after the L.A. riot in 1992. an entire community of artist all came together inside a small area called Leimert Park (Village) groups 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. That owner gave Dale Fielder a spot hosting the jam sessions at midnight every weekend, while jazz flowed downstairs and out into 43rd and Degnan sidewalks. People came and came and came including the media cameras, movie celebrities and all the best young cats in jazz to jam and people watch.
This all coincided with what was happening with the Wynton Marsalis crowd, created an upsurge in Jazz spots in LA once again, because of three spots, Marla’s Memory lane, 5th Street Dick’s and Billy Higgins, master jazz drummer & Kamau Daaood developed the World Stage. A performance /workshop for musicians, poets and writers. 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’d already produced three 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 solos.
Dale has been all around the world practically with the Quartet, sometimes Quintet. After 20 years, the passion has only gotten stronger with Dale, and his historic band, 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 Dale Fielder as leader of the DFQ.
Save the date and RSVP for April 18th 7pm to 9pm @ The Kingston Café Pasadena California
333 South Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105
For questions about show or tickets *** contact Moon Glow Productions Marcia (626) 818-3160
written & photographed by Robert J. Carmack @blues to jazzguy
Big Mama & Bardu Ali at the Juke!
Howlin’ Blues & Dirty Digs opened on Sunday, June 8. The star of the play, Ms Jewell Tompkins IS Big MAMA. One of the first thing you notice as she moves into the spotlight, she is a full-figured woman, but not the hulking six footer Big Mama was at the time. Even ballooning up to 300 pounds at one point in her hey day. The one thing that is clear, Jewell Tompkins is a consummate thespian. She attacks the character by not trying do the obvious. a tortured soul, Willie Mae had many personalities. She showed the dignity of this blues-woman and how she had to do what she could to survive in a Man’s business. Even that was hard Because, “Singing the Blues” was a “Black thing” in the 40s & 50s. Many times she was up against some of the best blues people in the country. Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, Lead Belly, Howlin’ Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt just to name a few.
I was able to liken her life story to another great musician with a bitter/sweet life, Charlie Parker. I was totally entertained from start to finish, and at times ,a little misty-eyed, because of her demise, by prejudice , racism, sexism, alcohol, and felonious Men. She had to grow up so fast, she never had time to be a kid. Her education came in the back of Juke joints, boarding houses, and back seats of cars.
Jewell is able to take the well written script and embrace all of the beauty of Willie Mae Thornton. In one scene , she’s on the road, Having fun playing the Blues, drinking and partying, Impresario Johnny Otis comes back into the club afterwards and say to the band, They’re not getting paid. Big Mama straightens her hat, walks into the club owner’s office, ask in a low tone for the Money , and after he told her to get out of his face “telling him what to do with his money”
“I don’t want your Money, I want my Money”..she balled up her fist and used all 300 lbs of brute force on his unsuspecting body, until he submitted and gave up the money.. Lol! “I did what I had to Do!” She had a Rep, for not “taking no mess off of nobody”. I again thought Carla Clark’s directing was on point . Not going for the obvious and relying on the craftsmanship of the actors. many scenes were again reflecting what her “Inside” was all about. Mostly when Big mama had to confront nefarious men about Money, relationships,etc.
Her father was a real mean man ,who abused her brother and her in their childhood, it was probably at the seat of her many problems.
The singing by Tompkins is sublime, and at one point, reminded me of a young Aretha-like sound in her approach to the blues.. You feel the church presence in her life and that resonated into the character.. I often found golden nuggets of acting skills in both cast in general, but especially in Jewell Tompkins performance. This play is too good to be missed, too good to not be recognized again by the L.A. drama critics when they hand out the awards for Best Play & Best actress.
Howlin’ Blues and Dirty Dogs is well supported by a veteran cast of ensemble players. Another stand out is Philip Bell , who portrays two characters, from L.A. music history Bardu Ali and singer Johnny Ace . who, after becoming one of the hottest acts of the early 1950s Rhythm & Blues era, committed suicide. I highly advise you to RSVP or call ahead to theater regarding tickets, as there is limited seats available. For more information call 310-910-0392 or, email us at perceptioniii@aol.com
Larry James Robinson, Tu’Nook and Carla Dupree-Clark sat down and planned their partnership around a common theme, produce quality plays. All three were already successful in their own right as life individuals, family, friends and career. Something else was missing, The need for consistent, quality shows that didn’t spill a drop of high-integrity themes around African-American unsung characters. So far, that has paid off in multiple NAACP Theater Awards for Best Director, Including Best costumes, Best Sound, and Best Ensemble. The awards were garnered by Carla Dupree Clark including nominations in Best Playwright, and Best Director of a Musical bestowed on her masterpiece “North on South Central”. Ms. Clark and her partners didn’t rest on their laurels, and quickly banged out another hit play with “Howlin’ Blues & Dirty Dogs” winning another Best Director of a Musical , from Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Theater Award in 2010.
TPC just completed a successful, limited run of The Club Alabam Revue, a strong look at the LA Jazz and Blues scene at The famous black club of the 1940s and 50s. A “limited – encore” performance run of The Club Alabam Revue is scheduled for (TBA) dates in August. Currently in rehearsals for a return run of Howlin’ Blues and Dirty Dogs( the story of Big Mama Thornton) , TPC is expecting a successful run at their local Inglewood base, The Performers Corner located at 214 Hardy Street, 90301. ” We want to give the community a variety of shows, with different themes, genres and lots of history attached to some of the best actors,musicians and craftspeople in southern California.” said Larry James Robinson, Producer/Tech. Director. For more information about plays call 310-910-0392 or, email us at; perceptioniii@aol.com
“As of June 20014, we’re expanding our performing arts programming to include a Jazz Series that will take place the 3rd Saturday in each month at Performers Corner at 8PM” stated Tu’Nook, Producer/Writer/Poet and Actress. The first installment is part of The Black Music Month in June. Black Music Legacies in Jazz features a homage to legends like, jazz saxophonist/composer John Coltrane, trumpeter Lee Morgan and organist/composer Doug Carn’s music. “A special tribute to Poet Laureate, Amiri Baraka with readings from the selected works of Baraka’s most prized poetry.” added Robert J. Carmack, the new Executive Producer for all Jazz Programming and Social Media Advisor for TPC. For info regarding our new jazz programming dates : 951-840-7120 or blues2jazz2003@yahoo.com
Robert J. Carmack is also an actor & musician, last seen portraying the eclectic character, Robby Royale, from the hit music revue The Club Alabam . “We have a great series planned throughout the summer with each month having its own theme and booking established jazz artists that are eager to participate in our new programs. we will have a new blog for Theatre Perception Consortium, “Perception Theater Revue” a blog for the theater group, supporters and patrons of the arts who want to follow us on other social media outlets . go to our blog at
