01.05.2016 Views

CBJC Festival Magazine 2016

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium produces a Jazz Festival every year. 2016 brings our 17th Annual Festival. The Brooklyn grassRoots festival this year runs from April 15th until May 15. This years event was fantastic. View our magazine for a look inside.

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium produces a Jazz Festival every year. 2016 brings our 17th Annual Festival. The Brooklyn grassRoots festival this year runs from April 15th until May 15. This years event was fantastic. View our magazine for a look inside.

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

17th Annual<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz<br />

<strong>Festival</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

April 15th - May 15th <strong>2016</strong>


Table of Contents<br />

4. <strong>CBJC</strong> Mission Statement<br />

5. <strong>CBJC</strong> Membersship and Sponsors<br />

Board Officers <strong>2016</strong><br />

Chairman<br />

Clarence Mosley, Jr.<br />

Treasurer<br />

Bessie R. Edwards<br />

Recording Secretary<br />

Harold Valle<br />

Communications Director<br />

Bob Myers<br />

Sargent at Arms<br />

Michael Howard<br />

Artistic Director<br />

Jeff King<br />

Media Director<br />

Dwight M. Brewster<br />

Board Member at Large<br />

Garland Core Jr.<br />

Executive Director<br />

Beareather Reddy<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> is published by<br />

PureJazz <strong>Magazine</strong>.net Copyright © <strong>2016</strong><br />

All Rights Are Researved<br />

6. <strong>CBJC</strong> Officers<br />

16. <strong>CBJC</strong> Preimier Events<br />

18. Valle’s Corner<br />

20. JAZZ! The Woman’s View Point<br />

21. Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame and Musisum<br />

22. Youth Jamboree<br />

23. Gala Evening of Entertainment<br />

24. Brooklyn Borough President/Council Member Messages<br />

30. Centril Brooklyn 17th <strong>Festival</strong> Calander<br />

36. <strong>CBJC</strong> Events in Pictures<br />

38. PJM Presents: “IYALODE” Nina Semone<br />

48. PJM Presents: “Jazz Woman” - 50 Years Later<br />

50. <strong>CBJC</strong> Historic Moments<br />

54. <strong>CBJC</strong> Founders in Memorium<br />

59. PJM Presents: Newport Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> at 61<br />

Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong> is proud to partner with Central Brooklyn<br />

Jazz Consortium with the publishing of the 17th Annual<br />

Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>. Our mutuial desire is for the magazine<br />

to grow and promote the <strong>CBJC</strong> mission world-wide.<br />

3


Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

The Central Brooklyn Jazz consortium is<br />

committed to the development of audiences<br />

and the nurturing of institutions<br />

and individuals throughout Brooklyn<br />

that specifically deal with Jazz as well as<br />

other African American cultural expressions<br />

(dance theater, visual arts, comedy<br />

and poetry.) <strong>CBJC</strong> a dynamic, voluntary<br />

consortium was organized in 1999<br />

on behalf of community development<br />

to promote live jazz and other cultural<br />

activities. Historically, <strong>CBJC</strong> is the realization<br />

of years of discussion about the<br />

importance of establishing a consortium<br />

of organizations whose mission is to<br />

work collectively to preserve Black culture.<br />

Representatives of Jazz966 Torrie<br />

McCartney, Sistas’ Place Viola Plummer,<br />

SoFocus Leroy Applin and Jazzpazzaz<br />

Alma Carroll were the founding council.<br />

This diverse group of lifelong Central<br />

Brooklyn activists, musicians, community<br />

leaders, major non-profits, faithbased<br />

institutions, restaurants, café owners<br />

and cultural arts institutions were<br />

active members of <strong>CBJC</strong>. Educator and<br />

cultural activist Jitu Weusi was elected as<br />

the first chairperson in December 1999<br />

along with Alma Carroll treasurer, Torrie<br />

McCartney facilitator, Colette Penn<br />

recording secretary and Loretta Washington<br />

financial secretary.<br />

Our Mission<br />

Over the past 17 years the organization<br />

has developed core programs that demonstrate<br />

the components of its mission.<br />

The annual gala celebrates the month<br />

long Jazz festival which features a live<br />

performance of a well established artist<br />

in the Jazz tradition. Jazz: The Woman’s<br />

ViewPoint is a unique program which<br />

provides a panel discussion setting for<br />

musician’s wives and husbands, female<br />

musicians and artists to share their<br />

views, talents and experiences with attendees.<br />

The Youth Jazz Jamboree and<br />

Wellness Day of music, fun and games<br />

while raising awareness of health issues.<br />

Our mission is to recognize the contributions<br />

of artists and the role they play<br />

in advancing the culture while promoting<br />

the dignity of people; to develop<br />

venues that are affordable, accessible and<br />

attractive to children, teenagers, men,<br />

women and elders to provide a forum for<br />

cultural exchanges; to build coalitions by<br />

working collectively and sharing information<br />

with the aim of reestablishing the<br />

spiritual and emotional connections between<br />

African American artists and their<br />

communities…..<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium/<strong>CBJC</strong> founded in 1999, is an amalgam of patrons, entertainment venues, faith based institutions,<br />

community organizations and musicians. Over the past sixteen (16) years <strong>CBJC</strong> has presented an annual spring festival,<br />

established a Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame & Museum and produced yearly programs that feature local jazz talent. <strong>CBJC</strong> is a nonprofit<br />

corporation committed to preserving, promoting and supporting live music within the underserved communities of Brooklyn<br />

broadcasting to the world.<br />

4


Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

is grateful for the support offered by our sponsors who<br />

share our vision of Jazz music in Brooklyn<br />

<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsors:<br />

MCU Credit Union, Investors Bank, Our Time Press, Brooklyn Tourism and Visitors Center an initiative<br />

of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Jazz Promo Services, Afroart Designs, Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Sponsors:<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium activities are supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of<br />

Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Robert Cornegy, Jr., Laurie Cumbo, and Darlene Mealy; <strong>CBJC</strong> member<br />

organizations, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation-Center for Arts & Culture, and Long Life Information & Referral<br />

Network. <strong>2016</strong> Media sponsors: Jazzmobile, Inc., Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong>, Jazz Promo Services, and WBAI-99.5 FM. Jazz! The<br />

Women’s ViewPoint is also made possible by a donation from Sylvia Ryan; Youth Jazz Jamboree/Wellness Day made possible<br />

by a donation from George Johnson.<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium Membership <strong>2016</strong><br />

Gold Members:<br />

Sylvia Ryan, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Welancora Gallery, Jeff King, BrownstoneJAZZ/Debbie Mclain, Pure<br />

Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong>/Cheatham & Brewster, Janes United Methodist Church/Garland Core, Jr., Williamsburg Music<br />

Center/Gerry Eastman, B.R. Edwards Associates Reality/Bessie Edwards, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church,<br />

Clarence Mosley, Jr., Up Over Jazz Productions/Bob Myers, Woody Woods Workin’ Music/Reggie Woods, Harold<br />

“The Jazz Poet” Valle, Beareather Reddy, United Music Makers/Mike Howard, Sue Yellin, George Johnson,<br />

Brother Napoleon Revels-Bey, Wayne Winston, PLGArts, Long Life Referral Network, Desserts By Michael Allen<br />

Silver Members:<br />

Rudy Walker, Steve Cromity, Guerilla Journalism, Eric Frazier, Michael C. Forth, Esq.<br />

Bronze Members:<br />

“The Singing Chef ”/Ras Chemash Lamed, Lauryn Jackson, Drake Colley<br />

5


Chairmen’s Message<br />

“Jazz is what liberates you. It is<br />

the most liberating music on the<br />

planet.”<br />

Clarence Mosley Jr.<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

(<strong>CBJC</strong>) is proud to launch our 16th<br />

Annual Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>. We are proud<br />

to be the only grass roots organization<br />

consistently supporting the<br />

culture that is focused on recognizing<br />

and paying homage to the creative<br />

forces in our community. Jazz<br />

has been and continues to be the<br />

voice that sings our joys and sorrows<br />

while incorporating the richness<br />

of the African Diaspora. Jazz<br />

musicians have always been ahead<br />

of the curve in telling our story.<br />

Central Brooklyn has been blessed<br />

to have Giants like Max Roach,<br />

6<br />

Randy Weston, Roland Alexander,<br />

Joe Carroll, Betty Carter and many<br />

more to share their voices in our<br />

community. I am proud to be the<br />

Chairman of <strong>CBJC</strong> and fortunate to<br />

stand on the shoulder of those visionaries<br />

who had an idea in 1999,<br />

to have the courage to start a festival<br />

that uplifts the community and recognizes<br />

the artists, venues and the<br />

community that have enriched our<br />

culture. I want to thank Jitu Weusi,<br />

Torrie McCartney, Rosalind Blair,<br />

Viola Plummer and Alma Carol<br />

for having the vision to launch the<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>.<br />

The venues and artists in our community<br />

are being challenged as the<br />

music moves out of our community.<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> continues to give an affordable<br />

opportunity to artists and venues<br />

to support the economic engine<br />

in our community. I would like to<br />

thank our patrons and the community<br />

for your continued support.<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

is a 501(c)3 Not For Profit and we<br />

need the spiritual and financial support<br />

of the community.


Bessie Edwards<br />

Dear <strong>CBJC</strong> Supporters:,<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz is especially proud of this 17th Annual Central Brooklyn <strong>Festival</strong>. We are feeling<br />

the excitement in the community as we kick-off this year’s event with a gathering of club and restaurant<br />

owners, musicians, members of the press and <strong>CBJC</strong> supporters at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall. For the past<br />

17 years <strong>CBJC</strong> has celebrated Brooklyn’s contributions to the African influenced art form called Jazz.<br />

Although we view this music series as an opportunity to celebrate and promote Jazz, it also serves as<br />

an economic contribution to Brooklyn’s restaurants, clubs and other supporting small business services.<br />

With nearly 50 events and more than 700 musicians expected to perform throughout the borough, the<br />

economic impact is worth mentioning as it benefits the entire community.<br />

This year we are especially grateful for the support provided by our on-going partners, <strong>CBJC</strong> member<br />

organizations and friends. This year’s programs are made possible in part by public funds from the NYC<br />

Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. We are inspired to continue to<br />

pursue our mission to preserve and promote JAZZ. Please invite your friends and family to come out to<br />

the celebration and enjoy a month of Brooklyn Jazz!<br />

Sincerely,<br />

Bessie R. Edwards<br />

7


Communications<br />

The position of Communications Director was<br />

created by former Chairman Jitu Weusi in 2006<br />

in response to Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

partnership with a government agency of the Republic<br />

of South Africa. Bob Myers’ passion for the<br />

African inspired art form called Jazz; his training<br />

at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public<br />

Communications made him a good fit for the<br />

position. Myers was the owner of the Up Over Jazz<br />

Café and now heads Up Over Jazz Productions.<br />

This department is responsible for all internal and<br />

external correspondences from the company. Duties<br />

of this office have expanded into public relations,<br />

marketing, and contractual agreements.<br />

Those duties plus active support for the 16th Annual<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> ‘Where Jazz<br />

Lives’, April 17th thru May 17th, 2015, presented<br />

Bob Myers<br />

by the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. This music<br />

series is New York City’s longest continuously<br />

running grassroots festival dedicated to the African<br />

inspired art form called Jazz. More than 500 artists<br />

will perform in 50 events at venues throughout<br />

Brooklyn and a few of the other boroughs.<br />

This celebration is accessible and open to all. This<br />

genre of music must be available to our community<br />

especially the youth so as not to relinquish their legacy<br />

and place in Jazz. International and regionally<br />

recognized artists performing at entertainment establishments,<br />

cultural, educational and faith based<br />

institutions during Jazz Appreciation Month. The<br />

backbone of our community based Jazz festival is<br />

the musicians and venues that keeps Brooklyn’s<br />

Jazz scene vibrate and fuels its nightlife economy.<br />

8


Recording Secretary<br />

Harold Valle<br />

THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF RECORDING SECRETARY<br />

The Recording Secretary is responsible for all record keeping required by the organization<br />

during its fiscal year, keeping an accurate written account of the many functions of <strong>CBJC</strong> and<br />

what transpires during board or general meetings. This requires being accessible, having<br />

excellent attendance and being on time at all meetings.<br />

As Recording Secretary, I am committed to keeping Jazz alive and will continue to contribute<br />

my time and energy in doing so. By diligently adhering to our mission, I will continue to<br />

do my part to promulgate jazz to a larger audience with great emphasis in influencing the<br />

younger generation to be cognizant and appreciative of Jazz, the classical music of America.<br />

9


Artistic Director<br />

Jeff King<br />

The musical Director sets an important standard for <strong>CBJC</strong>. Jeff King holds all of the position<br />

functions in good stead. From our premier event “Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame” to our “Gala”<br />

as well as our Jazz!<br />

The Womans ViewPoint and our Youth Jazz Jamboree <strong>CBJC</strong> strives to improve our community.<br />

In addition, the music department spends considerable amount of effort fund raising<br />

and working to keep the musical presentations align with <strong>CBJC</strong>’s mission of keeping the<br />

music alive.<br />

Jeff has toured Europe, Africa and Australia. He has played and recorded with some of the<br />

best musicians in the world. He currently fronts his own band while also directing the <strong>CBJC</strong><br />

all Star band. Jeff has appeared on Tony Browns Journal, Positively Blackand Channel two to<br />

the people. You can visit Jeff at www.jeffkingjazz.net<br />

10


Digital Media Director<br />

Dwight Brewster<br />

The position of Digital Media Director was created by former Chairman Jitu Weusi in 2008 in response<br />

to the Consortium’s need to embrace the “digital revolution”. The mandate for this department<br />

was to upgrade <strong>CBJC</strong> content products, innovate communications and expand our outreach<br />

through social media.<br />

The <strong>CBJC</strong> media department is working very hard to make sure we have a successful 17th Annual<br />

Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>. Our focus last year was to update our social media outreach. With the help<br />

of volenteers we’ve accomplished that goal. This year we plan on expanding that outreach, with<br />

a continued effort in persuing our mission with a global mindset. Central Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong><br />

has grown from a two day neighborhood event to a highly anticipated month long city-wide<br />

music long series. With your suport we seek to expand our mission through social media.<br />

Review our calendar of events and select from more than 50 Jazz events that are planned during<br />

April-May. Promoting Jazz as African American Classical Music is <strong>CBJC</strong>’s core mission.<br />

Dwight Brewster is a band leader, Dr Mambo an Experience, Radio Host The World of Jazz<br />

Radio on WBAI 99.5 FM NYC Tuesday’s at 10 pm. Dwight is also writing a book about his international<br />

music experience. Visit him at: www.dwightbrewster.com<br />

11


Sergeant At Arms<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong><br />

Mike Howard<br />

Parliamentarian and charter member, Mr. Michael Howard, enforces the rules at<br />

board hearings and conferences. His late wife, Torrie McCartney, was one of the<br />

founders of <strong>CBJC</strong>. As CEO of United Music Makers, an arm of <strong>CBJC</strong>, he recently<br />

completed 16 years as facilitator of the Jazzy Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> held at Medgar Evers College.<br />

He constantly seeks grants for <strong>CBJC</strong> tailored for the arts.<br />

Howard chairs the budget committee which monitors the capital and expense budget<br />

for Community Board 16 in Brooklyn. He has written several articles for the Black<br />

Star News and Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong>. He has videographed/photographed many of the<br />

venues and artists throughout the years.<br />

12


Beareather Reddy<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> Executive Director<br />

Beareather Reddy is the acting Executive Director of the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium,<br />

which was previously led and co-founded by educator/activist Jitu Weusi in 1999.<br />

Ms. Reddy is proud to be a part of an organization that for over 16 years has presented<br />

an annual spring festival, established a Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame and Museum (TM)<br />

and produced yearly programs that feature local jazz talent.<br />

Ms. Reddy is grateful for the opportunity to work with the Board of Directors in programming,<br />

fundraising, community outreach and strategic planning of the organization<br />

efforts in the development and preservation of Jazz and related art forms throughout the<br />

borough of Brooklyn.<br />

Ms. Reddy is a performer vocalist, festival founder and educator in the greater New York<br />

region.<br />

13


Congratulations<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

On your continued success with the<br />

17th Annual Jazz <strong>Festival</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Barry Harris<br />

Every Tuesday<br />

Mario Bauza<br />

The man that made it happen<br />

Get the latest Jazz news from Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Log into: www.purejazzmagazine.net<br />

View current or back issues and additional information<br />

Spring 2015<br />

www.purejazzmagazine.com<br />

US$6.00 / $7.50 out of town / CanC$ 7.50<br />

14


Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong> and Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz Consortium have<br />

had a strong working relationship<br />

for nearly two (2) decades. Both<br />

companies have a similar start<br />

date, share similar mission statements<br />

and have maintained a working<br />

relationship from their beginnings.<br />

Jo Ann Brewster-Cheatham<br />

Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong>’s founder and<br />

publisher always pushed for continued<br />

support of <strong>CBJC</strong>. She felt<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> was one of the foundations<br />

PJM was built upon. Jitu Weusi the<br />

first chairmen of <strong>CBJC</strong> said many<br />

times “Jo Ann Brewster-Cheatham<br />

and her magazine Pure Jazz must<br />

be supported; it’s a magazine by us<br />

about us.”<br />

One of the last things Jo Ann said<br />

before her recent transition was to<br />

implore her family to continue the<br />

relationship robustly. On that note<br />

Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong> has pledged to<br />

do its best to continue the relationship<br />

by publishing the <strong>CBJC</strong> <strong>Festival</strong><br />

Journal renamed <strong>CBJC</strong> <strong>Festival</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong>. The <strong>CBJC</strong> <strong>Festival</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong> is a statement of <strong>CBJC</strong><br />

from it inception until today. Pure<br />

Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong> has published stories<br />

during the years that had an impact<br />

on the <strong>CBJC</strong> membership. A few<br />

articles from different eras of the<br />

magazine are included in this issue.<br />

Please continue your support of<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

and Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong> as we try<br />

our very best to build on Ms Chatham’s<br />

high standards.<br />

With Appreciation,<br />

Dwight Brewster<br />

Interim Managing Director<br />

Jo Ann Brewster-Cheatham<br />

“Jo Ann Brewster-Cheatham and her magazine<br />

Pure Jazz must be supported, it’s a magazine by us about us.”<br />

....... Jitu Weusi... 2004<br />

15


and Museum<br />

Brooklyn, New York - Wednesday, April 29th, <strong>2016</strong>, 17th Annual Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>. Presents at the Brooklyn Historical Society,<br />

128 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights section of the borough will<br />

host the Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame ceremony. This year musician Kenny<br />

Kirkland will be inducted. Live music and refreshments are part of<br />

the festivities. Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium created the Brooklyn<br />

Jazz Hall of Fame to recognize unheralded and renowned jazz musicians<br />

who call Brooklyn home. This event is free and open to the public.<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz<br />

Youth Jamboree – Thomas Fisher, <strong>CBJC</strong>’s youth program director states: “Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> is here. A month long celebration of an African inspired art<br />

form. The Youth Jazz Jamboree will take place on May 14, 11-5:00 PM at Bedford<br />

Stuyvesant Restoration’s plaza under the tent from 12 Noon to 4:00 PM. Come out<br />

and hear the future of jazz.”<br />

The Youth Jazz Jamboree and Wellness day is a community event sponsored by<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (<strong>CBJC</strong>) to bring the generations together with<br />

“A Music of the Spirit” provided by our youth, in our efforts to keep jazz alive and<br />

well in Brooklyn. The “Wellness Day” is our way of bringing resources in health<br />

awareness to the community at this all day outdoor event. So share a day with us,<br />

experiencing the music of our people while getting medical and health advice,<br />

preliminary exams, referrals and a host of family service resources at our Wellness<br />

Day.<br />

16<br />

This event is sponsored by Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation-Arts and<br />

Culture Center & Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, 1368 Fulton St., Restoration<br />

Plaza under the tent, free, info: 718.773.2252 x103, comm@cbjcjazz.org


Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (<strong>CBJC</strong>) has presented it’s Gala event<br />

from its inception in April of 2000. This special occasion is the premier<br />

event to bring <strong>CBJC</strong>’s mission to Brooklyn and the world.<br />

This “high style” affair is the culmination of the 17th Annual Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>’s <strong>2016</strong> programs. A performance, reception, dinner<br />

event for Brooklyn’s jazz circle and cultural populace. Host venue<br />

this year, Weeksville Heritage Center, is Brooklyn’s largest African<br />

American institution; located in one of America’s first free black communities,<br />

Playthell G. Benjamin, noted for his commentaries and positive<br />

essays on Black Folks, will deliver the keynote address. Live music by<br />

the George Gray Jazz Coalition.<br />

This <strong>CBJC</strong> event is at Weeksville Heritage Center, 150 Buffalo Ave.,<br />

Brooklyn NY. Playthell G. Benjamin is the keynote speaker.<br />

George Gray<br />

Consortium Premier Events<br />

Jazz! The Women’s Viewpoint an idea that was realized when Rosalind<br />

Blair inaugurated a program in 2000 that would give a voice, venue and<br />

visibility to women musicians, wives and loved ones. It was her admiration<br />

of these women for their enormous roles in preserving and keeping<br />

one of our life forces current and accurate that gave birth to this annual<br />

programming extravaganza.<br />

On Saturday April 16, <strong>2016</strong> “Jazz! The Women’s ViewPoint” RSVPopening<br />

reception with a trio performance, panel discussion with Jazzmeia<br />

Horn, Ebony JoAnn, others, 4PM, RSVP-master class with Geri<br />

Allen, 7PM, $20-“Jazz Salon” performance w/ pianist Geri Allen and<br />

vocalist Vivian Sessoms, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation/<br />

Center for Arts and Culture @Skylight Gallery, 1368 Fulton St., info:<br />

718.773.2252 x102, RSVP<br />

Jazz!<br />

The Woman’s<br />

Viewpoint<br />

17


Valle’s Corner<br />

Harold Valle<br />

DYNAMIC DUO<br />

(Poets Extraordinaire)<br />

Harold Valle<br />

(Keeper of the Secrets)<br />

&<br />

Sister Imani<br />

Email: halval92520@yahoo.com<br />

or cimani175@gmail.com<br />

Keep up the great work you do.....<br />

ODE TO CENTRAL BROOKLYN JAZZ CONSORTIUM<br />

Let it be known that Brooklyn’s very own<br />

has been on the scene for many a year.<br />

Yes, it’s very clear that their commitment<br />

to bring jazz to all –<br />

winter, summer & fall<br />

at an affordable price<br />

has been quite nice.<br />

They are tops with no false props<br />

for the foundation which they stand<br />

is solid as a rock.<br />

I talk about the organization<br />

that is recognized throughout the world.<br />

So it’s plain to see that <strong>CBJC</strong><br />

will be a shining star.<br />

They will continue to go forward<br />

by leaps and bounds<br />

for keeping the legacy of jazz alive<br />

is their thing.<br />

To be exact, it is truly a fact<br />

that they really do swing<br />

in everyway each and every day,<br />

By Harold Valle, Jazz Poet<br />

(“Keeper of the Secrets”)<br />

© Jan. 23, 2012<br />

18


LUCIANO<br />

POZO GONZALEZ<br />

Keeper of the Tradition<br />

By Harold Valle, Jazz Poet<br />

(“Keeper of the Secrets”)<br />

Many momentous historical events<br />

transpired in the year 1915. One<br />

could fill volumes of large books.<br />

For the musical world, three wonderful<br />

births occurred in 1915 that<br />

are close to our hearts, Billie Holiday,<br />

Frank Sinatra, and Luciano<br />

Pozo Gonzalez, popularly known as<br />

Chano Pozo.<br />

Chano was born on January 7, 1915<br />

in a one room apartment located<br />

in Havana, Cuba. The proud parents<br />

were Encarnacion Gonzalez<br />

and Cecilio Pozo. Chano had a<br />

half-brother named Felix Chappotin<br />

who later became known for<br />

his excellent trumpet playing in the<br />

1950’s with his conjunto “Chappotin<br />

and Sus Estrellas.” It was stated<br />

that Chano was a wayward youngster<br />

who was always prone to doing<br />

exciting things. As a teenager he<br />

was confined for a period of time in<br />

a reform school. Chano acquired<br />

a reputation as a street fighter who<br />

didn’t shy away from trouble.<br />

Chano demonstrated his skills as<br />

a drummer and dancer in street<br />

bands such as El Barracon del Pueblo<br />

Nuevo and La Sultans de Barrio<br />

Colon. In the mid 1940’s Chano<br />

and his brother Chappotin co-directed<br />

a band named El Conjunto<br />

Azul for several years.<br />

Chano met Mario Bauza in December<br />

1945 in Havana. Mario was familiar<br />

with Chano’s compositions,<br />

for the Machito Band had recorded<br />

some of his songs. It should be<br />

noted that Chano did not write music,<br />

but would hum the tune which<br />

would then be written out by a<br />

copyist. Such tunes as “Para-Param-<br />

Pampin” and “Nague” were hits for<br />

bands such as Noro Morales, Xavier<br />

Cugat, Augusto Coen, Miguelito<br />

Valdes and Machito.<br />

Chano came to New York City in<br />

1946 and was later introduced by<br />

Mario Bauza to Dizzy Gillespie, the<br />

great jazz innovator who played<br />

with Mario in the Cab Calloway<br />

Band. Dizzy needed a conga player<br />

to add to the new musical concept<br />

he was exploring, Chano consented<br />

to join. It was a beautiful relationship<br />

despite the language barrier.<br />

Chano was responsible for Dizzy’s<br />

great hits such as Monteca; Cubano<br />

Be, Cubano Bop; and Tin Tin Deo.<br />

On December 2, 1948, Chano was<br />

in the El Rio Bar & Grill located<br />

on the corner of 111th Street and<br />

Lenox Ave. (Now Malcolm X Blvd.)<br />

New York City. Due to a dispute,<br />

Chano was shot six times by an assailant<br />

while he was listening and<br />

dancing to Monteca being played<br />

on the Juke Box. Chano was only<br />

33 years of age at the time of his<br />

tragic death.<br />

In spite of his demise, Chano’s<br />

drumming legacy and songs will<br />

forever abide in the annals of Latin<br />

Jazz everywhere in the world.<br />

Mr. Valle is known as “the keeper of the secrets”...<br />

This is his title bestowed on him by<br />

the Jazz fans at “Club Jazz966” in Bed-Stuy.<br />

Harold always makes sure the Jazz fans understand<br />

where the music comes from.....<br />

19


JAZZ! The Woman’s<br />

Viewpoint - <strong>2016</strong><br />

Bessie Edwards <strong>2016</strong> Chairperson<br />

Jazz! The Woman’s Viewpoint (JTWVP)<br />

part of <strong>CBJC</strong>’s 17th Annual Central<br />

Brooklyn’s Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> is planned for Saturday,<br />

April 15, <strong>2016</strong>, 1-4pm at Bedford<br />

Stuyvesant Restoration, 1368 Fulton St.<br />

Brooklyn, NY 11213.<br />

JTWVP is a program that celebrates women<br />

in Jazz. A panel comprised of female<br />

musicians, educators, industry executives,<br />

media personnel, and wives of artists<br />

come together to share their experiences<br />

with the intent of helping other women<br />

artists.<br />

On Saturday, April 16th , 2pm, Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (<strong>CBJC</strong>) will<br />

host its’ 17th Annual Jazz! The Women’s<br />

ViewPoint in the newly refurbished Skylight<br />

Gallery, now part of the Arts and<br />

Culture Center at Restoration at 1368<br />

Fulton Street, Brooklyn. An informative<br />

and musical day from 2-8:30pm will explore<br />

Jazz through the eyes of women. A<br />

Kick-off Reception at 2pm will feature JT-<br />

WVP All-stars followed by Jazz: Change<br />

is Coming! A Panel Discussion at<br />

2:30 PM. It is open to the public and will<br />

take a look at women in Jazz in the 21st<br />

century: their place in the field, their innovation;<br />

and their challenges. Panelists include<br />

award winning jazz vocalists, Jazz-<br />

20<br />

meia Horn, Vivian Sessoms and Ebony<br />

JoAnn. Moderated by Sheila Anderson,<br />

host, Jazz After Hours, WBGOJazz 88,<br />

this session features women who have<br />

survived and prospered in the business<br />

of Jazz. They use music to raise conscientiousness<br />

and highlight changes that will<br />

strengthen the voices of women and the<br />

survival of Jazz music.<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> in collaboration with the Arts and<br />

Culture Center at Restoration introduces<br />

a Master Class with Geri Allen, world<br />

renowned composer, educator and Jazz<br />

pianist who will teach a master class and<br />

discuss the role of women in Jazz. To cap<br />

off the day, all attendees are invited to<br />

Jazz: The Woman’s Viewpoint Jazz Salon.<br />

Join Grammy and NAACP Image Award<br />

nominated artist Geri Allen and vocalists<br />

Ebony JoAnn and Vivian Sessoms at<br />

7pm $20 Tixs www.restorationart.org.<br />

For more information visit www.cbjcjazz.<br />

org or call 718-773-2252 Ext. 102.<br />

This event is a tribute to <strong>CBJC</strong> long-time<br />

supporter, Harold Valle and honors the<br />

memory of JoAnn Cheatham, Publisher<br />

of Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong> whoserved as one<br />

of the first chairman of this event and<br />

help guide the JTHVP to new directions.<br />

JTWVP is a forum started by one of the<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> founders, Rosalind Blair to cel-<br />

ebrate women in Jazz. Founded in 1999,<br />

the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

is an amalgam of patrons, entertainment<br />

venues, musicians, faith-based institutions,<br />

and community organizations.<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> is a nonprofit corporation committed<br />

to preserving, promoting and supporting<br />

live music within the underserved<br />

communities of Brooklyn.<br />

Rosalind Blair, <strong>CBJC</strong> cofounder, created<br />

Jazz! The Women’s Viewpoint as core<br />

program of the Central Brooklyn Jazz<br />

Consortium. One of the primary goals of<br />

this event is to give women an opportunity<br />

to participate in the discourse of the<br />

music industry’s dynamics. Another aim<br />

is to give females an opportunity to share<br />

experiences. The panel is open to female:<br />

musicians, educators, industry executives,<br />

media personnel, and wives of jazz artists.<br />

JTWVP Panel Discussion, 2014


Hall of Fame Inductee<br />

and Museum<br />

Brooklyn, New York --- Wednesday, April 29th, <strong>2016</strong>, The 17th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> hosts at the<br />

Brooklyn Historical Society 128 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights section of the borough The Brooklyn Jazz<br />

Hall of Fame Ceremony. This year musicians Ronnie Mathews, James Spaulding, neil Clarke, Lesedi Ntsane and<br />

the Flaming Lounge will be inducted. Live music and refreshments are part of the festivities. Central Brooklyn<br />

Jazz Consortium created the BJHoFame in 1999 to bring attention to Brooklyn’s rich Jazz heritage. Every April<br />

is known nationally as Jazz Appreciation Month, <strong>CBJC</strong> holds a ceremony to honor the artists who have made<br />

an impact on the international and Brooklyn’s Jazz community. Noted and unheralded musicians are inducted;<br />

contributors to the jazz community are recognized by an award.<br />

<strong>2016</strong> Awardees<br />

Ronnie Mathews<br />

Ronnie Mathews was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the late 50s through early 60s. The<br />

lifelong Brooklynite toured internationally with and recorded with Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, and Roy<br />

Haynes. Ronnie will be best remembered for his long association with the Johnny Griffin Quartet. In the<br />

90s Mathews recorded with the Clifford Jordan Big Band. Pancreatic cancer took Ronnie away from us in<br />

Brooklyn in June of 2008.<br />

James Spaulding<br />

Grammy album award holder, bass guitar great, Brooklyn born, Stanley Banks is best known for his thirtyfive<br />

years of performing with music icon George Benson. His performances with music legends Aretha<br />

Franklin, Freddie Hubbard, Chaka Khan, and Stanley Turrentine just to name a very few place Stanley on the<br />

in demand, “A-list” of musicians.<br />

Neil Clarke<br />

Activist, culturalist, pro-Africanist, Jazz percussionist Neil Clarke is a student of percussion and has been<br />

for more the a few decades. In his ongoing pursuit of excellence Mr. Clarke has had many opportunities to<br />

perform, collaborate and of course study with percussion masters world-wide. His musicial contribution to<br />

the independent republic of Brooklyn has been enormous. Neil Clarke performs with Jazz Master Randy<br />

Weston.<br />

Lesedi Ntsane<br />

Lesedi Ntsane is a South African born trumpeter and a graduate of the New School for Jazz and Contempoary<br />

Music. Lesedi chops favor musicians of the American hard bop scene of the 60s. Though raised in the<br />

land of the “penny whistle,” known nationally as kwela music, he developed his own voice blending styles of<br />

both continents.<br />

Flamingo Lounge<br />

Owner Levy open the Flamingo Lounge at 259 Kingston Avenue near St. Johns Place in the 70s. This neighborhood<br />

outpost for “Real Jazz” hired acts such as Houston Person, Etta Jones along with a host of today’s<br />

central Brooklyn jazz favorites performing in their early days. Filling the musical void left open when other<br />

shrines closed down to the drug infestation in our community. Levy keep his venue classy and free of “the<br />

element” thus providing the music in an atmosphere conducive to aficionados.<br />

Ronnie Mathews<br />

Lifetime<br />

Achievement Award<br />

James Spaulding<br />

Jazz Impact Award<br />

Neil Clarke<br />

Young Lion Award<br />

Lesedi Ntsane<br />

Jazz Shrine Award<br />

Flamingo<br />

Lounge<br />

21


Youth Jamboree – Wayne Winston, <strong>CBJC</strong>’s youth program chair, states: “Central Brooklyn Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> is here. A<br />

month long celebration of an African inspired art form. The Youth Jazz Jamboree will take place on May 14th <strong>2016</strong> at<br />

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration’s Plaza under the tent from 11am to 5:00 PM. Come out and hear the future of jazz.”<br />

Young people and wellness are components in the growth and prosperity of a community. The youth’s participation<br />

in the arts, especially music can be a major factor in their educational development. Health care, particularly in inner<br />

city neighborhoods, is at a crisis stage. Wellness outreach exhibits inform the public on health care issues and<br />

treatment options.<br />

Putting musical instruments in the hands of grade school children challenges them intellectually and can change the<br />

path they choose. Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium is devoted to improving the quality of life to those in its catchment<br />

area and beyond. Thomas Fisher Director of the <strong>CBJC</strong> Youth Program is excited about the 17h year’s program.<br />

The talent we of our young people is awe-inspiring as they reach for their heights. We have had many young musicians<br />

leave our programs and go on to much higher learning. It is a joy working with the our most talented young<br />

people who are searching for their heights.<br />

22


<strong>2016</strong><br />

Gala 2008<br />

Roy Haynes<br />

Gala 2009<br />

May 5, 6 PM – FUNDRAISER, This year’s Gala Event/Fundraiser<br />

promises to be a very special affair and is an event the<br />

community can get behind and enjoy. Historically this affair<br />

was produced to raise funds for Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium’s<br />

programming. Held annually since 2000 this is one of<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong>’s core events.<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium’s <strong>Festival</strong> <strong>2016</strong> Gala Concert<br />

features Live music by the George Gray Jazz Coalition. Host<br />

venue this year, Weeksville Heritage Center, is Brooklyn’s largest<br />

African American institution; located in one of America’s first<br />

free black communities, Playthell G. Benjamin, noted for his<br />

commentaries and positive essays on Black Folks, will deliver the<br />

keynote address.<br />

Vanessa Rubin<br />

Gala 2013<br />

Pharoah Sanders<br />

Gala 2015<br />

Jeff King<br />

Steve Kroon<br />

23


24


THE COUNCIL<br />

OF<br />

THE CITY OF NEW YORK<br />

CHAIR<br />

WOMEN’S ISSUES<br />

COMMITTEES<br />

CULTURAL AFFAIRS<br />

FINANCE<br />

HIGHER EDUCATION<br />

PUBLIC HOUSING<br />

YOUTH SERVICES<br />

LAURIE A. CUMBO<br />

COUNCIL MEMBER<br />

35 TH DISTRICT, BROOKLYN<br />

April 15, <strong>2016</strong><br />

Clarence Mosley, Jr.<br />

Chairman<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

1958 Fulton Street<br />

Brooklyn, NY 11223<br />

Greetings,<br />

On behalf of the 35 th Council District, I would like to congratulate the Central Brooklyn Jazz<br />

Consortium on the occasion of its 17 th Annual Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>, which celebrates our great borough<br />

and deep appreciation for music.<br />

As a member of the New York City Council and Committee on Cultural Affairs, it is my distinct<br />

honor and privilege to recognize this organization for its steadfast commitment to<br />

“preserving, promoting and supporting live music within the underserved communities of<br />

Brooklyn.”<br />

Through your hard work and dedication, artists have an opportunity to nurture and share their<br />

talents with diverse audiences. As a result, Brooklyn has emerged as a hub for arts and culture –<br />

attracting thousands of New Yorkers and tourists who contribute to the economic growth of our<br />

city and state. I want to thank you for your many years of service to our community.<br />

Once again, congratulations to this Consortium and I wish you all the best in your future<br />

endeavors.<br />

Yours in Partnership,<br />

LAURIE A. CUMBO<br />

MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL<br />

DISTRICT OFFICE: 1 HANSON PLACE, SUITE 201 BROOKLYN, NY 11243 · TEL: (718) 260-9191 · FAX: (718) 398-2808<br />

CITY HALL OFFICE: 250 BROADWAY, SUITE 1792 NEW YORK, NY 10007 · TEL: (212) 788-7081 · FAX: (212) 788-7712<br />

25


DISTRICT OFFICE<br />

1360 FULTON STREET, SUITE 500<br />

BROOKLYN, NY 11216<br />

TEL: (718) 919-0740<br />

DISTRICT OFFICE<br />

FAX: (718) 1360857-2555<br />

FULTON STREET, SUITE 500<br />

BROOKLYN, NY 11216<br />

CITY HALL OFFICE TEL: (718) 919-0740<br />

250 BROADWAY, SUITE FAX: 1743 (718) 857-2555<br />

NEW YORK, NY 10007<br />

CITY HALL OFFICE<br />

TEL: (212) 788-7354<br />

250 BROADWAY, SUITE 1743<br />

FAX: (212) 788-8951 NEW YORK, NY 10007<br />

rcornegy@council.nyc.gov TEL: (212) 788-7354<br />

FAX: (212) 788-8951<br />

rcornegy@council.nyc.gov<br />

THE COUNCIL<br />

OF<br />

THE COUNCIL<br />

THE CITY OF NEW YORK<br />

OF<br />

ROBERT THE E. CITY CORNEGY, OF NEW YORK JR.<br />

COUNCIL MEMBER, 36 TH DISTRICT, BROOKLYN<br />

ROBERT E. CORNEGY, JR.<br />

COUNCIL MEMBER, 36 TH DISTRICT, BROOKLYN<br />

CHAIR<br />

SMALL BUSINESS<br />

COMMITTEES<br />

CHAIR<br />

CIVIL SERVICE & LABOR<br />

SMALL BUSINESS<br />

FINANCE<br />

CO-CHAIR HEALTH<br />

BLACK, LATINO AND HOUSING ASIAN CAUCUS<br />

PUBLIC SAFETY<br />

COMMITTEES<br />

CIVIL SERVICE & LABOR<br />

FINANCE<br />

HEALTH<br />

HOUSING<br />

PUBLIC SAFETY<br />

April 15, 2015<br />

April 13 th , <strong>2016</strong><br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (<strong>CBJC</strong>)<br />

1958 Fulton Central Street Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

Brooklyn, NY 11233<br />

Members of <strong>CBJC</strong>,<br />

I want to I congratulate am always proud the to Central support the Brooklyn Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, Jazz Consortium’s an organization (<strong>CBJC</strong>) quest to committed keep jazz<br />

to the development music alive and this preservation year is no exception. of jazz As music we embark and related upon the art 17th forms, Annual as Central they Brooklyn celebrate<br />

Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>, we celebrate <strong>CBJC</strong> as extraordinary asset to the community. Congratulations on<br />

our borough’s contributions to the African inspired art form called Jazz. <strong>CBJC</strong>, since<br />

emerging into a hub that provides an invaluable artistic experience that brings together an<br />

1999, has enriched the lives of the people in Central Brooklyn and beyond.<br />

From April 17 to May 17, 2015, New Yorkers will celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month<br />

woodwinds come together. By sharing the African inspired art form called Jazz with the<br />

through the nearly 50 events taking place during the 16th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz<br />

community, <strong>CBJC</strong> does more than entertain, it inspires. This is a vital contribution to Brooklyn<br />

<strong>Festival</strong> (NYC’s and beyond, longest as its impact continuously the community running is irreplaceable. grassroots festival dedicated to Jazz), in<br />

venues throughout the city. I am proud to give my continued support to this worthy<br />

organization On behalf and the of the services residents it of provides the 36 th district, to the I thank 36th you Council for your District. continued service, your cultural<br />

Sincerely,<br />

1958 Fulton Street<br />

Brooklyn, NY 11233<br />

Dear Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium,<br />

intergenerational audience.<br />

Youth, adults, and seniors alike, all benefit when the sounds of strings, brass, percussion, and<br />

significance, and your historical impact on the arts community.<br />

Sincerely,<br />

Robert E. New Cornegy, York City Jr. Council Member<br />

NYC Council 36 th District Member, – Brooklyn 36 th District – Brooklyn<br />

26<br />

Robert E. Cornegy, Jr.


City Council Member Darlene Mealy<br />

27


LONGLIFE<br />

1958 FULTON ST. BK. NY. 11233<br />

WWW.LONGLIFENY.ORG<br />

7187780009<br />

SERVICE COORDINATION HOUSING EMPLOYMENT<br />

DAYTIME PROGRAMS<br />

IN-HOME & COMMUNITY SUPPORT<br />

“THE LONG LIFE STAFF HAS MADE A<br />

GREAT DIFFERENCE TO OUR FAMILY. MY<br />

DAUGHTER IS LIVING INDEPENDENTLY<br />

AND WORKING AT A LOCAL STORE”<br />

-BERNADETTE LINSCOMB-<br />

RECREATION<br />

INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERVICES<br />

LONG LIFE<br />

INFORMATION AND<br />

REFERRAL NETWORK<br />

VISUALIZES A<br />

COMMUNITY THAT<br />

VALUES ALL OF ITS<br />

MEMBERS AND<br />

ENCOURAGES THOSE<br />

WITH DISABILITIES TO<br />

MAKE THEIR UNIQUE<br />

CONTRIBUTIONS TO<br />

THEIR<br />

NEIGHBORHOODS.<br />

OUR MISSION IS TO<br />

INSPIRE PEOPLE WITH<br />

DISABILITIES TO<br />

EXERCISE THEIR HUMAN<br />

AND CIVIL RIGHTS ,<br />

PARTICIPATE FULLY IN<br />

THEIR COMMUNITIES,<br />

PURSUE THEIR<br />

PREFERRED FUTURES,<br />

AND ENJOY LIFE TO THE<br />

FULLEST.<br />

FOR OVER 20 YEARS,<br />

LONGLIFE HAS<br />

PROVIDED SERVICES TO<br />

FAMILIES WHO FACE<br />

CHALLENGES BROUGHT<br />

ON BY DISABLING<br />

CONDITIONS THAT A<br />

LOVED ONE MAY HAVE.<br />

ARTS & CULTURAL PROJECTS<br />

AUTISM IS THE FASTEST GROWING DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY IN AMERICA<br />

28


Bessie R. Edwards, Broker<br />

bessredwards@gmail.com<br />

T 917-744-9391<br />

www.bredwards.com<br />

LET BREA REAL ESTATE FIND YOUR PLACE IN BROOKLYN<br />

632 Macon St. Brooklyn, NY 11233 Office 347-955-5541<br />

Clinton Hill|Bed-Stuy|Bushwick|Flatbush|Crown Heights<br />

Fort Greene|Park Slope| Boreum Hill<br />

25


30


31


32


Shanda King<br />

If you don’t see the house of your dreams<br />

listed, contact me I will be more than happy to<br />

work with you to end your search.<br />

I have access to a large selection of NYC<br />

rentals. You may want to find those hidden gem<br />

apartments that I can access as soon as they hit<br />

the market.<br />

When you work with me, I’ll make you my<br />

top priority.<br />

“I’LL BE GLAD TO END YOUR APARTMENT SEARCH”<br />

(917) 753-9695<br />

Agent at shking@rapidnyc.com<br />

33


34<br />

17th ANNUAL JAZZ FESTIVAL


The Jeff King Band<br />

From a trio to a nonet<br />

The Best in Comtempoary and Taditional Jazz<br />

www.Jazzking.net for bookings<br />

Contact: 917-602-0865 or Jeff@Jazzking.net<br />

“ Music is the Healing Force”<br />

Peace on Earth<br />

35


Central Brooklyn<br />

Jazz Events<br />

Over the Years


2000<br />

to<br />

<strong>2016</strong>


<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

I had to share with you the sensation I’ve<br />

been living with since the tribute I attended<br />

this morning. I was privileged<br />

to witness the rededication rituals of the<br />

Amazon in their funeral salute to the impeccably<br />

principled life, legacy and lore<br />

of Dr. Nina Simone at Abyssinian Baptist<br />

Church. I am still vibrating from such a<br />

concentrated immersion in elegant, dynamic<br />

estrogen. Men were present but<br />

this was clearly a ‘woman’s event’ and<br />

conducted under the protocols of the warrior<br />

woman. The church was filled. There<br />

were Amazons everywhere. Such a large<br />

grouping of Amazons sets in play it’s own<br />

gravitational force. The pull was tidal and<br />

cleansing. As the mosaic of speakers made<br />

testimony, magic in the pattern of presentation,<br />

revealed Dr. Nina’s final comment<br />

to America.<br />

Nina Simone transcended this earthly<br />

plane within her own life time. Her<br />

achievements in self-esteem, when combined<br />

with extraordinary talent, absolute<br />

courage, a grounded humanity and a need<br />

to tell the truth, sculpted a personality so<br />

rare, so refined, it virtually willed itself.<br />

That quality is the essence of the warrior;<br />

the projection of the self, saturated in conviction.<br />

To hear a church full of warrior<br />

women ululate for one of their greatest is<br />

music so pure, it plays through the body.<br />

Raw Spirit seeks itself. The melding of<br />

38<br />

IYALODE<br />

By Ed Dessisso<br />

The following is a reprint<br />

from a 2014 addition PJM


sound to Spirit is fundamental technology<br />

for the Amazon. They all can do that and<br />

differently too. The Amazon is a goddess.<br />

A testimonial for Dr. Nina Simone required<br />

no less than an army of goddesses.<br />

Her army was there. Keep in mind what<br />

it takes to be a goddess, then understand<br />

that her army was there. These are the<br />

troops that can eat their prisoners. Goddesses<br />

do that too. A quality of your cool<br />

is the level of your Nina Simone story because<br />

she was impeccably divine, but humanly<br />

accessible.<br />

To speak of Nina’s strength, as with all<br />

who came to praise her transition, is a redundancy.<br />

In so many ways the feminine<br />

image of accountability, she reigned supreme<br />

as the Queen Mother for the tribe<br />

of the unforgiving. In the Old World, the<br />

title for such sovereignty is Iyalode: ‘the<br />

adjudicator of market place issues’. It is a<br />

chieftancy occupied exclusively by women<br />

and not questioned in its authority. The<br />

transition of an Iyalode is both the closure<br />

and rebirth of eras by which people<br />

live their lives-- conduct their business.<br />

The so-called New World has no counterpart<br />

translation for the Iyalode, due<br />

mainly from the diminished valuation of<br />

the woman gender. Iyalode is the woman’s<br />

voice in the ruling Senate of Elders and<br />

the appeal of last resort within the gender.<br />

Such power carries the requirement of<br />

impeccable demeanor and comportment.<br />

Iyalode is a lonely place because it is the<br />

top.<br />

Nina Simone’s music is unlike anyone<br />

else’s music. She infused her artistry in everything<br />

she touched; possessed the soul<br />

of any song she sang. Like it or not, you<br />

always got the Nina Simone version of everything<br />

she did. She continues to be quite<br />

luminous, especially to those of us accustomed<br />

to music that is alive. Nina accurately<br />

interpreted love in the nappy-headed<br />

fashion guys like me tend to experience<br />

it. Love may start out a Gershwin tune but<br />

always ends an opus Simone by the time<br />

the kissing stops. Often long before. Dr.<br />

Nina tinged the human need for intimacy<br />

with reality bites, like the presence of diapers<br />

latent in the love making act. You recognize<br />

her priorities and make a surviving<br />

culture by adherence to them. Nina’s is the<br />

music that charts ‘love in a time of plague’,<br />

the musical landscape of keeping it real.<br />

When you connect the neighboring stars<br />

in her constellation, you’ve linked to Billie<br />

Holiday, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.<br />

How these Iyalodes defined love is the<br />

unimpeachable standard for Africans and<br />

others in the<br />

New World.<br />

For male<br />

members of<br />

the tribe of<br />

the unforgiving,<br />

her music<br />

declared the<br />

reality that<br />

we are not<br />

forgotten, are<br />

not strange,<br />

are not alone.<br />

She blended<br />

the ‘sweet and<br />

sour taste of<br />

love’ in her<br />

music more<br />

consistently<br />

and to more<br />

memorable effect<br />

than anyone you can name. No one<br />

handles the scar tissue of romance like<br />

Nina Simone. No one gives it more dignity.<br />

The ‘going over ceremony’ for such an<br />

accomplished spirit engages the most exacting<br />

nuances of testimony because no<br />

one is capable of saying it all. Ritual provides<br />

the outlet by which many compose<br />

a portrait of the one. Ritual is the social<br />

mechanism that attacks the void and defeats<br />

death. The footpath of ritual is much<br />

grown over, but there are those who still<br />

know the steps and tread it with the purity<br />

of their initiation, for the salvation,<br />

the restoration of us all. Words cannot<br />

capture the ritual dance of the leaders as<br />

they guide us up the ancient pathway, but<br />

the landscape was indelibly, undeniably<br />

Nina Simone. Without interpretation, the<br />

non-initiate can only find release in tears<br />

of loss. We’re only human after all. But that<br />

is not the way of goddesses.<br />

Perfectly, as an<br />

invocation must<br />

be, Sister Camille<br />

Yarbrough ululated<br />

a war cry for<br />

the fallen before<br />

she put everybody<br />

on their feet<br />

in a blood rushing<br />

tribute to the<br />

memory of Dr.<br />

Nina Simone. She<br />

scorched the earth<br />

and made sacred<br />

space for all to follow<br />

within. Then<br />

Ossie Davis, the<br />

distinguished presiding<br />

elder, leaned<br />

Ms. Nina Simone on the mic<br />

adroitly on his several<br />

prerogatives to<br />

interpret Simone’s signature, ‘Mississippi,<br />

God Damn!’ right there at the pulpit. It<br />

was quite a hit, built into his lesson on the<br />

battle implications of the trumpet, and the<br />

trumpet that Dr. Nina was for the world.<br />

He sat down to a standing ovation and<br />

the amazed approval of Rev. Butts. Then<br />

flowed a river of other fascinating women,<br />

39


each bearing an intimate and personal<br />

facet of Nina Simone that was given to the<br />

rest of us as a treasured artifact, a valued<br />

relic.<br />

Tahiya Nyahuma led a large contingent of<br />

The Philadelphia Congress of the National<br />

Congress of Black Women in a powerful<br />

but sensitive recovery<br />

of Nina’s lost dream<br />

at conservatory. Sister<br />

Nyahuma presented<br />

the Honorary Degree<br />

from the Curtis Institute<br />

that had denied<br />

her admission at 19,<br />

along with the heartbreaking<br />

story of Nina’s<br />

unjust rejection. It<br />

helped me understand<br />

how rage can be born<br />

from the thing you love<br />

the most. . Sister Nyahuma<br />

finished with<br />

the dedication of commissioned<br />

art work in<br />

Nina Simone’s name<br />

and the acknowledgment<br />

of her chapter<br />

members there in the<br />

church. Those Philly<br />

sisters were fine and a<br />

great example of how<br />

far-reaching the goddess<br />

community extends.<br />

Then Cecile Tyson spoke on behalf of<br />

a long and dear friendship: “I can’t remember<br />

a time when I didn’t know Nina<br />

Simone.” From there, she launched into<br />

a meaningful recitation of the Langston<br />

Hughe’s poem, “I’ve Known Rivers”. It was<br />

politely devastating. Then Dr. Verta Mae<br />

Grosvenor, herself known to make a skillet<br />

talk Gullah, charmed household insights<br />

40<br />

and child rearing techniques into a lustrous<br />

and warm portrait of Nina Simone.<br />

She began on the ‘mommy network’ but<br />

finished by stating that “…Langston dug<br />

Nina as much as Nina dug Langston”.<br />

Then Dorethea Church, Dr. Nina’s personal<br />

stylist, came before us and allowed<br />

Ms. Nina Simone on the piano<br />

the world a look at Nina dressing. With<br />

absolute naturalness, Sister Church spoke<br />

of Dr. Nina’s ability to remain elegant under<br />

any circumstances, in every situation.<br />

Nina Simone held court from the back of<br />

limousines. Then Sonia Sanchez looked<br />

through the veil and spoke with the ancestors<br />

to manifest Nina’s voice. Sister Sanchez<br />

shattered us with her poem “Indigee,<br />

So Close to the Ancestors…” We are deep<br />

in Old World tradition when the voice<br />

of the deceased is invoked. This is major<br />

Amazon technology but nothing new to<br />

the goddess Sanchez. “Nina’s intelligence<br />

was kissing our hearts. She was like Nut<br />

arching over us.” Sonia has made the Mask<br />

talk many times.<br />

And the voice came<br />

when Sam Waymon,<br />

Nina’s brother sang.<br />

He manifested her<br />

with exact intonation<br />

and phrasing. His<br />

keyboard work has<br />

always contained the<br />

same personal virtuosity.<br />

The combination<br />

was pleasantly<br />

unnerving to those<br />

who had never experienced<br />

it. There in<br />

our midst was the living,<br />

vocal presence of<br />

Dr. Nina, thrilling us<br />

like only she is able to;<br />

yet she was gone. Sam<br />

played generously<br />

and graciously in spite<br />

of his own grief. His<br />

personal salute could<br />

not have been better.<br />

Then Patti La Belle<br />

testified to Dr. Nina’s protective nurturing<br />

in a story about champagne in a plastic<br />

cup. Patti sang the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ for<br />

Nina, after telling another wonderful story<br />

about Nina and Andouille sausages. It was<br />

all so right.<br />

Attillah Shabazz faced her moments of<br />

testimony in the same confident stride<br />

as the people before her. Crisp and to the<br />

point, she put the world on notice that the


fires lit by Nina Simone not only burned<br />

brightly in her generation but gave form<br />

to their work as well. And then Simone,<br />

Nina’s daughter animated the mosaic by<br />

pledging that the world has not heard the<br />

last of Nina Simone. “She will be in all that<br />

I do”.<br />

There, was Dr. Nina Simone’s final comment<br />

to America: a wide and continuous<br />

flow of brilliant, beautiful, talented and<br />

fearless Black warrior women [The Amazon<br />

Goddess] deeply inspiredby Nina’s life<br />

and rededicating their commitment to<br />

devour her enemies. Puts lead in Ogun’s<br />

pencil to hear the praises of the unbroken.<br />

I’m writing to tell you that Dr. Nina<br />

Simone’s army is unbroken and way larger<br />

than America wants anyone to know.<br />

Nina Simone transitioned by releasing<br />

forth an army as fierce and multi-faceted<br />

as she was. Everyone present drank deeply<br />

in the blessing of the collected power on<br />

display, while marveling at the size of the<br />

personality that could umbrella it all. Dr.<br />

Nina’s presence was made manifest by the<br />

reflections and memories emanating from<br />

the whole church, in what I will always<br />

remember as a holy event; the melding of<br />

sound to Spirit.<br />

I left before the benediction. Having<br />

searched among the faces to find her, I<br />

handed the tapes I brought to Jo Ann<br />

Cheatham and made my exit ducking<br />

the encounter with “Young, Gifted and<br />

Black”. I needed to walk off some of my<br />

feelings before going to work. My head<br />

was clouded with the mists of ritual, the<br />

touch of the Creator and all that fine womanhood.<br />

Spiritual for sure, but something<br />

very earthy and sentient as well. As in<br />

the words of her song, I had gotten quite<br />

a bit of ‘steam on my clothes’. Vibrating is<br />

the only way that I can describe the feeling.<br />

In a church full of alpha women, the<br />

male energy gets to explore how many<br />

different ways there are to fall absolutely<br />

in love. Among an army of goddesses,<br />

mere man strains to keep his focus and his<br />

feet turned to purpose. Nina’s army sets a<br />

mere man’s world in tension that feels like<br />

vibrating because each of them is Iyalode<br />

material, each of them a queen and each<br />

a compelling vortex of leadership, intelligence<br />

and love. High-grade womanhood<br />

of such intensity addles as it enriches. I<br />

needed to walk and meditate on bearing<br />

witness to the birth of a super nova. Galaxy<br />

Simone ritually rendered, if you can<br />

dig it.<br />

I vibrate still, but deeper. It’s more in the<br />

bones, pitched at the frequency of ululation,<br />

ripples of sound meld to my Spirit<br />

and I surrender, conjured and captured<br />

in the web of the Amazon. The pull is<br />

tidal and cleansing. With my head to the<br />

ground, I salute Iyalode Dr. Nina Simone<br />

and all those who keep her legacy a factor<br />

in this world because so much of living<br />

now is ugly and absurd. Nina Simone<br />

willed beauty and purpose upon us in the<br />

lavish manner of the royalty that she was.<br />

Like the people who celebrated her, she<br />

kept us in mind of what the best moments<br />

of struggle is all about. She raised sacrifice<br />

to its exalted position and used her<br />

life as an Ebo by which the nation could<br />

survive. I vibrate with the joy that comes<br />

from knowing generations of Black women<br />

who, though constructed from Iyalode<br />

elements, are yet content to make life<br />

among mere men and give what meaning<br />

there is to our world. They give us children<br />

and love and faith and labor and wisdom<br />

and day to day understanding that breeds<br />

the assurance of survival. They also give<br />

us heartaches and worries and the weary<br />

blues, just like Dr. Nina when telling her<br />

truths. I vibrate because love at the level<br />

of Iyalode is nothing a man can be cool<br />

about nor should he be. Dr. Nina Simone<br />

is rightfully the distillate of all Iyalode<br />

women and she is enshrined in the pantheon.<br />

The ones who circulate among us<br />

are enshrined in the bones of the living.<br />

Ed Dessisso is a Free Lance writer and is<br />

the author of Vinyl Man, which is regular<br />

column in this publication.<br />

WANTED:<br />

Writers<br />

and<br />

Salespersons<br />

For a<br />

Jazz-tastic<br />

magazine<br />

If interested, contact:<br />

718.636.9671<br />

41


Congratulations <strong>CBJC</strong> on your<br />

successful 17th <strong>Festival</strong><br />

Music that<br />

captures<br />

your mind...<br />

Your listening<br />

pleasure...<br />

your body...<br />

Your dancing<br />

pleasure<br />

Music that will<br />

affect your soul!<br />

Caribbean Jazz <strong>2016</strong> at its best.<br />

Download from ITunes, EMuisc, AmazonMP3, Rhapsody,<br />

CDBaby, or listen at your favorite streaming service...<br />

www.drmambo.com<br />

42<br />

PRODUCTIONS


‘BIG EYED ENTERPRISES<br />

718.554.3706<br />

www.direct-comtech.com<br />

cdirect147@gmail.com<br />

43


44


Woody Woods Workin’ Music LLC is a full service entertainment company that provides music for all types of events!<br />

45


46<br />

17th


Birthdays Retirements Film & Photo Shoots Listenings Book Signings Corporate Meetings<br />

Live Jazz<br />

Cultural Gatherings Weddings Baby Showers Sweet Sixteens Spoken Word Repasts Theatre<br />

Performance Venue & Garden<br />

The FOR MY SWEET performance and event space and KALAHARI<br />

GARDEN GALLERY are located in the heart of Central Brooklyn<br />

For My Sweet<br />

1103 Fulton St, BK, NY<br />

Bet Classon & Claver Pl<br />

347.770.4735<br />

10% Off<br />

A Social Enterprise of Long Life Information and Referral<br />

47


The following is a reprint from a 2014 addition of:<br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

JazzWoman<br />

10 Years Later<br />

By Jo Ann Cheatham<br />

is free. Each Sunday is different;<br />

the musicians have a rare opportunity<br />

to play without restriction<br />

of pleasing a club owner in order to<br />

be rehired, they let the music flow<br />

freely. If a well-known figure in the<br />

jazz community makes their transition,<br />

the life and works of that person<br />

is celebrated. What started as a<br />

promise has evolved into a musical<br />

tribute to her son? It is fitting that<br />

these concerts are held on Sunday<br />

because this is the sacred day of the<br />

week and this is the celebration of a<br />

life, the most sacred thing we have.<br />

Can you imagine conducting a<br />

structured Jazz Concert for as<br />

many as 55 people every Sunday in<br />

your living room? This weekly task<br />

could give New York restaurateur<br />

B. Smith the jitters. Why in the<br />

world would a person perform such<br />

an awesome feat each Sunday come<br />

rain or shine for nine years?<br />

It all began in 1994 when Marjorie<br />

Eliot was visiting her son Philip<br />

in the hospital. He was there because<br />

of a serious kidney ailment<br />

and they both know he did not have<br />

long. “My mission every day was to<br />

go into the hospital with something<br />

fun to talk about. He was very optimistic<br />

always smiling, so I wanted<br />

to make every day a pretty day.”<br />

She told her son “You can sit in the<br />

parlor and listen to some music on<br />

Sunday.” Philip was an actor and<br />

played the piano as did her four<br />

other sons Rudel, Michael, Shaun<br />

and Alfred. He said he liked the<br />

48<br />

idea. Marge as she is affectionately<br />

known is accustomed to having<br />

music in the parlor because that’s<br />

where she took piano while growing<br />

up. Sundays after church people<br />

would come over to her house and<br />

the family would ask her to play the<br />

tunes she had learned. “Those little<br />

tunes that you know that you can<br />

play well.” When brainstorming a<br />

project she notes you go to your own<br />

resources.”<br />

As soon as Marge got home she<br />

started contacting the musicians<br />

she knew and asked them to come<br />

and play that Sunday, And her pool<br />

of music people was extensive; besides<br />

her own piano activity she is<br />

married to Al Drears . The music<br />

has been flowing ever since. The<br />

musicians who come are serious<br />

musicians well known well known<br />

in their own right. “This is not a jam<br />

session: this is a paid gig for them.”<br />

she says, she says, and sometimes<br />

this is difficult because admission<br />

Every Sunday her couch is removed<br />

and replaced with folding chairs.<br />

In the beginning her family complained”<br />

you’ve taken every comfortable<br />

chair out of here.” My idea<br />

was to have a concert stage and<br />

have the audience meet the artist.<br />

When I first started, it was Jazz<br />

and theatre Sundays, every other<br />

Sunday it would be a play and I was<br />

crazy because I’d be writing all Saturday<br />

night.”<br />

The audience is comprised of her<br />

regulars plus people from around<br />

the world. Marge has a collection if<br />

articles written about Parlor Entertainment<br />

from the New York Times<br />

Daily News and many papers in<br />

Europe. In days gone by when Jazz<br />

enthusiasts came to New York, the<br />

firsts place they would want to visit<br />

was 52nd Street. Today it’s Parlor<br />

Entertainment. The people are true<br />

jazz lovers, not just tourists. Someone<br />

who has been there will spread<br />

the word about Parlor Entertain-


ment. “These are people who really<br />

want to come to Harlem. They<br />

find a treasure trove here and they<br />

come back.” One guy from London<br />

told Marge that when he informed<br />

his mother he was coming back to<br />

New York, his mother said. “I know<br />

where you will be on Sundays.<br />

You’ll be at that nice woman, Marge<br />

Eliot; s house, Marge continued, she<br />

had also read about us in the papers<br />

in Europe. It’s an embarrassment<br />

of riches really, because the New<br />

York Times goes everywhere. I had<br />

a lot of people calling me from Europe<br />

about the articles they have<br />

read. A man came Sunday who later<br />

hugged me and said ‘Thank you<br />

for celebrating Philip: we lost our<br />

little girl too’ and there he was in<br />

tears and all. We just hugged, so if I<br />

never see him again, we‘ve bonded.<br />

People come here because they get a<br />

chance to see great musicians. This<br />

is a quite celebration of tie life,”<br />

Marge concludes. “I don’t want it to<br />

be anything else.<br />

It is not surprising that she gets<br />

no complaints from her neighbors,<br />

given the roster of former tenants<br />

who were well known jazz musicians:<br />

Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington,<br />

Sonny Rollins. Andy Kirk<br />

and actor/singer Paul Robeson<br />

have called this building home.<br />

The landlord lives upstairs in Andy<br />

Kirk’s old apartment. “The community<br />

celebrates it and I‘ve never had<br />

any real complaints. Anyone who<br />

doesn’t love this, there is something<br />

wrong with them. People come and<br />

embrace the idea and legally. I can<br />

do this, I can have a party.” When<br />

asked, if that’s the reason there is<br />

no charge, she says, “I don’t want to<br />

merchandise my kid.”<br />

Marge is an only child whose father<br />

played the trumpet and worked<br />

in a laundry to support his family<br />

hails from Philadelphia. Piano lessons<br />

began at the age of five and<br />

she started playing for her church<br />

when she was twelve. A few years<br />

later, she moved to New York to<br />

study drama. As a resident of the<br />

Washington Heights area for over<br />

twenty years, she was inducted<br />

into the People’s Hall of Fame) located<br />

in the Museum of the City<br />

of New York) by City Lore. A nonprofit<br />

organization that recognizes<br />

living individuals deemed cultural<br />

treasurers. Marge was honored for<br />

keeping alive a unique expression of<br />

Harlem’s Jazz legacy. That mission<br />

is furthered enhanced by her yearly<br />

outdoor concert at the Jumel Mansion,<br />

a historic site dating back to<br />

revolutionary times.<br />

In addition, Marge is the Founder<br />

and Artistic Director of Children’s<br />

Theatre and Music Workshop. “I<br />

write plays for them and Jazz is the<br />

music I use. I talk about the neighborhood<br />

and what African American<br />

classical music has had to go<br />

through. It’s an academy without<br />

walls,” The young actors rehearse<br />

and perform during their vacation<br />

breaks from school. “I want children<br />

to know the musicians I know. It is<br />

important that we embrace the children.<br />

And I love it. I love working<br />

with children, she states.<br />

Marge feels that music is the diving<br />

rod that brings us together “I<br />

thank this audience each Sunday<br />

for helping to create this miracle.”<br />

Parlor Entertainment is located at<br />

555 Edgecombe Avenue. For information<br />

call 212-791-6595<br />

It should be noted that this was the<br />

first Jazz Woman and Marge Elliot<br />

continues her work with Parlor Entertainment,<br />

gathering great artists<br />

for a swinging Sunday event. Please<br />

support by stopping by on a Sunday.<br />

Marge Elliot<br />

Jo Ann Cheatham is Founder and<br />

Publisher for Pure Jazz <strong>Magazine</strong>.<br />

She recently made her transistion.<br />

49


Historic Moments<br />

Starting with the very first festival cover of 2000 we take a look back<br />

with photos and graphics of events Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

has sponsored.<br />

50


SUBSCRIPTION - 4 ISSUES<br />

SUBSCRIPTION - 4 ISSUES<br />

SUBSCRIPTION - 2 ISSUES<br />

PLUS 10 PJ Newsletters: $34.95<br />

$24.95<br />

$24.95<br />

SUBSCRIPTION - 4 ISSUES<br />

$24.95<br />

PureJazz <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

PureJazz <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Visit P.O. Box us online: 22101<br />

www.purejazzmagazine.net<br />

Brooklyn, P.O. Box 22101 NY 11202<br />

Brooklyn, NY 11202<br />

Visit Us Online 718.636.9671<br />

www.purejazzmagazine.com<br />

PureJazz <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Visit Us Online 718.636.9671<br />

www.purejazzmagazine.com<br />

51


Healthy Individuals Empower a People!<br />

23 Years of Struggle,<br />

Service and Healing<br />

52


Congratulations & Thanks To<br />

Congratulations & Thanks To<br />

THE CENTRAL BROOKLYN JAZZ CONSORTIUM<br />

THE CENTRAL BROOKLYN JAZZ CONSORTIUM<br />

For Presenting Its 16 th Jazz <strong>Festival</strong><br />

For For Presenting Presenting its17th Its 16 ANNUAL th Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> JAZZ FESTIVAL<br />

“Where “Music Jazz of the Lives” Spirit”<br />

“Where Jazz Lives”<br />

And For Providing Our Community With Jazz & Much Needed History<br />

And For Providing Our Community With Jazz & Much Needed History<br />

MICHAEL C. FORTH<br />

MICHAEL Attorney-At-Law C. FORTH<br />

Attorney-At-Law<br />

NYS Licensed Real Estate Broker<br />

NYS Licensed Real Estate Broker<br />

The Key to Your Legal Challenges:<br />

Trusts, The Wills, Key Estates, to Your Elder Legal Law, Challenges: Personal Injury,<br />

Trusts, Wills, And Estates, Real Elder Estate Law, matters. Personal Injury,<br />

And Real Estate matters.<br />

More than 25 Years of Experience<br />

More than 25 Years of Experience<br />

Helping Families and Individuals<br />

Helping Through Families Life Challenges. and Individuals<br />

Through Life Challenges.<br />

326 Atlantic Avenue<br />

Brooklyn, 326 New Atlantic York Avenue 11201-5825<br />

Brooklyn, New York 11201-5825<br />

(718) 237-2323 (office)<br />

(718) (718) 237-2323 237-2904 (office) (fax)<br />

(718) 237-2904 (fax)<br />

53


In Memoriam<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong>/PJM would like to take<br />

a few moments to reach back<br />

and acknowlege our founders<br />

all except one have made their<br />

transition to the ancestors.<br />

However their dream lives on<br />

with the continued operation<br />

of <strong>CBJC</strong>. In <strong>2016</strong> its future<br />

looks bright however we refuse<br />

forget how we got here...<br />

Alma Carroll, Rosland Blair,<br />

Torrie McCartney and Viola<br />

Plummer founded the origination<br />

with the dream of keeping<br />

Jazz alive in Central Brooklyn.<br />

In 1999 the founders now scetup<br />

for operations requested<br />

Jitu Weusi to serve as the originations<br />

first chair.<br />

Together they created, planned,<br />

financed, promoted and delivered<br />

the first <strong>CBJC</strong> Jazz festival<br />

in 2000. Today we honor them<br />

with the continuation of that<br />

dream by producing the 17th<br />

Annual <strong>CBJC</strong> Jazz <strong>Festival</strong>.<br />

Alma Caroll<br />

Jitu Weusi<br />

Torrie McCartney<br />

Alma Carroll - A founding member of Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, lived as she believed<br />

Love of community, family, friends and Jazz are<br />

all that mattered. In her spirit and memory, we<br />

must “Keep Jazz Alive.” Godmother of Central<br />

Brooklyn Jazz; grand lady of community activism;<br />

tireless warrior for aging populations; in<br />

the pantheon of great women visionaries who<br />

placed Bedford-Stuyvesant on the global map<br />

her other true loves, Joe Carroll and Jazz. Together<br />

they founded the Jazzpazazz Preservation<br />

Society to give tribute to the Jazz greats of<br />

yesteryear.<br />

Jitu Weusi the first chairperson of <strong>CBJC</strong> was an<br />

arts and cultural icon in Brooklyn whose musical<br />

influence reached throughout the U.S. and into<br />

Africa. He created and lead many arts organizations<br />

including the EAST Cultural Center and<br />

the International African Arts <strong>Festival</strong> Brother<br />

Jitu encouraged creativity in thousands of performing<br />

artists. He established a beautiful venue<br />

in his beloved community Bedford-Stuyvesant,<br />

FOR MY SWEET and his wife Angela continues<br />

his legacy of making jazz available at an affordable<br />

price at For My Sweet. His hearty smile and<br />

warm embrace is missed.<br />

Remember The East?<br />

One of the founders of <strong>CBJC</strong> Torrie also established<br />

the Dubios West African Ghanaian Jazz<br />

<strong>Festival</strong> and facilitated The Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> at Medgar<br />

Evers Collage. A renaissance woman who’s<br />

dream was to place the culture on a pedestals,<br />

l have activists and organizers collaborate with<br />

artists and audiences. Have business and children<br />

benefit from the results, and remind the<br />

diaspora that we are one.<br />

54


<strong>CBJC</strong> Founder<br />

Viola Plummer<br />

2015 <strong>CBJC</strong> Jazz Impact Award Winner<br />

<strong>CBJC</strong> is blessed Ms. Plummer<br />

is with us and very active in the<br />

Brooklyn Jazz comunitty as well as<br />

with her Jazz Coffie House, Sista’s<br />

Place. Sista’s Place continues to<br />

host the best regional Jazz talent.<br />

It’s where the Jazz Masters and Jazzotes<br />

perform.<br />

Sistas’ Place is located at: 456 Nostrand<br />

Avenue Brooklyn, N.Y.<br />

http://sistasplace.org/<br />

55


56


On your 17th Annual Jazz <strong>Festival</strong><br />

57


58<br />

World of Jazz Radio is broadcast on www.wbai.org and on air WBAI Radio 99.5<br />

FM NYC Turesday’s on the regular. We hit at 10pm until 12 midnight.<br />

We seek the best in international music we can find.


At 61<br />

By Eugene Holley, Jr.<br />

The following is a reprint<br />

from 2014:<br />

<strong>Magazine</strong><br />

George Wein<br />

In the summer of 1954, a young, brash<br />

Jewish kid, from suburban Boston named<br />

George Wein – who fancied himself as<br />

a budding piano player-- collaborated<br />

with Elaine and Louis Lorillard, a New<br />

England socialite couple, and put on<br />

something not seen in the U.S., a jazz<br />

festival. The site for that festival was the<br />

unlikely summer getaway destination of<br />

Newport, RI. Against all odds, all social,<br />

racial, artistic and economic hardships,<br />

the festival has survived for sixty years.<br />

Indeed, in an evolving art that morphed<br />

into Bop, Hard-Bop, Third Stream, Cool,<br />

Cubop, the Avant-Garde, Fusion and<br />

beyond, Wein’s festival – which at one<br />

time was a global event, from the Big<br />

Apple and the Big Easy, to Pittsburgh<br />

and Paris – has been one of the few<br />

constants in the music. It has served<br />

as kind of a sonic census of the scene<br />

as documentary of infinite variety of<br />

moods and grooves of the day and the<br />

era.<br />

59


if presented with quality and dignity<br />

could be positively presented to the<br />

public, beyond the clichéd confines and<br />

nocturnal nuances of the nightclub, into<br />

the light of the sun. He also proved that<br />

black and white mix and swing in ebony<br />

and ivory harmony. (It is no coincidence<br />

that festival launched the same year of<br />

the historic Brown v. Board of Education<br />

ruling).<br />

This year’s<br />

Newport Jazz <strong>Festival</strong> 2014<br />

festival lineup<br />

is as dancing and diverse as ever. It<br />

includes: pianists Michel Camilo, Gerald<br />

Clayton, Jon Batiste, Aaron Diehl, Fred<br />

Hersch, and Hiromi; saxophonists<br />

Kenny Garrett, James Carter, Lou<br />

Donaldson; drummers Herlin Riley and<br />

Jack DeJohnette; guitarist Pat Martino;<br />

trumpeters Irvin Mayfield and Ambrose<br />

Akinmusire and vocalists Cassandra<br />

Wilson and Jose James.<br />

“The focus of this year’s festival is what<br />

is the future of jazz,” Wein recently told<br />

the Associated Press. “We can never<br />

ignore the history of the music, but at the<br />

same time, there is such energy and spirit<br />

among young musicians today. We try to<br />

find the ones that are creative and give<br />

them a stage to be heard.”<br />

The festival has been a place of discovery<br />

of new talent, and of artistic rebirth.<br />

It was where Miles Davis and Duke<br />

Ellington revived their careers in the<br />

fifties; where John Coltrane unveiled<br />

his lovely supreme saxophone in<br />

impressions in the sixties; where rock<br />

and jazz merged in the seventies; where<br />

60<br />

the Marsalis brothers<br />

launched their neoclassic,<br />

‘Young Lions’ revolution in the<br />

eighties and well into the nineties. Today,<br />

well into the change of the century, a<br />

new generation of improvisers including<br />

Houston’s Jason Moran, Christian Scott<br />

from New Orleans, and Portland’s<br />

Esperanza Spalding are now writing their<br />

sonic signatures on the artistic epidermis<br />

of their generation.<br />

“… [I] think we should allow these<br />

young players to share the spotlight,<br />

until the public can fully accept them,”<br />

Wein says. These are all great players<br />

who are trying to find their own voice,<br />

trying to add something to the music<br />

that becomes part of the mainstream of<br />

what is happening. And it’s a privilege for<br />

me to present them at Newport.”<br />

Through all of the music’s twists of tone<br />

and tempo, Wein has stood as a kind of<br />

eternal MC – a master of ceremonies to<br />

the longest jazz gig on the planet.<br />

That said, Wein’s achievement must be<br />

viewed in a broader context than just<br />

the music. What he did was prove that –<br />

contrary to even the haters today – jazz,<br />

But just as a jazz solo is an exercise in<br />

grace under pressure, Wein’s stewardship<br />

at the helm has had its moments of<br />

titanic turmoil. There was protest festival<br />

spearheaded by Charles Mingus and<br />

Max Roach in 1960. There was a time<br />

when Wein tried to meld rock and jazz –<br />

a move he later regretted. And there were<br />

always critics who thought the festival<br />

was a sell-out because it didn’t feature<br />

more adventurous programming. To<br />

their credit, sometimes they were right.<br />

But with the ease of a Lester Young solo,<br />

Wein adjusted, mended, and molded the<br />

festival to walk the near irresolvable tight<br />

rope between art and commerce. He<br />

performed this balancing act when the<br />

jazz masters were dying; when traditional<br />

jazz record stores and terrestrial radio<br />

stations have almost all disappeared, and<br />

when the mention of a jazz musician on<br />

TV or in the newspapers was hardly seen<br />

unless the musician was in a drug bust<br />

or deceased.<br />

In the words of Ellington’s hit, “Things<br />

Ain’t What They Used To Be.” Now,<br />

a la Bud Powell, the scene changes.<br />

It’s Newport, Rhode Island in 2014.<br />

Although Wein is without his wife Joyce<br />

, who passed away a few years ago, he<br />

is in good spirits, as he rolls around the<br />

festival in a golf caddy. Now, a 501c3 not-


for-profit organization, the festival is the<br />

best example of jazz as a truly positive<br />

avatar of globalization. This is evidenced<br />

by the all-world lineup featuring: vocalist<br />

Gregory Porter, whose performance<br />

literally stopped the rain; chanteuse<br />

Cecile McLorin Salvant, who sang her<br />

impossibly young heart out; Wynton<br />

Marsalis, whose clarion creole trumpet<br />

tones brought Mr. Wein to tears, and a<br />

whole sepia panorama of jazz artistsyoung<br />

and old, black, brown, bone and<br />

beige, all delivering their diverse and<br />

dancing twenty-first century swing at the<br />

speed of bop.<br />

“I want to devote the few years left to<br />

me to using Newport as a stage for the<br />

unique artistry that is out there,” Wein<br />

told Jazz Times in 2012. “Jazz, with<br />

Newport the principle vehicle, has been<br />

my life. If Newport is to continue, it must<br />

have a purpose and not be just another<br />

jazz festival.”<br />

“Jazz will go where musicians take it because they’ll<br />

always want to play. And as long as they want to play,<br />

somebody’s going to listen.”<br />

George Wein, National Public Radio 2014.<br />

I’ll lay some good odds against tomorrow<br />

that Mr. Wein will be here for the<br />

seventieth anniversary of his enduring<br />

and innovative festival.<br />

Eugene Holley Staff WriterEugene is a<br />

Harlem-based, arts and cultural journalist<br />

who contributes to The Black World<br />

Today (www.tbwt.net), Hispanic (wwww.<br />

hisp.com) as well as PureJazz <strong>Magazine</strong>.<br />

61


IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY SISTER<br />

MELBA VALLE ROSA<br />

(1933 - 2000)<br />

Flamenco dancer, model,<br />

abstract painter, sculptress,<br />

actress, poet, stage manager<br />

and civil rights advocate<br />

Peace & Blessings,<br />

Brother Harold Valle<br />

Jazz Poet (Keeper of the Secrets)<br />

Wishing continued success to the<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium<br />

for the 17th Annual Jazz <strong>Festival</strong><br />

Nassau Performing Arts Inc<br />

Napoleon Revels-Bey<br />

62


Genesis and Evolution of Sound<br />

The art print, Genesis and Evolution of<br />

Sound-created by W. R. Myers who commissioned<br />

Abdul Rahman to illustrate his<br />

work. The print is a reproduction of the<br />

award winning painting and cover image<br />

on the soon to be published book on the<br />

origins of musical instruments.<br />

The theme of Genesis and Evolution of<br />

Sound centers around black sound as it<br />

evolved from its home, called Africa, the<br />

maternal heart shaped continent; follows<br />

the unwilling captives to unknown lands.<br />

Five (5) centuries of gestation fed this<br />

multicultural fetus from its rich and loving<br />

homeland until--reborn and renamed<br />

a new sound sprang forth: Reminiscences,<br />

Survivals, Spirituals, Gospel, Ragtime,<br />

Jazz, Blues, Boogie-Woogie, Swing, Be-<br />

Bop, Contemporary Music-Spoken Word,<br />

Reggae, Rock, Soul, Rhythm and Blues,<br />

Latin, Hip Hop--all black sound!<br />

You can now display Genesis and Evolution<br />

of Sound in your home or office.<br />

Available at the music venue “For My<br />

Sweet” Monday’s 7 to 10:00 PM and<br />

JAZZ966 on Friday’s 8pm to 11pm.<br />

To purchase see ‘The Book Man’ or<br />

e-mail upoverbob@aol.com.<br />

63


Premier <strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor<br />

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium - 1958 Fulton Street Suite 300A Brooklyn NY, 11233 - www.cbjcjazz.org

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!