DJ Tobotius
I wrote about the mult-talents of DJs in a previous post. I recently saw DJ Tobotius (pictured above) with the band and guitarist Freekbass. Tobotius is a sound engineer for Bootsy and producer as well.
Diversify: Beats & Beyond (part 2)
March 27th, 2009Sax Machine
March 17th, 2009
Maceo Parker
Music from the saxophone can be described as hard, harsh, munificent, ethereal, soft, muted, brash or clean. But Maceo Parker asks, “whatchu know about funk?”
Parker played a three-hour set Monday night at the Westcott Theater that was a musical mind trip. The show featured tributes to New Orleans jazz, the folk soul of Ray Charles, rapid-fire GoGo of Chuck Brown and even a funky introduction to Shakespeare’s Hamlet (“To Be or Not to Be”)
Parker’s superior musicianship and ebullient stage presence are obviously the keys to his longevity. In his hands, the future of funk is secure.
La Voz
March 7th, 2009
Dr. Rick Wright
I interviewed Syracuse University professor and on-air radio personality Dr. Rick Wright for a piece back in the 1990s when he was on an AM station.
Now he has probably the highest rated time slot for Sunday afternoons and can be heard on WPHR-FM Power 106.9.
Wright is a recognized expert in his field and his bio reads like a history of radio for the past 45 years.
I visited Rick Wright’s show last week as a photographer for my client, the Love N Basketball Project. Wright’s show had a vivacious atmosphere and was packed with a film crew, students and various guests.
Wright remains an ardent and vocal supporter of Syracuse University, the city, and he brings just the right amount of old school flavor to the end of the week.
Basketball (Love) Jones
March 3rd, 2009
Love
One of my daughter’s friends and one of my clients, Love Nicholson, is quickly becoming maybe the most talked about 10-year old basketball player in the city.
She plans to travel to Europe later this year for competition.
For her website Love wrote her own bio, which details her unlikely pursuit of basketball. Hopefully she’ll start a blog or video blog to document her trip.
Set the Atmosphere
February 27th, 2009
Kurt Carr
Kurt Carr is a great minister of music. He worked the stage last week, to the delight of a capacity crowd at the Second Olivet Missionary Baptist Church for the 4th Annual Cora Thomas Gospel Extravaganza. The former Huskie (Carr is a UConn grad) received nothing but love from the audience during a spirit-filled set of music that was powerful, even though he only brought two of his singers along.
I previously saw Carr at the Landmark Theater for the One Church Tour.
Kurt Carr
There were many other wonderful performances on the night and I’d like to thank Sis. Cora Thomas for inviting me to cover this event.
Dancing with Music: People as Dancers
February 12th, 2009
I previewed a performance by the Garth Fagan Dance Company that was held at Syracuse University last night. Garth Fagan is an award winning choreographer and is known by most for his work with the Lion King on Broadway.
The company is on a tour of New York and did a teaching performance featuring veteran dancers Norwood Pennewell and (founding member) Steve Humphrey, both Bessie Award-winners, as well as some of the newer company members.
GFD gave an excerpt from the following: “Prelude–Discipline is Freedom,” “Talking Drums,” featuring Guy Thorne, “Mix 25: Shackles,” as well as the colorful number “Touring Jubilee,” (complete with costumes from the Roaring 20s) featuring Annique S. Roberts.
I’ve seen GFD in New York and Washington, DC. They have traveled the world, bringing sophisticated yet athletically funky movement to the masses.
What has always amazed me about the company is that the ladies are as strong as the men, and the men are as graceful as the women when on stage. There’s an equality of talent for sure.
SIF Board member Odetta Norton once trained with this group and B. Efejuku’s wife Valentina retired after a wonderful career as a featured dancer.
In a recent interview I found out that Bill T. Jones was once a student of Garth Fagan.
I look forward to seeing Fagan’s homage to visual artist Romare Bearden.
GFD will perform a complete show tonight at Syracuse University.
Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)
January 21st, 2009
“We are motivated to become what we imagine ourselves to be.”
-Ed Cole
Personal M.B.A. (continued additions to the reading list)
December 26th, 2008I started this on a previous post…
I read these books and feel they too should be on every business person’s reading list:
1) Reposition Yourself-T.D. Jakes
2) The E Myth Revisited-Michael E. Gerber
3) 32 Ways to be a Champion in Business-Earvin “Magic” Johnson
My Personal Mt. Rushmore (part 2)
December 16th, 2008
Last night in the Carrier Dome, Cleveland State stunned the 11th-ranked Syracuse University Men’s Basketball team and handed them their first loss via the sweetest buzzer-beater 60ft bank shot I’ve ever seen (courtesy of CSU’s Cedric Jackson). The shot stunned the crowd following a very evenly-matched contest where there were several lead changes during the second half.
Equally exciting for me was seeing my former college roommate and CSU Associate Head Coach Jayson Gee for the first time in nearly 20 years. He remains one of the best basketball minds on the college scene.
Gee has also served as a wonderful mentor (despite the differences in our career paths). Without knowing it, he helped lay the foundation for this current venture.
Thanks for the tickets Gee. Continued success.
Funky Soul Brothers
December 5th, 2008
Some things you have to see to believe; some things you must feel before you can hear.
This was the case last night when I attended a concert by Soulive for the first time last night, held at the Westcott Theater. I over heard someone in the crowd say, “if you’re going to be here, you better be upfront.” Sounded like good advice. Especially since I wanted to get a good shot and only had a wide-angle lens. But I may have been too close. At one point Alan Evans (pictured above), hit the kick drum so hard I thought my head would blow off. Just like that I was “baptized,” as one fan told me.
Alan Evans, along with his brother Neal, bass organist, make up the funky heart and soul of the band. On stage they were joined by guitarist Eric Krasno and later by guest saxophonist Sam Kininger. I’d covered Kininger during a previous music fest.
To say I was impressed with Soulive would be an understatement. I found their live performance and musicianship as good as any band I’ve seen lately. And their energy was like Red Bull mixed with Amp.
The Syracuse crowd gave new meaning to the word fanatics, but on the other hand, I found a lot of musicians in the audience.
Made for a sweaty, yet sophisticated party.
The opening act was the Ithaca band Thousands of One, which featured our friend Will Sapp on background vocals. Glad to see he and his band were in such good company.
The beat goes on.