Category: Arts & Entertainment

Justen LeRoy is using his works as the spark that may change the world. Through his upcoming production X’ene’s Witness, the multidisciplinary artist will incorporate sound to highlight Black environmentalism and the current geological age in which humans are the primary influence on climate and ecosystems globally.

Through the performance, LeRoy aims to invoke emotion in his audience, and provide a deeper understanding of the important matters; specifically that of climate disaster and race relations. “I think with an understanding of what is happening to our earth, the community that I live in and South Central, I don’t think we always have the opportunity to think about what’s going on with the earth as we’re thinking about everyday survival,” he tells ESSENCE. 

In addition to filling the void created by the barriers of language, Justen employs the history of Black vocal traditions to communicate resistance and liberation. Composed by LeRoy and Alexander Hadyn, the score conveys many of today’s fears and societal issues. Musician and performance artist X’ene Sky shines as the vehicle for Earth’s expression, while movement artist Qwenga interprets the injustices of the planet felt in the physical form.

With X’ene’s Witness, the Los Angeles native will attempt to create a space where climate consciousness can be accessed without words; rather relying on sound to start conversation. Justen feels that the musical expressions of Black artists can act as a sonic expression of Earth, and the sometimes unfair treatment of nature.

“I’m just really passionate about holding space for us to really understand ourselves in relation to the earth,” the Director of Public Programs at MoCA says. “Hopefully through the use of traditional Black sound and the visual, it can create a portal to advocacy and this route of understanding policy.”

ESSENCE: Can you speak to me about how you’re feeling in the days leading up to the premiere of your upcoming opera?

Justen LeRoy: I think for this show, this opera sonic production theater thing—I’m full of gratitude. I’m definitely full of anxiety. I think I’m taking a really big leap here. I don’t think many of the people that support me know me to make an opera or a very extensive theater setup or a score that might be this expansive. I think I’ve taken a really big risk and I’m a little nervous about the outcome, but I’ve definitely surrendered to what that will be. And I think I look forward to being transformed by the experience.

In taking this risk, what was the initial impetus or inspiration for you to do this project? 

Last year I had my first museum exhibition at the California African American Museum called, Lay Me Down In Praise, and a lot of that was birthed from my love for Black sound. Black traditional sound, and the evolution of vocal nuances and whatnot. And when I say that, I’m talking about all of the very Brandy, Whitney type of riffs and runs and vocal nuances. And when I say them too, I also mean Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, and trying to really find a home for that in the contemporary art world.

I felt that there’s just so much language in R&B and in soul that never really finds itself being deeply communicated about or explored in contemporary art. I have been working on another project where I was doing a lot of research on just Black sound and environmentalism. And these two things really came together for me where I began to situate our experience as Black people in parallel to what the experience of the earth is right now.

Wow, okay.

I was opening up this one book called Trees, and on the first page that I landed on, it said that trees moan at the hands of whiteness. I was spending a lot of time with writer Fred Moten, and he and I were just talking about those same vocal nuances, all the moans and runs and riffs in certain songs. So that language meeting me at the same time opened up this whole world for me to begin thinking about sonic roots or routes to environmentalism, and how to really express what is uniquely happening to black people in this time and creating a soundtrack for our experience and the earth.

So now with this live show, X’ene’s Witness and the music that will come from that, it is an expansion on that. It’s a live rendition of that same format. I think that it’s really important for me that the sonic is the most important part of my practice. So I thought that doing a live show could hopefully highlight that.

So what went into the decision to have X’ene and Qwenga as vessels to express the earth’s message in this particular production?

X’ene Sky is just a force. She has the most beautiful operatic vocal, one that really shakes the room and makes everybody fall completely silent as soon as you hear her. And she’s somebody where we can talk about the craziest shit, the funniest shit, but we can also get into the rigor of sonics and contemporary art and our lived experiences. And really, I think that we both have a love for theater and for just big productions and drama, honestly. I think that it’s been important for me to always position a black woman as this oracle Mother Earth-like figure. In the first piece, I’m using my best friend’s mom as that. So in this piece, to have X’ene step into that is truly an honor. And to be able to use her gift as a vehicle, honestly, to really see this through is really exciting.

..and for Qwenga, man, he just really situates himself in this world that’s at the intersection of contemporary dance, krump, and buto. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody really move like him. I think that so much of what he does naturally and so much of what he just hears is definitely situated in this thinking of this breaking of the earth, this shifting of tectonic plates when they get a little snagged and there’s an earthquake. He can physically really represent these tensions and these moments of rage and these moments of ecstasy. Yeah, man, he’s just a gift.

This next question—your commitment to the preservation and you expressing your concerns about the environment and how it’s treated? Where did that empathy come from?

You know what, man, I think that it’s really become the space where I know how to really hold the emotions of myself and what I think I see in my community. I think I definitely hold a lot of environmental anxiety. I’m a doomsday anchor, in a way, which is not always positive, but this looming thing that I feel is over us that we’re looking to and don’t really know when it’s going to happen; you see that fear and that anxiety in everybody, but not everybody exactly having language for that. I think I’ve just found that the visual and the sonic can come together to hold some space to help build some language around that.

I think that the bulk of my work will continue to investigate this. And within that, placing resources within the work I do. For this show, in the program when you walk in, there’s a list of Black organizations that are focused on environmentalism in South Central. And there’s some really, really, really amazing organizations I’m excited about, like Black Girl Environmentalist. Which is this amazing cohort of young women from around the country who are really investigating this and really putting themselves in the proper spaces, or forcing themselves into these spaces to talk about this very thing, like not being considered in the conversation of climate change, but being heavily affected by it.

What impact do you feel people of color specifically have on the environment? And what do you think we can do and should do to ensure its protection?

I think that all of us on this planet right now really play a very important role in the next 50, 100 years of what is to take place. I think that Black and indigenous people really have a deep understanding of land, a deep relationship to the soil. And I think that we have this responsibility to really listen. I think that if we can find a way with some kind of grace, find a way to really get back into that innate understanding of humanity and our earth, I really believe that we’re the two groups that can really fix this thing and see us through.

I think that we don’t necessarily have much representation in the climate space. And I think that we could be doing a lot of work or continuing to do a lot of work to figure out how to really advocate for ourselves and how to really create a voice for ourselves within that conversation. Since taking on this new role at the Museum of Contemporary Art as the Director of Public Programs, we have an environmental council. And I’ve been going to a lot of these symposiums and meetings about the environment, and there’s never anybody that looks like me there, you know?

So to hear about how people like the founder of Black Girl Environmentalist, Wawa has really taken it upon herself to identify other young women around the country who are passionate about this same issue. I think that that’s really inspiring to me. And if I can really advocate for or spread the awareness of that work through the work I do, I think that would feel successful to me. And hopefully that can inspire other people to really have a voice in what’s happening to us, you know? And just how we just are so uniquely affected, man. When you think about Flint, when you think about Hurricane Katrina, when you think about what goes down in the Caribbean anytime there’s a hurricane, I feel like for us to get resources or just for there to be this basic care around our lives, it’s just going to take some extra advocacy and understanding.

With X’ene’s Witness, why was it important to you not to rely so much on words to convey your message in this production and instead use the sounds to create conversation?

I think that words can only do so much. When I’m obsessing over a vocal melisma, a vocal nuance, or when I think about our everyday black vocal nuances that really don’t have anything to do with singing, but just a hum, or a grunt or just certain things that we do, there’s so much language packed in that, but you don’t need words to really explain that. I can listen to Donny Hathaway do riffs and runs, or Jazmine Sullivan just riff and run all day and there not be any words in that, but we know exactly what they mean. And I think that that’s just a very interesting world, that I just want to continue to explore this un-worded realm of things that is a bridge between languages that just really communicate the things that we just don’t have the language for. I’m just really interested in the unknown and breaking free of the confines of language and building new worlds of communication and investigating the ones that we’ve already built. I think there’s just a lot of untapped genius in that all.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

OPA-LOCKA – Ten North Group is pleased to announce Art of Transformation: AFRICA GLOBAL, the 2023 conceptual framework exhibiting the diversity of African Diasporic communities and their varied experiences, taking place during Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 and Miami Art Week 2023. This annual program is designed to explore issues in African and African Diaspora contemporary art and brings artists of African descent from around the world to Miami in a series of exhibitions, panel discussions, performances and film screenings.

Ten North Group presents AFRICA GLOBAL in Opa-locka from December 3 through December 10, 2023. The arts festival in the architecturally distinct city of Opa-locka will offer six exhibitions. This includes works from Puerto Rican artists, a sculpture pavilion, and a book installation resisting the erasure of Black literature. Plus, works from Ten North Group’s extensive collection of art from Africa, the Caribbean, and the Diaspora.

Programming Events

Programming events include:

• Afro-Cuban dance performance by the Ife-Ile Dance Company (Dec. 3)
• “Landscape Noir,” a conversation on how the arts can be used as a catalyst to transform previously forgotten communities (Dec. 4)
• “Performance & Voguing Workshop” with Afro-Caribbean artist Edrimael Delgado Reyes (Dec. 8)

The headline event featuring a panel discussion led by curator Tumelo Mosaka, followed by a film screening by artist Marrero Sanchez on grief, identity, colonialism and gender (Dec. 9).

“We are thrilled to announce our participation in this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach,” says Dr. Willie Logan, the President and CEO of Ten North Group. “Art of Transformation strengthens our commitment to catalyze meaningful dialogue within our community and globally while establishing our City as a world-class destination to experience art of the African Diaspora. Our goal is to inspire, empower, and educate South Florida’s diverse communities and to expose our visitors to the exceptional artistic talent that exists in Africa and the African Diaspora.”

ART EXHIBITIONS

Fragmented Worlds / Coherent Lives (on view Dec. 6 – Feb. 28)

Curator: Tumelo Mosaka (South Africa)

Location: The Art & Recreation Center (ARC), 675 Ali Baba Ave, Opa-locka, FL 33054

Fragmented Worlds / Coherent Lives is an exhibition drawing on concepts informed by fragmentation, mobility, and adaptation. Borrowing its title from Pnina Motzafi-Haller’s book by the same name, artists in this exhibition present multiple narratives drawing on memory, history, and lived experience to express ways identities become fragmented and sometimes contradictory.

Working between concrete and subconscious ideas, artists weave coherent narratives that challenge representations of Africa today.

Cartographies of Displacement / Cartografías del Desplazamiento (on view Dec. 6 – 10)

Curators: Helen Ceballos & Abdiel D. Segarra Ríos (Puerto Rico)

Location: The Pavilion, 650 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka, FL 33054

Cartographies of Displacement brings together the work of Puerto Rican artists who, through their respective practices, reflect on what is produced in the junctures that displacement provokes. The exhibition comments on the experiences that accumulate in the everyday—the ways in which we live and negotiate with the forces that displace us, the changes that undergo the landscape—politically and infrastructurally inside and outside the city— and the ways in which we conceive geography within the archipelago and in the diaspora, physically and temporally.

Alongside these observations on the setting, the curatorial work reflects on the production of subjectivities and the questioning of hegemonic identities —individual and collective—and on how this has repercussions on the articulation of historical narratives and the right to remember.

Garden of Humanity (on view Dec 6 – June 30)

Curator: James Brazil (Australia)

Location: The VFW Lot, 757 Ali Baba Ave., Opa-locka, FL 33054

The sculpture pavilion presents two new large-scale sculptural acquisitions by the Ten North Group in a lushly designed garden:

1. Yemaya

Ten North Group is pleased to unveil the newest work by contemporary artist Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy “Diago” (Cuba), a six-foot bronze sculpture titled Yemaya, after the goddess of the living ocean, the mother of all. Yemaya will be exhibited in dialogue with the spirits that accompanied African peoples during the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Middle Passage.

2. The Cedar Men

Sculptor and performer Jems Robert Koko Bi (Côte d’Ivoire), whose work mixes avant-gardist influences and the artist’s African history, has created five six-foot-tall works which are sculpted from a single cedar trunk weighing half a ton each. The Cedar Men tells the history of humanity through the earth’s first inhabitants in Africa as the works initiate a conversation with the forces of nature, the ancestors, the native land, and the exile.

New Acquisitions: The Ségou Collection (I’ve Known Rivers) (on view Dec. 6 – 10)

Curator: Professor Abdoulaye Konaté (Mali)

Location: The Hurt Building, 490 Opa-locka Blvd., Opa-locka, FL 33054

The exhibition is a cartography of how continental African artists create in-situ modes of intervention in response to issues that beset their continent by providing counter-narratives of radical autonomy beyond the rehashed tacit necessity of the place of art in society. I’ve Known Rivers is an homage to the poem ”The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, first published in The Crisis in June 1921, but most importantly, for the 57th anniversary of his reading it at the First World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966.

The Ségou Art collection that Ten North Group acquired in 2022 comprises works by African artist finalists for the Ségou Art Fair selection on the banks of the mythical African Niger River. The Niger River echoes the Mississippi in a call and answer resonating across the Atlantic Ocean.

Required Reading: Art in Public Places (on view Dec. 6 – 10)

Location: The Airspace Around The Art & Recreation Center (ARC), 675 Ali Baba Ave, Opa-locka,
FL 33054

As knowledge produced by African and African Diaspora intellectuals and artists is being debated, legislated, and litigated, Required Reading calls for a return to memory land where what “they” ban becomes required. This Art in Public Places exhibition appropriates a plurality of works by African and African Diaspora writers and artists as a reflection of polyvocality and decentering of knowledge in a time of a legislative construction of ignorance and new cartographies of power and exclusion.

Related

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

The art world and the city of Atlanta are mourning the loss of Radcliffe Bailey, a celebrated contemporary artist known for his profound contributions to exploring African-American history through his art. Bailey, who was 55, died recently, leaving behind a legacy of influential works that resonated with themes of race, ancestry, and Southern heritage.

Born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, in 1968, Bailey grew up in Atlanta, which played a pivotal role in shaping his artistic vision. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the Atlanta College of Art in 1991 and soon established himself as a significant voice in the art community. His mixed-media practices, encompassing sculptures and paintings, were deeply rooted in his black heritage and experiences growing up in the South.

Bailey’s art was known for its unique ability to connect the past, present, and future of Black Americans, employing ready-made objects and images in his creations. His work was often compared to that of other renowned African American artists like Romare Bearden, highlighting his status in the art world.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, expressed the city’s profound sorrow over the loss of Bailey. “Our hearts are heavy with the loss of Atlanta’s own Radcliffe Bailey,” said Mayor Dickens. He reminisced about his recent visit with the artist, where he expressed Atlanta’s gratitude for Bailey’s significant contributions to the city’s cultural landscape.

Bailey’s art, characterized by its exploration of ancestry and race, was not only deeply personal but also widely accessible, allowing community members to engage with and reflect on their own histories and identities.

The mayor also indicated that the city administration, in collaboration with Bailey’s family and team, is working on a fitting way to honor his incredible life and legacy, with details to be shared soon.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Chaos broke out during the quarterly board meeting of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture on Wednesday November 15, taking place at the Cleveland Public Library downtown. Three speakers were intentionally selected to present support for CAC during public comments at the beginning of the meeting, including Dobama Theatre artistic director Nathan Motta and Hattie Kotz, director of marketing and development at the Children’s Museum, read from a prepared script. Kirsten M. Ellenbogen, President and CEO of Great Lakes Science Center, said the staff at CAC was very responsive when called with questions. Ellenbogen said the process was fair and open, and she found the information straightforward.

CAC executive director Jill Paulsen asked the speakers to present their materials, reversing the purpose of the public comments and staging a promotional campaign for CAC. There were no other public comments until the meeting ended 90 minutes later.

Board member Charna Sherman, asking President Nancy Mendez and CAC director of administration Meg Harris, for clarity on funds available for distribution in 2024, was met with resistance while they debated the numbers. The money in the bank was unclear.

Mendez and Sherman got into a shouting match, one of several during the meeting, which left the issue of funding more confusing. Sherman proposed giving general operating support to organizations at the highest level in 2024 rather than splitting the funds between 2024 and 2025, saying, “We could give the community confidence and let the levy go forward.”

According to Paulsen, grant allocations for 2024 and 2025 increased from $11.1 million a year to $11.3 million. The increase was the result of high-interest investments, she said. Sherman noted that the board did not approve the new funds. Mendez said the vote made in September to support a reduction in funding was based on their projections, “not real numbers.”

Fifty minutes into the meeting, the shouting continued. Board member Karolyn Isenhart, who missed several meetings over the past year, stonewalled the conversation by changing the subject.

“Could you refresh us on the scores?” said Isenhart.

Unlike cooperative overlapping, a way of expressing enthusiasm and interest in the speaker, board members intentionally interrupted each other to make their point or silence the speaker. With the substance of arts philanthropist Fred Bidwell’s recent Plain Dealer op-ed lingering in the air and a halt to the campaign levy, Sherman made a motion to appease grantees by giving them as much funding support as soon as possible to build confidence in the community. There was no second motion.

At the center of the public controversy are funds for individual artists totaling more than $1 million that CAC executive director Paulsen reported were “rolled over” to the general budget.

In 2017, CAC did not distribute $400,000, the annual allocation set aside for individual artists. A review of board meeting minutes shows that between 2017 and 2018, CAC entered into contracts with TRIAD Research Group, Van Meter, Ashbrook & Associates, Flying Hand Studio, Community Innovation Network, DataArts, Advocacy and Communication Solutions, LLC, Compelling Communications, and others, totaling more than $530,000.

The funds covered consulting fees, representation before the executive agencies and legislative branch of the Ohio government, a telephone survey to assess residents’ awareness of CAC, targeted media relations and communications support, creating new programs like Cultural Heritage, ioby Match, and Neighborhood Connections programs, the Artist Learning Lab, and other nonessential expenses.

In a bizarre rebuttal to Bidwell’s op-ed, Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn and content director Laura Johnston, in a Culture on Today in Ohio podcast, called his editorial “ridiculous and childish.” Quinn said the public criticism of CAC is a “lot of noise and stupid,” suggesting a tax on any bourbon over $40 because, “clearly, those are the guys going to the arts.”

Jeremy Johnson, President and CEO of the Assembly for the Arts, presented the public with an update and plans for funding in 2024 and said the community must come together.

“The noise we are hearing today will stop,” said Johnson, referring to articles appearing in the press and appearing on social media.

Earlier this year, County Executive Chris Ronayne appointed Daniel Blakemore, philanthropy director for the nonprofit Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and reappointed Michele Scott Taylor, the chief program officer at College Now Greater Cleveland, leaving the five-member board without a practicing artist. Ohio Revised Code, Section 3381.05, Appointment of Board of Trustees, clearly states, “At least two members of the board of trustees shall be persons who devote a major portion of their time to practicing, performing, or teaching any of the arts…” With two of the five board seats opening in March 2024, it is uncertain whether Ronayne will follow the code and appoint the artists.

At the end of the meeting, public comments were open. CoolCleveland photographer and writer Anatasia Pantsios asked for more discussion about the groups funded — not the funding formula — wanting to know how they are chosen and how they serve the arts community.

Artist Gwendolyn Garth, a former CAC Board member and founding director of Kings & Queens of Art, said board members were overtalking and not listening to each other.

“I want to say to the marginalized artists, especially to Black local artists, that before you vote, understand what you are voting for with the tax levy,” said Garth. “What is happening here today, in my neighborhood, is called a shell game, where you try to find the money, and you talk about the millions of dollars passed out, but the bottom line is, our Black artists get none of it.”

Garth called for mediation or a federal investigation into CAC. “I am serious about that,” she said. “You are playing games. We have rights.”

M. Carmen Lane was ashamed of what she saw at the meeting. “You are choosing not to lead. I say that to the board and Jill Paulsen,” said Lane. “You expect our art practice to connect you to the community. We are the community. When are you going to take the time to reimagine what is possible? You are wasting the time of the community here to watch this shit show.”

“I will not pass the levy,” said artist and homeowner Linda Armstead from Shaker Heights, part of the grassroots campaign movement to pass the original levy, knocking on doors and getting the vote out. After the levy passed, the Black community got overlooked, she said.

“I will beat the pavement in my neighborhood and community and visit the churches and tell them exactly why I do not want to see this levy passed,” said Armstead.

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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Dr. Colette Burnette was only in the role for about 15-months and helped open the door for many Black artists.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Holiday festivities have started to be the star of the event calendar in Milwaukee, and Ian Thompson of VISIT Milwaukee joined us on Thursday, Nov. 16 to preview some of those upcoming events.

The Deer District will light up as the Cheer District on Friday, Nov. 17. The evening, starting at 5 p.m., will feature performances by First Stage Children’s Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Black Arts MKE.

At 6 p.m., Mayor Cavalier Johnson will lead the tree lighting ceremony, joined by notable figures including Bango, DJ Quadi, Santa Claus and reindeer characters. Parking is free at 1030 N. 6th St. and 1215 N. 5th St.

“Christmas at the Pabst Mansion” will take place from Nov. 16 through Jan. 7, 2024, offering a unique holiday experience with new decorations and a special mimosa-guided tour.

The 7th Annual Book Sale at the Milwaukee County Historical Society runs from Saturday, Nov. 18, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 19, 12 p.m. – 4 p.m., featuring a variety of items, with proceeds supporting the society.

The Milwaukee Rep is set to present “Nuncrackers” from Nov. 17 – 19. This comedic production showcases the Nunsense sisters in a festive performance filled with carols and comedy.

Check out VISIT Milwaukee online to learn more.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

CLEARWATER — Chart-topping, Grammy-nominated saxophonist Dave Koz will bring the 26th annual “Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour” to the Tampa Bay area for one performance on Saturday, Nov. 25, 8 p.m., at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Road.

Tickets start at $42. Call 727-791-7400 or visit www.rutheckerdhall.com.

Beginning the next era of this musical tradition, Koz and Friends will perform fresh renditions of Christmas classics. Those include songs from the saxophonist’s latest holiday album, “Christmas Ballads (25th Anniversary Collection).”

He also will perform a Chanukah medley and hits from each artist’s respective catalogue. The tour reunites Koz with long-time musical partner, guitarist and singer Jonathan Butler, and will feature special guests including saxophone and flute player Marcus Anderson and vocalist Rebecca Jade. The run will also introduce musical prodigy Justin-Lee Schultz, a 16-year-old South Africa-born, U.S.-based pianist, guitarist and vocalist who has become a social media sensation.

Koz’s new single, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” and Justin-Lee Schultz’s “Fellowship,” featuring Koz, are currently climbing the Smooth Jazz Top 100 chart.

A California native, Koz has racked up an array of honors and achievements: nine Grammy nominations, 12 No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, numerous world tours, performances for multiple U.S. presidents, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and more.

His 2020 album, “A New Day,” reached the No. 1 position on numerous jazz charts, including iTunes and Amazon, and delivered an unprecedented four back-to-back No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay chart — “Side by Side” featuring David Sanborn, “Dr. Norm” featuring Paul Jackson Jr., “The Closer We Get” and “Summertime in NYC.” Koz broke new ground with his 2021 release, “The Golden Hour.” Recorded live in the studio with a large jazz ensemble, the album marked his first full-length collaboration with guitarist and producer Cory Wong.

Butler is an example of purposeful excellence in a time when artists of optimism are at a premium. From recording local hits as a teenager growing up during the apartheid of South Africa, Butler went on to become a world-renowned singer, guitarist and songwriter, delivering soulful salvos of R&B, gospel, jazz and pop. Touring professionally by age 7, Butler’s first single, “Please Stay,” was the first by a Black artist played on white radio in segregated South Africa. Butler became a national icon. His music even provided solace to Nelson Mandela, who later met Butler and told him that listening to his music had helped him endure time in prison.

Jade has opened for Jeffrey Osborne, Boney James and Musiq Soulchild and, in 2020, she performed with Elton John at the Academy Awards. Jade has also had the opportunity to tour with the Queen of Percussion, Sheila E., since 2017. A San Diego Music Award winner, she has released five full-length records, including an album of Cole Porter classics, “Planet Cole Porter,” with jazz guitar virtuoso Peter Sprague. She wrote and co-produced her newest album, “A Shade of Jade,” with Carnell Harrell. Also an athlete, Jade graduated from University of California-Berkeley on a full basketball scholarship. She will release her first-ever Christmas EP this holiday season.

Anderson has 16 studio albums on his list of accomplishments. The fusion jazz artist combines R&B, pop, rock and funk to make music that puts listeners in another atmosphere. His work with the late Prince and the New Power Generation has led him to perform on stages with the CeeLo Green, Judith Hill, Stevie Wonder and Liv Warfield. Prince also featured Marcus on his last release, “Hit n Run Phase 2,” playing on “Revelation” and “Look at Me Look at You.”

Schultz’s musical quest began as a toddler when he began playing with his bassist father, Julius, and drum-playing sister, Jamie-Leigh. Justin made his recording debut in 2020 with the album “Gruv Kid.” He has already collaborated with such artists as Bob James, PJ Morton, Sheila E. and others.

His new album, “Just in the Moment,” is imbued with soul, fire, and passion and showcases nine original songs. Produced by Paul Brown, it features Dave Koz, Richard Elliot and Robert Glasper — the latter is heard in the intro to the lone cover on the album, Eddie Harris’ 1960s hit, “Freedom Jazz Dance.”

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

GRANT PROJECT GRANTEE GRANT AMOUNT Cheers PA, Season 2: Penn Studios at PA Media Group will produce a second season of award-winning content for the Cheers PA brand, as well as produce individualized commercials for 150 PA craft breweries. This content includes Cheers PA Beer Tours, a web-series showcasing breweries, malters and nearby tourism stops across the commonwealth, and Cheers PA Beer Talks, a podcast interviewing industry leaders and innovators. PA Media Group $459,450 Developing Low-Alcohol Beers with Non-Saccharomyces Yeast and High-Glucose Worts: Using alterations to mashing procedures to produce worts that have glucose as the dominant sugar rather than maltose will allow for fermentation of the worts with non-maltose utilizing yeast that produce low alcohol beers. Pennsylvania State University $85,543 Barrel & Flow 2024: A project to build sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships and events among Pennsylvania-based beer, wine and cider makers and black artists, performers and small business owners, which promotes, highlights and supports black talent and entrepreneurs. Drinking Partners, LLC $80,000 Visit Bucks County Ale Trail Marketing: Bucks County’s officially designated tourism marketing agency will create new and enhanced marketing for the 26 breweries on the Bucks County Ale Trail in 2024. New content and increased advertising, including digital billboards and digital promotions, will drive traffic and increase sales by offering new and additional reasons to visit Bucks County breweries. Bucks County Conference & Visitor Bureau $75,000 Generation of Desirable Polyfunctional Thiols in Hop-Forward Pennsylvania Beers with Exogenous Six Carbon Alkenes: Polyfunctional thiols are highly desirable aroma compounds that are important to the flavor quality of many modern styles of beer, and hops (the most expensive ingredient in brewing) are almost exclusively the sole source of these compounds.  This project will explore novel ways for generating desirable polyfunctional thiols in beer without the traditional use of hops. Pennsylvania State University $69,918 Boosting Beer Flavor Through Yeast Biotransformation of Hop Aroma Precursors: Hops, a key brewing ingredient, contain extremely potent aroma active compounds called polyfunctional thiols that are highly desirable because they contribute pleasant flavors to beer. This project will explore how yeast can be used during dry hopping as a strategy for increasing the concentrations of desirable polyfunctional thiols in beer. Pennsylvania State University $67,551 Beer Analysis Lab: Point Park University is expanding the measurement capabilities of its beer analysis lab service by adding industry-standard instrumentation in areas including dissolved gas detection and percent alcohol by volume. This adds to existing beer-spoilage detection capabilities and provides area craft brewers easy and cost-effective access to third-party testing that can help ensure product quality and labeling accuracy without making large investments in equipment and space, simultaneously providing opportunities for undergraduate students to gain meaningful laboratory experience. Point Park University $65,349 Montco Makers Passport: The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board will launch a year-long, multimedia campaign to drive visits to Montgomery County breweries. Usage of the Montco Makers Passport will grow and promote the malt and brewed beverage industry in Montgomery County and integrate brewers into the larger tourism economy. Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board $60,000 The Pennsylvania Greater Alleghenies Ridge and Valley Fermentation Trails: The Pennsylvania Greater Alleghenies Ridge and Valley Fermentation Trails will promote the breweries, wineries and distilleries of Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, and Mifflin counties to increase tourism, vibrancy and revenue. Altoona Blair County Development Corporation $52,500 Pittsburgh Brewery Guide: Creation of an interactive digital version of the popular printed Pittsburgh Brewery Guide, which rewards beer lovers for visiting Allegheny County breweries. Project will also offer training programs for Pittsburgh Brewers Guild members and support periodic traveling beer markets that feature local breweries. Pittsburgh Brewers Guild $49,500 Brew Barons Beer Trail Marketing: Visit Hershey & Harrisburg will introduce the Brew Barons Beer Trail and free mobile passport to a broader regional audience by expanding its digital, social, and search marketing campaign into Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. With more than 30 craft breweries within 20 minutes of Hershey and Harrisburg, the Hershey/Harrisburg Region is in position to be recognized as a premiere craft beer tour and tasting destination. Visit Hershey & Harrisburg $45,000 Alcoholic Beverage Analysis Lab: With the purchase of a 15-gallon pilot brewing system, a 15-gallon fermenter, and a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Saint Francis University will train students and serve the local brewing community with equipment and expertise. Saint Francis University $31,460 Establishing a Set of Online Brewing Certificates: Saint Francis University is launching an online brewing micro-credential and starting an online certificate program to train entry level brewhouse workers. Saint Francis University $27,500 Lancaster County Ale Trail and Passport: Through direct marketing of its ale trail and expanded social media advertising and website development, the Lancaster County Brewers Guild aims to increase revenue for its members in 2024 and establish a network of brewers and industry peers. Lancaster County Brewers Guild $10,000

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

From palm trees and sunsets to oceans and bright red Poinciana trees, the Florida Highwaymen’s art brought the Sunshine State’s landscape to life.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment