ayanacontreras
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Sonic Healing Ministries’ Free Jazz Jam
This Sunday Afternoon 2p-4pm, it’s a Free Jazz Jam in the Chatham section of Chicago. 7534 South Eberhart (home of Sonic Healing Ministries) is the place. David Boykin (saxophone, et al) and the Microcosmic Sound Orchestra host. DJ Ayana spins. The Free Jazz services will also be streaming live here. About Sonic Healing Ministries: Everything…
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The Listening Room: at Seattle Art Museum, the artists’ medium is wax.
Record Store — an installation presented by Seattle Art Museum in collaboration with [storefront] Olson Kundig Architects (MacDowell architect Tom Kundig’s firm) — on December 13th in Seattle attempted to remove the barrier between artist and audience, Record Store encourages the community to participate in the curation of this Olson Kundig Architects-designed traveling installation. Record…
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Mahogany (1975): Cult Movie of the Week
Sometimes a post idea for Darkjive happens organically: the intersection of various occurrences in my life make it clear that I MUST post about something in particular. In this case, “Mahogany” started out as a request from a reader who thought that, because it was primarily shot here in Chicago, the lack of a post…
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DJ Ayana and Simeon Viltz spin… and it’ll be a Groovy Situation
THIS Thursday, January 19, 2012. 10:00pm at Morseland. It’ll be a groovy situation laid down on wax. All Soul Lovers. No Cover. I’m ready, are you? Above, partake in the Jones Girls singing “I Need You”. Before they found their fortunes in Philadelphia with classics like “Nights Over Egypt” and “Who Can I Run To”,…
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Opportunity Please Knock Chorus: oscar brown, jr.’s collaboration with the blackstone rangers
In 1967, members of the Blackstone Rangers, a notorious Gang in Chicago, collaborated with singer/composer/playwright/activist Oscar Brown Jr. to create a Musical Revue called “Opportunity Please Knock”. About eight thousand people went to the show during the first weeks of performance (at Chicago’s First Presbyterian Church). Photos in this post are from that first run.…
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Fontella Bass: sassy soulful siren in the first degree.
Fontella Bass is an amazing lady. Not only is the trajectory of her career fascinating, but she’s arguably the archetype for what Aretha Franklin was to become: a sassy, soulful siren in the first degree. Ms. Bass comes from the St. Louis, and is a part of a group of St. Louis native vocalists that…
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Wilbur Holmes: images of the West Side with Grit and Grace
Carlos of Surplus of Options (a smokin’ hot Antique/Resale shop full of curiosities here in Chicago) found these pictures… in fact, he picked up dozens of them… at a West Side Junk shop for almost nothing. I was immediately struck by the photos, both for their composition and tone. I bought the pictures from him…
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Record Store: where you can’t buy anything, but you can listen to everything.
I’ll be spinning for the opening of this… The record store is completely modular and made to encourage the kind of listening-based cultural interchange that makes record stores awesome. Over 4,000 records on loan from community members’ collections. None of them are for sale, but visitors can listen to them all: from “Belly Dancing Favorites”…
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Darkjive’s Early December Dance Card
So, this week or so, here’s where you can catch DJ Ayana in action: Monday, December 5th @ Danny’s Tavern Folks in the know love this spot for its nice sound system and dancing scene. I plan to spin an exciting mix of mod, latin, blues, and soul to swoon and move to. Of course,…
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Chicago: in all its fried, dyed, laid-to-the-side (or perhaps natural) glory.
I was watching my “Best of Soul Train” DVD box-set this weekend (of course), which includes tons of original TV spots for Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen (two black haircare lines manufactured by Chicago’s own Johnson Products). Iconic brands, to be sure. During the glory days of Black Haircare manufacture in Chicago (roughly the late…
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