ayanacontreras
-
Dorothy Donegan: Chicago’s own Jazz Cover Girl
Darkjive focuses mainly on soul music born and bred here in Chicago during the golden era of Chicago Soul: the 1960s through the late 1970s. Anyone who knows me, however, knows I am passionate about a variety of music that has come out of our city: especially soul, blues, and jazz. That said, recently an…
-
Tomorrow, we groove.
Below, one of the grooves I’ll spin: “Love so Strong” from the Lovelites (pictured, left). Fronted by Patti Hamilton, the group of ladies from Chicago’s South Side recorded a gaggle of groovin’ steppers (including one of their biggest hits, “My Conscience”). The Lovelites are, in my humble opinion, one of the most consistent female groups…
-
Blackstone Bicycle Works teaches South Side Kids to build bikes (and dreams, too)
Blackstone Bicycle Works is an offshoot of the creative incubator known at the Experimental Station (located at 61st and Blackstone). Recent recipients of Seattle’s Best Coffee’s Brew-lanthropy Award, the Bicycle Works has been teaching local youth Bike Mechanic skills as well as healthy life lessons since 1994. They offer reasonable bike repairs and sell…
-
Al-teen Records: Bill Meeks’ little ships of soul
Bill Meeks was, in the late sixties, a jingle writer here in Chicago who started a record label called Al-teen. The label was based at 82nd and Stony Island, and put out records by Sunday (Williams), Drake and the En-Solids, Earl Duff, The Supurbs (sic), and Johnny McCall. Many of the tunes were composed by…
-
come get artsy/dance. dj ayana at the geolofts.
Gallery 400 and threewalls present a ceremony honoring the 15 winners of the 2011 Propeller Fund awards, which serve to promote informal and self-organized creative activity in the Chicago area. Come celebrate the grant recipients and the community with food, drink, and music at the Geolofts. The awards ceremony is presented in conjunction with the…
-
Jo Armstead: a giant among men.
Jo Armstead is a Mississippi-bred firecracker vocalist who is also a dynamite songwriter (a field dominated by men). She told SoulMotion.co.uk: “By the time I was in my teens, I was sneaking out to cafes, juke joints, and dances on Saturday nights. Blues man Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland gave me my first opportunity to sing with…
-
Tom Tom 84 goes Hollywood.
Tom Tom Washington (pictured at left) is basically my hero. He’s also a very humble and cool individual to be around. As a Chicagoan and a music lover, his distinctive Horn and String Arrangements are like home to me. Tom Tom came up in Chicago’s Ida B. Wells Projects and studied music under the tutelage…
darkjive.com 