ayanacontreras
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Eight Minutes: straight outta chicago’s soul cradle
The Eight Minutes were yet another family based kiddie soul group out of Chicago. Oh yes, there were a bunch. For those just joining us, let’s recap: There’s The Five Stairsteps: The Burke Family is of course best known for “Oooh Ooh Child”, but recorded a number of classy Chicago cuts on Curtis Mayfield‘s stable…
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Darkjive’s May 2011 Dance Card
Calendar of Events that Darkjive’s Ayana Contreras will be featured at. All are free and open to the public. Brown Sugar Marketplace @ Brown Sugar Bakery Friday May 6th, 5-8pm 328 East 75th Street, Chicago Featuring deep old school cuts by Ayana Contreras, The Marketplace has handmade jewelry, leatherwares, clothes, and more. Come for the caramel cake……
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Bridgeport Neighborhood Sees Identity Shift
Detail of a larger mural created by Juan Chavez and located at Fellowship House, 32nd and Lituanica, Bridgeport. Image from Mad About The Mural. Below is an interesting piece from WBEZ by reporter Natalie Moore that sheds light on changes that the Bridgeport neighborhood (home base for the Version Fest [see below]… and the Daleys) has been going through…
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version 11: the new chicagoans
This Month, Chicago welcomes back both springtime and Versionfest (BTW, I think I saw a daffodil on South Shore Drive the other day). Organized by the good folks behind local Arts & Culture publication Lumpen, the Fest runs from April 22nd until May 1st in Bridgeport (a neighborhood that’s been going through a lot of changes…
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avery r. young: local wordsmith publishes opus on facebook
Avery R. Young, local Chicago wordsmith, educator, personality, and friend of darkjive, is in the midst of publishing a series of thirty works (some poetry, some script treatments, and some more visual pieces) in the form of facebook notes. The work plays with notions of language, blackness, and the canon of African-American pop culture as…
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Passing Strange: a righteous afro-rock opera comes to Chicago!
“Passing Strange“, the Tony-winning black rock-opera is righteous, and it’s being staged in Chicago featuring local soul revivalists JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound… and my chica: LaNisa Frederick. Amen. Passing Strange is the coming-of-age story of “Youth” (Daniel Breaker), a kid growing up somewhere in LA in the seventies. He is disillusioned because he doesn’t fit the common…
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Theaster Gates’ Dorchester Projects
What do you get when you mix a maverick artist with strong community ties and an Urban Planner? For one thing, Theaster Gates. For another, the Dorchester Projects, pictured above. Theaster has been purchasing properties in the Woodlawn/Grand Crossing neighborhood for a few years now, and has quietly acquired the stock of the former Dr. Wax record…
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Monk Higgins: The Look of Love
An early Charles Stepney arrangement (who later worked with The Dells, Rotary Connection, and Earth, Wind, & Fire, among others), this record rumbles and slinks along with soul. I love how the chunky electric keys interplay with the swirling strings, and Monk’s swinging saxophone. Monk Higgins was born Milton Bland in Arkansas. He was already a…
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Chuck Bernard: Soul Survivor.
Vocalist Chuck Bernard (left, 1966) was born in Indianola, Mississippi and bred in St. Louis. He was able to lay down a series of cuts with a ton of great songwriting teams that kicked around Chicago (in addition to the legendary team of Bridges-Knight-Eaton who worked with a handful of Chicago artists though they were…
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thaw out with the groove conspiracy!
Chicagoans… Thaw out this Thursday (and every Third Thursday) with Simeon Viltz and DJ Ayana at the Groove Conspiracy. The revelry starts at 10pm. Dance, eat, drink, play pool, and catch a classic movie with subtitles (past features include The Best of Soul Train, Monkey Hustle, and The Last Dragon). Morseland is located at 1218 West…
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