Staged Affairs
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Dance Chicago Dance.
Back in 1980, Chicago was still a national hub for music (like LA, Nashville, and New York are today). During that time, Producer/Promoter/Entrepreneur Eddie Thomas ran the influential Dogs of War DJ record association. Based out of Chicago, they were a record pool famous for breaking a number of seminal disco recordings. Essentially, a record pool…
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Stretching out the Boundaries of Jazz: 10 years of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary with three dozen performances and programs on 11 stages across the neighborhood this weekend. Many of the performances, to their credit, lack easy categorization, and truly exemplify the spirit of Jazz from the South Side of Chicago (multi-layered, collaborative, and connected to the community).
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Do you Remember how to do the Camel Walk?
Do the Camel Walk! Last week on Reclaimed Soul, host Ayana Contreras played this rare local Chicago Blues/Soul record by Bobby Rush (not the former Black Panther turned Politician) from about 1968. In case you were wondering how to do the then-popular dance, here’s a clip of James Brown asking Sammy Davis, Jr. if he…
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Ready. Set. Spin: DJ Ayana out and about.
Here in Chicago, summer is wrapping up. But, before it ends, come to one of the FREE-fifty events I’ll be spinning at (many of which are outside). Click here for more info….
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Opera-Matic’s New Moon on the Lagoon
In this audio piece, I eavesdrop on rehearsals for Opera-matic’s very cool New Moon on the Lagoon, an “evening lullaby parade”, featuring a 15 foot tall giant moon that will be lit up from within by projections of facial expressions. It’ll be happening Friday May 10th and 11th, 2013 at the Humboldt Park Lagoon in…
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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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Disco Nights at the Cabrini Green Summer Fest, 1979
Jamming and juggling on a warm summer’s afternoon in the days when Jane Byrne was mayor… and Disco was king. Two years later, Jane Byrne moved into Cabrini Green in part as a publicity stunt. Below, a bit more footage: an unnamed local group can be heard (but not seen) performing a version of Teddy…
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Yesterday and Tomorrow (it’s a chicago thing): David Boykin Trio at Danny’s featuring DJ Ayana
Below, one of the great Chicago recordings that I’ll feature. check out a bit of David’s work below.
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Louder Than a Bomb in Concert: english class heretics.
Featuring work by LTAB all-stars, alumni, and co-creator Kevin Coval Friday, August 5 & 6, 2011 7:30pm Zacek McVay Theater TWO NIGHTS ONLY! This will be one of the most exciting nights at the Victory Gardens this summer! Don’t miss out on ENGLISH CLASS HERETICS: LOUDER THAN A BOMB IN CONCERT! The stage artists…
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Ladies Ring Shout: performance as a way to community
The Ladies Ring Shout as a Performance was born of a weekly workshop, dialoguing space, and “jam session” for women. Participants talked, wrote and moved in the spirit of collaborative experimentation and explored what an urban feminine discourse looks and feels like. What are our notions of an Urban Feminine? What is her legacy to/for…
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