darkjive.com

  • About
  • Lack versus Fat. (my philosophy)
  • On the Radio.
  • Chicago Cultural History
  • Visual Art
  • Arts & Culture
  • Music
  • Film and Television
  • Printed Matters
  • Photography
  • Chicago Jazz
  • Chicago Blues
  • Chicago Soul
  • Chess Records
  • Charles Stepney
  • Chicago 1968
  • Chicago Arts & Culture Beat 2009-2015
  • Ebony/Jet
  • PUSH Expo
  • Don’t Care Bears. Hilarious.

      You know you love it. Or else, you don’t care.   This t-shirt, featuring a trio of apathetic bears modeled after the iconic Care Bears is available from Chicago’s own Threadless, by artist Alex Solis.

    July 19, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Art, Arts & Culture, Commentary, Printed Matters, style
    Alex Solis, Care Bears, Don’t Care Bears, Threadless
  • ReMake Estate: Brand New Day.

    ReMake Estate is a really cool project going on in Gary (Indiana) in which an abandoned house on 24th and Massachutsetts will be reborn as a meeting space and a community garden.  The project is being organized in conjunction with interested local community groups and Australian-based artists Keg de Souza and Zanny Begg.  The artists (from…

    July 19, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Art, Arts & Culture, Jive Culture, the Goodness
    community activism, community building, gary IN, Keg de Souza, Michael Jackson, ReMake Estate, The Wiz, urbanism, you are here, Zanny Begg
  • Lyricist Loft: Kids Today Can Read… and Write.

    Wednesday nights this Summer, an Open mic for Open minds: hosted by dimi d. & Fatimah DJ talent & DJ Such N Such Bring your poems, songs, videos, chants, interpretive dancing…etc. JUST COME and bring your Positive Energy FEATURED POETS= Kuumba Lynx Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm Location: 400 South State

    July 13, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Arts & Culture, Events, Jive Culture, Performance, Spoken Word, the Goodness
    Events, Literary Events, Lyricist Loft, YOUmedia
  • The Return of Captain EO: This was it.

      Hot off the presses.. Captain EO will be reopen at the Epcot Center (at Walt Disney World) this July. The ride/film short directed by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring Michael Jackson was originally opened in 1986 and closed in 1994 amidst allegations of abuse.  The film was definitely a highlight of my family’s trip to…

    July 2, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Arts & Culture, Commentary, Events, Film and Television, Music, the Goodness, Visual Arts
    Captain EO, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Jackson, michael jackson tribute, the 80s, Walt Disney World
    The Return of Captain EO: This was it.
  • photos from the get down.

    A couple of photos of me at work, taken by Taras Tymchuk (a visitor in town from the Ukraine). You should visit, too.

    June 11, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Uncategorized
    Ayana Contreras, DJ Ayana, Taras Tymchuk, the get down
  • Messin With the Kid: The Update

    It’s the time of the season for italian ices, blowing bubbles, and visits to amusement parks.  But it’s a sad day in Melrose Park, for this is the first summer in eighty years without Kiddieland.  No little train.  No cotton candy.  But all is not lost…..  Originally published Labor Day Weekend 2009: After Eighty Years, Kiddieland of Melrose…

    May 25, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Chicago Cultural History, Uncategorized
    Great America, Junior Wells, Kiddieland, Little Dipper, Rollercoasters, Wooden Roller Coasters
    Messin With the Kid: The Update
  • Good Lovin… or else

    This is a record that embodies Chicago Grit and Get Down.  “Good Lovin” by the legendary Otis Clay is at once a love song and a warning.  Take heed.  Says he: “And if you walk out my life, I hope you fall and break your neck”.  If that ain’t grit, I don’t know what is…. A favorite…

    May 23, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Local Chicago Music, Music, the Goodness
    Benjamin Wright, Blues, Chicago Blues, Chicago Soul, Echo Records, Local Chicago Soul, Otis Clay
  • Brighter Side of Darkness: a love note.

    Below, “Love Jones” by Brighter Side of Darkness, performing on Soul Train. Don’t confuse this group with the Jackson Five, as they are aren’t a family act. They were just one in a rich history of Chicago-area based Kiddie Soul groups. The nucleus of the group came from Calumet High School here in Chicago, but 12…

    May 21, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Chicago Cultural History, Film and Television, Local Chicago Music, Music, the Goodness
    basketball jones, Brighter Side of Darkness, Calumet High School, cheech and chong, Chicago Soul, darkjive, Local Chicago Soul, Love Jones, Soul Train
    Brighter Side of Darkness: a love note.
  • Hip Chicago Jazz with Soul!

    Darkjive has been on Summer Vacation, but always digging deeper… I’ve been really into swinging sixties jazz from Chicago, like “Coming to Atlantis” a hip mover produced by Monk Higgins and credited to Freddie “The Creeper” Robinson (on Lead Guitar).  The Flip of this 45, called “Before Six” is wonderful, as well. During the late 1960’s, there…

    May 11, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Arts & Culture, Chicago Cultural History, High Culture, Jive Culture, Local Chicago Music, Music, the Goodness
    Charles Stepney, Chicago Jazz, Chicago Soul, Dorothy Ashby, Freddie Robinson, Jazz, Local Chicago Music, Monk Higgins, Richard Evans
  • Gone Away: a one-two-three chicago-bred punch of soul

    Performing below (in Ghana, circa 1971) is Roberta Flack.  She is singing “Gone Away”… a cool, loping soul record from her album “Chapter Two”.  This record was written by the one-two-three Chicago-bred punch of Leroy Hutson, Curtis Mayfield, and Donny Hathaway (before his own breakout single “The Ghetto”).  “Gone Away” was also recorded by The Impressions and Lovelace Watkins (in…

    April 7, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Local Chicago Music, Music, the Goodness
    Chicago Soul, curtis mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Gone Away, Impressions, Leroy Hutson, Local Chicago Soul, Lovelace Watkins, Roberta Flack
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