darkjive.com

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  • Under the Spell of Red and Brown Water

    Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “In the Red and Brown Water,” now playing at Steppenwolf’s Upstairs Theater, is an exercise in duality that lends itself to complete immersion, an exercise in which you’re left like a used bag of orange pekoe (feeling purposefully spent). Reality blends with chorus-driven fantasy, magic with carnality, and comedy with tragedy in this…

    February 6, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Art, Arts & Culture, Events, Jive Culture, Performance, Reviews, Show Reviews, Staged Affairs, the Goodness, Theater
    Alana Arenas, Black Theater, Chicago Theater, In the Red and Brown Water, Jacqueline Williams, K. Todd Freeman, Ora Jones, steppenwolf, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Theater
  • The Turntable goes Minimalist

    The little guy pictured above is a Linos Portable USB vinyl record player (never would have guessed it). How does it work, you ask?   Hook the wire into your computer. The bar has two parts. Take out the bottom base, place the long play album or single on top, and then sandwich it with the overarching…

    February 5, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Music, the Goodness
    analog, analog meets digital, Linos, record players, records, Technology, the Goodness, turntables, vinyl
    The Turntable goes Minimalist
  • Garland Green: soul and barbecue

    Someone who could “never lose” at the South Side Talent Shows that local record execs scoured for fresh talent, Chicago’s own Garland Green made a name for himself in the late sixties as a growling, burgeoning soul star to be reckoned with.  Ironically, he wasn’t discovered at a Talent Show, but playing pool. Legend has it…

    January 24, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Chicago Cultural History, Local Chicago Music, Music
    Allison Collins, Argia B. Collins, barbecue, Black Business, Chicago Barbecue, Chicago Cultural History, Garland Green, Local Chicago Music, Local Chicago Soul, Mumbo Sauce
  • Let’s Clean up the Ghetto.

      it’s about time.

    January 19, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Music, Photography, the Goodness
    Chicago Urban League, let’s clean up the ghetto, philadelphia international records, photography, record covers, urban planning
    Let’s Clean up the Ghetto.
  • Stand With Haiti!!

      Stand with Haiti!! An Evening of Food, Poets (including Lady Terror), Musicians, and Dancers Gathered to Support Those Devastated by the Earthquake in Haiti.  DJ Ayana on the tables. Thursday, Jan. 21, 6:00pm – 8:45pm Thorne Auditorium 357 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL Free admission, donations requested. Food/Drink: 6-7pm Program: 7:15-8:45pm ALL Proceeds will be donated…

    January 18, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Arts & Culture, Dance, Events, Jive Culture, Live Music, Musical Performance, Performance, Spoken Word, Staged Affairs, the Goodness
    Chicago Haiti Benefit, DJ Ayana, Haiti, Haiti Fundraiser, Lady Terror, Northwestern University, Tricia Hersey-Patrick
  • Tofu Chitlin Circuit presents: Black Thang

    THE SYNOPSIS: “Black Thang” by Ato Essandoh is the story of Sam, a black man, and Mattie, a white woman, and what happens when their relationship progresses from merely a one-night stand to something more…but not without some controversy. Meanwhile, Keisha (Mattie’s best friend), struggles to hold onto her relationship with her long-time boyfriend Omar, and Jerome (Sam’s best…

    January 17, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Art, Arts & Culture, Events, Performance, Staged Affairs, Theater
    Ato Essandoh, Black Chicago Theatre, Black Thang, Black Theater, bronzeville, Race, Sydney Chatman, Theatre, Tofu Chitlin Circuit
  • Ebony in the digital age

      Chicago’s own Ebony Magazine has digitized its archives.  Celebrate. Ebony was the premier photojournalism and news magazine of the Black Diaspora for decades.   During its peak, Ebony featured groundbreaking work by photographers such as Gordon Parks (work seen below), as well as thought provoking articles that exposed sometimes obscure corners of the “black experience” (Mixed race children of WWII G.I.s…

    January 16, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Arts & Culture, Chicago Cultural History, Commentary, Jive Culture, Magazines, Printed Matters, the Goodness
    Ebony, Ebony Magazines, Ebony/Jet, gordon parks, Johnson Publishing, Nichelle Nichols
    Ebony in the digital age
  • Passing Strange: a righteous afro-rock opera

       “Passing Strange“, the Tony-nominated black rock-opera is righteous…. 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 definition of blackness.  Floating above the city, getting high in his choir director’s blue Volkswagen beetle, “Youth” decides to…

    January 15, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Art, Arts & Culture, Film and Television, Music, Musical Performance, Reviews, Show Reviews, Staged Affairs, Theater
    afro-punk, Black Theatre, broadway, daniel breaker, passing strange, rock opera, Spike Lee, stew and heidi
  • Eunice Johnson: Wrought a Roadshow of Dreams

      Eunice Johnson (1916-2010), widow of Ebony/Jet Publisher John H. Johnson, was more than Black Media’s First Lady.  As Creator and Director of the Ebony Fashion Fair (an all black roadshow of haute couture), she paved the way for generations of black models from Beverly Johnson and Naomi Sims to Naomi Campbell.  In fact, Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”) was a…

    January 6, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Chicago Cultural History, Commentary, Magazines, Printed Matters, style, the Goodness, Uncategorized
    Black Business, Ebony, Ebony Magazines, Ebony/Jet, Eunice Johnson, fashion, fashion show, Johnson Publishing, Richard Roundtree, style
    Eunice Johnson: Wrought a Roadshow of Dreams
  • WORD: Across Generations

    WORD: Across Generations Sunday, January 17 2:00pm – 3:30pm Victory Gardens Biograph Theater 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago  Join The Public Square and Chicago Public Radio for WORD: Across Generations with poets Carloyn Rodgers, John Murillo, and Aja Monet. •Carolyn Rodgers (see poem below) emerged from the Black Arts Movement in Chicago in the 1960s…

    January 4, 2010

    ayanacontreras

    Art, Arts & Culture, Events, Performance, Spoken Word, Staged Affairs
    Aja Monet, BAM, Black Arts Movement, carolyn rodgers, Chicago Public Radio, John Murillo, poetry, spoken word, WBEZ
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