What more could you possibly do to warm your heart on Valentine's Day?
Two truly gifted and talented performers, Derek Lassiter and Cedric Brown, sharing the same stage for what will be a magical evening. I have had the pleasure seeing both of them perform on stages throughout Bay Area so I can guarantee you will be in for a treat. Bring yourself and a friend and hear some wonderful music. See ya there!
NEWS FROM:
Cultural Arts & Marketing Division, Office of the City Administrator
City of Oakland
Black History Month Events
Run Dates: Now to March 10, 2007
Media Contact: Harry Hamilton (510) 238-2107
Friday, February 2, 2007
In Search of Human Culture: Songs and Stories of the African American in the 21st Century
8:00 p.m.
Oakland Museum of California , 1000 Oak Street
Admission Fee
The acclaimed actress, teacher, singer and writer Rhodessa Jones of San Francisco 's Cultural Odyssey examines the African-American experience through songs and stories, reflections, biography, video and more from her repertoire. Supported by the Laney College Black Student Union and Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.
(510) 238-3842
Saturday, February 3, 2007
New Era/New Politics Walking Tour
10:00 a.m.
Tour starts at African American Museum and Library at Oakland , 659 14th Street
Free Admission
The Oakland Tours Program presents a 90-minute walk in downtown Oakland highlighting African American leaders such as C.L. Dellums, Ron Dellums and Lionel Wilson.
(510) 238-3234 or www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours
Saturday, February 3, 2007
African American Celebration through Poetry
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline Street
Free Admission
Poets of all ages - from 8 to 80 - share their work including published writers, award-winning authors and some reading their work in public for the first time. Music, dance and costumes have enhanced past performances as each participant shares her or his unique style. Those involved thoroughly enjoy the diversity of presentations in this setting. Presented by the Oakland Public Library.
(510) 238-7352
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Mindful Drumming for Opening Minds and Healing Hearts
3:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc., 3278 West Street
Admission: $20, some scholarships available
Return to the way of the Drum as a tool to build community, increase creativity, harmonize relationships, heal broken hearts and experience joy. This gathering is designed to bring diverse groups together. Participants will utilize the twin concepts of rhythm and sound as a way of raising awareness and consciousness for a rich experience of joy and peace. Drums will be available. Kokomon Clottey, author of Mindful Drumming: Ancient Wisdom for Unleashing the Human Spirit and Building Community, will facilitate this gathering. Presented by Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc. and supports Arts in Schools.
(510) 652-5530 or www.ahc-oakland.org
Monday, February 5, 2007
Monday Night Blues Lectures and Performance
8:00 p.m. to midnight
Kimball's Carnival, 522 Second Street
Admission: $5 donation
Lecture on the history of Blues and performance. Series held every Monday during Black History Month. Presented by the Bay Area Blues Society.
(510) 836-2227/(707) 647-3962 or www.bayareabluessociety.net
From Associated Press
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 10, 2:25 AM ET
WASHINGTON - The lady is a stamp! The U.S. Postal Service honors the First Lady of Song — Ella Fitzgerald — with her own postage stamp Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 39-cent stamp is being released at ceremonies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and will be on sale across the country.
People who don't know about her will see the stamp and think: "What makes this person special? And perhaps find out about the person and about the music," said her son, Ray Brown Jr.
Fitzgerald wasn't self-important, perhaps reflecting the values she sang about in the Rodgers and Hart song "The Lady is a Tramp":
"I don't like crap games, with barons and earls. Won't go to Harlem, in ermine and pearls. Won't dish the dirt, with the rest of the girls. That's why the lady is a tramp."
Phoebe Jacobs, executive vice president of The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation and a longtime friend of Fitzgerald, described the singer as "a very private lady, very humble."
After Fitzgerald confided in 1961 that she had never had a birthday party, Jacobs gathered a star-studded collection of people for the special event. The party was a secret, so Fitzgerald was told to dress up because there was a television interview.
"When the lights came on she took her pocket book and hit me on the shoulder," Jacobs recalled. "She was like a little kid, she was so happy."
Fitzgerald was a baseball fan and the guests included her favorite player, Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle. They embraced and traded autographs.
Fitzgerald's appearance on a stamp comes less than a year after Mantle was featured among baseball sluggers.
Born in Newport News, Va., in 1917, Ella Jane Fitzgerald moved with her mother to Yonkers, N.Y., as a youngster and began to sing and dance from an early age. She began winning talent competitions in the early 1930s and was hired to sing with Chick Webb's band.
She later became famous as a scat singer, vocalizing nonsense syllables, and performed with most of the great musicians of the time. She recorded the song books of such composers as Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and Johnny Mercer.
Over the years, Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy Awards and many other honors, including the National Medal of Arts, presented to her in 1987 by President Reagan.
