The joy of dance
Shows set for Stage 52
Deyampert Dance Academy, which teaches youth ages 4 to 17 and young adults ballet, modern, Jazz, Funk and Hip Hop Jazz dance, performs the program “Wake Up” tonight, Friday and Saturday at Stage 52 at 7 p.m. each night.
Tickets are $10 for children and $15 for adults. Stage 52 is located at 5299 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles.
Chuck Brown, known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” died Wednesday at 75 after being hospitalized for pneumonia earlier this month.
Go-go first became wildly popular in the Washington, D.C., area in the mid-1970s, and Brown is credited for creating the signature sound to compete with the dominance of disco. The sound became the most prominent genre of music identified with Blacks in the nation’s capital.
“The Cage,” which first ran at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, has moved to Stage 52 at 5299 W. Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles. Written and produced singer–songwriter Audra A. Bryant, the play is the triumphant story of David, a young man sentenced to 16 years in prison for a violent crime.
According to the author, “The Cage” represents the obstacles in life all must face, whether created by society or self-imposed, and is designed to present a solution for escaping one’s own personal cage.
John Levy broke the mold of White management among African American Jazz musicians, and in doing so elevated the income and the status of many if not most Jazz artist.
A former bassist himself, he performed with such giants as Erroll Garner, Stuff Smith, Billie Holiday and Billy Taylor before joining the quintet of pianist George Shearing.
But Levy was drawn to the business side, and that proved to be where his genius lay.
Rhythm & Blues pioneer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Johnny Otis—born John Veliotes—died Tuesday night in the Los Angeles area after a decade-long struggle with an undisclosed illness. He was 91.
Otis was born Dec. 28, 1921, in Vallejo, Calif. He dropped out of school to play with bands throughout the Midwest and settled in Los Angeles in 1943. He performed with Charlie Parker and Count Basie, but his main impact was in R&B.
The WE CAN Foundation will host the Allensworth “Scat to Rap” Family Music Festival celebrating all the genres of Black music and African rhythms, including Blues, Gospel, Jazz, BeBop, DooWop, R&B and conscious Hip Hop. The festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10, and activities will begin at 11 a.m. at the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park in Tulare County.
