May 13, 2012

Esperanza Spalding Feature in Newsweek

May 13, 2012/ Ayanna Nahmias

This past Sunday, 13 May 2012 was Mother's Day, and my friend who is a vocalist surprised me by asking her friend who is currently touring with Esperanza Spalding to comp her some tickets. She used the tickets to treat me to a Saturday night, sold-out performance at the newly renovated Howard Theater in Washington, DC. Words cannot convey the depth of this jazz vocalist's talent, nor the pull of her music, check out the links below to watch some of her music videos.

HW Pick: Esperanza Spalding, Radio Song (video) (harlemworldmag.com)
Esperanza Spalding has done it again! (dagnyzenovia.com)
Esperanza Spalding has returned with a new album! (rightsideofthebrian.com)

April 27, 2012

Sade, Timeless

April 27, 2012/ Ayanna Nahmias

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 13:30 PM EDT, 27 April 2012 First Published: 15:03 PM EDT, 15 January 2010

LONDON, England - Helen Folasade Adu “Sade”, 53, who was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, has come out with a follow-up single to "Soldier of Love," aptly titled "Love is Found." It is amazing to watch and listen to a woman who has been performing since 1984, and whose musical style has remained consistently outstanding and timeless.

I think in part her longevity is due to the private nature of her life, as it seems she has wisely chosen to focus her public persona entirely on her music. But for a brief moment when she experienced a terribly painful breakup, this seems little more than a blip compared to the drama that regularly plays out in the tabloids and news media about today's "musicians."

Sade is a songstress, an artist who harkens back to vocalist like Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, to name a few. Women who inhabited their talent with grace and class. We have chosen to update this post because of the recent news comparing Sade to Adele, another British superstar, and rumors of another album release.

Sade's soulful renderings come from a place borne of the experiences of a woman who has known and lost love, who is daughter and mother, who has navigated the complexities of a heritage that is both African and European, and who has passed through the agonies of heartbreak and pain played out in the public domain.

Her commitment to her music is what continues to draw fans to listen to and buy her music which has remained relevant even with a nine-year hiatus. She is the epitome of a true artist who is beholden first and foremost to their craft.

She possesses the patience to await the muse of inspiration that has once again enabled her to deliver a song that is "classic," evocative, and boldly revealing. She remains an inspiration to those of us who seek to live boldly without artifice, to display without sentiment our triumphs and foibles, and to experience the spectrum of emotional interactions that makes us uniquely human.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15WDBuvovXo]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR5_rTCi-Bo]

Watch the making of "Soldier Of Love" below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLxYOiXT2c]

Sade Live Release Coming (fresh1027.radio.com)
Why Sade is bigger in the US than Adele (guardian.co.uk)
Sade pips Adele in 2012 US money list (guardian.co.uk)
Britain's Smooth Operator from the 80s who's outselling Adele in America (despite living as a recluse in the Cotswolds) (dailymail.co.uk)
Sade outselling Adele in America (despite living as a recluse in the Cotswolds) (dailymail.co.uk)
Just 'cause: You Needed Some "Sade" Today (fernexpress.wordpress.com)

May 10, 2010

Lena Horne Dies (1917 - 2010)

May 10, 2010/ Ayanna Nahmias

Famed Lena Horne died yesterday at age 92. An iconic figure in Hollywood and on stage, Lena Horne was a pioneer who forced the film industry to evaluate casting African-American women in roles other than stereotypically safe and culturally preferred maids and 'mammies'. Blazing the trail in presegregration America, Ms. Horne used her intellect, talent and ambition to forge a career that spanned six-decades. Ms. Horne was an extremely talented and accomplished vocalist, and one of the first African-American actresses to sign a significant contract with a major studio. She continued to break barriers through her marriage to a Jewish conductor and bandleader Lennie Hayton in 1947. This was a bold move at a time when miscegenation laws were on the books in 30 states. "In the United States, the various state laws prohibited the marriage of whites and blacks, and in many states also the intermarriage of whites with Native Americans or Asians. In the U.S., such laws were known as anti-miscegenation laws. From 1913 until 1948, 30 out of the then 48 states enforced such laws. Miscegenation was finally ruled unconstitutional 12 June 1967 through the case Loving vs. the State of Virginia effectively ending legal enforcement of this practice nationwide.