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Interview With The Director Damien Chazelle PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kam Williams   
Thursday, 17 March 2011 21:53

Damien Chazelle was born inProvidence,Rhode Islandon January 19, 1985, but raised in both theU.S.and France. As a teenager, he won Best Drums atAmerica’s Best High School Jazz Competition in 2003 and Best Rhythm Section Soloist at the Dunellen Invitational Jazz Festival later the same year.

Damien attended HarvardUniversitywhere he studied filmmaking and began work on his senior thesis, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. He wound up leaving school to expand the thesis into his first feature film, shooting off and on over the course of two years, and finally graduating in 2008.

Shot on black-and-white 16mm for about $60,000, Guy and Madeline premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to play at over 20 other film festivals. It received a Gotham Independent Film Award nomination for “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You”; and was named the best unreleased film of 2009 by film critics Amy Taubin (Film Comment), John Anderson (Variety), David Fear (Time Out New York), and Elizabeth Weitzman (New York Daily News).

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Jason Palmer: The “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench” Interview PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kam Williams   
Monday, 14 March 2011 18:25

Trumpeter/Composer/Arranger Jason Palmer is one of the most in-demand jazz musicians of his generation. He has worked with such icons as Roy Haynes, Jimmy Smith, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ravi Coltrane, Geri Allen, Patrice Rushen, Kenny Barron, Phil Woods, Common and Roy Hargrove. Jason took first place in the 2009 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition.

The June 2007 issue of Downbeat Magazine cited Palmer as one of the “Top 25 trumpeters of the Future.” His debut recording, “Songbook,” with Ravi Coltrane and Greg Osby, was released to rave reviews in 2008. And his second CD, “Nothing to Hide,” just dropped in September of this year.

Jason’s group has been playing Wally’s Jazz Café in Boston every weekend for the past decade. The quintet has also been featured at the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, the Stone and the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the Studio in Hartford, Connecticut, as well as numerous venues across New England. In 2007, he was commissioned by the Festival of New Trumpet Music in NYC to premier a new composition based on Sudoku at the Jazz Standard.

Besides performing, Palmer maintains a busy schedule as an educator/actor/board member at JazzBoston. Plus, he was recently hired by Berklee College of Music as an Assistant Professor of Ensembles. Here, he talks about playing a title role in Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, a jazz-driven romance drama marking the impressive directorial debut of Damien Chazelle. 

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Interview with Raven Symone PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kam Williams   
Sunday, 13 March 2011 21:44

Born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 10, 1985, Raven-Symone' Christina Pearman got an early start in showbiz when she was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency while she was still in diapers.  At the age of five, Symone signed a reconrding contract with MCA Records as a solo artist.   After appearing in TV ads for everything from Cool Whip to Jello, she was invited to join the cast of “The Cosby Show.”  She’s best known for the Emmy-nominated comedy series “That's So Raven” on the Disney Channel where she played the title character Raven Baxter, a teenager who periodically has psychic visions of the future.

On the big screen, she was last seen starring in College Road Trip opposite Martin Lawrence where she played an overachieving high school student who decides to travel around the country to choose the perfect university to attend. Raven’s other film credits include The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Dr. Dolittle and Dr. Dolittle 2. 

As for her musical career, she has released four solo albums so far, most recently "Raven-Symoné" on Hollywood Records. An innovative entrepreneur, she created a "how to" online destination for teens and ‘tweens, RavenSymonePresents.com.  The site features an easy to use video player and playlist where users can discover new content. The video clips feature Raven-Symoné personally demonstrating an array of useful tips and project ideas for her fans and supporters. 

Furthermore, Raven devotes much of her free time to her humanitarian concerns, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which fulfills the dreams of children with life-threatening medical conditions. She’s involved with Girls Incorporated, too, a national nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring young females to be strong, smart, and bold by providing vital educational programs, particularly in high-risk, under served areas. Additionally, she is involved with the Aviva Family and Children's Services, an organization that provides life-saving and life-affirming support to thousands of children and families located in Los Angeles.

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Exclusive Interview With The Former Member of The Isley Brothers: Chris Jasper PDF Print E-mail
Written by Patricia Turnier   
Sunday, 13 March 2011 19:28

Chris Jasper (born Christopher H. Jasper, Cincinnati, Ohio) has been involved in music since his childhood.  At age seven his mother noticed that he was a gifted musician and could play Motown’s songs by ear on his piano;  she encouraged him to take piano lessons.  The Isley Brothers[1] and Chris Jasper grew up on the same block in their native Cincinnati.  In 1959, the group scored their first big hit, 'Shout[2],'  (a soul single that reflected the call-and-response style of gospel music and the vocal style of the group) and their second big hit “Twist and Shout” later covered by the Beatles in 1962[3].  More hits followed such as "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" with Motown Records in 1966, produced by the Dozier&Holland team.

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Exclusive Interview With The Former Candidate of The Apprentice 2: Stacie Upchurch PDF Print E-mail
Written by Patricia Turnier   
Monday, 28 February 2011 21:02

Née in Omaha, Nebraska, Stacie Jones Upchurch grew up in Colorado. It is important to note that Upchurch hasn’t just relied on her beauty to “make it”. She attended both Emory and Mercer Universities in Atlanta where she received, respectively, her B.A. in Marketing and her M.B.A.

At twenty, while attending college, she set up a marketing company that employed a staff of seventeen. She ran several businesses in Atlanta before settling in New York City, poised to achieve her modeling, acting and business goals.  In this respect, Modeling on the runways of New York City, acting on daytime television, running her own Subway franchise, starring on Donald Trump’s “Apprentice,” (season 2) represents just a few of Stacie J.’s accomplishments.

Aforementioned Stacie Upchurch is an ambitious and a brilliant woman. She became a candidate for the second season of the TV reality show The Apprentice. Over one million people apply each year to participate on this show. Upchurch was among the eighteen highly qualified and successful applicants. All candidates of The Apprentice were subjected to a series of interviews, auditions and intense competition with other aspiring corporate executives. Over forty million people watch The Apprentice each week. It has become one of the most successful programs in television history, and has received at least four Emmy nominations.

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Exclusive Interview With The Grammy And Juno Award-Winning Chanter/Songwriter DAN HILL PDF Print E-mail
Written by Patricia Turnier   
Monday, 20 December 2010 19:04

Dan Hill

Lettrine Although Mr. Dan Hill doesn’t need any introduction, in case you have been living in another planet, allow us to present a résumé of his professional accomplishments. Mr.  Daniel Grafton Hill IV was born in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) the 3rd of June 1954 to American parents who, as an interracial couple, moved to Canada to escape the twin scourges of racism (including laws against miscegenation) and McCarthyism. The couple also believed at the time that Canada provided a better environment to raise their family.  The internationally renowned artist Dan Hill comes from a prominent family.  His late father, Daniel G.  Hill III was a social scientist and public servant.  Before he came to Canada, he collaborated in the U.S. with the late eminent American sociologist E.  Franklin Frazier.

 

 

Dan Hill’s father became in 1962 the first Director of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the first black in the country to hold this position.  Mr.  Hill Sr., Ombudsman for Ontario was called Canada’s father of human rights.  His wife, Donna Hill, was also a human rights activist when she was active.  Daniel Grafton Hill’s brother, Lawrence Hill, is a prominent writer.  His sister, Karen Hill, is an authoress and a poetress.

 

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Interview With The Former President Of The United States: Jimmy Carter PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kam Williams   
Monday, 22 November 2010 20:54

Jimmy Carter The former president of the United State 

immy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He and his wife of 64 years, Rosalynn Carter, still make their home in their birthplace, Plains, Georgia, a predominantly African-American town with a population of just 637. However, the inseparable, peripatetic couple continues to travel around the world together on behalf causes advancing peace, healthcare and a number of other humanitarian concerns.

Former President Carter is also a very prolific writer, and the author of over two dozen books. Here, he discusses his latest best-seller, White House Diary, an annotated version of the private journal he kept during his tenure in office.  Interview conducted by the columnist Kam Williams, J.D.

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Interview With The OSCAR Winning Actor Jamie Foxx PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kam Williams   
Monday, 08 November 2010 16:35

exas native Jamie Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop on December 13, 1967 and raised by his grandparents from the age of seven months following the failure of his parents’ marriage. Although he was a star athlete at Terrell High (where he received top grades) on both the school’s football and basketball teams, he majored in classical music and composition at the U.S. International University in California.

The versatile actor / comedian / singer / musician / writer / producer / director got his start in showbiz in 1989 when he went on stage on a dare on open mic night and tried his hand at standup. After spending time on the comedy circuit, he joined Keenan Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans and Tommy Davidson in the landmark Fox sketch comedy series "In Living Color," creating some of the show's funniest and most memorable moments. In 1996, he launched his own series, "The Jamie Foxx Show," which was one of the top-rated programs on the WB Network during its five-year run. Jamie not only starred on the series but also was the co-creator and executive producer.  

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Exclusive Interview with the star singer and songwriter Steve Arrington PDF Print E-mail
Written by Patricia Turnier   
Wednesday, 20 October 2010 15:04

Steven Ralph Arrigton was born in 1956 to Dan and Lillian Arrington in Great Lakes, Illinois. Shortly after his birth the family returned to their hometown of Dayton Ohio. Music has always been a part of Arrington’s life. He grew up listening to the popular music of the day on the radio and in the family home on the record player. Iconic singers like Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye are just two of the names that impacted on his young life, foretelling what would be a relatively successful music career.

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Exclusive Interview With The Great Singer/Songwriter Senaya PDF Print E-mail
Written by Patricia Turnier   
Monday, 04 October 2010 18:58

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The young and radiant Senaya was born under the Senegalese sun, in the capital city of Dakar. Very proud of her roots, she considers herself as originating from both Senegal and Guadeloupe. Her father is a Senegalese businessman and her mother hails from Guadeloupe. She works in the medical field and also has a beautiful singing voice.  Senaya’s parents are also both passionate lovers of music.  The artist, mother to a young daughter, has lived in several countries:  Guadeloupe, France, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and since 1996 she lives in Montreal, Canada.  Her many trips have developed in her a large capacity for adaptation and rich life experience.  Senaya enjoys her vast cultural heritage.   She carries within her “Afro-Caribbean” roots, as well as her grandmother’s Indian origins.  Senaya is a lover of cultural diversity with a wide openness to the world.  Senaya wears many hats: she is a self-taught songwriter, composer and interpreter.  Her songs are inspired by the cultural mosaic which surrounds her.  She sings salsa, zouk, blues, acoustic soul, Caribbean jazz, and R&B, among other styles. This artist became the first Black woman in Quebec to receive the prize of Interpreter of the Year at the 35th International Song Festival of Granby  (the most important francophone festival in North America) in 2003.

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