CONSCIOUS STREAMS OF CREATIVITY

REED'S RIBS

My former high school classmate is making big news in Sacramento with his rib restaurant. Bill Reed has taken over the family business of BBQ'ing and has made a name for himself as having the best ribs in town!! I am so proud of Billy. He and his wife Tracy are representing their community in a big way.

If you are ever in the Rosemont area of Sacramento, please stop by and get some awesome vittles from Reed's Ribs. I hear the food is off the hook....well, don't just take my word for it. Check out the Video Post section of this blog and see him on the local CBS 13 newscast. His business is winning customers every day! YOU GO BOY!! Check him out online too! http://www.reedsribs.com/.

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

This past weekend I had the distinct pleasure of singing at a church in Seattle, WA with my choir and pastor. The church was actually located in Renton, which is not too far from Seattle. The New Beginning's Christian Fellowship Church is doing big things in this little town.

My pastor, John Hunter, and the pastor of the church, Dr. Leslie D. Braxton, are dear friends and colleagues, so we came to support this dynamic leader as they celebrated their Second Anniversary. And Pastor Braxton has a lot to celebrate as he has secured an 11.5 acre of land that will house his new church home.

The Unity choir of F.A.M.E. was glad to come sing, and we had a wonderful time getting to know the members of the congregation. The best thing is that we had the best hosts. We were shuttled around town, taken to restaurants to fellowship, and enjoyed a boat cruise courtesy of our pastor.
And yes, it rained the entire time we were there, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the sights of the Market Place and The Pike. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I look forward to going back to Seattle to visit and spend more time getting to know the city. It reminds me so much of Oregon.

We wish Pastor Braxton, his family and the congregation all the best. They are so deserving.









AHMET ERTEGUN






So another wonderful program came on PBS and I was fortunate to view it a couple of weeks ago. Remember in the movie "Ray" when Ray Charles was approached in his hotel room by Atlantic Records executive, Ahmet Ertegun? Well the true story of "The House That Atlantic Records Built" told this wonderfully delightful tale of how Atlantic Records became the little label that "could".

Ahmet told this story when I first tuned in. While visiting friends in New York, a 16 year old Ahmet decided to go uptown to Harlem and see a Cabaret show all alone. It seems, no one noticed this young man as he sat in and watched Cotton Club performers (dancers and musicians) and ended up staying out all night drinking and partying. Much to the dismay of his friends, they called his father after he was found to be safe. Ahmet said it was the first time his father hit him as he had worried everyone by not coming home.

Here is a timeline of how he began his musical career as a record exec and songwritter. When he was much younger, his older brother Nesuhi took him to see Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington at the Palladium in London in 1934. He moves with family to Washington, D.C., when his father becomes Turkish ambassador to the U.S in 1937. At age 14, Ertegun's mother buys him a record cutting machine. Taking a Cootie Williams instrumental, "West End Blues," he writes lyrics to it. With the instrumental playing on a record player he sings lyrics into the microphone as the record plays.

He graduates from St. John's College in Annapolis, MD, and goes on to graduate studies in philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His father dies, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

He co-founds Atlantic Records in New York City with friend and jazz fan Herb Abramson (a dental student and A&R man for National Records) and a $10,000 loan from Ertegun's family dentist. They pick the name after hearing of a label called Pacific Jazz. Atlantic's first office is in the condemned Jefferson Hotel on 56th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. The living room is used as the office. (Taken from American Masters website. )

What was interesting about his story was that he hired two young songwriters that I was familiar with because I had seen "them" on a PBS special several years ago when their hit broadway show, "Smokin' Joe's Cafe" was at it's peak, reviving the music of the 1950's-1960's.

Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber were hitmakers for Atlantic Records.

I watched and taped the story of Lieber & Stoller and it was fascinating to see how they created some of that era's most popular songs and worked with musical giants that we still listen to today. If you ever have an opportunity to see either one of these stories, you will be highly amazed that these White guys had their "ears" and "eyes" on the pulse of what was the next wave of great music for millions of music lovers.

They were instrumental in launching and sustaining the careers of Ben E. King, The Coasters, Peggy Lee, Ruth Brown, The Drifters and many, many more. They wrote songs you would "never" have imagained..."Charlie Brown", "Under the Boardwalk", and the list goes on and on.

I was so impressed by their musical genius. Here they were, two White guys who knew R & B music and lyrics that would become classics today.

What is always interesting to me when we're able to see the real history of musical artists, you find out who who recorded songs that other well known artists have become famous from. Take for instance, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. She was the first person to sing, "You Ain't Nothin' But A Hounddog". Her version was classic Blues rendition; raw with emotion. Well, years later, the song was covered by Elvis Presley and it became one of "his" greatest hits and signature songs. It's good to know the truth though, even though it's a little known fact. When I heard this question asked on television, "who was the original artist to sing You Ain't Nothin' But a Hounddog?", I knew the answer right away because of this documentary.

Anyway, let me get back to Ahmet Ertegun. He was instrumental in giving these two producers lots of acts to work with and they were very succesful. Ahmet believed in giving the artists support and freedom to do the music that was dear to their hearts, and not what was just popular. When he brought Aretha Franklin in to the studio, his intuitiveness told him that she was not just a great Gospel and Classic Standards vocalist. He helped her branch out and find her niche which was purely Soul Music. Aretha said that Ahmet and his producers were the best and they always had the best times in the studio.

Ahmet seems to be an unlikely resource for finding great Black talent, but again he did. He worked with Otis Redding, and believed Otis was the greatest Male singer of his time. The Atlantic record label was very diverse and signed all kinds of musical acts from R & B, to Jazz, Classic Standards and Rock & Roll. It's always interesting to see how these well known artists came to be, and there was vintage footage of Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Bobby Darin, Led Zeppelin, Ray Charles and others. So many, many great artists.

I found the story to be so facsinating because we don't often know who these record moguls are. I remember the first time I knew that Herb Alpert was the "A" of A & R Records. Not only was he a recording artist but he ran a record label. Back in the day, that was definitely a gutsy move, but in today's music business it is very commonplace. And most new Rap artists are producers and record execs before they become performers.

I am happy that I once again found a bit of history that was well worth watching, and that is crossed over to another great story of two songwriters who were virtual unknowns to the general public, but were the Kings Of Lyrics and Music in the industry. It's the same as Quincy Jones and his musical empire. It's not everyday we see how these people became the musical giants they are. PBS is always on the cutting edge when it comes to great documentaries and specials. I appreciate that.

IF THE SHOE FITS...DESIGN WITH IT

More very cool artwork found on the internet. This is a man after my own heart. Can you believe this? A chair made entirely out of women's shoes. The artist is Willie Cole.

I wonder what inspired this vision and how the heck he fashioned each shoe to form the chair. You definitely have to give him his props for being so ingenious.

I've seen those huge shoes that are actually chairs in the furniture stores, and would love to own one, but this chair is truly a masterpiece.