Everything's Coming up August

Everything's coming up... August?!

As we transition from the afterglow of Black History Month, those of us in Pittsburgh have a extra reason for pride. The Ground on Which I Stand documentary shown on PBS's American Masters was such a boost to region as well as spark renewed interest in August Wilson and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture 2.0.

The afterglow continues in an extended “after-party” of sorts with the Pittsburgh's Public Theater's latest production, How I Learned What I Learned, opening on Thursday.

Penned in 2003, How I Learned is a biographical/memoir written and performance by August Wilson, reminiscing about the influences on his work, including his days in Pittsburgh growing up, as a Centre Avenue poet and how the Hill District community help influence and inspire his epic Pittsburgh (Century) Cycle.

I had an opportunity to chat with Eugene Lee, the actor charged with conjuring a favored son of the Hill. Some of you may recall that Pittsburgh's Montae Russell was in a similar scenario with Thurgood when he portrayed the late Supreme Court Justice. Russell's one-man turn required him to assume 25

different characters whereas Lee only has August. The difference is that Lee is portraying someone who only left us ten years ago in his hometown.

“We're not trying to copy him, look like or sound or walk like August,” says Lee, a veteran of four Wilson plays. “I try to channel his spirit through his words, his characters, his language. (How I Learned) will offer some insight into the man behind the characters.”

As for Pittsburgher and Wilson's long-time dramaturge Todd Kreidler, he feels the weight of the production squarely on his shoulders; he's the director. I ran into him on the way to interview Lee (they both recently did a run of How I Learned in Atlanta), so I asked him. He emphatically said “YES!”as he continued his way ladened with binders and notebooks. Suffice it to say that all are aware of the significance and implications of presenting this production on “ground zero,” here in Pittsburgh.

How I Learned What I Learned by August Wilson, co-conceived and directed by Todd Kreidler is playing now at the Pittsburgh Public Theater through April 5 (no performances on Monday).

Tickets are available calling the box office at Theater Square, 412-316-1600 or purchase online at http://ppt.org. Groups of 10 or more qualify for a group discount. Call Katie at 412-316-8200 x 704 or kconaway@ppt.org for more information.

Standing on shaky ground

The state of Black arts in Pittsburgh is at best rocky – there is no solid ground. When funders underwrite  studies that barely touch on the fragile status of Black arts organizations (not including the life or death soap opera of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture), it signals that our institutions are in at best a tenuous position.

Aside from the obvious funding issues, what can be done? I offer these suggestions (not be confused with solutions – those aren't my call):

Show the eff up. Empty seats at performances are trifling. White folks outnumbering black folks in the audience is humiliating to presenters and performers because they create their art for Black people (you and me) – in a unending quest to give our voices life. If we don't show up, it sends a very cold message that doesn't inspire faith. It says “I care more about my weave, my nails and rims than I do about the  well-being and vibrancy of my neighborhood and community.”

Priorities. If we don't speak our truth or share our truth we cease to count. Another reason why we gotta show up – everywhere. Show up at the performances and presenters have a better shot of funding (see above). Show up at the voting booth (on a regular basis) ensures that there are people of color in positions of influence and power when budget and funding decisions are made.

Accountability. Our tax dollars are used to fund the arts. If we want to share and preserve our truths, our culture, our voices, we must participate beyond Black History Month, because we have art, culture, truths, history, voice and points of view that shouldn't be relegated to the shortest damn month of the year (there, I said it).

When we become a persistent presence, when we show up, we become secure in standing our ground.

#blackartmatters

SOUNDS OF HEALING - Sweet Honey in the Rock

a version of this first appeared on THE SOUL PITT website

“…I have always believed art is the conscience of the human soul and that artists have the responsibility not only to show life as it is but to show life as it should be. … Sweet Honey In The Rock has withstood the onslaught. She has been unprovoked by the 30 pieces of silver. Her songs lead us to the well of truth that nourishes the will and courage to stand strong. She is the keeper of the flame.”  – Harry Belafonte

This Saturday brings an opportunity to get your soul and spirit right the healing therapy known as Sweet Honey in the Rock in a 8 p.m. concert at the Byham Theatre.

Times have changed in the four decades in the existence of the seminal a cappella ensemble known as Sweet Honey in the Rock. Since her inception in 1973 as a quartet at a workshop at the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company in Washington, 20-plus women have contributed to the evolution of this cultural phenomena.

They took their name from the first song they learned, “Sweet Honey in the Rock,” based on a Biblical psalm. “Sweet Honey speaks of a land that is so rich when you break the rocks open, honey flows.

Despite the changes in the cultural fabric that makes up America, SHIR has remained consistent due to its uniqueness. “The group has never been a part of the general music industry,” say Carol Maillard, an original SHIR member. “We haven't fit in any genre other than children’s music. Now with our new cd, we are in a wonderful category, JAZZ VOCAL. To me this recording really show cases the individuals in a brilliant way and also gives the listener the full flavor of the Sweet Honey group sound.”

One could say SHIR is the moral compass of inclusion that carries its message of empowerment and appreciation of all aspects of diversity in music. Under that global umbrella activism, empathy and tributes to grassroot struggles human rights, civil rights, equity, equality and freedom are the connective tissues that connects these musicians to their audience. SHIR’s journey has taken around the world several times, and the universality of their message is the fuel that feeds her.

“No, we didn't plan to be around for forty years. when we started we took whatever came our way and when a singer was ready to move on, she did and there are a new singer,” reflects Maillard. “We have had 24 women in this group. Some left and came back, some stayed a long time. Ysaye Barnwell just retired after 33 years of working with the group. Bernice departed at 30 years and I am sure she is surprised that we wanted to go forward and are still doing all we can to keep the group moving ahead.”

“It is not easy because we are not a top pop group nor a gospel group but we touch so many genres, so many flavors that it's hard not to feel Sweet Honey deep in your heart and want to hear more,” Maillard continued. “Each soloist brings her A game to each style rendered and what you experience rings true not only to the singer and the style but to the artist represented. Who else but Sweet Honey can do that, unapologetically?”

In a nod to the longevity of SHIR, I asked Maillard how she would describe the group to a time  traveller. “Think of a sound that touches you to the core, a melody that is ancient but helps keep your feet planted firmly in the present. It steels you to be ready to face the future,give strength and ammunition to move into the future. It is ancestral, alive, vibrant and soulful. It is truth in sound, honest and pure.”

The current line-up comprises Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, and Shirley Childress (an ASL sign language interpreter). Sweet Honey is also featuring some special guests for select dates, including bassist Parker McAllister, who is featured on the group’s current CD  and vocalist Navasha Daya Hill.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the soulful a capella ensemble, SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK®, at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 8:00 p.m. Ticket prices start at $25. For tickets and information, visit www.TrustArts.org, call (412) 456-6666, or in person: Theater Square Box Office, 655 Penn Avenue.  This event is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series.

Audience wins in Jazz intrastate rivalry

(Originally published Wednesday, 29 February 2012 11:17)

by C. Denise Johnson
For the New Pittsburgh Courier
   With a double-bill headlining two Grammy winning jazz musicians, it goes without saying that in this rivalry, the winner would be those who had enough sense to be in the audience.
    Fresh off of his Grammy Award for Big Band Jazz Performance, Christian McBride continued his winning ways by performing songs of his award-winning release, “The Good Feeling” and yes, that good feeling (and good music) wafted through the near capacity house at the August Wilson Center for another performance featuring the swinging Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra.
 

JEFF ‘TAIN’ WATTS (Photo by Gail Manker)

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    Ace bassist Christian McBride was clearly enjoying himself as he led the PJO through his arrangements and engaged in some brief banter introducing the selections. “Shake and Blake” was a nod to longtime musical co-hort Ron Blake (with a tasty passage by saxman Michael Tomaro) while the next tune, “Mister Brother” was a tribute to James Brown.
    The highlight of McBride’s set had to be “Science Fiction” a homage to TV show themes (think “Twilight Zone” and “Outer Limits”) featuring an out-of-this-world flute solo by Kenneth Powell and Alton Merrill’s usual wizardly work on piano.
     McBride brought out vocalist Melissa Walker to recreate the magic her contralto brought to two tracks from “The Good Feeling” CD on “A Taste of Honey” and “The More I See You,” before Jeff “Tain” Watts joined in on drums to trade bars with McBride on “In A Hurry.”
     Following intermission, Pittsburgher Watts assumed the stage with the disarmingly cool he portrayed in the Spike Lee joint, “Mo Better Blues.” But once he picked up his sticks, the fire was stoked.
    Watts paints pictures with his drum work, using the skins as his canvas and sticks and mallets as his brush. His opener, “The Impaler” was right to the point pushing a hard rhythm and Sean Jones used the same urgency with his trumpet solo.
    “Blutain” was Tain’s interpretation of the blues with Powell adding a funky sax solo. “PAEN” is a recent composition that showcased the varied subtleties and textures that Watts brings out of his cymbals.
    “Of August Moon,” a Watts composition dedicated to August Wilson, could serve as a Broadway overture to the Pittsburgh Cycle of plays with its bluesy swing and shifts in rhythms and melody with occasional hints of dissonance and melancholy.
    Another unexpected pleasure was a haunting ballad, “May 15, 2011” (Watts readily admitted he couldn’t conjure an appropriate title), that featured the drummer on vocals. On this night he dedicated the song to Whitney Houston, whose homegoing was held earlier in the day.
    Watts concluded his set and the evening by bringing McBride back to the stage to join him on “Return of the Jitney Man.” “There was already a song called Jitney Man,” Watts explained as he introduced this recollection of his father working out of the Bedford and Chauncey jitney station.
    The Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra’s next performance will be in April, Jazz Appreciation Month.

‘August in August’ serves up tasty morsels of theater

(This originally ran in the August 24, 2011 edition of the  New Pittsburgh Courier)
by C. Denise Johnson
For New Pittsburgh Courier
    Generally speaking in theater circles, revivals refer to new productions of long –
remembered and highly regarded works returning to the Great White Way. Liberty
Avenue may not be Broadway, but last weekend saw the much-anticipated return of
the “August in…” theater sampler to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District in the August Wilson
Center for African American Culture.
    Begun as a collaboration between the Cultural Trust’s Janice Burley Wilson and
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company founder Mark Clayton Southers, it experienced
growing pain and hiatuses while attracting Broadway luminaries James Earl Jones and
Charles Dutton in tribute to Pittsburgh’s Hill District griot.
    A near-capacity house was treated to performances from nationally respected
actors, Broadway veterans and some of the best talent from southwest Pa. in scenes from
ten plays comprising August Wilson’s “Century Cycle” that portray African American
life in each decade of the 1900s.
    To present “August in August” in the AWC in Wilson’s hometown was a full
circle moment reminiscent of the African sankofa bird that returns to where it began.
Metaphors aside, the symbolism was not lost on the audience as they were treated to soul
food in the words and wisdom dispensed through Wilson’s pen.
    The evening began with a taste of things to come in a very brief scene from “Gem
of the Ocean” of an uninvited visitor intent on conferring with Aunt Ester. The ensuing
scuffle disturbs Aunt Ester who queries the insistent intruder with “Didn’t he tell you to
come back Tuesday?”
    We do return, but this time we’re in recording studio awaiting the arrival of Ma
Rainey (Vanessa German). This scene from “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” features
Antonio Fargas (best known as “Huggy Bear” from the 1970 Starsky & Hutch cop
series); film, TV actor and Swissvale native David Conrad; and members of the August
Wilson Center Theatre Ensemble.
    In “Radio Golf,” Harmon Wilks receives a brilliant object lesson in
gamesmanship, race and reality from urban philosopher Sterling; followed by an excerpt
from “Jitney” where Youngblood comes clean to the mother of his child about his
suspicious behavior.
     “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” features Tony Award-winner Stephen McKinley
Henderson as Bynum sharing his perspective on women and “Two Trains Running”
highlights dialogue on current events (funerals, finance and real estate) steeped in
authenticity as served up by Anthony Chisholm, Sala Udin and Fargas to close out the
first half.
     The second act opened with a scene from “King Hedley” where Tonya and King
argue over whether or not she should keep the child she’s carrying. Powerful
performances from AWCTE member Joshua Elijah Reese and August Wilson
Monologue winner Emily Kolb (an incoming college freshman) captivated the audience,
as did its follow up, a scene between Chrystal Bates and Kevin Brown from “The Piano
Lesson.” Both excerpts highlight the struggle of the sexes for balance with their world
and each other.
    The “dance” between Hedley (Fargas) and Bernice (Andrea Frye) in “Seven
Guitars” sheds a different light on the male-female battle of wills (call this one a draw).
    Family conflict is the centerpiece of the “Fences” excerpt that has McKinley reprising his
Broadway role of Bono and Udin as Troy (the Broadway role played by Denzel
Washington). It’s hard to imagine Washington measuring up to the emotional stakes
ratcheted up by Udin in the confrontation with son Corey (played by Carter Redwood) in
the climatic scene.
    A collective exhale of the built of tension is released with the evening’s closing
scene from “Ma Rainey” with a hilarious, scene-stealing turn by Michaelangelo Turner.
    It truly took a village to put on “August in August” and, as attested by Wilson’s
widow Constanza who was in attendance closing night, would have met his approval
with it’s multigenerational participation onstage and backstage with crew, costumers
(Cheryl El-Walker, Kennedy Guess, Grace Hines, Deryck Tines) and actors. Three high
school monologue winners (Kolb, Devaughn Robinson and Heaven Bobo) held their own
along side theatre and Broadway vets.
     The ensemble spirit was shared among the directors (including JaSonte Roberts
Dean, Tami Dixon, Kim El, Frye, Henderson, Joseph Martinez, Redwood and Southers)
and cast (Jeffrey Carpenter, Jason Shavers, Mark Conway Thompson and Bria Walker).
    Special kudos go to composer Kathryn Bostic who brought her Broadway Wilson
sensibilities to bear on providing the music to providing the comfortable and familiar
soundtrack to underscore the product.
    'August in August' is a fitting conclusion to a season of transition at the AWC and
an appropriate first finale for Southers’ tenure as Artist Director of Theater Initiatives of
the namesake facility of his mentor.