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WORDTheatre Partners with LA Phil, Celebrates 20th Year with JAZZ Re-EVOLUTION
EntertainmentMusic

WORDTheatre Partners with LA Phil, Celebrates 20th Year with JAZZ Re-EVOLUTION

Kimberly Shelby, Contributing WriterJuly 13, 2023

In partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (LA Phil), and in celebration of its 20th anniversary, WORDTheatre® proudly presents JAZZ Re-EVOLUTION, a literary and musical tribute honoring jazz legends, at The Ford, on Saturday, July 22, at 8:00pm. Featured performers include Keith David, Antonique Smith, Tracie Thoms, Glynn Turman, Terrace Martin, Nedra Wheeler and Clayton Cameron, among many others.

Barbara Morrison: Still a Performer at the Center of Hearts
LocalNews

Barbara Morrison: Still a Performer at the Center of Hearts

Kimberly Shelby, Contributing WriterMarch 2, 2023

One year after revered songstress, vocal teacher and community activist Barbara Morrison’s passing at age 72, her legacy is humming along in full swing. The City of Los Angeles has renamed the corner of 43rd Street and Degnan (where the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center has stood for the past 14 years) “Barbara Morrison Square.” It was dedicated on the singer’s birthday last year, September 10, which also marked the date of the First Annual Barbara Morrison Jazz and Blues Festival.

National Museum of African American Music Opens in Nashville 
MusicNationalNews

National Museum of African American Music Opens in Nashville 

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent March 26, 2021

From rock and roll to blues, jazz, and hip-hop, music is as much the African American way of life as the afro was Black people’s style in the 1970s. Finally honoring that history, the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) has opened in Nashville, Tenn. 

Universal Music Faces Federal Lawsuit For Recordings Lost In 2008 Fire
EntertainmentMusicNewsNews (Entertainment)

Universal Music Faces Federal Lawsuit For Recordings Lost In 2008 Fire

City News ServiceJune 28, 2019

Representatives of several artists who lost master recordings in a 2008 fire at Universal Studios have filed a class action lawsuit seeking at least $100 million in damages, according to multiple media reports. The rock bands Soundgarden and Hole, country-rock singer-songwriter Steve Earle and the estates of rapper Tupac Shakur and rocker Tom Petty are among those suing Universal Music Group over the fire in its Los Angeles vaults that allegedly destroyed master recordings made by those and other artists. It is the first legal action taken since a June 11 New York Times Magazine article noted that a fire

Our History Matters: The Untold Stories of African American ‘Hidden Figures’
FamilyHistoryLegendsNationalNewsNews (Family)

Our History Matters: The Untold Stories of African American ‘Hidden Figures’

Kimberlee Buck, Staff WriterFebruary 8, 2019

Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1878. Major Taylor participated in his first bike race as a teenager. Shortly after, he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts to become a professional cyclist. Throughout his career, he received several world records from competing in races around the world but that didn’t stop the racist fans from throwing things at him and competitors trying to bump him off the track during his races. One competitor by the name of W.E. Becker choked Taylor until the police separated the two.

Black Women in Entertainment Making History
EntertainmentNews (Entertainment)

Black Women in Entertainment Making History

Amen Oyiboke, Staff WriterFebruary 25, 2016

Ava Duvernay is a Golden Globe nominated director from Compton, California, who is knocking down barriers in the film industry. In 2012, Duvernay became the first African American woman to win a directing award at the Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film, “Middle of Nowhere.” She also was the first African American female director nominated for a Golden Globe for her movie “Selma.”