 |
|
Wednesday, June 8
, 2016 For Immediate Release
|
Musical Tribute in Memory of Lula Lowe Lewis, Founder of Iconic Lu and Charlie's Jazz Club
|
Saturday, June 11 at the Old U.S. Mint
|
 |
|
|
Lulu Lowe Lewis (1947-2016) |
By James Borders, IV
NEW ORLEANS - Lula was born in Granite Quarry, North Carolina, to Muriel and Daniel Lowe. She was one of ten children. Family values of hard work and community led her to civil rights activism with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and participation in the Selma to Montgomery March.
Before moving to New Orleans in 1971, Lula earned a bachelor's degree in 1968 at Barber Scotia College, the historically black college in Concord, NC, and a master's degree in Education at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. During her time in St. Louis, she became an active supporter of the Black Arts Group (BAG), which championed avant-garde music and other artistic expressions.
Her stay in New Orleans was originally intended to be just a brief layover before heading to West Africa. However, Lula noticed the lack of a progressive jazz scene in New Orleans. So she and Charlie Bering opened Lu and Charlie's: Potables, Sustenance, Jazz in October 1972 at 1101 N. Rampart Street at the corner of Ursulines Street in the historic Faubourg Tremé section of the city.
Lu and Charlie's featured live music six nights a week and became the epicenter of contemporary jazz in New Orleans. Musicians experienced artistic freedom at the club and were paid union scale. Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, Clyde Kerr, Kidd Jordan, James Black, James Booker, Earl Turbinton, Lady BJ Crosby and other stalwarts of modern jazz were regulars at the club. Visiting artists from the national jazz world like Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Nat Adderley helped fill out the weekly rosters of stellar performers.
Lula worked days as a teacher at St. Mark Treme Street Academy and Milne Boys Home. In 1973, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter she and Charlie named Celu Bering.
Lu and Charlie's was renowned for its unique appeal as a gathering spot that featured appetizing food like the Celu Burger, drinks, excellent music and a hip clientele. After several successful years of operation, the club closed New Year's Day 1978. Lu and Charlie's played a pivotal and enduring role in nurturing contemporary jazz in New Orleans.
Lula later married John Lewis II and moved to Pensacola, FL in 1981. The couple had three children, Sunshine Lewis, John Lewis III and Fela Lewis.
In 1998, Lula and her husband John founded the Lu and Charlie's Preservation Society, a nonprofit organization that has documented the historical significance of the club through interviews, educational programs and concerts. The work of the society also includes cultural exchanges with black communities in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
For these and other efforts, including contributing to the development of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, Lula Lowe Lewis deserves to be commemorated as one of the most influential cultural leaders in the history of New Orleans.
A musical tribute to Lula Lowe Lewis, founder of the iconic 1970s New Orleans music club, Lu and Charlie's: Potables, Sustenance, Jazz, will be held on Saturday, June 11 at the Old U.S. Mint, 400 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116 starting at 2:00 PM. The event will include musical performances as well as remembrances of Lula and the impact of Lu and Charlie's on the development of contemporary jazz in the city.
James B. Borders IV is a consultant specializing in organizational development and capacity building for small and emerging cultural and social-service nonprofit corporations. He is author of Marking Time, Making Place: An Essential Chronology of Blacks in New Orleans since 1718. Borders is a graduate of Brown University (A.B. 1971, A.M. 1978).
###
|
Brian Simpson and Elan Trotman
|
|
Saturday, June 18, 2016
7:00 PM to 11:30 PM
Peoples Health New Orleans Jazz Market
1436 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70113
Tickets: $30 - $75
NEW ORLEANS - Come join us in welcoming Brian Simpson and Elan Trotman to New Orleans. Saturday nights were made for Jin Jeans Presents, Smooth Jazz and You!
Saturday, June 18th at The Peoples Health New Orleans Jazz Market
Opening artist: New Orleans favorite lady, the soulful, Ms Angela Harrison Bell
Showtime: 8pm
Valet Parking
Tickets available at:
The New Orleans Jazz Market and
Eventbrite: Jin Jeans Presents
Info: Call 504-444-4952
http://jinjeanspresentstrotmanandsimpson.eventbrite.com
Brian Simpson
 Inspired keyboardist, composer, prolific studio musician and producer Brian Simpson is a master of all he purveys. His eloquent approach to playing, sophisticated harmonics sense, bluesy overtones, R&B flavor and keen sense on how to craft a song that stands the test of time have made him the go-to man for many. Through the years Simpson has been revered for his unparalleled ability to compose unforgettable melodies and irresistible grooves. "I never approach two songs the same way," confesses Simpson. "When someone hums your song, it's the melody they are humming so as important as the groove is, the melody is still king."
Simpson's soulful approach to the music has made him first call for many including Janet Jackson, Teena Marie, George Duke, Stanley Clarke and Dave Koz, for whom he has had the distinction of being musical director for close to two decades. A chart-topping musical chameleon who wrote the #1 R&B hit "The First Time" for Surface in the 1990s, Brian Simpson has a knack for churning out genre-bending timeless anthems. George Duke once said "What I love about Brian's playing is his understanding that melody and groove are important." Simpson's approach is simple, "I'm following in the footsteps of those that laid the foundation of contemporary jazz music. The fusing of jazz and R&B is just what contemporary jazz is all about."
Simpson's latest masterwork is the perfect amalgamation of music that is close to his heart - Jazz, R&B, Funk and Soul. Out Of A Dream (Released February 17, 2015) is Simpson's sixth album as a leader and third recording for Shanachie Entertainment. "When I first embarked on making this album, I was at a point where I felt I had to take my music to a different place," explains Simpson who enlists nine different co-composers on the album that keep the sound ever-evolving and fresh. "By collaborating with other composers I was able to explore different styles of writing while still maintaining my own vibe." Out Of A Dream unites Brian Simpson with an all-star cast including saxophonists Najee, Dave Koz and Grace Kelly, guitarists Marc Antoine and Norman Brown, singer Maysa and trumpeter Maurice Brown among others...
Click to Listen and Learn more
Elan Trotman
 Saxophonist Elan Trotman, has quickly become one of jazz's most thrilling and emotive performers as he continues to stand out and push boundaries as a composer, performer, teacher and recording artist. Trotman's playing, though inspired by Grover Washington, Jr., Kirk Whalum and Arturo Tappin (Elan's childhood mentor), displays his own fresh ideas and distinctive tone. So much so that the New England Urban Music Awards, and The Barbados Music Awards both named him Jazz Artist of The Year on multiple occasions. Trotman is also the founder and host of the Barbados Jazz Excursion, a weekend of jazz in his homeland every Columbus Day Weekend which has featured artists like Jeff Lorber, Gerald Veasley, Peter White and Jeffrey Osborne.In 2016, Elan also created a non-profit organization - the Never Lose Your Drive Foundation, which brings entertainment and sports celebrities together on the golf course to raise funds for educational programs on the island.
Born and raised in Barbados, the native island of pop star Rihanna, and educated at the world-renowned Berklee College Of Music in Boston,Trotman approaches jazz in his own way. Blending Caribbean rhythms from his roots with skillful horn textures, his playing is full of surprises....
Click to Listen and Learn more
###
|
AUDIX MICROPHONES:
Meet Lady Jazz - Stephanie Jordan
|
AUDIX MICROPHONES (June 2015) - Stephanie Jordan is a powerhouse of dynamic musicality, a modern and unique voice shining through the long, storied history of jazz music. In performance as well as one-on-one she is humble but strong, gentle but full of power-a dichotomy that makes its way into her own performance, carefully crafted over many years of many audiences...
Her philosophy on singing comes from many hours of listening to the radio, when radio was great-singers like Chaka Kahn, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and many R&B groups in the 70s. "When I would listen to the radio," she says, "you had to really sing to be played. Nowadays, you can go record an album and they can doctor your voice up in the studio. Back in the day, that didn't happen-people had to sing." Though she loved R&B, she was surrounded by New Orleans jazz, and jazz is what got into her blood...
Stephanie has been using the Audix OM6 for her vocals since she first was introduced to the mic at the Jazz Fest in New Orleans several years ago. "The first time I used an Audix mic, I immediately noticed-'Wow, something's different. What is this microphone?!'" After talking to her sound technician, she knew she had found the mic she had been waiting for. The issues she had run into before-feedback, lack of clarity-were not a problem with the OM6. "When I have my Audix mic, the show is just effortless. It picks up everything...I don't have to push. I even love what I hear in the monitor, and that makes a big difference in how you perform. Some microphones just have to do too much to get what you want...when I'm using my Audix, I get the sound I want."
In her performances, she ranges from very controlled, quiet notes, but her voice also grows to a powerful intensity. The OM6 can handle all of it. "I like a microphone that can really switch up and do that for me, and allow me to go from zero to 100 at any moment if I want to. I love the flexibility of this mic."
"As a singer, and as a human being, I just have a whole lot to do! It keeps you moving, always a new project. You gotta keep moving."
Stephanie Jordan
Available for Bookings!
Contact: Vincent Sylvain
Vincent@SylvainSolutions.com
|
|
|
Your Alternative Newsletter - News, Arts, Culture & Entertainment
The New Orleans Agenda newsletter is the leading local alternative for information on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Region. A provider of turnkey Web-Based Internet Marketing Services, we specialize in servicing community and faith-based entities, corporate and professional organizations, and arts & cultural interest events.
The New Orleans Agenda newsletter has received more than
9 Million Page Views! Let us introduce you to our audience.
|
|
| Vincent T. Sylvain, Publisher |
Sincerely,
Vincent T. Sylvain
The New Orleans Agenda
Email: Vincent@SylvainSolutions.com
Expert Solutions for Your Communication Needs!
|
|
|
|
|
|
