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Posts published in “Music”

"The Wiz" Lives on NBC this December as Live Musical Event

By goodblacknews on March 30, 2015

b_p_TheWizAccording to Variety.com, NBC has announced it will make its next live musical television event a remake of the 1975 Tony Award-winner “The Wiz.” The remake will air on December 3.
Opening in 1975, “The Wiz” ran for four years on Broadway and won seven Tonys, including best musical. It retells the classic story of “The Wizard of Oz” in an African-American context.
In 1978, the musical was adapted into a movie produced by Motown and starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell and original Broadway cast member Ted Ross. NBC’s announcement of the holiday television event comes at a time when broadcast networks are setting more diversified roles and casting more and more actors of color on TV, following the success of Fox’s “Empire” and ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” among other series.

the wiz nbc musical
Cast of the 1978 “The Wiz” Movie (UNIVERSAL)

“The Wiz” marks NBC’s third such production, following the success of “The Sound of Music Live!,” starring Carrie Underwood, and “Peter Pan Live!,” starring Allison Williams as the title character.
“The Wiz” will be co-produced by Cirque du Soleil’s new stage theatrical division. After the television event, the musical will make its Broadway revival for the 2016-17 season, also presented by Cirque du Soleil.
Casting for both projects has yet to be announced.

Stevie Wonder Surprises Baptist Church With Appearance And $10,000 Gift

By goodblacknews on March 30, 2015
Stevie Wonder (Photo: blackamericaweb.com)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Those attending New Salem Baptist Church in north Minneapolis were surprised by a famous visitor during Sunday’s service.
There in the front pew was singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder who happened to be in town for a performance at the Target Center.
The Rev. Jerry McAfee knows Wonder and extended an invitation to the Sunday service. Church members cheered when Wonder rose to sing a favorite hymn, “I Won’t Complain.”
Minneapolis’ WCCO-TV says Wonder is known for speaking out against violence during stops on his concert tours, specifically in the African-American community.
Toward the end of the service there was another surprise. Wonder said he would donate $10,000 to the church.
article by Associated Press via blackamericaweb.com

Lauryn Hill’s Grammy-Winning Album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" to Be Entered Into the Library of Congress

By goodblacknews on March 26, 2015
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill poses with the five Grammy Awards she won for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill at the 41st annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Feb. 24, 1999. (VINCE BUCCI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Each year, the Library of Congress selects 25 recordings to add to its archive. This year, Lauryn Hill’s record-breaking album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, will be included in the 25.

According to the Library of Congress press release, among requirements for inclusion in the archive are that the recordings be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and be at least 10 years old. The Library of Congress gave a lengthy explanation as to why it chose Hill’s debut album:
“Lauryn Hill’s debut solo record, following the breakup of the Fugees, is a work of honesty in which Hill explores her feelings on topics that included the deep wonder of pregnancy, the pitfalls of modern relationships and the experience of the sacred. The album effortlessly fuses soul, rhythm and blues, rap and reggae. Hill’s vocal range, smooth clear highs and vibrato are stunning. The rapping is rhythmically compelling while always retaining, and frequently exploiting, the natural cadences of conversational speech. Standout guest performances include Carlos Santana’s soulful acoustic guitar solo on ‘Zion,’ and duets with Mary J. Blige and D’Angelo on ‘I Used to Love Him’ and ‘Nothing Even Matters,’ respectively.”
Hill’s album joins an eclectic list, which includes Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” Sly and the Family Stone’s Stand album, and even a Sesame Street platinum-hits album.
Check out the full list of inductees below:
1. Vernacular Wax Cylinder Recordings at University of California, Santa Barbara Library (c.1890-1910)
2. The Benjamin Ives Gilman Collection, recorded at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago (1893)
3. “The Boys of the Lough”/ “The Humours of Ennistymon” (single)—Michael Coleman (1922)

Comprehensive Grace Jones Feature Documentary on BBC Films' 2015 Production Slate

By goodblacknews on March 26, 2015
Grace Jones

BBC Films is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an announcement of 15 new projects that will be released this year.
Among the 15 is a new documentary on Grace Jones from director Sophie Fiennes. Described as an observational portrait, the feature film is titled “Grace Jones – The Musical of My Life” and it will weave a multi-narrative journey through the private and public realms of the legendary singer and performer, mixing intimate personal footage with unique staged musical sequences.
It’s produced by Katie Holly, James Wilson, Emilie Blézat and Sophie Fiennes.
BBC Films join the BFI Film Fund and the Irish Film Board as co-financers.
No other details on the project are available at this time. It was 1 of 3 feature documentaries selected for funding by the BFI a year ago, following pitching sessions held at, and in partnership with the UK’s leading documentary festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest.

The shortlisted teams were asked to give a 7-minute pitch and show clips of footage, and then fielded questions from the panel about the strength of the stories, characters and cinematic potential of the projects.

Incredibly, this will be the first comprehensive feature film (fiction or non-fiction) on the personal and professional life of Grace Jones – so my research tells me.
No word on when exactly it’ll be released, or whether it’ll become available in the USA.
article by Tambay A. Benson via blogs.indiewire.com

Russell Simmons Bringing Hip-Hop Musical "The Scenario" to Broadway in 2016

By goodblacknews on March 20, 2015
Russell Simmons hip hop musical
Russell Simmons (LARRY BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES)

Russell Simmons is developing a hip-hop musical that will draw songs from hip-hop’s “golden age” from between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, in the same way that “Rock of Ages” pulled tunes from the hard-rock classics of the ’80s.
Simmons has teamed with “Rock of Ages” producer Big Block/Scott Prisand for the show, which aims to conjure the same fun, concert-like vibe that helped sustain the nearly six-year run of “Rock of Ages” on Broadway. The original story of “The Scenario” will be written by Dan Charnas, who wrote the book “The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop.”
The attachment of Simmons, who’ll produce through Def Pictures, lends “The Scenario” some notable cred. As the founder of Def Jam Recordings in 1984, he’s credited with playing a major role in hip-hop’s rise to the mainstream. He also founded the Def Comedy franchise in 1989, and he produced and conceived 2002 Broadway outing “Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam.”
Simmons and Big Block hope to get “The Scenario” into New York in late 2016, although they aren’t necessarily targeting Broadway. “Rock of Ages,” for instance, played an Off Broadway run before it shifted to Broadway; the producers could also consider putting the production in a nontraditional space outside the typical Broadway box.
“The Scenario” is being developed by a team of producers that includes Simmons, Def Pictures/Jake Stein, Big Block/Prisand, Scott Benson, Tom Pellegrini and Jamie Bendell, Brian Sher and Stella Bulichnikov.
article by Gordon Cox via Variety.com

Record Breaker: "Empire" Soundtrack Scores Rare No. 1 For TV Series on Billboard Albums Chart

By goodblacknews on March 18, 2015
Empire_The-Soundtrack_FINAL

According to Deadline.com, not only is Empire the most successful debuting drama in the past 25 years of television history, now its soundtrack is the No. 1 album in the country, debuting in the top spot on the Billboard 200 this week. This is a rare feat — especially for a network drama series.  The last time any TV soundtrack reached No. 1 on the charts was in 2010, when three Glee collections hit the top spot (also a Fox show).  The main distinction, however is that Glee‘s soundtracks were covers of already-popular tunes; Empire’s soundtrack are mostly new songs produced by Timbaland and performed by the original artists/cast members.

Billboard’s official stats come out Wednesday morning, but leaked numbers suggest Original Soundtrack From Season 1 Of Empire will keep Madonna from having a No. 1 debut for the first time since 1998 with her new release “Rebel Heart.”  Empire‘s ratings grew in each of its first nine weeks on the air and last week hit a high of 14.9 million. This number is sure to be even higher tomorrow night after its two-hour season finale.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

MUSIC: Kendrick Lamar on His New Album and the Weight of Clarity

By goodblacknews on March 17, 2015
Kendrick Lamar is working to purify hip-hop, a genre he hopes to ground in his true experiences growing up poor in Compton, Calif.,  the son of a former gangbanger. (Credit: John Francis Peters for The New York Times)

LOS ANGELES — Following the success of his major label debut, “good kid, m.A.A.d. city,” in 2012,  Kendrick Lamar did not indulge in earthly luxuries. Instead, he got baptized.

That album was the story of his redemption, not just from street gangs through rapping but from a life of sin by embracing Jesus Christ. His long-awaited follow-up, “To Pimp a Butterfly” (TDE/Aftermath/Interscope), which was made available online Sunday night, ahead of a planned March 23 release, is about carrying the weight of that clarity: What happens when you speak out, spiritually and politically, and people actually start to listen? And what of the world you left behind?

Mr. Lamar, who grew up in Compton, Calif., had previously been saved as a teenager in the parking lot of a Food 4 Less, he said, when the grandmother of a friend approached him after a tragedy, asking if he had accepted God. “One of my homeboys got smoked,” Mr. Lamar recalled. “She had seen that we weren’t right in the head. That was her being an angel for us.”

On his new album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Mr. Lamar is an evangelist for black power. (Credit: John Francis Peters for The New York Times)

Nearly a decade later, having found that fame and riches did not offer additional salvation, or happiness, he “wanted to take it to the next level — being underwater,” he said. “I felt like it was something I had to do.”

Whereas “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” zoomed in on a day in the old life of Mr. Lamar, a gifted but wayward high schooler in a neighborhood filled with death and temptation, “To Pimp a Butterfly” brings listeners up to his present day, from world tours to the B.E.T. Awards, and the separation he feels from his past. Rather than relief, his escape from Compton has brought only more opportunities for sin and self-doubt, an internal chaos reflected not only in Mr. Lamar’s intricate stories but also in vigorous jazz- and funk-inflected production that builds on the smoother West Coast sounds of his debut.

Struggling Philadelphia High School Strawberry Mansion Hires Music Teacher, Starts Using Recording Studio Donated Last Year by Drake

By goodblacknews on March 15, 2015

Drake with students from Strawberry Mansion High School (Photo: ABC News)
Drake with students from Strawberry Mansion High School (Photo: ABC News)

The students at Strawberry Mansion High School, once considered one of the most dangerous schools in the country, have started using the school’s brand new recording studio donated by rapper Drake after a music teacher was finally hired.
Located in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood with a high crime rate, Strawberry Mansion is a school plagued by violence. It once spent six years on the state of Pennsylvania’s “Persistently Dangerous Schools” list.
In a special ABC News “Hidden America” report on the school that first aired in May 2013, Diane Sawyer and ABC News producers followed the daily lives of the school’s students and faculty, including its then-new principal, during the 2012-2013 school year. ABC News then went back in September 2013 to follow Strawberry Mansion at the start of the new 2013-2014 school year for a second special that aired in December 2013.
Click to see ABC News video of this story here.
Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Drake was so moved by the ABC News specials, especially after learning that budget cuts had left the school without a music teacher, that he donated $75,000 to Strawberry Mansion for a new recording studio.

Drake Reveals Big Surprise for Philadelphia High School
Strawberry Mansion High, Once One of US’s Most Dangerous Schools, Receives Hope, Help
Strawberry Mansion: Fighting for a Future

But even though members of Drake’s crew finished the studio last summer, Principal Linda Cliatt-Wayman told ABC News that budget issues and the school’s violent history made it hard to find a music instructor.

So the studio, which included new keyboards and other equipment, as well as sound booths, sat unused for months.
Finally, Ben Diamond arrived in February to take on the role as a part-time music teacher who would teach studio production, but even then, Wayman said student interest was low at first.
It wasn’t until she used the school’s PA system to broadcast the first student-produced song to come out of the new recording studio that Wayman said students became interested. Now 91 students have signed up for the studio production class, she said.
“Music has a way of bringing people together,” Wayman told ABC News via email. “That is what I want the music to do for my kids, bring them all together to find the special gifts that lay dormant inside of them. I want them to get distracted on their positive attributes to help them create within and around them. They all love music. That is the one thing they all have in common.
“For me, the opening of the studio is more than about music,” Wayman added. “It is about making and keeping a promise to students who are constantly disappointed, pleasing them, making them happy and getting them to see that they must finish what they start [and] work hard to bring dreams into reality.”
In addition to Drake, other ABC News viewers donated money to Strawberry Mansion after the 2013 specials aired. Their generosity helped provide school uniforms, jackets for the school’s first football team, warm-up suits for the basketball team, school trips, PSAT and ACT prep classes, as well as scholarships for seniors heading off to college. Viewer donations also helped provide basic necessities that were missing at Strawberry Mansion, including books, notebooks and calculators.
article by Claire Weinraub and Lauren Effron via abcnews.go.com

Rihanna Becomes 1st Black Woman to Be Face of Dior

By goodblacknews on March 13, 2015
(Getty Images)

The 27-year-old superstar will star in Dior’s fourth installment of their “Secret Garden” campaign — a series featuring models posing in the palace of Versailles, clad in Dior creations — the fashion house confirmed on Friday. She will be shot by famed photographer Steven Klein, with the film and print versions of the campaign scheduled to run this spring.
But as if being an official Dior girl wasn’t amazing enough, Rihanna’s highly-anticipated campaign also marks the first time a black woman has been chosen to front the French fashion brand. Other celebrity Dior spokeswomen include Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman and Marion Cotillard.
The Dior partnership particularly makes a lot of sense given that Rihanna is often a staple at the high-fashion brand’s shows, always flawlessly dressed of course.
Though perhaps Dior should be considered the lucky ones to land Rihanna. Aside from already having fronted a Balmain campaign and often being chosen to be the first to sport a new collection, it’s no secret that the “Four Five Seconds” singer is considered a huge deal in fashion. She was named last year’s Fashion Icon at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards — where she donned an unforgettable completely sheer Adam Selman dress — and in November, designer Tom Ford gushed about the Barbadian superstar in his very own blog post.
“I was at the CFDA awards as I was receiving a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ …. and I have to say that Rihanna was for me, that night, one of the most beautiful women that I have ever beheld,” Ford gushed. “As [my husband] Richard said plainly after the evening, ‘If you are as beautiful as Rihanna, you almost owe it to the world to appear in public almost nude’ and I have to say that I wholeheartedly concur.”
article by Antoinette Bueno via aol.com

Pharrell Williams Lands A “Happy” Book Deal with Putnam Books

By goodblacknews on February 25, 2015
Pharrell_Cropped
Prolific producer, musical artist and “The Voice” coach Pharrell Williams (pictured) recently secured a deal with publisher Putnam Books for a series inspired by his hit song, “Happy,” according to USA Today.
The 41-year-old Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and trendsetter will write four books — the first one tentatively titled “Happy” — set to hit bookstores on September 22.  The book will reportedly have pictures of children from around the globe who will be “celebrating what it means to be happy,” according to the news site.
The mega-infectious ditty that was originally released in 2013 as part of the “Despicable Me 2″ soundtrack became a chart-topper last year.  “Happy” also earned Pharrell an Oscar nomination in 2014 in the “Best Original Song” category.  The song’s winning streak kept going this year at the Grammy Awards when it won Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video.
RELATED: 

“Happy” will be Pharrell’s first venture into book writing and Putnam’s umbrella publisher, Penguin Books has reportedly already planned a 250,000 first run printing.
“I’m humbled by the global success of Happy, but especially in awe of the song’s young fans,” Pharrell said according to USA Today. “My collaboration with Penguin allows me to continue a dialogue with these children in a fresh, new way. We’re both committed to feeding the curiosity of young minds with imagination.”
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)