'Angels' in the Pool Hall

Practically stumbled into Monday night's launch of
the Kingston Beer, ultimate Pool Tournament, a $1.5m
market play by the beer brand aimed at the potentially
lucrative fiercely loyal comunity of pool players - mmle
& female - now frequenbting sports bars and lounges
acrosss the island.
Some interestingf perspectives from players, old, not so old
and nubile (as in the ladies of the Devil's Angels team -
unfortunate choice of name.

God show by Kingston Beer and hope it grows for them.

[Birth of a] Live Music Nation

The Griot Music Live Music nation series has proven quite encouraging, and the series enters week II, with Ricardo Suave @ Christopher's tonite (Ian hird played a great show on Tuesday nite), Nina Karle @ Village blues Bar on Friday; and trumpeter Mickey Hanson at Heather's Garden Restaurant on Saturday. Check it out.

Link to Live music nation calendar - August

http://griotpublishing.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=48

The above takes you to the list of live venues and acts for August

One Nation

Griot Music is about to launch the largest live music campaign in
Jamaica's history.
Live Music Nation will provide live music in Kingston 7 nights a week
at different venues.

We begin the series at Christopher's which has been our home for the
past three years (time really flies) on Tuesday August 5 and it's
fitting we should begin with Seretse Small, the master of it all.

Show time: 7:30pm
Cover: $500

Tuesday August 5 - Seretse @ Christopher's Jazz Cafe
Thursday August 7 - Gas Money @ Christopher's Jazz Cafe (They're
baaack!!)
Friday August 8 - Ian Hird @ Village Blues Bar (Yes, they are now open
for business)
Saturday August 9 - Kathy Brown @ Heather's Garden Restaurant

Click on the link to see our Live Music Nation advertisement that will
appear in the Sunday Gleaner this week.

http://griot-music-mailing-list.googlegroups.com/web/LMN%20Ad%20Template%20BW%20copy.jpg?gsc=uFhxxQsAAABb14q8xh0Skz_wsyOyIa7K

Support K O W

Actor-writer-provocateur Karl Williams has been accepted to do an MA Educational Theatre at New York University this September and the funds from the following shows will be used to subsidize fees towards this. Please spread the word and come out if you can.


"Cracking Up"

2 One-Act plays written by Amba Chevannes

'The Last Bloom' directed by Michael Daley

Cast: Marguerite Newland & Afolashade (from Sistren Theatre Collective)



'Dinner with Eleanor' directed by Eugene Williams

Cast: Bertina Macauley, Karl Williams & Munair Zacca



August 15-24

2 Weekends Only!

The Philip Sherlock Centre –UWI

Friday & Saturday 8pm

Sunday 6pm

KOTE 08 finale

The whole thing comes together at Bookophilia this Saturday afternoon June 28 at 5 pm for "WORD LOVE POWER" the Kingston on the Edge closing show. In addition to the awesome lineup of artists, poets, actors authors and musicians, there will be cuisine from Starapples and a full service coffee bar by Cafe Blue.

Firefly night

Firefly Summer Lick - July 6th: Ease into the Week...

"It is almost time for our second Firefly (Oracabessa) Summerlick - Next weekend July 6th. It is worth the drive to come out and spend the day listening to some mellow sounds, eating some yummy food and sipping something cool. Lascelles will have a selection of wines available as part of the package, and there will be Blackwell Rum for tasting. Come with a group or alone with a book! It will be a casual Island vibe..."

KOTE 2K8 Schedule

Ok, here it is, th whole shebang - subject to change of course, but it looks like a nother great year for the Edge.

Olympia & the Potters

ASSOCIATION OF JAMAICAN POTTERS

ANNUAL EXHIBITION & SALE


opening on


SUNDAY JUNE 22nd 2008 @ 1.00 PM

BANK OF JAMAICA AUDITORIUM

NETHERSOLE PLACE



Opening remarks will be given by:

Mr. Earl Jarrett

General Manager, Jamaica National Building Society


FREE Parking for guests will be in the secured facility

to the left of the B.O.J. Building at the end of East Street .

Entrance at the front of the building


R.S.V.P. TEL. 496 3481 / 926 6331


EXHIBITION CONTINUES:

MON – FRI 9 am – 4 pm UNTIL JUNE 27TH



Part Sponsors: JN Building Society & Grace Kennedy Foods

KOTE event - emBODYment Art show

17 visual artists explore the theme of the human form through clay, metal, textile / fibre, photography/ printmaking, wood, painting, and mixed media. In addition, on opening night, there will be performances by Marguerite Orane reading from her new book "Free & Laughing"; poetry reading by Judith Hamilton, Phillip Supersad drumming on his handmade drums to accompany an Akan dancer, and Jason Warton on wind instruments.

"emBODYment": A Celebration of the Human Form, opens Monday, June 23,@ 7:00 p.m. at REVOLUTION GALLERY, as part of the Kingston on the Edge urban art festival.

See you there!

Word Play - and look out for KOTE coverage

Kingston's underground indulges in wordplay

Kingston, Ja - JUNE 18, 2008 - Kingston's latest underground event, WordPlay: Poetry. Music. Art., will have tongues wagging with its fresh and eclectic line up of young talent. This alternative form of entertainment is slated to re-launch the monthly series beginning July 20, 2008 at the Altamont Court Hotel's Luxur Suite at 8pm. The show is geared toward exposing and cultivating underground genres using the radical blend of 'floetry', dub, reggae, old school hip hop, jazz and soul - all performed live.

Fusion of Poetry and Live Music

WordPlay was introduced in November 2006 by Simple Chaos Entertainment and began as the fusion of Poetry and Jazz. After the closure of the original venue the concept of WordPlay has been broadened to include the fusion of various genres in such a way as to ensure the singularity of the show. All artistes performing on WordPlay make use of a completely live set, which encourages a vastly different sound, feel and atmosphere than can be had elsewhere in Kingston. Additionally, artistes are encouraged to go outside of their comfort zone and create an offering that is far from main-stream.

First Installment

The re-launch of WordPlay promises to be the premiere in live entertainment and will feature live performances by, among others, Sarah Couch – daughter of renowned singer and pianist, Suzanne Couch; this exceptionally talented singer/songwriter revels in the joys of music; Mo' Scherrie – the winner of various national awards for her poetry, Mo'Scherrie is also an author with a book in production as well as the creator and director of Concept One, the name behind videos such as Tarrus Riley's 'She's Royal'; and Kali – talented rapper, songwriter, painter, dancer and actress. The show will be hosted by Miss Jamaica World 2001, Regina Beavers and Kamila Ann McDonald, who are also the upcoming recording artistes more popularly known as Gina Stars and Meela K of the underground R&B sensation, True Kolors.

Heating Up

Just finished my 3rd Simon Winchester book, Krakatoa. The Day The Wolrd Exploded: August 27, 1883

look out for my review (hint: I think its his best so far, but then, I sitll havea way to go)

Rootz firm, Movement springing forward

In an earlier generation, The Hope Zoo Bandshell was the place where well-thinking Jmaaicans were exposed to a variety of musical expressions, from jazz to reggae to the orchestral strains of the Jamaica Military band. It had lain dormant for many years, and had fallen into disrepair until telecoms provider Digicel too kup the mantle late last year. Still, save for a few company functions, the Bandshell had not hosted a quality live music presentation.

That is, not until Saturday night last when Rootz Underground celebrated the release of their debut studio set, Movement.

"We buss de seal pon de venue" was lead singer Steven "Stevie G" Newland's triumphant declaration al ittle more than midway through a set that was by turns rollicking and subtly layered. Through over an hour of music with scant breaks, the six-man aggregation confirmed their status as the premier reggae-rockers in the business.

Newland, perhaps even unnoticed by the large crowd that blanketed the hillock in front of the Bandshell, has successfully steered past the easy Bob Marley comparisons that lurked like a quicksand bed in the early going. Depsite the familiar high-jumping, locks-shaking antics common to both, Newland brings an quicksilver intensity and one daresay, a welcome unpredictability to hisstage presence. Just when you think its old hat, that spark goes off in his eyes and he's found a new way to express the feelings in the band's potent lyrics.

And his bandmates were right up there with him. Colin Young laid down bass lines heavy enough to flatten steel, particularly on "Herb Field" where the group was augmented by the presence of a first-rate horn section. Charles Lazarus on lead guitar showed that the inspiration he gained from watching - and listening to -Cat Coore was not lost on him. Keyboardist Paul Smith showed good vocal skills (not to mention tremendous fitness) on Slumberland, and joined rhythm guitarist Jeffrey Moss-Solomon and Newland in a three-man 'jogging line' as drummer Leon Campbell kept time and more.

Indeed, the big reason why Rootz is worthy of acclaim is that in their hands, reggae once again emerges as a WORLD music, assimilating other styles and sounds, but without compromising the drum-and-bass core. Their shifting tempos and chanted vocal hooks ("The enemy's a robber Babylonian"; "Please don't let my well run dry") restore tothe music the revolutionary power that caused it to sweep the globe in the first place.

Part of that international community was represented by Philadeplhia-based sound system Solomonic, which kept both new and old jams coming before and after the set
Even before the set, the band members spoke of hte great potential of the venue and of plans for a return visit, alongside other reggae warriors.

This is one Movement we can get with.

Call Me 'Book-o-phile'

It's scarcely been open two weeks, but Andrea Dempster's bookstore-cafe Bookophilia, looks set to establish itself in this still-growing niche category of retail.
Expressionz missed the official opening on Saturday last, but returned (having gone in to the store the previous Friday for a 'sneak preview') last Wednesday and was handsomely rewarded by finding a copy of Anglo-jamaican jazz bassist Coleridge Goode's auto-bio, Bass Lines: A Life In Jazz, in the used books/trade section. Persons who wish to trade books need to bring in a comparable title (same genre) or otherwise pay the listed price on the book.
The new book selection is quite wide, and the young 'art-o-phile' also has paintings available.

if you're in the Liguanea area, stop by on Hope Road (next to Starapples restaurant)anf get your book fix

'Inspirating' with Charlie Bobus

Charlie Bobus: HARDEST-WORKING MAN IN THE DUB POETRY BUSINESS

The following are excerpts from an interview with poet-entrepreneur Nicardo ‘Charlie Bobus’ Murray by Karin Wilson of Jamaican culture blog, Yard Edge. The interview in full is available at www.yardedge.net
How did you first become a dub poet?
Charlie Bobus: I first became a dub poet through the writing of poems while attending Wolmers High, especially after starting English Language and English Literature classes. I used to first DJ in public since around 1993 appearing on community stage shows, going to studios and talent shows, but I always wrote poetry.
Disgusted with the dancehall fraternity heading towards glorifying guns and sex, the lack of motivational lyrics that weren’t necessarily religious and seeing the need for the upliftment of the youths I stopped writing certain lyrics and started writing only positive lyrics.

What do you see as your “mission” as a dub poet?
Charlie Bobus: My mission is the empowerment of minds and the upliftment of youths for the betterment of mankind. The mission is to use dub poetry to spread a positive message while building the poetry industry to be viable commercially, changing the view that poetry is not a viable occupation.

What inspires you in your work?
Charlie Bobus: The love of dub poetry and the purpose that the Almighty has given me that I have dedicated my life to, the dedication that lead me to give up working 9 to 5 and everything and start Inspirator International.
What drives me is the dedication to working with youths and bringing the positive messages to them knowing the situation they face growing up having come from a volatile community and having faced hardship.


How have you developed your skill?
Charlie Bobus: I have developed my skill through my long experience in the performing arts, having started writing and performing on stage from an early age; through years of self-education, online courses, reading and preparation. Learning from the elders in the dub poetry movement and having a strong consultation network.

How would people who know you describe you?
Charlie Bobus: I am being called by the poets and poetry events promoters in business as the hardest-working dub poet. I am described as a high energy motivational dub poet who is always out there supporting the poetry scene and poets’ careers




What exactly is “Inspirator International”?
Charlie Bobus: Inspirator International is a company formed by Nicardo Charlie Bobus Murray, August 13th 2005. It is now a home based business and was formed after Charlie Bobus saw a need for the people to get motivational products and entertainment and he had certain plans that he saw no other organization or company inside the dub poetry industry providing the way to achieve.

Inspirator International is a licensed book publishing company and has produced the “Creative Energy” book of motivation and poetry, as well as the “Creative Energy” video that has premiered on Hype TV and the “Creative Energy” CD and is a therefore also a dub poetry record label. I have also edited a number of books and poems for other authors and will soon be publishing the works of poets from Jamaica and Trinidad.
Inspirator International is a events promotion company specializing in dub poetry events and keeps an annual show in the Grants Pen community that is going three years this June 28. We are also organizing the first Dub Poetry Festival for August 2009 and Jamaica’s first Poetry Lounge to be opened early 2009 which will also be the offices and store of Inspirator International.
We also have launched the Inspirator Dub Poetry Sound System. We work with the youths, volunteer with youth programs and schools to teach dub poetry for the National Festival programs, offer workshops and motivational speaking sessions.

Curator's Eye Returns

This from our friends at the Nat Gal

CURATOR’S EYE III: Ceremony in Space, Time and Sound

(April 17 – June 28, 2008)

Curated by Keith Morrison



Curator’s Eye III consists of the work of 15 artists, five of whom live abroad. The exhibition is called Ceremony in Space, Time and Sound because the media used by the artists extend the range of the traditional visual arts. The exhibition involves animation, film, TV and video projections mixed with sound, room installations, and interactive art, along with paintings, photographs, prints and sculptures. It is an exhibition with a variety of ceremonial themes to be found in Jamaican art, reflecting a dynamism from which Jamaica takes its cultural character and a source of a continuum from the cultures of ancient Africa to our time.



The following is a brief description of the work of each artist in the exhibition:



Cleve Bowen’s work is a mixed media room installation called Tribulation of the Flesh, but. It includes sculptural objects, paintings and mirror reflections. Projected with dramatic light Bowen’s art is about time seen through light as a source of biblical and futuristic spirituality.



Lawrence Graham-Brown presents a series titled Who is Most Masculine. Using a video of a beauty pageant, and allegorical paintings about the primitive nature of sexuality, Graham-Brown examines the social construct of gender behaviour and questions gender-identity.



Photographer Albert Chong’s work in the show is a presentation of 27 slides. His photographs are transformations of men and women in bodies that are decoratively adorned or tattooed. Through adornment and metamorphosis, Chong creates a world of figures that are sometimes androgynous, sometimes macabre, sometimes regal, sometimes feminine or masculine, but always sensual.



Carol Campbell’s work in this exhibition is an installation of jewellery using imagery from ancient Africa to the present. The objects of jewellery are artistic expressions that stand alone as sculptural objects, each with its own individual expression.



Carol Crichton makes richly layered paintings in which the Jamaican athlete is depicted as hero. Her highly structured compositions are like x-rays of colours and patterns that move back and forth through space.



Paula Daley has created an installation evoking her childhood experience of marching to the altar to receive the priest’s blessing in church. Her work seeks to recapture the magic and beauty of the mysterious artefacts and symbols of the altar.



Michelle Eistrup makes microscopic studies of plants, objects, animals and birds that become symbolic participants in her art work. Her method fuses photography and drawing and focuses on the nature of cultural dichotomies. The artist feels her work embodies much of the essence of expatriate Caribbean people who cull information from plants and insects to develop their own potions for survival.



Andy Jefferson has created a two-part concept of Totems and mixed media images. His six totem poles mirrored by three prints and three paintings form a conceptualisation of ceremony and ritual. Jefferson ’s totems each represent an area of ceremony. The artist uses African, North American Indian and Taino symbols, embellished with mixed media, found objects, paint and varnish to create images of ceremony.



Ras Kassa’s work titled The Stew is an audio-visual presentation of traditional and contemporary life and performance in urban Jamaica . His work captures on film pedestrians, traffic and accompanying sounds in teaming Kingston . Imagery of Kumina, Jonkunu, Rastafari, Carnival, Dancehall, Obeah, marijuana, and a variety of other social rituals are wielded together into a personal vision.



O’Neil Lawrence ’s black and white photographs dramatize a ritual by the sea. They are allegorical dramas that are staged with human models shrouded by a large white sheet billowing in the wind by the shore. Lawrence ’s work occupies an aesthetic place somewhere between the photograph as a mirror of existence and the photograph as a documentation of a staged action.



Khepera Hatsheptwa’s installation titled Commemoration and Memorialisation has three components, most prominent of which is a large circular form on the floor in the centre of the room. The second is a form made of meshing which is installed on a wall as an interactive assemblage. Paper and strings are provided for viewers to write tribute to loved ones that died. The concept also includes is a surrounding music system, with sounds evoking commemoration and memorialisation. Hatsheptwa’s idea is that art in the traditional African sense is a forum for celebration, commemoration or mourning.



Petrona Morrison’s video installation Us/Dem II continues an investigation into the dominance of contested territory and space within Jamaican culture, and its reinforcement in popular culture. What began as the artist’s concern with the degree of violence in the society has broadened: in what ways has our history shaped our stratifications and what is its relationship to this violence?



Ebony Patterson’s works on the theme “Gangstas for life” is a series of mixed media paintings on paper of characters that the artist uses as quintessential images for masculinity within Jamaican Dancehall culture. Patterson’s work explores the fashionable Jamaican practice of skin bleaching within the Dancehall culture and issues of dark skin/light skin prejudice from slavery to the present. Patterson’s work deconstructs stereotypical homosexual beauties, with bleached faces, red glossed lips and feminine motifs.



Tal Rickards is a filmmaker and photographer whose entry in the exhibition is his 9 minute film Serengeti. This is a film about the complex maze that is urban life today. In Serengeti a figure is running purposefully through an urban landscape toward some unknown destination. He appears to be lost yet focused and resolved in his journey as he runs through danger and foreboding toward a calmer space. Serengeti is a metaphor for the human journey through life’s obstacles. It is also the ritual of the mythic Jamaica wanderlust.



Filmmaker Oneika Russell’s work in the exhibition is a video animation about the metamorphosis of an imaginary slave ship into a contemporary urban icon. In her video Moby Dick dives with Ophelia who rises transformed as the Dancehall girl. Russell’s video is about the indelible stamp of Western education that is part of the fabric of Jamaica , and posits its relationship to the emerging literature of popular culture.



CURATOR’S EYE III: Ceremony in Space, Time and Sound brings together new media with more conventional forms of art to explore ideas that are important in Jamaican culture today. Issues include Dancehall culture, reinterpretations of beauty and a variety of ceremonial practices. If Curator’s Eye III is any indication, the future of Jamaican art could be internationally outstanding.



________________________________________________________________

Keith Morrison is a Jamaican-born artist who has exhibited internationally in many galleries and museums, including the art Institute of Chicago , the Smithsonian, The Cincinnati Museum, the DeYoung Museum , and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. He has curated many exhibitions, including Art in Washington and its African American Presence: 1940-1970.He has been Professor and Dean in many art schools and universities, including the San Francisco Art Institute, the San Francisco State University , the University of Maryland , and the Tyler School of Art Temple University. Morrison has written for many publications including The New art Examiner, the Corcoran Gallery, The Baltimore Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, and the Washington Post. The monograph titled Keith Morrison, by Dr. Renee Ater was published by Pomegranate Press in 2005.





GENERAL INFORMATION
www.galleryjamaica.org

Bobus poetry flyer

Just as a reminder, here's the flyer for Charlie Bobus

Red Bones gathering

Poppy Seed & Cherry Natural for Bobus

These two ladies, Poppy Seed & Cherry Natural are aming the featured acts on Charlie Bobus' latest dub poetry venture. Thier bios follow:




POPPY SEED AKA ANGELA HARVEY takes performance poetry to a new level she has been described as being “on the cusp of poetry and song” and sheds a positive light on the Urban music scene. From North London, this Poet, Activist, Composer, Playwright, Singer/Songwriter, and Lecturer for over a decade has composed and penned an extensive repertoire. Described as being a “cut between Eryka Badu and Sade” with “a Breeze of her own”; Poppy Seed ‘s original music crosses genres to embrace Jazz, Soul, R&B, African Roots, Rock, Reggae and pop influences which enhance the themes of her poetry. The lyrics are socially and environmentally aware, conscious and easy to listen to. Poppy Seed is a musical act which is eloquent, thought provoking, intoxicating, and a natural high, which
‘has to be seen to appreciate the visual and spiritual impact’ (Muta);
‘A warm revolutionary’ (Observer JA),
‘Compelling and inspiring’ (Invincible Magazine).
‘A rare flower…’ (Sade)
With extensive experience on the live poetry gig circuit, unsigned Poppy Seed in 2007 released her Album ‘Coming Through’, which is a selection from that wide repertoire. It aims to solidify her presence and make an official POPPY SEED imprint into the wider public arena and music industry. With its unique spin on Poetic Soulful, Jazz Roots and Culture, the POPPY SEED sound is versatile, well crafted, intelligent, feisty, and healing!

In recent years Poppy Seed has impacted on regional UK festivals, high profile Corporate Arenas, countless Social Justice Campaigns in the UK and abroad including Germany (Lyrik Eins Poetry Festival), New York, Philadelphia, and South Africa (Step Afrika – Aids Awareness), gaining National & International notoriety. Further seasoned and encouraged by Mentors and associates - Mutabaruka (Godfather of Dub Poetry), Sade (Queen of Sultry Soul); and Producers David Ivory (The Roots, Gill Scot), Delroy Murray (Total Contrast, En Core), Robin Millar (Sade), Paul Hussey (Celloman, Thabani), and Mad Professor (Dub music Emporium);
2008 promises a lasting impression for POPPY SEED as she Comes Through the London poetry scene for International Woman’s month and beyond.
Whether performing as a PA, Full band sound, or acoustic set, Poppy Seed will move you.
See www.myspace.com/poppyseedpoetry

For bookings contact Management: Linda Small at email: eventsinmotionuk@yahoo.co.uk

Cherry Natural
Meet Cherry Natural, Jamaica’s top reggae female poet.
She’s been described as an African guerrilla woman. This petite black belt martial arts instructor is a revolutionary who speaks on behalf of oppressed peoples throughout the world. She’s concerned about women and their struggles, their rights to equal social and economic opportunities and her poems make no apologies in addressing these issues. Her work celebrates poetry, advocates militancy and celebrates women.

Everyone knows her as Cherry Natural but her given name is Marcia Wedderburn Inspired by Jamaica’s own legendary folklorist, poet, actress, author, Louise Bennett , Cherry Natural has been entertaining and using her work to educate people from all over the world for almost 20-years. It all started when Cherry was 12. Using Miss Lou’s works on which to hinge her own style of writing , she penned a poem called ‘Time Hard’ which won favour with both her teacher and classmates. From that time until now, Cherry Natural has done nothing but write and perform her poems. Her collection of poems to date is somewhere in the region of 3000.

Her poems reflect her militancy, her ability to use her art to heal, liberate, and motivate. She gets her fulfilment from the changes her works bring about among women who are still among the most oppressed and suffer from low self esteem. But she also writes to motivate men and children. In fact, she writes to motivate the human race because as Cherry Natural puts it herself, her greatest joy in life is to see people enjoying life and the privileges that come with living.

While her emphasis is on live performances, Cherry Natural has to date published two books of her poetry, the first in 1989 titled, 'Come Mek we Reason’ and in 2002, ‘Earth Woman’. Her debut album also titled ‘Earth Woman’ was released in 1999. She also performs with her daughter. ‘Little Natural’ who though not so little anymore, has been strongly influenced by her mother’s teachings



Please come out and support Charlie Bobus fundraising show @ Red Bones Blues Cafe, proceeds in aid of Charlie Bobus Texas Tour to go perform on the Austin International Poetry Festival this weekend, See Letter attached for details on tour and please assist if you can, forward this email to all poetry loving Jamaicans or all your contacts, Dub Poetry is on a rise .

Everybody has been asking about Poppy Seed well here is information about this poet and also Cherry Natural!

Euro Movie Night @ REd Bones

Movie Night at Redbones - 21 Braemar Avenue
This Saturday 5th April, 2008
Presents:
1) La Vie En Rose
Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for Best Actress(2008) for her portrayal of the great French singer Edith Piaf in this recreation of her tragic life.
(Directed by Olivier Dahan, in French w/subtitles, 140 minutes, 2007)
2)The Counterfeiters(Die Fälscher)
This film just won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film (2008). The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history set up by the Nazis in a concentration camp during World War II. The moral dilemma for the prisoners involved was to decide on helping the German war effort or to sabotage it and risk execution.
(Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, in German w/subtitles, 95 minutes, 2007)


Contribution: $250
Showtime: 8pm(La Vie En Rose); 10:30pm(Counterfeiters)
Carry a blanket if you want to lie on the grass and hang out and listen to the music in the courtyard afterwards.

Flashpoint Film @ expressionzjm

This blog is now your official link to updates on the 2008
Flashpoint Film & Music Festival, June 5-8 in Port Royal.

get news releases as well as a direct link to www.flashpointfestival.com

Watch this space

Poetry @ Red Bones

AN EVENING OF
CONTEMPORARY LITERATUREReadings By: BARBARA DIXON,Poet


Wednesday, March 26, 2008 @ 8:30 pm

NO COVER CHARGE!

Fashion & Britannia at the movies

Movie Night at Redbones - 21 Braemar Avenue
This Saturday 1st March, 2008
Presents:
1) Over The Hill
This documentary done by a Dutch woman takes a look at the fashion and cosmetics industries and their link with women's magazines and mass media which ultimately make women feel worse about themselves as they struggle to achieve a beauty ideal that has no basis in reality. Based largely on interviews in Amsterdam and Los Angeles.
(Directed by Sunny Bergman, in English and Dutch w/subtitles, 60 minutes, 2007)


2) This is England
This is England is a look back at the early eighties of British working-class life through the eyes of 12 year old Shaun and his new gang dealing with the bitterness of racism, unemployment and the fall out of the Falkland's War. Won the prize for Best British Film at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards.
(Directed by Shane Meadows, 98 minutes, 2006)

Beat the Drums

DRUMFEST 2008!


Who: The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission

When: Thursday, February 21, 2008 4pm - 8pm


Where: Emancipation Park


What : Drumfest 2008
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The 2nd Annual Drum Fest competition began this year with a series of regional eliminations across the island, the finals take place on February 21, 2008 at the Emancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The event is scheduled to start at 4 pm – concert & competition continue till 8pm.

Drums have always played an important role in the lives of the Jamaican People. It is believed that the drums create a deep spiritual feeling, transcending the listener. Drums evoke moods of happiness, sadness and are rooted in the lives of a people.

he JCDC seeks to sustain the rich legacy of the conga and other types of hand beaten drums found across the island. The National Drumming Festival –Drumfest creates a unique opportunity for drummers all across the island to display their skills at playing the drum.


It will also allow Jamaicans to see our young people involved in sustaining and creating music of a high standard through dexterity, creativity and communicative skills.




MC : Fae Ellington

Special Guests: Akwaaba Drummers, Nomaddz and the La 'Cadco Dummers & Dancers

Admission: Free

Donald, Diamara & Co @ Red Bones

REDBONES THE BLUES CAFE

PRESENTS

Airplai

Featuring

Donald Waugh

Omar Francis

Kieran Murray

Jerome Tulloch

with

Vocalist Diamara Neil

Friday February 22nd, 2008

Gates Open 8 pm

Show Time 9 pm

ADM: J$500.00

Heron does the Messenger in 'Medea'

HERON RETURNS TO NEW YORK STAGE IN “MEDEA”

New York- February 14, 2008

Award winning Jamaican Playwright and actor David Heron will mark his return to the Off Broadway stage in a new production of Euripedes’ Greek tragedy Medea, opening on Friday February 15 for a limited exclusive run at the world famous National Black Theater in Harlem.

In a new adaptation by acclaimed scholar Nicolas Rudall, the play tells the story of the Sorceress/Princess Medea, who is left for another woman by her husband, Jason of The Argonauts, and decides to seek revenge at any cost.

Tony Award winning actress Trezana Beverley, who won Broadway’s highest honour for her role in the original production of For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Was Enuf, heads the cast as Medea, while reknowned theater actor and singer Dathan B. Williams takes on the role of Jason.

Heron will play the role of The Messenger, whose dramatic entrance and vivid recollection of events, illuminates the audience’s understanding of the vengeance Medea wreaks on all those who have wronged her.

The production is directed by Award winning actress and director Petronia Paley, whose credits include Another World, Guiding Light, Electra and the Broadway revival of On Golden Pond opposite James Earl Jones.

Medea marks Heron’s third Off-Broadway appearance in less than one year.

He made his Shakespearean debut to excellent reviews as Laertes opposite One Life To Live star Timothy D. Stickney in Hamlet at The Workshop Theater last April, and appeared immediately afterwards in The New Federal Theater’s popular revival of Errol John’s classic Caribbean play Moon On A Rainbow Shawl, produced by Woodie King Jr .

A Movie Nite Full of Fidel @ Red Bones

Movie Night at Redbones - 21 Braemar Avenue
This Saturday 16th February, 2008
Presents:
1) Blame it on Fidel
The story takes place in the early 1970's in France where 9 year old Anna has a nice comfortable life with her little brother until their parents decide to reject the comforts of their bourgeois life and dedicate themselves to radical activism turning Anna's life upside-down.
(Directed by Julie Gavras, 95 minutes, in French w/subtitles, 2006)


2) 638 Ways to Kill Castro
This documentary looks at the 638 alleged plots to assassinate the Cuban leader.
(Directed by Dollan Cannell, 78 minutes, 2006)


Contribution: $250
Showtime: 8pm(Blame it on Fidel) 9:45pm(638 Ways to Kill Castro)


Carry a blanket if you want to lie on the grass and hang out and listen to the music in the courtyard afterwards.

Flamenco Time

The following link takes you to upcoming Flamenco perfromance March 4

www.jamaicapegasus.com/flamenco/

Belisario @ the NG

Opening Event March 2, 11 a.m.



Organized by the Yale Center for British Art, the ground-breaking exhibition Art and Emancipation in Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds (September 27–and December 30th, 2007) was curated by Gillian Forrester, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, Yale Center for British Art; Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art, Yale University; and Barbaro Martinez-Ruiz, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History, Stanford University. The exhibition examined the visual culture of slavery and emancipation in Jamaica . The exhibition was organized to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade and featured some 234 works of art and objects drawn from Yale’s own collections and from Museum and private collections in Britain , France and Jamaica . Generous support for this project was provided by The Reed Foundation.

On March 2nd The National Gallery of Jamaica will be opening an abridged and amended version of the exhibition utilising the Jamaican loans to the original exhibition and additional loans from various Jamaican collections. A total of approximately 150 objects including paintings, sculptures, furniture, rare books and documents, costumes and musical instruments will be presented. The title of this exhibition is Isaac Mendes Belisario: Art and Emancipation in Jamaica .

Putting it together: Collage Exhibition

The public is invited to the official opening of the ‘Art of Collage and Assemblage’ on 14 February 2008 at 6:00 p.m. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. and Saturday from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. The Exhibition closes on 8 March 2008.

The first exhibition for 2008 staged by the Mutual Gallery is The Art of Collage and Assemblage starting on 14 February at 6 pm. It is staged in conjunction with NCB, Hardys wines, Carreras, Island Grill, Capital & Credit Merchant Bank, Super Plus, RBTT, COK, Ideal Portfolio Services Company and LOJ. Mr. Cecil Cooper, Head of the Fine Arts Department at the Edna Manley College for the Visual Arts and Performing Arts will be the guest speaker.


As in past years, this exhibition highlights a medium through the exposition of the work of artists working in that medium. Amongst the renowned artists are David Boxer, Hope Brooks, Karl ‘Jerry’ Craig, Petrona Morrison, Stanford Watson, also Paula Daley, Rafiki Kariuki, David Marchand, Mazola Wa Mwashighadi, Errol Moo Young, Phillip Tomlinson and Hope Wheeler.



The rising stars in the exhibition are Zawdie Reece, Kericee Fletcher, Keisha Castello, Khepera Oluyia Hatsheptwa, Tricia Gordon Johnston, Michela Lee, Nosbourne Lee, Ebony Patterson, Nicole Risden, Michelle Bright Chin See and Sana Rose. Two newcomers on the Jamaican art scene are Kaye Hanna and Gerry Ruecker.

The term collage is derived from the French verb “coller”, meaning to glue. A collage is a work of art made from assemblages of different objects into a new work. The term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive technique in modern art. An assemblage made from putting together found objects is the three-dimensional counterpart of a collage.

Love Inna De Air

INNA MI HEART" on Friday, February 15 at 9:00pm.

It's going to be "Funny Valentine" with Mizz Joan-Andrea Hutchinson".

Event: INNA MI HEART
"...because laughter and love go together"
What: Performance
Host: M.A.D.K.O.W. Productions
When: Friday, February 15 at 9:00pm
Where: Red Bones Blues Cafe

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Red Bones Jazz & Blues films

With the Air jamaica Jaz and blues festival fast approaching and, beyond thatthe annual African-American Hostory month observances, the US Embassy and Red bones the blues cafe are gearing up by presenting the Ken Burns series

U.S. EMBASSY, RED BONES HOST FILM SERIES – ‘THE BLUES MEETS JAZZ’

The U.S. Embassy and Red Bones Blues Café for the fourth year will collaborate to bring selected films from the series, “JAZZ,” by renowned filmmaker Ken Burns, as a precursor to its annual African American History Month observances. In addition, there will other documentaries featured such as the Blues Masters, The Howlin’ Wolf Story among others.

The films, which are free to the public, will be shown from January 24 to February 28, at the Red Bones Blues Café` in Kingston, starting at 7:30 p.m.

On January 24, Ken Burns’ “Gumbo” explores how jazz begins in 19th century New Orleans, where the sound of marching bands, Italian opera, Caribbean rhythms, and minstrel shows fills the streets with a richly diverse musical culture. Here, African-American musicians create a new music out of these ingredients by mixing in ragtime syncopations and the soulful feeling of the blues. Soon after the start of the new century, people are calling it jazz.

“Blues Masters – The Essential History of the Blues” on January 31, captures performances of the early masters on film and those that were are profoundly insightful and entertaining such as Son House, Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, B.B. King , Billie Holiday, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Big Joe Turner, Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters with Count Basie and many others.

Another film from the Ken Burns series, “Our Language” will be featured on February 7 while ‘The Howlin Wolf Story,’ will be shown on Wednesday, February 13. This eminently watchable documentary is about Chester A. Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf with some history of the Blues in general.

“A Masterpiece at Midnight” and "Antone's Home of the Blues: A Legend Every Night" will be featured on February 21 and 28 respectively

Reggae In Film

Minister Of Culture Announces Reggae Film FestivalA reggae film festival featuring films that have reggae music as the subject, story line or content will be held in Kingston on February 15,17 to focus on film as an aspect of Jamaican music culture. This was announced today by Minister of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports with responsibility for Entertainment, Hon. Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, who said that her Ministry will be assisting the Reggae Film Festival to showcase some of the many documentaries, feature films and music videos being made that incorporate or highlight Jamaica's unique reggae music.

The Film Festival will be a prelude to the Reggae Academy Awards being presented at that time by Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam) as well as a sidebar of the Global Reggae 2008 conference hosted by the UWI Institute of Caribbean Studies.

The REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL is organized by film maker and film festival organizer Barbara Blake Hannah in collaboration with ReggaeFilms.co.uk, a UK-based online community and marketplace for films, books and music highlighting Jamaica's reggae culture. Minister Grange says the REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL will give Jamaicans the opportunity to view some of the best of the hundreds of films made about and because of the world famous music of Jamaica, that not only reflect the wide interest in Jamaican music, but also bring tourists on vacation and income to members of the entertainment fraternity, as well as the nation.

"Most of the films about Jamaica are made by reggae lovers in countries outside Jamaica and we here at home have never seen them. There are also some Jamaican films that equally have never had local TV or cinema exposure. The REGGAE FILM FESTIVAL will showcase the best of these. There is certainly enough material of interest continually being produced to make this an annual event," said Minister Grange.

Co-ordinators Barbara Blake Hannah and Peter Gittins of Reggae Films UK, say the Reggae Film Festival will be a Red Carpet event of films in the categories of Reggae Rock-umentary, Roots – Rock - Reggae, and Give Thanks & Praise. Films include "ROOTS TIME" an amusing feature film by Peruvian film maker Silvestre Jacobi that follows two Rastas who travel around Jamaica selling records.