Day 2: I'm a Featured Playwright at Playwrights Playground, 6/6!

Because I'm determined to create work that I want to see, I'm a 2016 Playwright in Residence at Liberation Theater Company, working on a ton of new ideas.  A scene from my latest full length play currently in utero -- a serio-comic romp about white fragility -- will be read at the Classical Theater of Harlem's Playwright's Playground Cold Reading Series on Monday, June 6th at the Dwyer Cultural Center.

For more information and/or to reserve your spot, click here.

And now, back to rewrite purgatory.

Billie Holiday Post Script 3: The Billie Holiday Project + The Rare Sides

Charles Wallace and I at Minton's, before the first set.

On Tuesday night at Minton's Harlem --  a sold out house! -- my quintet and I were joined by Charles Wallace to present Monkey Junk, a dramatic retelling of a newly discovered Zora Neale Hurston story from the 1930s, augmented by Billie Holiday's material from the same decade. We rounded out the evening with a set of Lady Day's rare sides -- songs that even her die-hard enthusiasts had never heard. 

Our last performance on April 28th in this month-long tribute to Lady Day will be a pastiche of each week's programming.  For more information and reservations, click here.

Happy birthday, Billie Holiday...!

      (Photo by Mito Habe-Evans.)

Today is Billie Holiday's 100th birthday. Imagine that.

To celebrate her centennial, I will be in residence every Tuesday in April at Minton's performing rare sides with a stellar coterie of musicians: Noah Jackson (bass), Charles Goold (drums), Warren Smith (drums), Patience Higgins (tenor sax), Wayne Tucker (trumpet) and J. Walter Hawkes (trombone), with Jeremy Bacon (piano and MD).  Thankfully, Talvin Wilks has joined us to shape what we've assembled. I've been working on several projects about Billie Holiday for some time now, so my research is extensive.  This residency feels like a natural extension of all that work, a highly creative way to get all those ideas out of my head and into the world.

Of course, rare sides means rare songs, so the audience will definitely experience material they've probably never heard in performance. I took this idea one step further and reconfigured different aspects of Lady Day's body of work, to see her in a new light. For tonight's special moment, I will recreate her Broadway debut Holiday on Broadway -- a revue that included Billy Taylor, the founder of Jazzmobile --  which opened on April 27, 1948 in the wake of her first Carnegie Hall performance.

I know that there are many who dismiss Miss Holiday as a drug addict who led a tragic life but the truth is, that could be the byline for just about any successful, brilliant musician in the past 100 years. Nevermind all the jazz musicians that are infamous for their drug fueled debauchery and their tragic lives -- Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk. Stravinsky, as it turns out, was quite the drug addict.  Chopin was addicted to opium and dosed it every day with sugar cubes.  Leonard Bernstein? Painkillers. 

It's very difficult (read: virtually impossible) for the world to openly acknowledge black female genius, to say that black women are brilliant.  Focusing on Lady Day's drug use and the things that went wrong in her life is a convenient way to ignore her musicianship and how it literally changed the world.  Consider this: She got her first paid singing job at 14. John Hammond discovered her at 18.  By the time she was 25, she had recorded well over 120 songs with the best jazz musicians of our time -- most of which are classics now.  She toured with Artie Shaw, Count Basie and Teddy Wilson's big bands.  Impossible but true: She recorded Strange Fruit in 1939 at the age of 22. (!!!) 

This is the Billie Holiday I have come to know and respect -- and yes, love: an exceptionally beautiful, disturbingly brilliant, highly creative genius musician and songwriter who was as tough as any situation demanded, because that's just how vulnerable she really was.

If you want to celebrate Billie Holiday on the day of her birth, we'll see you tonight at Minton's. For reservations and information, please click here.

Queen Esther Sings Billie Holiday -- Minton's in April

Queen Esther Sings Billie Holiday: The Rare Sides
A different program each week!

Every Tuesday in April
Sets at 7:30pm and 9:30pm
$10 at the bar — $20 at the table

Minton’s Harlem
206 W. 118^th St.
for info/reservations 212 243 2222

April 7th    Holiday on Broadway
In honor of Billie Holiday’s centennial (April 7, 1915 – April 7, 2015), Queen Esther recreates the program from Lady Day’s Broadway debut Holiday on Broadway, which opened on April 27th, 1948 in the wake of her first Carnegie Hall appearance.

April 14th   Queen Esther Sings Billie Holiday at Carnegie Hall, 1956: A Refracted Set
Using personal letters, soundbites and interview segments from Lady Day herself, Queen Esther puts a refracted spin on Miss Holiday’s last Carnegie Hall performance, giving the audience a new perspective on the greatest jazz siren of the 20^th century.

April 21^st and 28^th   The Billie Holiday Project
With the relatively unknown yet timeless songs of the iconic siren Billie Holiday as an aural backdrop for several newly unearthed Zora Neale Hurston short stories from the height of the Harlem Renaissance – including Monkey Junk, an uptown “fable” of Black city life and an instant classic – Queen Esther explores new ground by giving this unexplored material a fresh perspective.

This presentation will be followed by a set of rare sides.

Fall Bucket List 2014 -- The Harlem Edition

Sure, I made a list like this last year but it wasn't comprehensive enough -- and it was way too generic.  Maybe this one is way too personal. No need for candy apples of any kind (I won't jeopardize my dental work!) or football (I'm only remotely interested...) or haunted houses (in other parts of the country, they're really haunted!) or hayrides, which aren't as fun as you might think.

The list above is for a suburban midwesterner.  This list isn't specific to Harlem, per se -- but I am, more or less. This neighborhood's ongoing tide of gentrification makes me feel like even more of an outsider than I did when I got here. If you're in New York City and if you're as geeky and curious and insatiable as I am, and if you're not interested in going where everyone else boldly goes, this list is definitely for you.

1. The New York Comic Con -- October 9 - 12 at the Javits Center! That's right, kids -- I'm going to the nerd prom. Wheeeeee!
2. Exhibit #1: See Prune Nourry's Terracotta Daughters at FIAF.  From the website: An army of young girls assembles in the first U.S. showing of Terracotta Daughters, a monumental exhibition of 108 life-sized and individually crafted clay sculptures that recall China’s famous Terracotta Warriors.
3. Sample the fall menu at The Cecil.  I will miss the Frogmore Stew but I am very much looking forward to the bold, inventive additions to the dim sum menu and yes, their African/Asian take on roast duck.
   
4. Do a 30 day cleanse. This time around, I'm doing The Clean Program for at least 21 days, I'll be incorporating a 7 day cleanse initially and I'll be working out. Yep -- I'm going to be a lot of fun in October.
5. Go to a drive-in movie!  Click here for a list of five movie theaters that are less than a 2 hour drive from New York City.  I'll make a picnic basket and maybe we'll catch a double feature...!
6. Go to The Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Flotilla -- October 26th, 3:30pm - 6:30pm This is way more fun than wandering through a pumpkin patch. It's a family-friendly, beautiful and yes, free annual event, sponsored by the Central Park Conservancy and it features music, arts and crafts, and glowing pumpkins, floating across the water at sundown.
7. Exhibit #2: See Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion at the New York Historical Society. From the website: ...explores the centuries-long history of trade and immigration between China and the United States—a history that involved New York from its very beginnings—and will raise the question “What does it mean to be an American?” The exhibit narrative extends from the late eighteenth century to the present and includes all regions of the country, thus interpreting the Chinese American saga as a key part of American history.
8. The Apollo Theater Presents Apollo Uptown Hall: The Harlem/South Africa Connection -- October 12th, 3pm. This panel discussion will feature Harry Belafonte, former Mayor David Dinkins and other notable speakers/activists. And yep, it's free.
9. Exhibit #3: The Matisse Cut-outs.  You're welcome.
   
10. Wine Tasting Series in The Balcony Lounge at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This happens on the first weekend of every month.  And MPB says it's delicious. I have a serious thing for this lounge, anyway -- mostly because they have wifi and they let me stay for as long as I want.

Harlem Gentrification-itis Blues

Harlem is looking more and more like an outpost for stranded, overly educated Midwestern fashion victims who ought to be background talent for HBO's Girls. Then again, so does the rest of New York City.  I moved uptown to get away from all that.  To (sort of) paraphrase Michael Jackson, I don't want to be where they are -- for a myriad of reasons which should be fairly obvious to anyone that's actually paying attention -- yet for some strange reason, they won't stop following me.   As a slightly intoxicated hipster blurted to me in a Brooklyn bar recently after a breezy chat about everything and nothing, "You're so interesting!"  Hearing him say that made me feel like I just got slimed. More on that some other time.

My favorite moment so far (and yes, I have many) is the one that won't stop happening. At this point, I suppose that makes it a revolving nightmare.  It begins simply enough: I hear about some Harlem hotspot, I show up to check it out and when I walk through the door, the place is filled with white people who look at me as if to say, what the hell are you doing here?  To be honest, yes -- that's what happens just about everywhere I go. Harlem was the one place where that whole staring-at you like-you're-the-one-that's-nuts-while-you-eat-your-roasted-beet-and-goat-cheese-salad thing didn't happen. Well. Not anymore. 

That's right. You heard me. Harlem, an iconic black neighborhood, is no longer a place where a black person can get away from white privilege and entitlement. And that's just one reason of many as to why this place is going straight to hell.

Here's a short segment from therealnews.com about the systematic ethnic cleansing of Harlem by Columbia University's massive expansion and gentrification, and how the city failed the neighborhood.

Winter in Harlem: Woodshed with Guitars!

Woodshed: To lock oneself away with a musical instrument and practice, either a particular piece or in general, until the player has improved greatly or can perfectly play the piece he has been practicing. 

Today's blizzard hit hard in the wee hours of the morning and won't let up until later this evening.  What with all the delicious leftover eats from yesterday's SuperBowl and the drinking bonanza that went with it, it's the perfect time to call in sick and work from home if you've got it like that. Folks must have been thinking ahead this time around.  The streets aren't as busy as they usually are.

I've got cable tv, Netflix, Klondike bars and bacon. I've got Winsor Pilates DVDs and Greens Plus. I've got a retooled acoustic baby Taylor, a five string banjo on permanent loan, some pretty cool electric guitars and a Pignose amp. I've got a humidifier that's on blast -- and thankfully, so is the heat. I've got a gigantic pot of the most delicious lamb stew that I made last night, while MPB was yelling at the tv during the game. I stocked MPB's bar with absolutely every varietal of Trader Joe's three buck chuck and then some. I even have lamb riblets that I'm going to pan sear for dinner tonight.

I also have a voiceover audition today -- from home, thanks to GarageBand. 

What I don't have is a good reason to go outside.  When the snow day is this severe, it's time to stay home and woodshed.  I'll start by digging into Rocksmith, which I totally love a lot because its hard and fun. I haven't touched it in forever.  I have no idea why.

Another snowstorm of epic proportions is expected on Wednesday. Lucky me. 

Before I disappear, here's something for all you guitar players: a 1964 performance of the song Hey! from "The Originator" Bo Diddley that includes his right hand lady Ms. Norma-Jean Wofford, otherwise known as The Dutchess -- playing rhythm and lead guitar and keeping in step with the back up vocalists, and in a gown and heels no less. 

Although she played guitar and gigged here and there later in life, her career came to a screeching halt when she left the band in 1966, got married and moved to Florida to raise a family. 

Here's a photo of Bo Diddley, The Dutchess and percussionist Jerome Green. 

I think she's stunning, a bonafide trailblazer (why don't any guitar magazines or guitar lists ever mention her?) and most definitely an inspiration for me as a nascent guitarist.

Winter Bucket List 2013 -- The Harlem Edition (Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa!)

Comedy Central

None of the winter bucket lists I see online ever resemble mine. Not that I wouldn't want to go on a carriage ride or make gingerbread houses. That sounds cute but I'm way more likely to be found staying up all night making Kwanzaa presents or sipping my specialty Mexican hot chocolate at a black folk pot luck.

There's no getting away from Christmas once it explodes sometime in the fall (!!!) but the truth is, Kwanzaa has nothing to do with Christmas, it's not religious and it's not an anti-white people holiday alternative. Like a lot of things black folks do, Kwanzaa is something that we do for our selves -- to unite us, to honor our past as African-Americans, our collective history and our ancestors, and to reconnect with our purpose, as individuals and as a community. If white people are down with that and want to participate, hooray. There's always plenty of culture to go around. If not, oh well. It's really not about them.

Kwanzaa is much more fun than Christmas -- and for me, it's very personal. You have to make the gifts you give -- something that stymies a lot of people I know, until they realize that the gift doesn't have to be tangible.  The day you give the gift can infuse it with even more significance. If you're not craftsy, educational gifts are encouraged.  The Kwanzaa gifts I have given are pretty out there, I suppose.  You give what you have. You give who you are. I have been a pretty good wingman, agony aunt and third wheel in times past. I've given a voice lesson and a performance clinic here and there.  Once I even taught a friend how to smother a chicken.  And my pound cakes -- as well as my tomato pies -- are kind of legendary.

There are hard and fast rules but I don't live and die by them. I make them my own. Will you light Kwanzaa beeswax candles? Maybe.  Truth is, my libation ceremony will probably be cocktails with a few sisters at a speakeasy.

Lemmie put it to you this way. Christmas means running around in malls and bouncing around online and buying presents -- and if you run out of ideas or time or patience, Christmas means sending gift cards or cash money. You must send something. Kwanzaa means giving someone something very personal, something that you make with your own hands, something from you that will hopefully resonate with them in some way. You must give of yourself.

Here's a winter bucket list that may look a lot like yours.

1. Get a wreath for your door -- or better yet (in the spirit of Kwanzaa),  make two and give one to a friend. 
2. If you haven't already, it's probably a good idea to start assembling your Kwanzaa presents. (Un)fortunately, (most of) the things I make are edible. This year, I'm getting especially craftsy for a select few. (Finally!)  Otherwise, I'm locked in my kitchen for beef stew (Evan), smothered pork chops (Jane), several quarts of Mexican hot chocolate (you know who you are) and -- of course -- pound cake.
3. Wait until that (Southern) ATL visit and go sit on Black Santa's lap at Greenbriar Mall. You know that's my story.  Black Santa, baby. (More on that here.)
4. You wanna watch a holiday movie? Forget Elf. Watch Bad Santa with a bunch of black folk -- unedited, of course.  You'll laugh so hard, you'll scream.
5. Go to The Apollo Theater's Kwanzaa Celebration: Regeneration Night on Friday, December 27th.
6. Go to American Museum of Natural History's Kwanzaa 2013: 35th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, December 28th.
7. The dance company Batoto Yetu will celebrate the seven principles of Kwanzaa with movement and festivities at Aaron Davis Hall on Saturday, December 28th.
8. From December 26 - 28, The African Burial Ground has a pretty spectacular Kwanzaa celebration -- the 10th Anniversary Observance of the Rites of Ancestral Return -- that includes short film, visual art, live music and performances that run the gamut from spoken word to The Black Nutcracker. And yes -- all of it is free and open to the public but reservations are required.
9. The Studio Museum in Harlem has Hands On Kwanzaa Celebration -- art making activities and an interactive performance program for kids -- on Target Free Sunday, December 29th.
10. Skip the Bridge and Tunnel crowd, the tourists and the rest of the amateurs and celebrate New Year's Eve Eve instead of New Year's Eve.  (That way, you can enjoy First Night and still have fun with revelers. More on that here.) You can catch me and my jazz quintet The Hot Five at The Player's Club in Grammercy Park on Monday, December 30th for The Salon's annual fete and December 31st for The Player's Club and their New Year's Eve gala.

The Next Gig: Queen Esther sings Billie Holiday at HAF Sessions, 12/12

FYI: I'll be doing a short 30 minute set of Billie Holiday's rare sides for this event, and I'll be accompanied by guitarist Marvin Sewell in one of Harlem's newest hotspots.  (For tickets, click here.)

“The HAF Sessions are an incredibly important part of honoring our commitment to both the artists we work with and the community we serve. Our goal is to establish a continuous presence in curating contemporary work.” JJ El-Far -- Harlem Arts Festival Creative Director, Co-Founder

Fall Bucket List 2013 -- The Harlem Edition

This list reads like it came straight out of an all-American Midwestern suburban wonderland of epic proportions. (Go on a hayride? Here? Really?) I live in New York City -- in Harlem, to be exact.  In spite of rampant gentrification and much ballyhooed "progress", this neighborhood is still a ghetto. And since I don't have gobs of money or a driver's license, I tend to have my fun whereever the subway can take me.

It's especially nice when fun can be had within walking (or biking) distance. Although I do love the idea of putting a wreath on the door for every season, I don't have a porch to decorate. And my alma mater doesn't have a football team -- or a sports team of any kind, for that matter.  So, alas -- no tailgating.

Don't get me wrong. I'm from the South. If I were home, the game would be on, delicious things would be roasting (or popping!) in the fireplace, there'd be a pie or two in the oven, and raking leaves into a massive pile over and over and over for all of us to dive onto them and roll around, screaming and laughing and freaking out would be the most fun thing to do in the history of ever.

But I'm not at home. 

All of this begs the question: if I had a Harlem bucket list for fall, what would be on it?  Well. Here it is, folks. 

1. There aren't any pumpkin patches to visit in the ghetto, unfortunately -- but Harlem Meer does have a Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Sail. That's right. At dusk, they create the biggest pumpkin flotilla in the city on the meer.  (To see how beautiful it is, click here.) 
2. Enjoy cider? No, thank you -- I'll be making my delicious, irresistable Mexican hot chocolate at the first sign of a serious cold snap.
3. I can't make a bonfire in the living room of my apartment and have s'mores -- but I can go to Cosi and make s'mores at my table, with my own little blue flames and all the fixin's.  Or if I'm feeling especially saucy, I'll order a set and have s'mores at home. Too perfect.
4. Caramel apples? Not with this dental work. Next!
5. I don't do chili. I've certainly eaten my fair share of it in my lifetime and I make better chili than anyone I know but it's not my thing. I'm from the Lowcountry.  I'd prefer to roast oysters. If I can't find a friend with a fireplace, I think I can roast a few with a hibachi in the park. (Mental note: the home I purchase will definitely have a fireplace or an "outdoor kitchen" -- or both!)
6. I bake pie all the time, anyhow. (I've got to stay in good form for my next pie contest.) Next! 
7. I give thanks to God, absolutely every single day of my life. I can't wait until Thanksgiving. There's too much to be grateful for, right now. Next!
8. There's way too many beer gardens in Harlem -- with excellent food! -- to not enjoy Oktoberfest.  Harlem Public has a fireplace, so I can check that off the bucket list in short order, too.
9. Why carve a pumpkin when I can make something with it instead? (See #6.)
10. I don't know how to drive, so going on a fall color drive isn't really an option. Instead, I'll ride my bike through Riverbank State Park, past the little red lighthouse and all the way to Fort Tryon Park -- 67 acres of lush, green wonder, filled with all kinds of flora and fauna and wildlife.  I can't go all the way up there without wandering through The Cloisters. I can take in some breathtaking scenery and medieval art and architecture, lose myself in their gardens, play in the leaves (with a camera!) and perhaps collect a few. Check, check and check.

BONUS: The Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park! 

Ten Things Every Black Woman Should Have If She Lives in New York City

I've seen way too many of these "ten things" lists floating around -- and so have you. Most of them say things that are generally true for anyone, not just women.  None of them speak to me, especially when they say insist that's not the case.  Unless you're rich, independently wealthy or bankrolled in some other way (your parents bought your apartment! yay!), living in New York City is a very difficult proposition. The fabulousness of paying four figures a month to live in Williamsburg or Bushwick or Harlem just isn't enough after awhile. Something else has to soften the blow. 

If I didn't have all of these things, the quality of my life in New York City would take a decidedly downward turn. FYI: This list is not in order and it's totally in flux. Next week, it could morph into something else.

1. A strong sense of personal style -- By now, you should know the difference between fashion (what trends/a clothing designer/your favorite pop star tells you to wear) and style (self expression).  You and your closet shouldn't be at the mercy of what's in or what's out.  I'm aware of what's fashionable and a lot of it looks like (expensive) fun but if I can't look like myself when I put my clothes on, what's the point. As a performer, I'm in the business of expressing myself.  Being me when I get dressed is the natural order of things so maybe there's an unfair advantage in there somewhere.  New York City is the place where your individuality is an asset because it sets you apart from the common herd.  Then again, if you really don't love yourself enough to be yourself in the first place, the wheels are going to come off that bus pretty fast.
2. Excellent physical health -- You don't have to be in peak physical condition to live here but trust me, it helps. When I moved to Harlem, I lost weight and stayed lean in part because I suddenly found myself walking and riding my bike everywhere.  It was a drastic change from a place like Atlanta, for example, where everyone drives everywhere for anything.  Even going up and down the stairs to get on and off the subways will wear you out, if you do it on a regular basis. Then again, you can jump in and out of cabs to get around -- if you can catch one.  Aside from all that, being sick can be pretty expensive -- and what with all the money you're already throwing up in the air to live here, you really don't want to spend more on something that possibly could have been prevented.
3. A friend in the Garment District  -- When what is fashionable and trendy loses its luster, it gets sold -- sometimes for as much as 90% below what you would have paid when it was on the rack.  You can sign up for alerts for sample sales to your favorite designers -- but if you know someone who works there (and what with six degrees of separation, you probably do), they can let you into the sale before it happens.
4. A spiritual life
5. A strong connection to your family (how ever you define it) and your community (the world your family lives in).
6. A sister who will (lovingly and tactfully) tell you the truth and a brother who will always have your back.
7. Your Own Private Hair Guru -- I don't care what you've got -- a tight weave, a closet full of wigs, a blow dryer that's your hair's best friend or a T.W.A. When it's time to get your hair done properly, you've got to have your go-to person on speed dial.  They're affordable, they're convenient and they usually know your hair better than you do. You didn't open a phone book to figure this out. You asked a sister and she told you what's up. Black folks live and die by word of mouth. Period.
8. A well worn passport -- The importance of traveling internationally need hardly be stressed. Get out there. See the world. It will change your life. (Start here.)
   
9. A museum membership -- This is quite literally the gift that keeps on giving. There are hundreds of museums, cultural sites, historical establishments and the like in New York City.  Most of them are internationally recognized and much lauded, and quite a few are trendy little hotspots.  Some of them offer memberships. If you join at a certain level -- and yes, you can write most of your fee off on your taxes -- that's where the fun begins.  There are events, parties, galas, previews for openings and lots of other exclusive diversions, not to mention added discounts and free passes to other museums all over the country.
10. A diverse group of friends that includes at least one WASPy looking white guy -- Because when your fun night is over, someone has to put you in a cab. When there's some flak in any given social situation, someone has to smooth things over. And if there's a "problem", someone has to talk to the police -- and you and I both know that probably shouldn't be the black man in the room.

Good hair

(Thanks, Chrissi J!)

see how beautiful harlem is?

stunning, right? taken earlier this afternoon as i was zipping down the cherry walk on my bike. enjoy.

a few thousand words

i almost forgot.

here are a few stellar moments from a performance of an as-of-yet untitled piece that i'm growing with dancer/choreographer francesca harper. its an exploration of billie holiday's life and times through movement, music and multimedia. these moments photographed here found us dancing to the sound of her speaking voice, edited from an interview that she did with mike wallace, accompanied by pianist jeremy bacon.

we did this at the first ever harlem arts festival in the newly renovated marcus garvey park ampitheater. huzzah!

this performance has clung to my heart ever since for several reasons. first of all, it happened on my birthday. i really felt as though something wonderful was born on that stage that day. or maybe it was growing out of the pit of me all along. what it was, i can't say exactly. i remember feeling especially overwhelmed by it all. and grateful.

secondly, i danced -- something that i was always made to feel that i was incapable of doing. more on that some other time.

interestingly, francesca has instigated all of this movement in my life -- or at least, tilted my perspective enough to make me believe that i can do it. and i am doing it -- professionally. i met her at a boardwalk empire audition for jazz dancers. we both got the gig and i've been kicking up my heels (more or less) ever since. it's so important for me to challenge myself, to do things i've never done before, to push myself outside of my comfort zone, to try new things. if i don't, i will not grow. and if i don't grow, then really, what's the point?

 as kenyatta beasley watched me dance with the francesca harper project, i think he was totally overwhelmed.   "i didn't know you could do that," he kept saying, like a mantra.

"neither did i," i replied breathlessly.

and lastly? afterwards, kenyatta remarked, "you danced for me today. you dancing was a gift you gave me." and him saying that felt like the best birthday present i had ever gotten and would ever get, ever ever ever.

Happy Labor Day, y'all!

"A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving."  -- Albert Einstein

I hope everyone found a way to enjoy what has become the unofficial last day of summer. The great news of the moment is, now that the season is pretty much over, i've found a way to grill in the ghetto.  And I didn't do it on the sidewalk.

I can't believe summer is about to be over.  Time is flying, crazy fast. If you're in Gotham, here's some things to do in the month of September that might soften the blow.

kids programming at the 2012 harlem arts festival

here's some information that isn't featured on the harlem arts festival's website. if you have a kid or know one that likes to have fun with you, here's some details about next week's festivities that's especially for them.

2012 FESTIVAL KIDS PROGRAMS!

JUNE 29-30, 2012, MARCUS GARVEY PARK, NYC

Presenting our youth and family activity lineup for the 2012 festival! 

The Harlem Arts Festival will feature two days of family programming. Join us on either day at the Kids' Corner for arts and crafts for all ages. Then, on Saturday, June 30th in the Harlem Library, join us for a full day of dance, theater, music, and art classes and activities at Start With Art!

Kids' Corner Fri-Sat, June 29th & 30th, 2012 Marcus Garvey Park Friday, June 29, 12:00pm-4:00pm: Family Yoga with Land Yoga Face painting, arts and crafts, and more! Saturday, June 30, 12:00pm-4:00pm Button-Making with Cooper Hewitt Mural Making with Harlem School of the Arts Arts & Crafts with Harlem School of the Arts Visual Arts Workshop with Artistic Dreams Face painting, and more!

Start With Art! Saturday, June 30th, 2012 11am-4pm, Harlem Library 11:00am-12:00pm Merengue Dance Class, Ballroom Basix 12:00pm-12:45pm Poetry Workshop, Mayhem Poets 1:00pm-2:00pm Harlem Swing Dance Class, Ballroom Basix 2:00pm-2:45pm Theater Workshop, Harlem School of the Arts  3:00pm-3:45pm Griots in Concert, Yaffa Productions

Looking for more information on the festival? Check out our 2012 Festival artists, here!

the next gig: harlem arts festival 2012

THE HARLEM ARTS FESTIVAL is a FREE annual festival presenting Harlem-based music, dance, theater, and visual arts. Taking place at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park June 29-30, 2012, we invite the community to celebrate Harlem’s vibrant cultural landscape and contemporary artistry.

for more information: http://www.harlemartsfestival.com

there's a gallery walk, performance art, exhibits, music, dance -- and all of it is based in harlem.  francesca and i will be performing on the main stage at the newly renovated (and newly renamed) richard rodgers amphitheater.

here's the gist of what francesca and i will do: In this as-of-yet untitled theatrical performance, Queen Esther explores black feminism by continuing to deconstruct the iconic siren Billie Holiday through movement, sound and vision.  With Ms. Holiday’s speaking voice as an aural backdrop, Queen Esther sings her more relatively unknown yet timeless songs, melding this soundscape into Francesca Harper’s compelling choreography, exploring a relatively unknown side of Lady Day.

see you there!

30 days of birthday - day 14: make art

Source: thefreshexchangeblog.com via Megan on Pinterest

i sometimes envy people who choose to do what they do, whatever it is.  i didn't choose to be an artist. i was always like this.

i'm growing a lot of ideas right now. they're coming at me explosively, like shrapnel.  sometimes a long walk will smooth things out but for the most part they unfurl inside me as i think on them. i should be a hermit for the next few weeks, just so i can write it all out -- but no such luck.  the sun is out, finally, and the beach is calling me like a long lost friend. boxing conditioning class is mandatory. there are too many places to hang out all over the place, especially in my own neighborhood. 

the art in me is everything that i am, poured into whatever it is that i'm doing at the moment. what i'm doing never feels like work. it is spontaneous, effortless and freeing. i follow my strongest curiousity and let it take me everywhere. i take copious notes. i daydream. i collaborate. and all of a sudden, everything takes shape as if it were there all along. and then i go and make something else.

you know what's work? practicing is work.  it won't be work when i get good at it but for the moment, i feel like sisyphus whenever i play the piano. or the guitar. *sigh* it's not a good feeling.

 no one explained this process to me. i refined it on these mean streets, by trial and error, by hell and high water, and by fire.  i began to walk down this road when i realized that because so much art in new york city (and the rest of the world) didn't include me, i would have to make my own. and then all of that grew into something else.

the idea of going out into the world to "discover" any of what i'm creating sounds exhausting.  it has always been much easier to know myself well enough to delve into my inner life for inspiration. i am grateful to God that i loved myself enough to value what i found and hold it sacred long enough to develop it and grow it into whatever it's supposed to be.

i wonder what's coming out of me next.

30 days of birthday - day 12: the npr interview

today is the day that i rendevous with npr producer/reporter elizabeth blair and author/columbia professor farah griffin in front of lenox lounge at high noon. we are going to st. raymond's cemetery in the bronx, to visit billie holiday's grave and conduct an interview there.  it's for npr's morning staple all things considered that will air on july 17 to coincide with the anniversary of her death. 

needless to say, i've been looking forward to this for weeks.

i wish we could have a videographer. hopefully there will be a photographer. and yes, i will sing one of her songs while i'm there. 

after i process all of it, i should have an interesting tale to show and tell.  in the meantime, i leave you with this rare interview of billie holiday -- from sweden of all places, in 1954.

Great news, sports fans!

I just found out a few weeks ago that I got accepted to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts MFA program – dramatic writing for musical theater. It’s a two year program, it is intense and it would mean fully immersing myself in the creative collaborative process. If all goes well, I’ll start in the fall. It’s a real kick in the head, just knowing that I made the cut and I’m bright enough and talented enough to be a part of such an illustrious program. I feel especially grateful – and sweetly relieved.
The application process was harrowing, in a way. Once I completed all of the paperwork (which was as thick as a small town phone book, and no I’m not exaggerating), there was an applicant’s weekend where we were arbitrarily paired off, librettists with composers, and asked to write a five minute script to song in a day from a list of about 10 prompts. yes, that’s right – we had ONE day, more or less. we met on friday evening, worked on our idea saturday and presented on sunday at high noon.
The process was unexpected, for me at least, but I totally get it now. The faculty needed to see us work under pressure as strangers because that’s pretty much what we’ll be doing in the program. You can’t necessarily teach someone how to collaborate – and collaboration is the absolute backbone of what they do there. It’s a bigger part of what creating a musical is all about.
That was trippy – sitting in the lounge area that Friday evening, listening to everyone introduce themselves and unravel their stories: where they were from, how they got here from there, what their lives were like, their hopes and dreams. It felt like the first day of school. Or something.
It helped a great deal that I got really lucky with my random choice when I was paired with Benjamin Gammerman, a recent NYU graduate from Long Island. He was pretty much bubbling over with snippets of little ditties at all times. He’s the kind of guy that can turn anything into a song. Not only that but he was open, friendly and willing to start working right away. An added bonus was that we both have pianos (in case we got stuck and couldn’t get to the rehearsal studios) but the real kicker was that he lived four blocks away from me.
Actually, now that I think about it, it wasn’t luck at all. God threw me a bone.
I don’t mind putting my life on hold to pull this off, if I must. I’m already writing musicals. This week has me in Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theater for a performance residency that will culminate in 2 performances this weekend. One of them is already sold out. (No pressure…)
I have always believed in having something solid and meaningful to show for my time, especially in a place like New York City, where one can burn through time exponentially without even realizing it. Two years goes by in this city in a matter of months. I have friends who are already figuring out what their options are for retirement, and they’re in their 30s. (Egad.)
The real work with graduate school? Figuring out how to pay for it. Stay tuned.

See more progress on: Go to graduate school