Tongues on Fire: A Tribute To The Black Panthers comes to London, Sept 11th

This sounds rather interesting… Tongues on Fire is a musical tribute inspired by the revolutionary art of 1960s African-American radicals the Black Panthers’ cultural guru Emory Douglas. Coming to London’s Barbican Hall next week, the event features live music by The Roots, tenor saxophonist David Murray [who also directs the event], Living Colour and The Last Poets.

FULL LINE-UP:
?uestlove (Drums)
Black Thought (MC)
Ray Angry (Keyboards) and Felix Pastorius (Bass) from The Roots
Corey Glover (Vocals) and Vernon Reid (Guitar) from Living Colour
Abiodun Oyewole (Poet) and Umar Bin Hassan (Poet) from The Last Poets
David Murray (Saxophone)
Doctor L (Video Engineer)

EVENT DETAILS
Date: 11 September 2010
Time: 7.30pm
@ Barbican Hall, London
Tickets: £15/20/25/30
Booking & Info: www.barbican.org.uk

TRAILER:

?uestlove will also be DJig later that evening at East Village. Click for booking information.

Brian McKnight and Vivica Fox Star in Je’Caryous Johnson’s ‘Cheaper to Keep Her’

Hit comedy stage play Je’Caryous Johnson’s Cheaper to Keep Her kicks off on a US tour of more than 30 national tour dates, beginning September 18th at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

The twelfth play in a series of critically acclaimed stage plays from NAACP Award-winning writer and director Je’Caryous Johnson, Cheaper to Keep Her stars R&B singer/songwriter Brian McKnight and actress Vivica A. Fox alongside Christian Keyes (Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail) and comedians Jonathan Slocumb and Gary “G-Thang” Johnson.

The Story:

When a married couple is ready to call it quits, they always want different things. Raymond Mays (Brian McKnight) wants a divorce and Morgan Mays (Vivica A. Fox) wants alimony. When the fed-up judge bangs her gavel, she decides Morgan doesn’t deserve half… she deserves it all.

Morgan gets everything—the house, Raymond’s retirement, and some would say even his self-esteem, leaving him with nothing but the thought; it would have been cheaper to keep her.

Raymond has two options to prevent him from paying alimony: kill Morgan or get her married off to someone else. As ex-husband and ex-love face off with each other, broken hearts will get revenge and hearts and marital matrimony will collide only to discover if it’s easier to love her as his wife.

The Trailer:

Booking & US Tour Dates:

For Cheaper To Keep Her US theatre dates, booking information and tickets visit imreadyproductions.com

Aloe Blacc European Tourdates

Aloe Blacc and The Grand Scheme have announced a month-long set of tourdates across Europe, including a stop at London’s Jazz Cafe on October 19th as the tour nears its end. Full tour dates below; click the venue names for ticket purchase links.

Aloe Blacc’s new album, Good Things, is out from November 28th via Stones Throw – featuring the infectious How To Make It In America opening soundtrack “I Need A Dollar.”

European Tourdates: Read more

Inua Ellams’ Untitled UK Theatre Tour | Dates & Info

Nigerian-born verbal and visual craftsman Inua Ellams has had the London poetry world in the palm of his hands for some time now. His name pops up on practically every poetry related London event I stumble across – and his prose isn’t ‘alf popular either; his debut play The 14th Tale, which I enjoyed at the National Theatre in Southbank earlier this year, won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival 2009.

Next month Ellams embarks on a UK tour with a new play, Untitled: “a magical realist story set in Nigeria and England, of identical twin boys separated at infancy. In the quarrel after the marred naming ceremony, the mother grabs the titled child and flees, leaving the unnamed brother to lead an impetuous, chaotic, blasphemous existence until the spirits of the land make their stand.”

Untitled hits several venues around the country, reaching London, Birmingham, Manchester, Coventry, Bristol, Bath, Stockton-on-Tees and Aldeburgh. But first, here are the play’s key ingredients, as told by Inua Ellams: Read more

Soul-D-Out UK Live presents The Soul Of The UK | Win Tickets!

On Friday 3rd September Soul-D-Out UK Live presents The Soul Of The UK showcase. Hosted by Rampage’s D’Nyce, the showcase features performances from double MOBO award winner, singer/songwriter Kele Le Roc, singer/songwriter & musician Louise Golbey, rising star Charmain Andrews and performance poet, Natalie Fiawoo.

Taking place at:
Rhum Jungle
Cotton’s Caribbean Restaurant
70, Exmouth Market
London EC1R 4QP

Doors open at 6pm
Show 9:00pm sharp / after party til 2:30am
Grab advance tickets online HERE or pay on the door: £8 before 9:30pm/£10 after

We have TWO pairs of tickets (with tables) to give away! All you have to do is email your full name and contact number to comps@soulculture.co.uk for a chance to win.

Aaliyah Revisited: A Tribute Event – Aug 24 @ Medusa Lounge, LA

Just under a year ago we put together a tribute EP to R&B princess Aaaliyah, who passed tragically in a plane crash on 25 August 2001, aged just 22.

Titled Aaliyah Revisited, our 8-track tribute features Marsha Ambrosius, Jesse Boykins III, Black Einstein, Baby Sol, Jonas, Vula, Tawiah, Sy Smith, AFTA-1 and Nikko Gray with their own unique interpretations of a variety of Aaliyah classics, including “One In A Million”, “4 Page Letter,” “I Care 4 U” and “If Your Girl Only Knew.”

It was a spontaneous idea that flourished into something rather special highlighting the timelessness of Aaliyah music. If you haven’t heard it yet, head on over to aaliyahrevisited.com to download the EP.

Nine years on from Baby Girl’s passing, we celebrate her legacy by keeping the music alive. Wouldn’t I love to get all 10 artists involved together in the same room for a one-off show? Of course! Get in touch if you want to help make that happen…

In the meantime, Nu-Soul magazine and Redlight have come together with us to put on a tribute event in Los Angeles next week: Alongside special Aaliyah sets by DJs DESTROYER and KALEEM, several independent soul artists – including Sy Smith, AFTA-1 and Nikko Gray – will hit the stage to perform their interpretations of Aaliyah songs, live at Medusa Lounge…

Nu-Soul Magazine & Redlight Special Events
in Association with SoulCulture
present

AALIYAH REVISITED
A Tribute To The Music And Memory Of Aaliyah Dana Haughton

Tuesday August 24, 2010
@ Medusa Lounge, Los Angeles (CA)

Read more

Ninja Tune: 20 Years Of Beats + Pieces | London Exhibition

To celebrate the release of Black Dog Publishing‘s latest title in their Labels Unlimited series, new exhibition Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats + Pieces opens tomorrow at Black Dog’s Space in King’s Cross, London.

This will be the first exhibition in the UK dedicated to Ninja Tune and its offshoot labels, and their legacy with a host of acclaimed international artists including Cinematic Orchestra, Daedelus, Roots Manuva, Ty, Mr Scruff, The Bug and more recently, Andreya Triana.

The exhibition coincides with Ninja Tune XX – a series of events celebrating 20 years of the label – and displays a decade’s worth of “posters, original drawings, paintings and 3D models and artwork from Ninja and its subsidiary labels; many never seen before outside of the Ninja offices”.

Also on show will is a vast collection of flyers, stickers, special pressings, merchandise, promotional items, tour laminates, LP and CD sleeves, artwork, esoterica and more – such as the rather striking photo below of UK Hip Hop legend Roots Manuva, as shot by Lee Vincent Grubb.

NINJA TUNE EXHIBITION DETAILS
Venue: Black Dog (10a Acton St, London WC1X 9NG)
Dates: 20th August until 16th September 2010
Open: Monday to Friday, 12-5pm

In the final week of the exhibition, Black Dog will open a one day Ninja pop-up shop, selling many items of merchandise and music at discounted prices, including posters, clothing and rare promo CDs. The Ninja Tune pop-up shop takes place on Saturday 11 September at Black Dog Space between 12-5pm.

www.blackdogonline.com

Raheem DeVaughn Headlines 3 Shows At London’s Jazz Cafe, Sept/Oct

Whenever he comes to London, Raheem DeVaughn puts on a hell of a show. (Admittedly, it’s largely driven towards the adulation of the often predominantly female audience – but you can consider DeVaughn’s groundwork a strong foundation for ‘date night’. Wink.)

Next month, the Grammy nominated “R&B hippie Neo-Soul rock star” returns to London to headline three live shows at London’s Jazz Cafe, following the success of his Top 10 Billboard hit LP The Love & War MasterPeace.

September 29th, September 30th, October 1st are the dates to choose from – head on over to Ticketmaster to book your tickets.

EVENT DETAILS
Raheem DeVaughn live in London
Dates: September 29th, September 30th, October 1st
Venue: Jazz Cafe (5 Parkway, Camden Town, London NW1 7PG)
Doors: 7pm
Tickets: £17.50 in advance via Ticketmaster

Further information: www.jazzcafe.co.uk Read more

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