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Jazz & Heritage Foundation presents Rene Marie in free concert
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation presents internationally-renowned jazz singer Rene Marie along with three New Orleans greats - Germaine Bazzle, Betty Shirley and Stephanie Jordan - in a Jazz Journey concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13 at Dillard University’s Lawless Memorial Chapel. Admission is free.
This Jazz Journey concert is produced and presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Co-sponsors include WWOZ radio station, which will broadcast the concert, and Dillard University.
Rene Marie is an award-winning singer whose style incorporates elements of jazz, soul, blues and gospel. Her personal story has been as much of an inspiration as her music. A native of Virginia, she didn’t begin singing professionally until after the age of 40. Driven by a love of music but trapped in an abusive marriage, Marie was threatened by her then-husband to either stop singing or leave their home of 23 years. She struck out on her own, becoming a symbol of bold self-determination.
What followed was a whirlwind of success and great critical acclaim. She bested Cassandra Wilson and Joni Mitchell to claim France’s Academie du Jazz prize for best international jazz vocal album. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Spoleto Festival and the Shanghai Jazz Festival, among other prestigious venues.
In 2008, Marie gained notoriety when, invited to perform the national anthem at a Denver civic event, she sang the words to “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” - known as “the black national anthem” - to the melody of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Germaine Bazzle is one of the true legends of New Orleans jazz. Influenced by the greats like Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billy Eckstein, she has explored a repertoire of classic jazz, American popular songs, show tunes, and the music of Duke Ellington, among many others.
Betty Shirley has toured the world with many greats of jazz, including Art Blakey, Benny Green and Ellis Marsalis. Her great range and tonal control allow her to scat, propel, coax and hang on to notes in a variety of styles, from jazz, blues and R&B to unique original compositions.
Stephanie Jordan – one of several musical children of the legendary musician and educator Edward “Kidd” Jordan – is known around the world as a tremendous singer who has been compared to Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn and Carmen McRae.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is the nonprofit that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other revenues, for year-round programs in the areas of education, economic development and cultural events. For more about the Foundation, please visit www.jazzandheritage.org.Bishop J. Drew Sheard will serve as guest speaker at Upper Room Cathedral COGIC
Bishop J. Drew Sheard, Senior Pastor of the 3,000 member Greater Emmanuel Institutional COGIC of Detroit, Mich., will be the guest speaker at Upper Room Cathedral COGIC, pastored by Bishop Gerald Hawkins, at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13 for a National AIM rally.
Upper Room is located at 72 West bank Expressway.
Bishop J. Drew Sheard serves as the chairman of the National Auxiliary in Ministries (AIM), which is the summer convention of the Church of God in Christ. The Church of God in Christ, Inc., is the largest African-American Pentecostal organization, with over 6.5 million members worldwide.
Bishop Sheard is married to the Grammy Award winning gospel singer Karen Clark-Sheard, and father of Grammy nominee, Stellar and Dove Award winning Kierra “Kiki” Sheard, and music producer J. Drew Sheard II.NOMA celebrates Leah Chase’s 90th year
New Orleans chef and cultural icon Leah Chase is celebrated with an exhibition of paintings depicting her working in the kitchen of Dooky Chase’s by New Orleans-raised artist Gustave Blache III. Presented in the Louisiana Galleries, this exhibition celebrates Leah’s 90th year.
Blache, a New Orleans native, recently completed a series of paintings that document Chase and her work. One of the paintings, Cutting Squash, has recently been acquired by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
An opening party will be held in April, and the exhibition will be on display through Sept. 9.The TIES That Bind runs through Feb. 17 at Le Musée
“The TIES that Bind”, a visual exhibition of artworks by Ulrick Jean-Pierre that commemorate and celebrate the historical and cultural connections between Louisiana and Haiti, runs through Feb. 17 at Le Musée de f.p.c., 2336 Esplanade Ave.
A native of Haiti and resident of New Orleans, Jean-Pierre has become renowned for his creation of Haitian historical paintings in which he retraces the history of Haiti. His work has been featured in a number of publications including NOMA’s ARTS Quarterly catalog and .
At a recent reception celebrating the opening of the exhibit, Jean-Pierre said he hopes an artistic celebration of the connections between Haiti and Louisiana can become an annual event in New Orleans. He shared with the crowd gathered for the opening reception how much New Orleans reminds him of his native Haiti.
“I find that when I go to Haiti, I am inspired. When I am in Louisiana, I am inspired,” he said.
The influx of Haitians into Louisiana on the heels of Haitian Revolution was responsible for doubling the state’s population of free people of color and laying the foundation for the striking cultural parallels between Haiti and Louisiana, particularly New Orleans. Visitors to the exhibit will learn about Haiti’s impact on the cultural landscape of New Orleans as well as some of the ancestral connections as the exhibit challenges them to reflect on Haiti’s influences and contributions to the diversity of Louisiana.
The impact of Haitian culture in New Orleans is evident in virtually every aspect imaginable—from language to food to the distinctive Haitian gingerbread architectural style that also marks many New Orleans structures.
The exhibit serves as Le Musée’s inaugural event in honor of Tremé 200, the bicentennial salute to the fabled Tremé community, an integral part of New Orleans and the historical center of the city’s African-American and Creole cultures. Le Musée de f.p.c. is a historic house museum dedicated exclusively to preserving the material culture of and sharing the story of free people of color. Many of Jean-Pierre’s works can also be seen at The McKenna Museum, 2003 Carondelet.
The exhibit is sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and supported by SUNO’s Master of Arts Studies Program, The McKenna Museum, AHDH of New Orleans, Friends of Haiti in Louisiana, WDSU, the Rhodes Family of Businesses and Friends of the Artist.
