As always, at this time of the year, we like to take the time to thank all the artists, venues and organizations that helped us meet our goals during the year that was.
It was a year of some great successes which included another indie Soul, star-studded REVISITING Event, this one featuring the music of MARVIN GAYE! (Read a review of the event here.)
This year also gave us the opportunity to feature the work of our photographer, KATIE PIPER for her first ever show! THE SOUND SHE SAW, featured photographs from Miss Piper taken at MIHE events through the years. (Check out Katie's work here.)
We spawned 2 new events late this year that will be fleshed out in 2011. We have added yet another legendary venue to the list of places for emerging artist to play. In conjunction with SCOBAR Ent., MIHE has brought MIDNIGHT MUSIC at THE IRIDIUM to fruition. We also created a new networking event that brings artists and industry professionals together to share information called THE CONNECTION. Both events will resume on a monthly basis in February. Along with our weekly GROOVEOLOGY event at Sip and 2 new monthlies for new artists to shine! Stay tuned...
We cannot end this recap of 2010 without citing that this is the year that MIHE took on the role of management by signing the production team of NUCLEAR O'REILLY to our management branch. We hope that this is the first of many such signings as we continue to build the platforms that aid in the elevation of the independent artist. (Download Nuclear O'Reilly's remix project, MIXED SIGNALS here.)
Special thanks to: The entire RhythmAndSoulRadio.com staff! DJ TODD JONES and RAINE TORAE for allowing us to sponsor their successful events! JSUN, LOYAL THOMAS, SCOTT BARBARINO and the many others who have collaborated with us throughout the year! (Full list of artists, venues, organizations and DJs can be found here. Please excuse us if we omitted anyone. It was by accident, not design.)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Live Performance report – Soulbounce presents “SOL Village: Men Love Mary” @ SOB’s Jan. 20, 2010 by Mama Soul of Musical Pathways
The idea of men gathering to lift their voices in song sounds interesting enough. Now add to the equation an all male vocal tribute to Mary J. I’m on board! Tell the truth, which Mary do you prefer, the homegirl, tough as nails, drama-laden, drama-free, enlightened, or empowered Mary? Whatever your preference “Men Love Mary” had you covered. The evening was the brainchild of Soulbounce.com founder, Butta, in collaboration with SOL Village, the artist showcase hosted by Eric Roberson (aka Erro). The soundtrack for the affair was Mary J’s 1994 classic “My Life” reworked by six shining stars of the indie music scene: D-Maurice, Darien, Bradd Marquis, Jesse Boykins III, TL Cross, and Mr. Entertainment himself, Eric Roberson. Before the official program began, Mr. Roberson launched the show with a funky, rocked out rendition of the American Idol audition gem “Pants on the Ground”. After capturing the room’s attention, focus shifted to the tragic devastation of Haiti. Sharing the newly penned “A Prayer for Haiti”, Eric pledged to donate 100% of the evenings CD sales to Haitian relief efforts.
“Men Love Mary” was chock-full of artists not merely performing Mary J’s material, but reinterpreting songs in their own flavor. D-Mo delivered “Mary’s Joint”, this man showed his worth not only serving and featured artist, but pulling double duty providing backing vocals for Erro. Here’s the kicker when the backing track for “Love Without a Limit” wouldn’t power up, D-Mo still belted that tune out with the audience providing background vocals. Next up was Darien with “Be Happy” including lacing his offering with a touch-of-rhyme, TL Cross with “You Gotta Believe”, Bradd Marquis “I Never Want to Live Without You” for a minute or two brother man channeled the recently deceased Teddy Pendergrass by dropping a few bars of “Love TKO”, Jesse Boykins III delivered a ragga-tinged version of “No One Else” to Eric Roberson’s rendition of “My Life”. Not to be outdone, the audience was also invited to pay musical tribute to Mary J. Eric asked for any brave audience member to lift their voice up in song for “Not Goin’ Cry” (‘Waiting to Exhale’ soundtrack), “Just Fine” (‘Growing Pains’) and with full crowd participation for “All That I Can Say” (‘Mary’). Though the event was called “Men Love Mary”, the ladies in the house had a whole lotta something to share as well. Over the familiar melody of the Roy Ayer’s classic “Everyone Loves the Sunshine”, we were treated to the velvety voice scatting of Lorenda Robinson(Brown Baby Girl), Kiki Hawkins (The Kiki Experience) doing what she does best wrecking the set with her powerhouse vocals. Most memorable for me was witnessing Kimberly Nichole just rock it out.
The evening’s close featured all “Men Love Mary” artists retaking the stage, then along with the female vocalists in the house (Tess, Kiki Hawkins, Lorenda Robinson, and Kimberly Nichole) for a jam session styled version of “My Life”. One audience member was so positively impacted she took to the stage offering praise and a performance, her name – Kim, her gig –playing drums for Beyonce. Had Mary J. had been in attendance she would’ve been honored, and flattered by the expression. A great effort for all involved, “Men Love Mary” brought me joy!
“Men Love Mary” was chock-full of artists not merely performing Mary J’s material, but reinterpreting songs in their own flavor. D-Mo delivered “Mary’s Joint”, this man showed his worth not only serving and featured artist, but pulling double duty providing backing vocals for Erro. Here’s the kicker when the backing track for “Love Without a Limit” wouldn’t power up, D-Mo still belted that tune out with the audience providing background vocals. Next up was Darien with “Be Happy” including lacing his offering with a touch-of-rhyme, TL Cross with “You Gotta Believe”, Bradd Marquis “I Never Want to Live Without You” for a minute or two brother man channeled the recently deceased Teddy Pendergrass by dropping a few bars of “Love TKO”, Jesse Boykins III delivered a ragga-tinged version of “No One Else” to Eric Roberson’s rendition of “My Life”. Not to be outdone, the audience was also invited to pay musical tribute to Mary J. Eric asked for any brave audience member to lift their voice up in song for “Not Goin’ Cry” (‘Waiting to Exhale’ soundtrack), “Just Fine” (‘Growing Pains’) and with full crowd participation for “All That I Can Say” (‘Mary’). Though the event was called “Men Love Mary”, the ladies in the house had a whole lotta something to share as well. Over the familiar melody of the Roy Ayer’s classic “Everyone Loves the Sunshine”, we were treated to the velvety voice scatting of Lorenda Robinson(Brown Baby Girl), Kiki Hawkins (The Kiki Experience) doing what she does best wrecking the set with her powerhouse vocals. Most memorable for me was witnessing Kimberly Nichole just rock it out.
The evening’s close featured all “Men Love Mary” artists retaking the stage, then along with the female vocalists in the house (Tess, Kiki Hawkins, Lorenda Robinson, and Kimberly Nichole) for a jam session styled version of “My Life”. One audience member was so positively impacted she took to the stage offering praise and a performance, her name – Kim, her gig –playing drums for Beyonce. Had Mary J. had been in attendance she would’ve been honored, and flattered by the expression. A great effort for all involved, “Men Love Mary” brought me joy!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Live Performance report – Declaime & Georgia Anne Muldrow @ SOB’s, Feb. 23, 2010 by Mama Soul of Musical Pathways
“…these custom built snares are not for entertainment” – Declaime on Ms. One’s production skills
I’ve been an admirer of Georgia Anne’s since my first introduction in 2008 on a DJ Needles compilation. Two years later and six albums added to my collection, my appreciation for Georgia Anne’s talent continues to flourish. So when the New York show date was announced my pulse began to race and my heart was aflutter. Nothing but death could keep me from this show – real talk!
My anticipation was getting the best of me; I imagined one show scenario after another. With such a full catalog between the two I didn’t know what to expect. A moment of truth though, prior to this show I wasn’t very familiar with Declaime the artist except for a few guest collaborations. However I am familiar with Declaime when he takes the form of Dudley Perkins producer extraordinaire for/with Georgia Anne. So tack on curiosity.
Show day arrives and the weather is just gross, spittle rain, windy and cold. Weather conditions which illicit feelings more akin to staying indoors then hanging out. I make the mental adjustment and prepare for the evening ahead-away I go. I reach the venue and much to my dismay, the crowd is woefully thin. This is no way for New York to represent. Did NYC get the memo? The catalog is too rich and full. Unfortunately, this is another classic case of artists being slept on. This may call for extreme measures – form of a crazy, ultra-hype super fan. Alas all are saved from such a spectacle. The crowd started to trickle-in and fill up the space like Pharoahe Monch, Soulafrodisiac’s Anne Marie Collymore and emerging artist Nakia Henry (sidebar, Nakia’s album “Remember Me” is a witty, sexy, well-crafted, and impressive debut). Take that old man winter!
The pre-show music fills the air and the crowd is either, chatting, dining or sipping. Without fanfare, hype-man or flashing lights Declaime and Georgia Anne take the stage, the crowd is hyped. G&D are a self-contained unit – want beats, want lyrics, want artistry, need vocalists, need musicians – check, check, and triple check. Dudley’s at the controls manning the CD-Js with Georgia Anne by his side. A Flying Lotus beat flows from the speakers, Georgia Anne gets a feel of the stage while vamping on the mic; ladies and gentlemen – soundcheck. I’m so ready!
Out the gate I’m head-nodding the tracks ooze of West Coast sonic stylings, production equal heavy on the “FONK” (this is not a misspelling). Reminiscent of Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins and Dr. Dre tracks have supple bass lines and sticky-synth keys. The onstage interplay allows each time to shine on the mic – a rhymesayer cooperative partnership. What’s even more endearing is their shared admiration each is a genuine fan of the other. The set list culled material from various projects. There is a message in their music, it’s not preachy, but thought-provoking addressing issues of self-awareness, social commentary-dare I say conscious lyrics all laced with that “FONK’. You still with me? Some of joints dropped were: “Connect Game”, “Shine On”, “Uhuru Flight”, “Fonk 4 U”, “Fame”, “Run It Down” and switching up the bpms a bit, Georgia Anne offered “Kings Ballad”, her tribute to Michael Jackson (a cut from her latest album of the same name). As the encore and request, Georgia Anne blessed us with the ode to art as therapy, “Roses”. The crowd gets live.
As a newbie, a Declaime and Georgia Anne show is an informal experience, not heavy on structure or particular order, but what is fonky at the moment. Note to self and others – a neck brace and/or Tiger Balm are in order because the FONK will have you head-nodding from start to finish. The next day my trapezius muscles were so sore – seriously.
I’ve been an admirer of Georgia Anne’s since my first introduction in 2008 on a DJ Needles compilation. Two years later and six albums added to my collection, my appreciation for Georgia Anne’s talent continues to flourish. So when the New York show date was announced my pulse began to race and my heart was aflutter. Nothing but death could keep me from this show – real talk!
My anticipation was getting the best of me; I imagined one show scenario after another. With such a full catalog between the two I didn’t know what to expect. A moment of truth though, prior to this show I wasn’t very familiar with Declaime the artist except for a few guest collaborations. However I am familiar with Declaime when he takes the form of Dudley Perkins producer extraordinaire for/with Georgia Anne. So tack on curiosity.
Show day arrives and the weather is just gross, spittle rain, windy and cold. Weather conditions which illicit feelings more akin to staying indoors then hanging out. I make the mental adjustment and prepare for the evening ahead-away I go. I reach the venue and much to my dismay, the crowd is woefully thin. This is no way for New York to represent. Did NYC get the memo? The catalog is too rich and full. Unfortunately, this is another classic case of artists being slept on. This may call for extreme measures – form of a crazy, ultra-hype super fan. Alas all are saved from such a spectacle. The crowd started to trickle-in and fill up the space like Pharoahe Monch, Soulafrodisiac’s Anne Marie Collymore and emerging artist Nakia Henry (sidebar, Nakia’s album “Remember Me” is a witty, sexy, well-crafted, and impressive debut). Take that old man winter!
The pre-show music fills the air and the crowd is either, chatting, dining or sipping. Without fanfare, hype-man or flashing lights Declaime and Georgia Anne take the stage, the crowd is hyped. G&D are a self-contained unit – want beats, want lyrics, want artistry, need vocalists, need musicians – check, check, and triple check. Dudley’s at the controls manning the CD-Js with Georgia Anne by his side. A Flying Lotus beat flows from the speakers, Georgia Anne gets a feel of the stage while vamping on the mic; ladies and gentlemen – soundcheck. I’m so ready!
Out the gate I’m head-nodding the tracks ooze of West Coast sonic stylings, production equal heavy on the “FONK” (this is not a misspelling). Reminiscent of Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins and Dr. Dre tracks have supple bass lines and sticky-synth keys. The onstage interplay allows each time to shine on the mic – a rhymesayer cooperative partnership. What’s even more endearing is their shared admiration each is a genuine fan of the other. The set list culled material from various projects. There is a message in their music, it’s not preachy, but thought-provoking addressing issues of self-awareness, social commentary-dare I say conscious lyrics all laced with that “FONK’. You still with me? Some of joints dropped were: “Connect Game”, “Shine On”, “Uhuru Flight”, “Fonk 4 U”, “Fame”, “Run It Down” and switching up the bpms a bit, Georgia Anne offered “Kings Ballad”, her tribute to Michael Jackson (a cut from her latest album of the same name). As the encore and request, Georgia Anne blessed us with the ode to art as therapy, “Roses”. The crowd gets live.
As a newbie, a Declaime and Georgia Anne show is an informal experience, not heavy on structure or particular order, but what is fonky at the moment. Note to self and others – a neck brace and/or Tiger Balm are in order because the FONK will have you head-nodding from start to finish. The next day my trapezius muscles were so sore – seriously.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Warrior's Way
Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new year!
We arrive not just in a new year, but a new decade. No matter where we are, we all reflect. We all hope. We all look to better ourselves and be as complete as we can be.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with Carlos Casteneda and his series of books in which he tells of his teachings by Yaqui magic man, Don Juan. (These tales are rumored to be false, but the lessons are valuable none the less.)The teachings of Don Juan are a road map to navigate the 2 realities we live in: The physical and the spiritual and how to transcend them both. The gist of it is that what we perceive to be magic & miracles is really a level of awareness that allows us to experience such things.
I have read the many of the books some 20 years ago (I really cannot believe I'm that old.)and they have helped me shape my understanding of the world we live in. I am posting an excerpt from one of the books (Please don't ask which book, it's been 20 years. Also, I'm re-posting this from a FaceBook posting and the specific book wasn't cited.) in the hopes that you, the readers, can get your awareness shifted and experience the miracles that are waiting for you.
Don Juan says:
"A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it.
A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.
A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That’s control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That’s abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions.
A warrior must cultivate the feeling that he has everything
needed for the extravagant journey that is his life. What counts for a warrior is being alive. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Therefore, one may say without being presumptuous that the experience of experiences is being alive.
A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting.
A warrior must learn to make every act count, since he is going to be here in this world for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.
Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?’
Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.
If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.
Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior’s indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity.
Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges. The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.
The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn’t permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.
The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That’s the warrior’s way.
All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy—it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.
Whenever a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.
An average man is too concerned with liking people or with being liked himself. A warrior likes, that’s all. He likes whatever or whomever he wants, for the hell of it.
The self-confidence of the warrior is not the self-confidence of the average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness.
The warrior: silent in his struggle, undetainable because he has nothing to lose, functional and efficacious because he has everything to gain.
Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don’t demolish them.
If his spirit is distorted he should simply fix it—purge it, make it perfect —- because there is no other task in our entire lives which is more worthwhile… To seek the perfection of the warrior’s spirit is the only task worthy of our temporariness, our manhood."
Let’s jump over walls in 2010!
See you all at the events where miracles happen.
Danny Brookings,
President,
Make It Happen Ent.
We arrive not just in a new year, but a new decade. No matter where we are, we all reflect. We all hope. We all look to better ourselves and be as complete as we can be.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with Carlos Casteneda and his series of books in which he tells of his teachings by Yaqui magic man, Don Juan. (These tales are rumored to be false, but the lessons are valuable none the less.)The teachings of Don Juan are a road map to navigate the 2 realities we live in: The physical and the spiritual and how to transcend them both. The gist of it is that what we perceive to be magic & miracles is really a level of awareness that allows us to experience such things.
I have read the many of the books some 20 years ago (I really cannot believe I'm that old.)and they have helped me shape my understanding of the world we live in. I am posting an excerpt from one of the books (Please don't ask which book, it's been 20 years. Also, I'm re-posting this from a FaceBook posting and the specific book wasn't cited.) in the hopes that you, the readers, can get your awareness shifted and experience the miracles that are waiting for you.
Don Juan says:
"A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it.
A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.
A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That’s control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That’s abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions.
A warrior must cultivate the feeling that he has everything
needed for the extravagant journey that is his life. What counts for a warrior is being alive. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Therefore, one may say without being presumptuous that the experience of experiences is being alive.
A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting.
A warrior must learn to make every act count, since he is going to be here in this world for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.
Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?’
Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.
If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.
Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior’s indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity.
Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges. The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.
The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn’t permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.
The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That’s the warrior’s way.
All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy—it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.
Whenever a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.
An average man is too concerned with liking people or with being liked himself. A warrior likes, that’s all. He likes whatever or whomever he wants, for the hell of it.
The self-confidence of the warrior is not the self-confidence of the average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness.
The warrior: silent in his struggle, undetainable because he has nothing to lose, functional and efficacious because he has everything to gain.
Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don’t demolish them.
If his spirit is distorted he should simply fix it—purge it, make it perfect —- because there is no other task in our entire lives which is more worthwhile… To seek the perfection of the warrior’s spirit is the only task worthy of our temporariness, our manhood."
Let’s jump over walls in 2010!
See you all at the events where miracles happen.
Danny Brookings,
President,
Make It Happen Ent.
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