CLEVELAND – The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will celebrate Black History Month with a series of special programming and events including film screenings, interviews, and the opening of a new exhibit at the Museum’s Library & Archives.
The Rock Hall’s annual Black History Month celebration is a cornerstone of its programming and outreach, recognizing the extraordinary contributions that African- Americans have made to rock & roll music. Since 1996, highlights have included conversations with Solomon Burke, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Ruth Brown, Al Green, Bobby Womack, Chuck D, Rahiem, and Little Anthony and the Imperials.
Tickets go on sale to members and donors on at 10am January 30th, 2019 and will be available to the public at 10am on January 31st, 2019.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Marley (2012, PG-13, 144 minutes)
Wednesday, February 6 – Foster Theater, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Free for members or supporters of the Donor Circle/ $5.50 for Non-Members, advance reservation or purchase recommended on rockhall.com.
*Also part of The Rock Hall’s 2019 Film Series*
A look at Bob Marley's impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet. This documentary film features rare footage, never before seen performances, unreleased music, and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.
An Evening with Greg Tate and Craig Street
Wednesday February 20 - Foster Theater, 7:00pm-8:30pm
This event is free with RSVP on rockhall.com.
Record Producer Tom Wilson worked on some of the most seminal albums and singles of the 1960s by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees including Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' and 1965 single, "Like a Rolling Stone," Simon & Garfunkel's 1964 debut LP Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., Mothers of Invention Freak Out!, the Animals, the Velvet Underground, featuring Lou Reed and John Cale, and more. Join writer, musician, and critic Greg Tate and Grammy Award-winning producer Craig Street as they discuss the impact, influence, and innovation of Wilson on some of the most recognizable sounds of the 1960s.
Craig Street is a Grammy winning record producer. Born in Oakland, California he has worked as a photographer, a radio programmer, a musician and a plasterer. His production credits include; Meshell Ndegeocello-“Bitter”, k.d.lang-“Drag”, Jimmy Scott-“Heaven”, John Legend- “Once Again”, Cassandra Wilson-“Blue Light ’til Dawn” & “New Moon Daughter”, Norah Jones-“Come Away With Me”, Susana Baca-“Espiritu Vivo”, Bettye LaVette-“Thankful ’n’ Thoughtful”, Chris Whitley-“Dirt Floor”, Madeleine Peyroux-“Standing On The Rooftop”, Chocolate Genius Inc.-“Black Music” and The Gipsy Kings-“Roots.
Among those he has worked with live and in the studio are: Ornette Coleman, Allison Krause, Bill Frisell, Olu Dara, Keb Mo, Tom Verlaine, Geri Allen, Tony Williams, Ivan Julian, Brian Blade, Wendy and Lisa, David Hildalgo, The Canadian Brass, Jimmy Haskell, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Greg Leisz, Richard Thompson, Javon Jackson, Roseanne Cash, Jim Keltner, Mark Ribot, Jonathan Wilson, Fred Hopkins, Derek Trucks, Abe Laboriel Jr., Patty Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Jacky Terrasson, David Torn, David Campbell, Patty Griffin, Dr. John, Van Dyke Parks, Pharoah Sanders, Robert Plant, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Charlie Sexton, Lawrence Butch Morris, and T Bone Burnett.
Greg Tate is a writer, musician and cultural provocateur who lives and thrives atop Harlem's Sugar Hill. His books include the acclaimed essay collection Flyboy in The Buttermilk, Flyboy 2: The Greg Tate Reader, Midnight Lightning:Jimi Hendrix and The Black Experience,Brooklyn Kings/New York City’s Black Bikers (w/photographer MartinDixon) and Everything But The Burden—What White People Are Taking From Black Culture. He is currently finishing work on Beast Mode:Iconic Gods and Monsters of the Bloodthirsty Black Atlantic and Beyond for publication by Farrar,Strauss and Giroux in early 2020. Tate has been a Visiting Professor at Columbia,Yale, Brown, San Francisco State, Princeton University and Williams College. He was a Staff Writer at The Village Voice from 1987 to 2003. His writings on culture and politics have also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Artforum, Rolling Stone and VIBE.
Since 1999 Tate has led the Conducted Improv big band Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber who tour internationally and have released 19 albums on their own Avant Groidd imprint. The ensemble recently celebrated their 2Oth anniversary of ‘Avant Groidnuss' by releasing a three-volume mixtape series--Our Groiddest Schizznits-- in tandem with concerts at Lincoln Center’s Rubinstein Atrium and Brooklyn Museum.
A Place for Me: Cleveland’s Music Industry
Wednesday February 27- Foster Theater, 5:00pm-6:30pm
This event is free with RSVP on rockhall.com.
Cleveland is home to many working within the music industry, including musicians performing in and around NEO, teaching artists passing on their knowledge and skills to others, radio station staff sharing the newest hits, marketing teams promoting arts and culture events, and so much more. Join our host and moderator, Mariama Whyte, as you meet Cleveland residents of color working in the music industry right here in North East Ohio. Learn about the panelists’ backgrounds and the journeys they took to get where they are today. Hear about their struggles and successes, as well as their advice to newcomers to the field. The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A session.
Panelists include Angelita “DJ Misses” Owens (On-Air mixer for Cleveland’s Z.107.9 & Cincinnati’s 101.1 The Wiz), R Rohnesha M. Horne (Marketing Director for Radio One) and Quincy "Big Heff" Taylor (Def Jam Records & VP of Nerve DJ’s).
Mariama is a singer, songwriter, actor, and educator from Cleveland, OH. She recently performed in the highly-acclaimed “Simply Simone: The Music Of Nina Simone” at Karamu House as well as a tribute in honor of 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Nina Simone at the Rock Hall. She has played leading roles in the Broadway National Tours of The Lion King and The Color Purple. A graduate of Shaker Heights High School and The College of Wooster, Mariama has shared the stage with famed music producer David Foster, Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child and has released various independent music projects. She is currently working on her upcoming album, Hey You It’s Me, to be released in 2019. www.mariamawhyte.com
King Records: Thirty Years That Changed American Music | 1943-1973
Exhibit Opening and Reception with 1997 Hall of Fame Inductee, Bootsy Collins
Thursday, February 28 - Library & Archives, 2809 Woodland Avenue, 7:00 to 9:00pm.
Tickets for this event are $15.00 and include one drink ticket and light hors d’oeuvres at the exhibit dedication after the interview.
To kick off Black History Month, on Friday, February 1, the Rock Hall’s Library & Archives will begin hosting a traveling exhibit on the history of Cincinnati's King Records, an independent record label that was essential in the development of rock and roll. The traveling exhibit was developed by the Cincinnati nonprofit organization King Studios and will be joined by artifacts and archival items from the Rock Hall’s collections. Every Friday throughout February, the Library & Archives will be open for walk-in visitors to view the exhibit, and appointments can be made on other weekdays while the exhibit is open during the spring and summer.
To cap off the month, on Thursday, February 28, the Library & Archives will host an official dedication of the exhibit with 1997 Inductee Bootsy Collins, who will participate in a live interview. Collins began his illustrious music career as a session player at King Records, where James Brown first heard him and recruited him into his celebrated backing band, the J.B.’s.
From 1943 to 1971, King Records and its subsidiaries, including Queen, DeLuxe, and Federal, revolutionized the ways in which popular music was recorded, manufactured, distributed, and promoted. Under the leadership of 1997 Inductee Syd Nathan, King became a major independent record label, with nearly 500 singles on the R&B, country, and pop charts, and 32 songs making it to Number One. Over 20 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees recorded at King Records, including Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Dave Bartholomew, James Brown and the Famous Flames, Bootsy Collins, the “5” Royales, Little Willie John, Freddy King, and Professor Longhair. In 2008, King Records was officially designated as a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame landmark.
Rock x CPL: Fight the Power
The Rock Hall and Cleveland Public Library have begun their collaborative programming, Rock X CPL, Powered by PNC, throughout Cleveland. Rock Hall education staff worked with CPL to determine the kind of programming that would be beneficial for their audiences. The Rock Hall team then designed a program about the power music has to help ignite social change. In November CPL brought 30 of their programming staff to the Rock Hall for half day training on the Rock Hall’s teaching philosophies and techniques and to learn the program they will now be able to offer to their local audiences. Rock x CPL: Fight the Power is currently being offered throughout the city, with the following locations offering the program in February. More information available at https://www.rockhall.com/cpl
Rice Branch – Tue, Feb 19 | 4:30pm
Walz Branch – Thu, Feb 21 | 5:00pm
Fulton Branch – Mon, Feb 25 | 4:30pm
Youth Services – Wed, Feb 27 | 4:00pm
Rice Branch – Tue, Feb 26 | 4:30pm
Motown 60th Anniversary Highlight Reel
This 60-minute film will be played in the Foster Theater throughout the entire month (showtimes will vary) and is included with Rock Hall admission. Includes memorable moments from the induction ceremonies of the Supremes, the Temptations, the Jackson 5, Martha & the Vandellas, and much more.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Cornell / WTAM 1100
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