Blog Posts - UPLYFF, INC. PRESENTS...

Jazz... we've still got it!!! Pt.4

7/7/2019

by

Wulfgar Darkenwald, Jr

Vibraphonist Joel Ross released his debut album, KingMaker, on Blue Note Records earlier this year. The twenty-three old artist composed eleven of the twelve songs; the other written by New Yorker Bianca Muniz and features jazz songstress Gretchen Parlato.

The record reveals the influence that late vibraphonist Bobby Hutchinson has had on the young Ross, as well as, the impact of having studied under the almost incomparable vibraphonist Stefon Harris. The album is a workout of post-bebop jazz with exercises of more contemporary music while keeping pace with jazz tradition. One of the standout tracks is “Touched by an Angel”; a very melodic, almost lyrical song that highlights Ross’ range as both a composer and arranger.

Gordon Parks Exhibit at Cleveland Museum of Art

6/10/2019

by

Ginaya Donnette

Uplyff, Inc. excitedly loaded two trucks and carpooled to the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) to see the early works of the original Renaissance Man, Gordon Parks, on the last day of the exhibit! The display, aptly titled The New Tide, Early 1940-1950, gave the fascinating early history of Parks. Early in his career Parks bought a camera at a pawn shop and taught himself how to use it and very soon became a prominent US documentary photojournalist.

Parks believed he could use his camera as a weapon against poverty, racism, and social injustices. His black and white images of everyday people illuminated to us the true long lasting economic impact of the war, the depression, and segregation on these "United States". He exemplified the images that the government often tried to suppress. Parks gave us a voice through his work that expressed social issues in ways that words could never muster.

Jazz... We've still got it!!! - Vol.3

1/6/2019

by

Wulfgar Darkenwald, Jr

Four-time Grammy-Award winner Esperanza Spalding released another masterpiece with 12 Little Spells. Continuing her musical evolution, the Avant Garde jazz legend creates a brilliantly complex work using the working metaphor of an organism to liken that of music. Her genre-bending foray constructs a luscious soundscape that effortlessly blends a spectrum of styles and instrumentation; leading the listener on a journey that does requires some if not all their attention to experience the kaleidoscope of colors and sound of the genius of Spalding. “Lest We Forget (Blood)” & “Touch in Mine (Fingers)” are some of the highlights of the album. And the creatively constructed videos are the perfect compliment.

Jazz... we've still got it! vol.2

11/22/2018

by

Wulfgar Darkenwald, Jr.

Pianist and vocalist Kandace Springs released her sophomore album, Indigo, this past September on Blue Note Records. One of the interesting aspects of this record is that there is not a core band at play here. With the exceptions, of course being that of Springs herself, and drummer/ percussionist Karriem Riggins, there are various musicians playing on each of the thirteen tracks. Not quite a compilation; however, reminiscent of Springs’ label mate jazz pianist Robert Glasper’s forays into genre blending with Black Radio 1 and Black Radio 2. The album contains several covers of such classics as The Stylistics’ “People Make the World Go ‘Round” and Roberta Flack’s “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face”; however, the focus and crux of the album are the songs composed by Springs herself. “Unsophisticated” featuring late trumpeter Roy Hargrove and Springs’ rendition of multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Garzón-Montano’s “6 8” are amongst the more memorable tracks.

jazz... we've still got it! Vol.1

10/1/2018

Award winning South African writer Malebo Sephodi once remarked that “Art speaks a
language that my soul comprehends…when I slip into a dark place and I can’t go on - I hide in
the arms of Jazz for a while - for nourishment, refreshment, and inspiration.”

It goes almost without saying that music speaks where and, more importantly, when words fail silently. The listener seeking, and hopefully, finding the refuge they so desperately sought from the rhetoric.
A shelter for perhaps but the briefest of time. Jazz, unlike any other genre of music, is one of
the moment. A form that is almost without shape; a manifestation of all that has come before it,
transmuted and ‘passed down’ from actual human tragedy to the various musical influences to
the stylings of its current roster of players. Jazz is the amalgamation of what we have been,
who we are now, and that which we hope to be.

Fortunately, the art form is in the hands, hearts, and souls of artists with reverence for the past
musical endeavors of the jazz giants; the artistic acumen, ability, and vision for today, and the
courage, fortitude, and musicality for tomorrow. Though still curated by those jazz musicians of
old notwithstanding. It is with the good fortune that their numbers are almost inexhaustible.

This series will highlight some of these talented individuals and what they've been up to musically of late: First up...

THANDI NTULI

Pianist and vocalist Thandi Ntuli released her sophomore album, Exiled, early in 2018. The Soshanguvean (Pretoria, South Africa) artist followed up her critically acclaimed and award nominated debut album, The Offering, with a wildly imaginative and experimental record that demonstrates her almost mastery of ‘Nu-Jazz’ for lack of a better term; a marriage of traditional African music and American jazz. The offspring that is produced here is a child of an art form whose fluidity leads one away from the known shores towards a horizon that may be perhaps uncertain but ever looming, always forward. The union is not just between specific genres of music but also between peoples separated by the Atlantic; however, not from a shared history, trauma, and destiny. One of the standout tracks is “Cosmic Light”; which highlights Ntuli’s gifts as a songwriter and musician. A piece that evokes the entire emotional gambit of the listener.

-Wulfgar Darkenwald, Jr.

ARETHA FRANKLIN - "QUEEN OF SOUL"

8/30/2018

Who was the Queen of Soul?
- Aretha Louise Franklin, born in Memphis, TN on March 25, 1942 - died in Detroit, MI on August 16, 2018
- 18 Grammy Awards
- She performed at the inaugurations of three US Presidents
- She taught herself piano without knowing how to read music
- She was childhood friends with Smokey Robinson
- She was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Art of Khehla Chepape Magkato

5/31/2018

by

Khehla Chepape Magkato served as the 2018 artist in residence at Zygote Press in Cleveland, just one of his esteemed honors. While in the US, he gave a public lecture to students at the Oberlin College in Ohio on Reimagining the African Contemporaneity of Art.

Insisting on being called Chepape (Cheh-Pa-Pee), he gave such insight on the struggles in his life and his mission to change the world. Chepape certainly impressed us with a in-depth demonstration of his art style (which lasted until about 2am at Zygote Press) and also stating how he has and wants to continue to build libraries in South Africa.

He often said things like, "when the time comes" and "when I'm famous". The latter may sound a bit arrogant or even laughable, but seriously, isn't that kind of courage and self-determination needed in this day and age? Regardless, I can tell you he was not arrogant in the least bit. I personally purchased two of his pieces and he was very humbled and thankful. He even invited me to visit him in South Africa! (He was not joking)

Chepape believes in himself, and just as importantly, believes that art can and will continue to break down barriers, create a platform for success and healing, and ultimately change the world.

Shout out to Sista Etan Byansi for providing an opportunity to have dinner with Chepape, which eventually led to the studio demonstration and brief interview.

Khehla Chepape Magkato
at Zygote Press

Find more of Chepape's art here https://www.artsy.net/artist/khehla-chepape-makgato and find him on Instagram at ChepapetheGreat - how apropos...

Black panther inspired music

3/1/2018

Black Panther is finally here!

2/17/2018

This may the most anticipated film of all time! (At least for Afrikan descendants in America).

The symbolism and symmetry.
The aesthetics, costumes and music.
The action, technology and cultural references.
The opening story, the geography and the traditions.
The Xhosa language and the ancestors.
The star power and black writers and directors.

It was controversial and mind-blowing, groundbreaking and entertaining.
It was Marvel, it was Stan Lee and his stance on breaking racial barriers.
It was Black History Month scheme and a childhood dream.

Who knew? Who knew that a comic-based movie would be all that?

Regardless of the naysayers and critics - It was simply well done and long overdue. The conversations and debates will probably be enlightening and maybe even viscous and will go on for quite some time. But for now, I would prefer enjoying the moment.

- Ali

City of Wakanda

Check out some of the music written for and inspired by the movie HERE

In Blackface...

6/17/2017

Black face is still such a powerful tool. Once used as a absolute means of degradation and ridiculous enertainment, it is now a portal into a world of awareness. Spike made a pungent statement in the controversial movie Bamboozled, Jay-Z more recently in The Story of OJ.

"Still N*gga"...

LEST WE FORGET.

articles:

https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/blackface-birth-american-stereotype

http://black-face.com/

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