TRENDS, TRAVEL, FILM, HISTORY and BOOKS

Trends, Travel, Film, History and Books provide readers with information that might be off the beaten path of their traditional news sources.   Whether its innovation, unique travel, classic or new age films and documentaries, looking at history from a different perspective or discovering new and established authors, it brings a fresh look to things that are either old or new again.

SOURCE:  YOSHI’s Oakland

Photo Courtesy: Yoshi’s Oakland

Marcus Miller – a two-time GRAMMY Award winner and UNESCO Artist for Peace – is not only an exceptional musician – a multi-instrumentalist and world-renowned bassist – but also a highly-gifted composer and producer. The legendary Tutu album he wrote and produced for Miles Davis sealed his international fame when Miller was only twenty-five. Since then he has continued collaborating with artists as varied and talented as Eric Clapton, George Benson, Luther Vandross, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Jay-Z, Wayne Shorter, Al Jarreau, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Brian Ferry and Herbie Hancock (to name only a few). At the same time, he has produced his own albums, among them The Sun Don’t Lie, M2, Silver Rain, Free, A Night in Monte Carlo (with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra), and Renaissance, giving him occasion to tour internationally with young musicians whose talents he’s recognized (as Miles did for him, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and others). You can hear Miller’s radio show Miller Time every Sunday night on SiriusXM’s RealJazz.

Marcus’ new project Afrodeezia—which was inspired by Miller’s role as a UNESCO Artist For Peace and spokesperson for the organization’s Slave Route Project—was recorded in locations around the world including Morocco, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans and Los Angeles, and features a wide range of guests including rapper Chuck D., vocalist Lalah Hathaway, keyboardist Robert Glasper, trumpeters Etienne Charles and Ambrose Akinmusire, guitarists Keb’ Mo’ and Wah Wah Watson, bassist/producer Mocean Worker, organist Cory Henry (Snarky Puppy), and cellist Ben Hong, as well as musicians from Africa, South America and the Caribbean. Miller’s core band includes saxophonist Alex Han, trumpeter Lee Hogans, pianist Brett Williams, guitarist Adam Agati, and drummer Louis Cato.  Read more.

SOURCE:  Marcus Miller / VEVO / YouTube

Photo Courtesy: Yoshi’s Oakland

In a musical world where keeping a working band has proven difficult for many bandleaders, drummer-bandleader Steve Smith has managed to keep three bands working for the past three decades. His jazz-rock band, Steve Smith and Vital Information, has been touring and recording for more than 30 years, while his “straight-ahead” groups Steve Smith and Buddy’s Buddies, made up of Buddy Rich Alumni (with three album releases), and Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy (a group dedicated to playing the music of some of great drumset masters such as Art Blakey, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams), have toured for five years and released two albums and a DVD.  Read more.

SOURCE:  Steve Smith / YouTube

The Novel to Kickoff Summer
Read this unforgettable novel about “a strong woman teaching a young woman how to be.” Elizabeth Gilbert is a fan (and so are we).

• The dazzling novel you need to discover
• 34 books that defined a generation
• 6 inspiring reads for women in search of positivity
• Why Cheryl Strayed says being alone can be empowering

LORI WILLIAMS

SOURCE:  LORI WILLIAMS

                                                                                                                                                      Lori Williams and Art Sherrod

An evening of Jazz at TheARC~

“RUNAWAY ISLAND” WITH OSCAR-NOMINATED DIRECTOR AT THE HELM SET TO PREMIERE AT THE AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL IN NYC

SOURCE:  BLACKNEWS.COM

Los Angeles, CA — Multi-award winning actor A. Russell Andrews is starring as Rev. Clinton Hines, a grieving father dealing with the loss of his daughter in the original movie Runaway Island, a story about a group of troubled strangers looking to escape their woes, and who end up sharing a transformational experience on an island – Isle due Soleil, a secluded 1700s Gullah Sea Island resort – steeped in African-American heritage and culture.

— Film starring A. Russell Andrews explores love and loss — Photo Courtesy: Blacknews.com

There will be a World Premiere screening of the film at the 2015 American Black Film Festival (ABFF), the nations largest gathering of Black film and TV enthusiasts in New York City, June 11- 14, 2015.

Oscar-nominated Dianne Houston (Tuesday Morning Ride) is at the helm of this unique story written by Christopher Brandt, the 2014 American Black Film Festival screenplay competition winner. In the film, Andrews is a successful pastor who recently lost his daughter to leukemia. He is forced to deal with his loss while taking stock of his life and renewing his love for his wife.

“My character, Reverend Clinton Hines, is struggling with his faith, and rightly so. But I dont think it’s about whether a greater power exists, but is it just? Is it fair?” said Andrews, who recently finished working on the short film RESET with award-winning director Arun K. Vir who was voted one of HBO’s ‘Women to Watch. Andrews is also featured in the upcoming N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton directed by F. Gary Gray.

The film is produced by Gingi Rochelle of GR Entertainment Group and Allison Wilmarth Kovak of Cottonseed Studios, and is slated to premiere on TV One on Saturday, July 25 at 8 PM/ET.

Additionally the cast stars Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black), Aisha Hinds (Star Trek) Erica Tazel (Justified), Tom Wright (All My Children), Thomas Q. Jones (Being Mary Jane), Leon Thomas III (Victorious) and Melanie Liburd (Stalker).