Monthly Archives: September 2019

The Oxford American welcomes new Jeff Baskin Writers Fellow KaToya Ellis Fleming

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Help the Oxford American welcome their new Jeff Baskin Writers Fellow, KaToya Ellis Fleming, at this special reception!

Tonight (September 6) from 4pm to 8pm, ESSE is opening up the museum free of charge and serving light refreshments during SoMa After Dark for this casual meet-and-greet.

Grab a snack, sign up to win a door prize from ESSE and the OA, and stay to hear KaToya do a brief reading from her work at 5:30 PM and again at 7:00 PM.

Sandwich in History at Ferncliff Camp today

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You are invited to join the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s next “Sandwiching in History” tour, which will visit Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center at 1720 Ferncliff Road in Little Rock beginning at noon on Friday, September 6, 2019.

Currently sitting on approximately 1,200 acres, Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center began in the 1920s as a camp for some of Little Rock’s prominent families. Since the 1930s, the facility has been a camp and conference center owned by the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center offers retreat and meeting facilities along with recreational facilities and hiking trails.

Sandwiching in History tours are worth one hour of AIA continuing education credit. If you would like to receive email notifications of upcoming tours instead of postcards or need additional information, please contact Callie Williams, Education and Outreach Coordinator for AHPP, at 501-324-9880 or Callie.Williams@arkansas.gov.

 

Tonight the Oxford American kicks off its Jazz Series at South on Main with Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo feat. Erin Bode

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Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo Featuring Erin Bode [JAZZ SERIES]The Oxford American magazine is excited to welcome Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo featuring Erin Bode to the South on Main stage!  The concert is tonight (September 5) at 8:00pm.

This is the first show of their Jazz Sub-Series. Doors open at 6:00 PM, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at that time. The series is made possible in part by presenting sponsor UCA College of Fine Arts & Communication, as well as their season sponsor University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

 

Peter Martin is an acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, arranger and educator. His touring career has taken him to six continents numerous times. In January 2011 Peter performed with a select group of jazz artists at the White House for a State Dinner hosted by President Obama, and he returned to perform for the Governor’s Dinner in February 2012 for the first family and other guests.

Peter performed on and arranged Dianne Reeves’ GRAMMY-winning release A Little Moonlight. He also appeared in George Clooney’s 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, as well as being the featured pianist and an arranger on the GRAMMY-winning soundtrack. Peter has performed, toured and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, Betty Carter, Christian McBride, and Joshua Redman, as well as the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. In 2014 Peter was selected to tour with “Newport Now 60,” an all-star ensemble that toured nationwide in celebration of the iconic festival’s 60th anniversary.

In 1985, Romero Lubambo came to the United States, and brought with him a new sound in Brazilian jazz guitar.

Romero’s guitar playing unites the styles and rhythms of his native Brazilian musical heritage with his fluency in the American jazz tradition to form a distinctive new sound.

From the cool, sophisticated rhythms of his native Brazil to hard bop, Romero is a guitarist who’s comfortable in any musical setting. He is an uncommonly gifted soloist and musical improviser with a steady stream of unpredictably creative musical thoughts and the virtuosity to deliver them.

Lubambo is considered by critics to be “the best practitioner of his craft in the world today…the guitarist’s facility, creativity and energy are in a class all their own.”

In the decade-plus since Erin Bode began her professional recording career, she has garnered much critical praise for her pure voice, perfect pitch, and impressive phrasing and style. It is this talent, coupled with her reluctance to accept classification as a purely jazz vocalist that has led to reviews hailing her as “someone you won’t forget” and comparing her sound to the likes of Eva Cassidy and Norah Jones.

To date, Bode and her band have released eight albums and have toured the United States, as well as Italy, Asia, and Africa. The Erin Bode Group creates music forged from the Americana of its members’ Midwestern roots, infused with jazz grooves and made magic by Bode’s bell-like voice. Sophisticated arrangements and attention to phrasing, both vocal and instrumental, further distinguish the band’s fresh sound.

While Bode got her start singing standard jazz, her recent projects have been decidedly more pop-based. 2008’s Little Garden and 2010’s Photograph feature all original material by Bode, and showcase her love of poetry with songs that are rich in harmonic and timbral texture. For her most recent album, Here and Now, Erin has collaborated with producer and bassist Viktor Krauss, guitarists Matt Munisteri and Todd Lombardo, cellist Tara Santiago and GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist, Suzanne Cox.

 

Additional season partners include Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Cypress Properties, Inc., J. Mark & Christy Davis, Chris & Jo Harkins, Margaret Ferguson Pope—Thank You Aunt Margaret!, EVO Business Environments, Jay Barth & Chuck Cliett, Stacy Hamilton of Desselle Real Estate, Downtown Little Rock Partnership, Arkansas Arts Council, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Rosen Music Company, and Steinway Piano Gallery Little Rock.

4-Show Jazz packages are available beginning May 13 via Metrotix.com or by calling (800) 293-5949. Single tickets go on sale May 20 and are $35 (General Admission), $44 (Reserved), and $46 (Premium Reserved). Please take a look at this very important ticketing and seating information before purchasing your tickets (view reserved seating chart). Full season ticket pricing and options are also available in a consolidated format, here.

September 5, 1961 – the Duke Ellington concert in Little Rock that wasn’t

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Newspaper ad for the concert that was not to be

In August 1961, it was announced that Duke Ellington would perform in concert at Robinson Center.  He had previously played there in the 1940s and early 1950s.  His concert was set to be at 8:30 pm on Tuesday, September 5.

Due to the changes of times, the NAACP had a relatively new rule that they would boycott performers who played at segregated venues.  When it became apparent that Robinson would remain segregated (African Americans restricted to the balcony), the NAACP announced they would boycott any future Ellington performances if he went ahead and played Robinson.

The music promoters in Little Rock (who were white) petitioned the Robinson Auditorium Commission asking them to desegregate Robinson – even if for only that concert.  The Commission refused to do so.  Though the auditorium was finding it harder to book acts into a segregated house, they felt that if it were integrated, fewer tickets would be sold.

On September 1, 1961, Ellington cancelled the concert.

Robinson remained segregated until a 1963 judge’s decision which integrated all public City of Little Rock facilities (except for swimming pools).

Step into the 1970s with Old State House Museum’s September edition of Nights at the Museum

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Image may contain: outdoor, text that says 'NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM Old State House Museum'Step back into the ‘70s at the Old State House Museum’s next Nights at the Museum event Thursday, Sept. 5, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.!

Get hip to the groove to some disco and soul tunes from DJ Brae Leni (from Brae Leni and The Blackout), or play along with game shows, like “Name That Tune” or “Soul Train” Scrabble.

Come dressed in your trendiest ’70s threads!

As always, there will be plenty of food and libations available to purchase.

Nights at the Museum is an event for ages 21+ on the museum’s iconic front lawn that takes place the first Thursday of each month seasonally, March-October. (In case of inclement weather, the event will be indoors at the museum.)

Arkansas State House Society – Friends of the Old State House Museum, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting OSHM and its programs, hosts the Nights at the Museum.

Admission is $5; food and beverages will be available for purchase at the event. Tickets may be purchased in advance at https://squareup.com/store/ArkansasStateHouseSociety/ or at the gate.

The museum can validate parking at the DoubleTree hotel; metered parking near the hotel is free after 6 p.m.

Upcoming Arkansas Rep production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET focus of Clinton School program at noon today

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The new Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of Million Dollar Quartet. will be the focus of a noontime Clinton School program today (September 5).

On December 4, 1956, in the studios of Sun Records in Memphis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis gathered to meet with legendary producer Sam Philips. What happened next was pure rock and roll magic.

With a collection of hit songs that includes “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Great Balls of Fire,” and “Hound Dog,” this Tony Award-winning musical is guaranteed to blow the roof off!

Join the Clinton School today at noon for a discussion with the cast and crew.

The production opens tomorrow night and runs through October 6.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239