Entertainment

The Rebirth of Cool

THE AFRO — There was a surreal scene in the swanky Harbor East community over the Memorial Day weekend. Billy Murphy, the legendary defense attorney was holding court outside of a new nightclub with a group of other men, still buzzing after witnessing a world class jazz performance by Baltimore native Cyrus Chestnut.

Published

6 years ago

June 11, 2019

Sean Yoes

Jazz musician and impresario Todd Barkan has brought world class Jazz back to Baltimore.

By Sean Yoes

There was a surreal scene in the swanky Harbor East community over the Memorial Day weekend.

Billy Murphy, the legendary defense attorney was holding court outside of a new nightclub with a group of other men, still buzzing after witnessing a world class jazz performance by Baltimore native Cyrus Chestnut.

What most don’t know about Murphy the iconic lawyer is that he is not just a jazz aficionado, he is an outstanding Jazz drummer; he really knows this music, the only organically American art form. And it has been decades since Murphy and other true lovers of the music have been serenaded by a Jazz titan like Chestnut in a club setting in Baltimore.

The wait is over, Keystone Korner has arrived.

“It was like a fait accompli, it’s like destiny,” said Todd Barkan, programming director/executive director of the Keystone, which opened in April. Barkan’s odyssey from Jazz pianist to co-owner of the Keystone Klub in Baltimore, began almost 50 years ago in Northern California. He purchased the original Keystone Klub in the North Beach community of San Francisco in 1972 and operated it until 1983.

“I built Keystone Korner into an internationally famous place, that had many famous live recordings; Rahsaan Roland Kirk, McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis, all recorded live there,” Barkan said. Subsequently, Barkan opened Keystones in Oakland, Calif., and Tokyo.

Keystone Klassic: A classic 1975 marquee picture from the original Keystone Korner in San Francisco.

From the establishment of Keystone as a beacon for the Jazz world, Barkan moved on to New York as program director for Jazz at Lincoln Center from 1999 to 2012.

In April 2018, he was awarded the National Endowment of the Arts, Jazz Master award, an honor Barkan describes as, “the highest award in jazz in our country…it’s like the Nobel Prize for jazz.” The bestowing of the Jazz Master award (the other winners that year were Pat Metheny, Dianne Reeves and Joanne Brackeen), on Barkan led to an encounter with the man who would become his partner in bringing the legendary Keystone to Baltimore.

“The night before the big concert and ceremony at the Kennedy Center we had an awards dinner…and the owner of the awards dinner restaurant, Marcel’s, was a guy named Robert Wiedmaier,” Barkan said. “Well, he and I met and struck up wonderful and fast friendship and we decided to do something together.”

Wiedmaier, who owns the RW Restaurant Group, is a Michelin Star restaurateur who owns several upscale eateries. He was the second element of the Keystone equation, which has allowed the Baltimore incarnation to become a club, in Barkan’s words, “featuring the best food in the world and the best music in the world.” Wiedmaier owned the Mussel Bar and Grille (which had been closed for over a year because of the extensive construction taking place within that neighborhood) at Harbor East, the space that ultimately became the Keystone Klub Baltimore.

Prior to crafting the Keystone Klub in Baltimore with Wiedmaier, Barkan had only had a tangential relationship with the city. He had played at the Left Bank Jazz Society decades ago and his last performance here was at Ethel’s Place, the city’s last world class Jazz club owned by the highly venerated daughter of Baltimore Ethel Ennis, who died in February. Perhaps, it is divine the reconfiguring of Wiedmaier’s restaurant into the Keystone began that same month.

“I’m going to build up the strongest and best jazz club I can,” Barkan said. “That’s the best thing I can do for Baltimore is to make this club…as successful as can humanly be. And in so doing I’m doing a solid for the people of Baltimore. I want them to be able to come here any week of the year and hear five-star music…the people of Baltimore deserve that.”

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

Sean Yoes

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 20, 2024

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

Published

4 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com