Women's History Month 2022 with Gregory Burrus Productions (RECAP)

By Gregory Burrus | Posted Tuesday, March 29, 2022

As you know, Women’s History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society (source: Wikipedia). Here, Gregory Burrus Productions has big fun discovering, acknowledging and celebrating the accomplishments of local women during Women’s History Month. While we celebrate women all year long, we take a special time to focus on some that we know that are doing significant and amazing work every day. Therefore, we either create events to celebrate those women who are performers and acknowledge others in our area who are just moving through life and making a huge difference in our lives every day.   

Let's get started as we recap our events for Women’s History Month 2022.

• March 2 Kim Clarke, Lucianna Padmore and Yayoi Ikawa

• March 4 WHM2022 Just Us Just Music

• March 4 Sleep Out Montclair Community Edition

• March 13 Equinox – Art and Music Exhibition

• March 23 Dara Starr Tucker

March 2 Kim Clarke, Lucianna Padmore and Yayoi Ikawa

Event Overview 

Jazz973 Presents Kim Clarke Trio at Clements Place Jazz

Very happy that Bassist Kim Clarke Founder of Lady Got Chop Festival is joining us for Women’s History Month as Part of  The Lady Got Chop Festival. In its 20th year this festival presents some of the most notable women professionals playing Jazz in the industry.

Interview with Kim Clarke

We were very happy to have our Gregory Burrus Productions Interviewer, Lynette Sheard talk with Bassist Kim Clarke before our Jazz973 st Clements Place Jazz  honoring Women’s History Month.

Performance Short — Jazz973 Presents Kim Clarke Trio at Clements Place Jazz

For this Jazz973 event Kim Clarke is bringing with her some jazz industry heavyweights – Lucianna Padmore on Drums and Yayoi Ikawa on Keys to perform at Newark Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies – Clements Place Jazz Club.

Full Performance

You can catch the full performance right here on my Youtube Channel.

March 4 WHM2022  Just Us Just Music 

Event Overview 

WHM2022 Womens History Month Celebration at the Cricket Club

Celebrating Ife Basim’s 9th Annual Women’s History Month Celebration, “Just Us. Just Music.” Always, a night you don’t want to miss, and a night you won’t forget. Just Us. Just Music.

Interview with Ife Basim

In its 9th year our Gregory Burrus Productions Interviewer, Lynette Sheard talk with the Founder Joy Topping Mann right before this very successful sold out event.

Performance Short

Over 125 folks showed up to have a great time on Friday March 4th at the Cricket Club,. The musicians featured were Kate Cosco on Keys, Caylen Bryant on Bass, Iyonna Herbert on Drums and Lee Odom on Saxophone.

Our vocalist included Jackie Harmon Johnson, Patricia Walton, Omisanya Karade, Phyllis Blanford, Zakiyyah Zai’meh and the founder Joy Topping Mann. The night was hosted by Norman Mann.

Full Capture of the nights events:

Click Ife Basim WHM2022 at the Cricket Club Entertainment Complex by Gregory Burrus Productions.

March 4 Sleep Out Montclair Community Edition 

Event Overview

2022 Sleep Out: Virtual Discussion Aging Out Foster Care and Homelessness

Every year we lose kids to gangs, jail, human trafficking, substance abuse, and even death. Covenant House, New Jersey mission is to provide comprehensive residential care and related services to help New Jersey’s youth who have suffered from abuse, neglect, abandonment, human trafficking and homelessness. The Junior League of Montclair – Newark, Inc (JLMN) is committed to helping resolve this situation by conducting this years’ 2022 Sleep Out: Montclair Community Edition,

Interview with Heather LeClair

Discussion on Homelessness, Aging Out of Foster Care and Mental Health

The Junior League Montclair – Newark  President Heather LeClair and our interviewer, the  Director of Mental Health in New Jersey, Lynette Sheard  conducted an important conversation to discuss this situation and help us understand the implications of aging out of Foster Care, Homelessness and the impacts upon one’s Mental Health.

Learn More

2022 Sleep Out: Montclair Community Edition Junior League Montclair – Newark  

March 13 Equinox – Art and Music 

Event Overview 

WHM2022 Art Exhibition featuring the Latin Jazzy Sounds of Marilyn Castillo

Equinox, the Exhibit

Through an exciting collaboration between photographer/artist Christine Keeley and collage/mixed media artist Maria Estrela, the idea of Equinox: The Birth and Rebirth of a Woman, a celebration of Women’s International History Month, was born.  The exhibition will be on view at The Jewish Museum of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey from March 6th to April 3rd.

Interview with Artist Maria Estrela – Christine Feeley

We caught up with Maria Estrella and Christine Keeley to understand the exhibition and more importantly the connection between the artist and their work. Take a listen. 

Performance Short

Exhibition till April 4th.

Click here to read all about the event:
Equinox Art Exhibition Featuring Maria Estrela and Christine Keeley with Live Music by Marilyn Castillo and Nedelka Sotelo (Sunday, March 13, 2022)

Full Performance

Click here to see the  live music performance:
Castillo – Nedelka Sotelo – Antonios Cotez – at Equinox Exhibit by Gregory Burrus Productions

March 23 Dara Starr Tucker   

Overview Event Link

Jazz973 Presents Dara Tucker and her Band at Clements Place Jazz

Dara Starr Tucker is making her mark in the world of music and activism as a singer, satirist and social commentator. Her latest album, Dreams of Waking: Music For A Better World (2021), was featured on Grammy.com and in American Songwriter Magazine. On the album, Tucker embraces the urgent, topical works of songwriters of the protest era, along with her own compositions, as vessels for justice awareness, instruction and healing. Her album reached #7 on the Jazzweek National Radio Charts and reached #6 on the ITUNES jazz chart.

Interview with Dara Starr Tucker

Dara Starr Tucker Interviewed by Lynette Sheard for Gregory Burrus Productions

Today on Interviews by Gregory Burrus Productions, we encountered a truly fabulous, soulful multidimensional singer. As you may know, a live music career is a business that requires the performer to stay relevant in the audience’s mind. The performer in order to be successful must be committed to ensure long-term relevance. Dara Tucker has found many ways to stay in the minds of fans using multiple platforms and, as her bio proclaims, singer/songwriter Dara Tucker is no stranger to producing “composition as commentary.” Take a listen.

Performance Short

Jazz973 Presents Dara Tucker and her Band at Clements Place Jazz

This very special Womens History Month Celebration produced by Jazz973 featured the fabulous Dara Starr Tucker and her awesome band. Dara Starr Tucker – vocals, Mike King – piano, Greg Bryant – bass and Curtis Nowosad- drums.

Full Performance

You can catch the full performance right  here on my Youtube Channel.

Thank you for joining us - Hope you enjoyed our Women's History Month 2022 Recap.

About the Author — Gregory Burrus

Gregory Burrus is a local live music ambassador, producer, promoter, event planner, and community partner. He combines his extensive corporate business and technology expertise with his love of live music and being a strong community advocate.

I love writing about it all. My mission is to help community groups, live music bands, and local nonprofits, reach their goals and accomplish their missions while enjoying the day-to-day process of life.

https://www.jerseyindie.com/ji-blogger-gregory-burrus  
https://patch.com/users/gregburrus 

Interview with the Dynamic, Multifaceted, Multidimensional Dara Starr Tucker

By Gregory Burrus | Posted Friday, March 11, 2022

Today on Interviews by Gregory Burrus Productions, we encountered a truly fabulous, soulful multidimensional singer. As you may know, a  live music career is a business that requires the performer to stay relevant in the audience’s mind. The performer in order to be successful must be committed to ensure long-term relevance. Dara Tucker has found many ways to stay in the minds of fans using multiple platforms and, as her bio proclaims, singer/songwriter Dara Tucker is no stranger to producing “composition as commentary.”  

“Dreams of Waking (album) refers to the hope that our society will develop an awareness of the inequities that still exist,” Tucker said. “It’s the dream that we will become fully conscious and attuned to the hopes, dreams and needs of every human being.”

Happily for us, we were able to book Dara Tucker for a Jazz973 event at Clements Place Jazz. Having done some preliminary research, we wanted to catch up with Dara and understand more about her upcoming event and get to know a little more about this multidimensional person. Take a listen.

Dara Tucker - Interview by Lynette Sheard 

Dara Starr Tucker Interviewed by Lynette Sheard for Gregory Burrus Productions.

Dara Tucker - Singer / Songwriter

Dara Tucker has an extensive singing career with many successful awards and accomplishments.  She began songwriting while living in Switzerland in 2003 and moved to Nashville in 2004 to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter. She recorded the first of her albums, "All Right Now" in 2009. It featured mostly Great American Songbook standards. Her second album, Soul Said Yes (2011), was a blend of R&B, jazz and Gospel and it made Amazon.com's top 10 R&B chart within a few weeks of its release. Tucker's third release, The Sun Season (2014), was recorded in Astoria, Queens, New York. It reached number 62 on the JazzWeek charts on September 22, 2014. 

In 2015, Dara was interviewed by Tavis Smiley for his PBS television show, where she performed an original song she wrote with her sister, Diamond Tucker, entitled, "Giants" from The Sun Season. In 2016, she opened for Gregory Porter in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. That year, Dara Tucker was a finalist in the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival's vocal competition. In 2017, she won the silver medal at the "American Traditions" vocal competition in Savannah, which requires singers to perform in 9 separate genres.

Dara Tucker — Entrepreneur, Documentary Filmmaker and Writer 

Dara has produced a docu-series on Nashville musicians called, "Music City Select" through her production company, GoldenTime Films. She is a contributor to the Huffington Post where she writes essays on her personal experiences as a minority and a woman in the entertainment business. Her article, "Here's to the Ladies Who Cuss" was featured on The Huffington Post Voices homepage. In my research, I found this comment:

“In the coming year, I will be more loving, and I will be kinder. I will also stake a claim in my own life. I am compelled to make room for myself. I will not always be pleasing or appropriate, but I will blossom. If something is deemed inappropriate for my life, let it be me who does the deeming. I will scream when I need to scream. I will shout and be heard. And I will cuss when I feel like cussing.”  

This definitely leads us to the other Dara, who produces “composition as commentary.”

Dara Tucker — Social Commentator 

The great part about these interviews is the advanced research we do, and on this one our interviewer Lynette Sherd was way ahead of me. While I saw music, Lynette alerted me to the massively active and successful TikTok-er, Dara Starr Tucker.  

Now, for those that think TikTok is just dance and jokes, you should know that the Economic Times reported that: “The rankings show that TikTok knocked Google off the top spot in February, March and June this year, and has held the number one position since August. San Francisco: Popular short video-sharing platform TikTok has surpassed tech giant Google as the most popular website of the year, says a report. Dec 25, 2021.” Well, being in the top ten is huge; knocking off number one is phenomenal.

Dara, as a social commentary person, definitely delivers on the statement that I love, which is producing “composition as commentary.” This is evident when you jump on the other Dara Starr Tucker channels. With 17K followers on Instagram, her individual videos have received in some cases over 12K comments. Meanwhile, her social commentary on TikTok has 687 thousand followers, with individual videos garnering 1.6K comments. The engagement she has is truly amazing. 

Dara Tucker — Performs at James Moody Scholars Performance

More recently, we had the pleasure of listening to Dara Tucker when she was a guest performer at the James Moody Scholars event. The event was special for us as Linda Moody wanted to honor the James Moody Scholarship Scholars with a live music concert during her time here as the first lady of the TD Moody Jazz Festival.  There has been a recipient each year of the scholarship and now there were enough of them to have a band with a rhythm section. You can read more here as the James Moody Jazz Scholars Honored His Legacy In South Orange NJ. 

This is where we first heard her wonderful voice and we encourage all of you to come on out and listen to her sing. It's a treat you don’t want to miss.  

Jazz973 Presents Dara Starr Tucker and her Band at Clements Place Jazz

Dara Starr Tucker is making her mark in the world of music and activism as a singer, satirist and social commentator. Her latest album, Dreams of Waking: Music For A Better World (2021), was featured on Grammy.com and in American Songwriter Magazine. On the album, Tucker embraces the urgent, topical works of songwriters of the protest era, along with her own compositions, as vessels for justice awareness, instruction and healing. Last summer, the album reached #7 on the Jazzweek National Radio Charts and reached #6 on the ITUNES jazz chart.

Additionally, Dara Starr Tucker is the co-writer of "Oklahoma," the title song on Keb Mo's 2020 Grammy-winning "Best Americana Album." Tucker's justice and musical commentary on social media has been featured with HBO and Yahoo News. She has toured as a member of master guitarist Charlie Hunter's trio, appeared on NPR's Jazz Night in America and made her national television debut on PBS. Most recently, Dara has performed at Central Jersey Jazz Festival, Newark Museum of Art Jazz Series, Birdland (VocalMania), Smoke Jazz Club and Minton's.

Join Us: March 23, 7 - 10PM, Clements Place Jazz. 15 Washington Street, Newark, NJ.

Click to learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jazz973-presents-dara-tucker-and-her-band-at-clements-place-jazz-tickets-295322667047

 About the Author — Gregory Burrus

Gregory Burrus is a local live music ambassador, producer, promoter, event planner, and community partner. He combines his extensive corporate business and technology expertise with his love of live music and being a strong community advocate. 

I love writing about it all. My mission is to help community groups, live music bands, and local nonprofits, reach their goals and accomplish their missions while enjoying the day-to-day process of life. 

https://www.jerseyindie.com/ji-blogger-gregory-burrus   
https://patch.com/users/gregburrus 

Making History: Linda Moody Honors James Moody Scholars at 100 Blanchard Rd in South Orange, NJ (RECAP)

By Gregory Burrus | Posted Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Every year, the spectacular TD James Moody Jazz Festival comes to Newark, NJ — an absolutely fabulous jazz festival, in its 10th year, that is still sponsored by TD Bank. The TD James Moody Jazz Festival presents dozens of free and ticketed events at the beautiful New Jersey Performing Arts Center and selected locations around Downtown Newark. This year, the Godmother of the Festival, as NJPAC President John Schreiber referred to her, Linda Moody, widow of James Moody (RIP), came into town from San Diego and hosted a number of TD James Moody Jazz Festival events.

“I am honored and excited to come to the TD James Moody Jazz Festival every year.  I have life long friends here and it feels like home. I know that my husband would be thrilled at this being the 10th anniversary of the festival. He would love the diversity of it because there is something for everyone. I especially love meeting with the James Moody Scholars from Purchase College and New Jersey.  I thank Jazz House Kids for their hard work facilitating The James Moody Jazz Scholarship for New Jersey. Having the Scholars play together for the first time was heartwarming. I live in a constant state of gratitude and  sometimes I just have to pinch myself.”

— Linda Moody

Our Host, Linda Moody represents the spirit of James Moody very well. She is very engaging and ensures everyone feels happy that they came out. 

This year was special for us, as Linda Moody wanted to honor the James Moody Scholarship Scholars with a live music concert during her time here. There has been a recipient of the scholarship each year and now there are enough of them to have a band with a rhythm section. 

Now for me, a person with a Jazz loving dad and mom, we grew up listening to the famous saxophonist James Moody. Then fast forward to the 1970s, when New York City radio DJ Frankie Crocker played the King Pleasure recording of “Moody's Mood for Love” every night at the end of his show on WBLS-FM. And, as one listener stated, “Frankie Crocker had the ENTIRE tri-state singing this song - word for word - every night at 8pm - genius.” To say I was ecstatic to find a location and host an event for the James Moody Scholars is an understatement. I was truly blown away and honored.

The James Moody Scholars

With band members coming from as far away as Trenton, NJ to perform, the James Moody Scholars Septet did James Moody proud, big time. Each band member came from a different year to play together for the first time. Bandleader Birsa Chatterjee (2015) Tenor Saxophone, Iyonna Herbert (2016) Drums, Andrew Wagner  (2017) Trumpet, Caelan Cardello (2018) Piano, Jalin Shiver (2019) Alto  Saxophone, Rayner Perez (2020) Trombone, and unable to attend was Paul Reinhold (2021). That night, Gervin Myles was on Bass, all under the direction of Saxophonist Birsa Chatterjee.

The James Moody Scholars Performances

Set 1:

The night opened with me, Gregory Burrus, being very happy to introduce the host, Linda Moody. Linda discussed the past scholarships, the meaning behind them and then introduced the band one by one. We proceeded to listen to the band swing and play on. 

Set 2:

The power of jazz and improvisation was evident all night long as they also performed with the singers who came up to perform. The band continued swinging hard, playing the standards and continued playing beautiful and strong all night long. They were definitely in sync. 

The Invited Vocalists

In addition, we wanted the night to be reflective of the real world, so selected local vocalists were invited to join in the fun. In attendance were: local entrepreneur, Blues and Jazz vocalist, East Orange’s Jacqueline Harmon Johnson; actor, producer, director and the unseated “West Orange Idol” Lynette Sheard, and the award-winning writer, playwright, and actor with the beautiful voice, Hillsdale’s Joy Topping-Mann.

I also should note that we had a wonderful introduction to freelance documentary filmmaker, pianist, singer, and songwriter Dara Tucker. Dara is the winner of the Nashville Industry Music Awards 2017 and 2020 Best Jazz Album and 2016 and 2017 Best Jazz Vocalist of the year. 

Needless to say, all the vocal performances backed by the James Moody Scholars were simply fabulous.

The Jazz Supporters

A number of notable jazz supporters and special guests came out in support of the scholars. We were very honored to have the daughter of James Moody — Michelle Bagdanove — in attendance. That was just awesome. Also, special guests were: NEA Jazz Master Dorthaan Kirk and, as The New York Times, said “Dorthaan Kirk Is Newark's First Lady of Jazz”; Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies & Newark Archives Executive Director Wayne Winborne; Grammy award-winning record producer and audio engineer John Lee; SOMAtv Station Manager and Genealogist, Dustin Dumas, along with our local WBGO’s Jazz After Hours OnAir Personality Greg Bryant.

Also, thank you to New Jersey Jazz Society (NJJS) President Cydney Halpin, who commented, “I just wanted to thank you again for inviting me to last night's Moody Scholarship event. Those cats were wonderful!!  And that house... heavenly!! Congratulations on a wonderful event!!” 

The Historic Venue — 100 Blanchard Rd. 

100 Blanchard Rd. is a gorgeous historic house in South Orange, NJ. Known as the "Blanchard Estate," this Georgian brick mansion has over 13,000 square feet of space and sits on 2 acres of private, stunning property with NYC skyline views. Built in 1924, this stately residence was designed in the style of the Gilded Age Mansions of Newport, well designed for entertaining friends with a grand foyer leading to the custom wood appointed ballroom with stylish coffered ceilings. It was a perfect location.

The Event Volunteers

None of this could have happened without support from our team of supporters and volunteers. A big thank you to: 

GBP Volunteers that made the night run smoothly: James Pansulla, @DJ Roc M South Orange; Teresa Ware; Mary Collins and Donald; Barbara White; CC Minton; and we inducted Rayner Perez who helped us big time with the chairs. 

Official Event Photographer All these creative folks documented the nights events with some truly beautiful photos: Albert Clarke, Allison V Brown and Patrick Hilaire. 

Live Streamed Videographer We live streamed to Facebook, Youtube and TwitchTV, so thanks to our onsite Livestream and videographer Yardbird Entertainment - Peter Lin and our remote Livestreamer G2BProductions. 

Also, Millie Austin’s Catering and Roxanne Burrus for supplies and delivery of light refreshments. A big huge thanks to our audience attendees who are helping keep live music alive. We thank you big time. 

Patterson Foundation / Blanchard Conservatory — Our hats off to our venue host, Yvonne Patterson, for helping us make the night a huge success.

Final Words

Linda Moody, Nov 1, 2021:

"I am in complete awe of the James Moody Scholars and soooo proud of them!

All of the musicians, because they loved James Moody, were more than willing to help each year so that we could build a corpus large enough to award scholarships of $5,000 per year to each eligible student. Without the incredible musicians, none of this would be possible. But, one can't accomplish something of this magnitude alone. Jazz House Kids is the fabulous facilitator of this scholarship. I am forever grateful to all who have stepped up to help the James Moody Scholarship thrive. Honey and I wanted to create something that would continue long after we are gone and we have done just that. Keeping the music alive and helping young musicians grow is a dream come true. The love I feel for these kids grows with each meeting. It gave me a sense of pride and purpose watching them play together for the first time at Blanchard House.

Yvonne and John Patterson and Gregory Burrus Wow!

If anyone wishes to make a contribution please visit https://bit.ly/31i8bRT."

Gregory Burrus Productions

Gregory Burrus is a Live Music Events Producer, Promoter, Curator and Community Partner. Gregory Burrus is writing about his first love: the creative people, towns, events involved in the arts and entertainment scene that is happening all around South Orange, Maplewood and the overall JerseyNYC area.