Page 6, Portland Observer, September 17, 1986
Sweet Honey in the Rock
To Appear in Portland
Sweet Honey in the Rock, the award winning five woman a capetla go*
pel group, will be appearing for one show only, Sunday, September 21, at
the Benson High School. 546 N E 12th Avenue. Portland The concert is
presented in con|unction with the Women in the Year 2000 Conference
and is open to the public Showtime is 4 00 p m
A Sweet Honey in the Rock concert is not for the passive listener
Sweet Honey s mission is to get each individual in the audience to move
and be moved Sweet Honey is known for their constantly challenging and
surprising performances Using only their voices, handclaps and an occa
sional gourd or tambonne. Sweet Honey produces a seemingly endless
variety of sound, drawn from an eclectic range of styles and traditions;
gospel, folk, pop. reggae, blues, rap, soul and the experimental. An impor
tant facet of Sweet Honey's story is their commitment to the struggle of all
people black, white, women, and men This commitment is expressed
through their often hard edged (xoliticol statements on topics ranging from
anti racism, feminism and anti nuclear
This music moves the heart and provokes the mind, as stated in a recent
Billboard review. "In the world of ear candy, this is music with meat on its
bones Sweet Honey in the Rock offers soul food "
Based in Washington, D C Sweet Honey first began performing to
gether in November 1973
Originally part of the D C Black Repertory
Theatre Company, the group's strength lay within its stirring sounds and
songs rooted in the tradition of Black American unaccompanied choral
singing.
For the last 13 years, the group has looked to its leader Bernice Johnson
Reagon, for its inspiration and direction Reagon a civil rights and social
activist since the sixties is employed full time at the Smithsonian Perfor
ming Arts Center .is the director for the Program in Black American Culture
Currently the four other voices in Sweet Honey are Evelyn Harris, a solo
artist in her own right; Ysaye Marie Barnwell, a speech pathologist and
she provides the lull bodied bass lines; Aisha Kahil, a performing artist,
teacher and choreographer, and Nitangio Bolade is a professional research
er ot African rooted folklore Shirley Childress Johnson, a sign language
interpreter, is currently touring as a full Hedged band member
Reagon states that Sweet Honey's performances are not just good enter
tainment, "Our singing is an act of daring a commitment to step into new
territory and to effect change But we also want to emphasize that no ob
stacle is too big and that’s why we also like to sing love s o n g s '
ABOUT TOWN
Billy Larkin/From the Heart of Soul
Before I begin, let me moke a couple of statements I. like any other
human being, have the aspirations and dreams that are like everyone else s,
and being an entertainment editor and columnist, naturally I diearnt of
meeting and interviewing artists that I have listened to and idolized all of my
life along with the new breed of superstars like Stevie Wonder, Alexander
O Niel, Force M D t, Wynton Marsailis. Confunkshun and scores and
scores of artists and actors and the like Since working at this paper, I've
had a chance to fullfil some of my fantacies. even though these interviews
never come to print My boss (God bless him) gets a little tense even when
I write articles like last week s Expo article He tells me again and again that
the talent is here in town He says that this is the PORTLAND Observer,
not the National Entertainment Magazine, and. besides, all the people I
want to interview have already been interviewed by the large mags and they
will probably tell me the same thing that they told them
In essence,
nothing new
Bee G 's .................................................................
5700 N E U nion.
Fri, Sat , Billy Larkin b Co.; Sun., Jam Session
Brasserie M o n tm a rte ........................................ 626 S W Park.
Fri.-Sat., Dennis Springer Quartet
Cisco b Pancho s
611 N W Couch
Fri., sat., Norman Sylvester Blues Band
Eldorado C lu b ...................................................
5016 N E U nion,
281 1176
224 5652
223 5048
284 8664
Eli s ...................................................................... 424 S W 4th A ve . 223 4241
Thurs Sat., Calvin Walker b The Conquerors
H obbit
S E 39th Et H olgate 771 0742
Fri Sat Mel Brown Quintet
Key Largo
31 N W 1st 223 9919
Fri Sat., Paul DeLay, Sun., PaLante
Last H u r r a h ....................................................... 5 6 6 S W Alder S t . 224 1336
Fri Sat . Cool R
R em o 's...............................................................
1424 N W Glisan. 221 1150
Sun., Jam Session W Ron Steen
S al‘V » ............................................................... Foot of S E M ario n 239 8900
Thurs , Cool R Fri Sat , Phil Baker Band
Shanghai Lounge
0309 S W M o n tg o m e ry 220 1865
Sun., Calvin Walker b The Conquerors
Top of the C o s m o ................................................ 1030 N E Union. 235 8433
Mon Sat., Gene Diamond & Aires
W h a le r s ..
120 N S tate Street Lake O sw ego 636 8880
Fri.-Sat., Shirley Nanette Band
Pioneer Square
........................... D o w n to w n Portland
Inside Outside People presents
Rev Blood b The Crack Attack
HOT TEN
1.
2
3
4
5
6
7.
8
9
10.
On the Silver Screen
Rum ors
A lw ays in the M o o d
W ord Up
Back in Black
I C o m m it to Love
Rapture
C ontrol
Get Busy 1 Tim e
Bloodline
Headlines
The Social Club Jay
Shirley Jones Manhattan
.......... Cameo/Polygram
............ Whoftdini/Jive
Howard Hewitt Elektra
Anita Baker Elektra
. Janet Jackson/A&M
Full Force/Columbia
. LaVert Warner Bros.
Midnite Starr/Solar
"She s Gotta Have It" — rated R
They call it a sex comedy. I call it a masterpiece "She s Gotta Have It"
is today's modern woman versus the yuppie lor, in this case, buppiel. the
street and the traditional attitudes found in males of the 80 s. Done in
black and white, the film seems more real than the slick high budget
Hollywood hooey seen in theatres across the nation today Jazzy is the
soundtrack and jazzy is the film. Spike Lee is on his way to making history
in the film industry. If you miss this one, you’ll be missing out, so check it
outlll
* * * *
F O L i ARG(T
31 NW FIRST
NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT
Thurs
Eat, Drink and Dance
with the latest video hits
No cover until
11 3 0 p m
The place to
bring a friend
m eet a friend
m ake a friend
Open Tbesday Sunday
Lunch Dinner
• 12 Video Screens
• Afternoon specials 4-6 pm
PINOCCHIO'S
309 W. Burnside
228-I830
JAZZY FM 89-
MT H 000 COMMUNITY COLLEGE
223 9919
When he makes these painfully valid statements. I get a little ticked, and
I always know, |ust like Ford, I ve got a better idea, but, since he is my boss
I sometimes (always) do what he says, and when he told me to interview
Billy Larkin, my mouth dropped lower than last week's Dow Jones average
I'd never heard of him, but I assumed that he was old and played old folk's
music It turned out to be one of the unforgettable moments in my career
When I walked into Bee G's to interview him, Billy was sitting with his
back to me, but even then, I could feel the glow, the magic, the warmth,
that intensely calm feeling that comes only from real people I really mean
"from real P E 0 P L E" As we talked, I began to realize two things 1)My
boss was right (chalk one up for the old folks) and 2) that I was sitting
across from one of the greats responsible for Portland s rich |azz history,
a real legend, keeping and playing music the way that it s supposed to be
played from the heart of soul
"Man, I’ve played every dive, every nightclub, every after hours
(even six in the morning) iam session every and anything you can think of,
I've played it I've been up and I've been down but the one thing I'll tell
you is I wouldn't trade them for nothin'. Ain’t nothin’ like bein' a musician
It's the highest high in the worldl The music we play, you |ust can’t play at
You gotta be on full People don't come to hear you play light and flowery,
people come to hear you get down!"
I grew up in southern California My mother sang in holiness churches
and my uncle played drums The soul was |ust shot on me God made sure
I got my portion."
"When I was roal young, I found out I had a little gift on the piano, but
when I heard the organ sound I knew that was me and I haven't done
anything since I started out listening to Duke and The Count, you dig,
but at the close of World War II people started coming west for those |obs
They brought B B King, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and others
with them. That stuff kinda blew my mind."
"When I would play, people would listen, and before you know it, I was
playing some of everywhere I had a two week gig in Portland and stayed
8 years It was home then, and it is home now I used to play over at the
Cotton Club when it was the number one club in Oregon I played behind
some names you wouldn't believe *
"Paul Knauls is the one responsible for me going so far in this business,
and I d like to take this time to thank him. Paul helped me and the group
more than I can say. Me, Hank Swan and Mel Brown got together and
made some beautiful, beautiful music together When Ralph Black used to
come in, we'd blow down the house."
"W e were fortunate enough to be invited down by World Pacific to cut
some sides, and I believed then I kinda realized what I was in to When we
were recording, the who's who of jazz would be sitting around watching
the sessions: The Jazz Crusaders, McCoy Tyner, Less McCann, to name a
few. If we needed someone to play something, they'd be right there
Matter of fact, our albums are collectors' items now W e |ust never seemed
to be in the right position to promote them with those fancy one night
stands and the like, but, like I said before, I have no regrets none. I love
being a musician. I love it the most when I see some of the little cats we
schooled out doin' it now Two local cats you might know are Frankie
Redding and Ronnie Steen That's the real reward Right now I’m playing
with two beautiful cats: Gene Smith on tenor, who I've known most my
life; and the newcomer, Smith (Smitty) Houston White, the ladies’ man in
the group We have fun playing a lot of the stuff from the old days, and
people seem to still love it.
The music seems to transcend time."
I asked Billy what advice he would give to young musicians today. He
replied, "Don’t give up; keep on pushin', and even though right now you
might not have a job, keep woodshedding; keep stretching; keep working
out on that axe; a job will come."
As you see. I didn't ask many questions I just sat and listened, like I did
when I heard him play I just sat and listened You should do the same Go
and see one of the pioneers of Portland’s jazz scene playing, excuse me,
g e ttin ' d o w n from the heart of soul
,18
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