•• ' ► $ ♦ • ♦ <• < r V 4**** ▼ T -* ♦ ♦ • lanuary 13, 1993...The Portland Observer...Page 11 IM IIIA IN A 4 IM THE DESI VAN DAMMI MOVIE VET! James Canfield And Patricia Miller Announce Retirement From Performance Stage . ome musical talents accomplish less in a lifetime than the vibrant Tisha Campbell accomplished by the age of six. It was at that tender age that the young singer from New­ ark, New Jersey first stunned a committee of ...... talent judges with her incredible voice and remarkable interpretation of Billie Holliday's "God Bless The Child." ; "I love to sing, but it's something I've always taken for :granted," the soft-spoken 23 year-old beauty says. Singing has always naturally come hand-in-hand with Tisha's acting performances in such musical projects as "Little Shop of Horrors," Spike Lee's "School Daze," "House Party" (both I and II), and her Current Fox television sit-com "M artin," a critical smash. A lthough Tisha Campbell's name and face are familiar to many film , television and Broadway fans, her richly- varied, sexy and assured album Tisha may come as an extraordinary surprise. M elding her gospel upbringing with a life-long love o f sultry ballads and rhymic soul, T isha has created an album debut that cham pions her first love: singing. "Singing has always been natural for me," Tisha explains. "As long as I can remember, I was always singing around the house. My mother too, since she sang gospel as one o f the Shocklley Singers and with M ahalia Jackson and many others. And 1 wore out the grooves on our 'Lady Sings The Blues' album! Not only did the music give me an am az­ ing sense of freedom, but with three rowdy brothers, it was also my way of getting attention!" Campbell's attention-getting album debut also introduces us to her newly discovered talent for songwriting. For Tisha she co-authored the melancholy "Broken Hearted," and the sweetly sen­ sual "Why W on't You Love Me" with two ofherclosestsourcesofinspiration: Mona Campbell - her mother and m anager -- and the multi-talented producer David A. W illiams, who performed on the al­ bum. From track to explosive track, Tisha's lively, confident and varied voice swoops and swoons, dances around spirited grooves and caresses every single word. Tisha's playful side shines on the funky single "Push," the sexy subsequent single "Love M e Down" and the New York house/hip-hop flavored "Feeling Is Right." And through emotional treatments of such sons as "Broken Hearted" and the seductive ballad, "All Good Things Comes In T im e,” Tisha's voice reveals a heartfelt debt of gratitude for inspiration gained from such greats as Lena Home, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Paula Kelly. "I hope, like Pearl Bailey, Lena Home, Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Dandridge, I get inside the music to find an interpretation that I feel deep down," T isha says, "Those artists had an intense commitment to the craft that most performers today have lost. It's my dream to become known as a well-rounded performer who does everything and does it well." T isha has already held her own with more than a few contemporary greats. She worked with The Time s Morris Day in the short-lived program "Heart and Soul," guest- starred w ith Fresh Prince on "The Fresh Prince O f B el-A ir/ and sings again for her new Fox Broadcasting series Martin, in which she co-stars with popular comedian M artin Lawrence. Undaunted by top-drawer company, she also blew everyone away at the "Black Filmmakers Awards," on the popular sit­ com "A Different World" with fellow guest star Whoopi Goldberg, and at the "Divas Simply Singing" benefit for minority AIDS patients in which Tisha starred alongside Dianne Reeves, Freda Payne, Linda Hopkins, Layla Hathaway, M arva Hicks and other powerful voices. "For the past two years," Tisha laughs, "they've called me 'Diva in Training.'" Considering Tisha's musical accomplishments -- dozens o f which were garnered before the age o f 18 — it's not surprising that her vocal talent won her a new car in a local contest.. .when she was three. "Actually, I was disappointed," she smiles. "Second prize was a color television set, and that's what I really wanted." San Gillen lives outside the la«. Cauihl between a past he eai it e itn e And a ii|ht he can t walkaway fn ii . DAM M E RUN * n » From that moment on, she knew that what she really wanted was to perform. Singing at church, school and local talent shows, she soon began to audition professionally and won appearances on the after school special "Unicom Tales" when she was seven. Several children's shows followed, but musical theater was in her blood. She appeared in several off- Broadway musicals, including "Really Rosie" w ritten by Maurice Sendak with music by Carole King, and "Little Shop of H onors," the hit vehicle for which she would reprise her role as the Supremes-like singer Chiffon in her first major motion picture. By the time she entered Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey, to study choral work, classical music and musical theory, she already had an agent and an exhaustive « « ra m ™ w w « « w m m ■<. > X . « ' ........“1 I 0 H M W Î STARTS FRIDAY, JANUARY 15TH MAT I Mi IS SAfunOAV A SONO»» I I _ ROSE MOYER___ m IH & n iZ I , '\ I .V lju l I____ "8 2 N D A V E . PORTLAND OBSERVER ‘The Eyes and Ears ol [he Community Office: (503)288-0033 Fax#: (503)288-0015 MO IfV E L FOOD I TIGARO CINEMAS GRESHA M CINEMAS 248A976 j H! JANTZEN BEACH 248-A M 4 -MT TANASBOURNE | COW' i LLOVO MALL CINEMAS I vancouvcm ( ) / ' / ) ( A / / ’(A Y ///A A dvertise in the Q bserv \ « - ' « ' '' i i S M l '¿ M » « LIVE A N D IN C O N C E R T resume. W ith such a sterling track record, how does Campbell keep her feet on the ground? "I think one thing that keeps me level-headed is that I keep my goals in front of me," she maintains. "I set standards for myself, and keep going for more. If there's anything I've learned, it's that you're only as good as your last album, your last movie, your last TV show - and I plan to be around for a very long while." TBS Superstation To Air Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Parade Live From Atlanta TBS Superstation will telecast the Martin Luther King, Jr. National H oli­ day Parade live from Atlanta Saturday, January 16, at 12:05-1:35 P.M.. (ET). This marks the fourth year that TBS has aired the parade nationally. Actor Clifford Davis, song stylist Nancy W il­ son and sports announcer Craig Sager will return as hosts of the event. Davis is probably best known for his role as Reverend Reuben Gregory on the television series Amen. He has enjoyed a long career as both a televi­ sion and theater actor, as well as a singer and songwriter. On television, he starred in Thai's M y M ama and guest-starred in numerous series and movies including Home By M idnight, Murder at the Superdome and Scott Joplin. His outstanding performance on the stage in Two Gentlemen ofVerona N a tio n a lly A c c la im e d D ance Couple to Appear in Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Production of Romeo and Juliet OBT Plans Gala Tribute Follow ­ ing Opening Night Performance, Feb­ ruary 4 James Canfield and Patricia Miller, nationally acclaimed dance partners and longtime favorites o f Portland’s ballet audiences and critics, will retire from the performance stage, it was announced today. The twocelebrated artists, whose careers have paralleled for 13 years through partnerships at the W ashington Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, and most recently Oregon Ballet Theatre, will make their final appearance portraying the title characters in Oregon Ballet Theatre’s presentation of Romeo and Juliet, Scheduled February 4-7,1993. In celebration o f their extraordi­ nary dance partnership and their sig­ nificant contribution to dance in Port­ land, the Board of Trustees of OBT will honor the pair at a special gala tribute following the opening night perfor­ mance on February 4. The Thursday evening perform ance will begin at 7 p m -a n hour earlier than the customary time--and the reception, at the Benson Hotel, will begin at 10 pm. Former associates, friends, and relatives of the dancers, as well as local dignitaries are expected to attend the event, which will feature a retrospective o f their careers and tributes by special guests. Hors d ’oeuvres, dessert and champagne will be served. Reservations are required to attend the M iller/Canfield Tribute and invita­ tions are available through the Oregon Ballet Theatre Office, at 227-0977. earned him a Tony nomination. In 1971, Davis received a Grammy nomination for his number one song, "N everCan Say Good-bye," which sold two million singles for The Jackson Five. His most recent album. Say Amen, was released in 1990. Few vocal artists in contemporary music have influenced so many for as long as Nancy W ilson. For more than 35 years, W ilson has remained at the forefront of the music industry, and she continues to in fluence a new generation of popular vocalists. She has completed more than 50 recor lings in her illustri­ ous career. In 1960, W ilson recorded her first single, "Guess Who I Saw Today?" Her first big hit came in 1963 with "Tell Me the Truth." Her 1965 album Gentle Is M y Love and 1988 album Forbidden Lover garnered Grammy nominations. W ilson has received numerous awards during her lengthy career. Among them are a 1964 Grammy for her hit "How Glad I Am" and a 1975 Emmy Award for her television series The Nancy Wil­ son Show. In 1990,. W ilson was hon­ ored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Sager currently serves as a reporter forT um erSports. He has held a variety o f different jobs within Turner Broad­ casting since he joined CNN in 1981 to cover the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. Sager then w ent on to anchor a variety of sports program s, including Baseball '85 and CN N ’s live weekend reports on college basketball. He also co-anchored CNN's Sports Saturday and Sports Sunday. The Portland Observer encourages our readers to write letters to the editor In response to any articles we publish ■ I & SPECIAL GUESTS JAN.18*KEY LARGOmovffi KING + L IN D A H O R N B U C K L E W IT H N O d e L A Y JAN.24-R0SELAND 8PM 21 & OVER P R O D U C E D B Y D O U B L E TEE M S TIX X X ï I NEW O V f t f t *C X TM£ATAf 1 C> MOLL YWCOO WES* xxN S O N cnee« WAÇMtff WO*Q FmHI/leyar 224-TIXX «A « .IC E W W 7 M C W I * - •.» - 1 • i i w a D * » » *» » ♦ ,» » t w ’ *A 'A *-* * ♦ * A r»0M CflCA « W TIC K E TS A L S O A T O N E STO P RECO RD S . * A A \ W * f j g