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T he P ortland O bserver • O ctober 29, 1997
P age B3
(Tin' Jllovtlanb (Ohsevuvr
ENTERTAINMENT
Kevin Mahogany
m orecorrect in his assessm ent o f Kevin
M ah o g a n y . T h ere has been a d earth o f
N ew fem ale ja z z sing ers seem to
ap p ear regularly, but for a long tim e
the space behind Joe W illiam s (now
y o u n g m ale singers. S tylists w ho m a
sev en ty -six ) and M elto rm e (sixty-
o n e) and Ray C h arles (six ty -fo u r)
tu red long after the g o lden era o f Tin
Pan A lley, have d ev elo p ed not w ith
has been em pty. A co u p le o f y ears
ago, the (th en ) th irty -six -y ear-o ld
the B roadw ay so n g b o o k that trad i
tionally ad ap ted so w ell to jazz , but
rath er w ith the pop, soul and rock
m usic o f the sixties, seventies, and
K ansas C ity singer K evin M ahogany
arrived in N ew Y ork. T h ere is little
he can n o t do. H e has ab so rb ed B illy
E c k stin e , W illia m s , C h a rle s, A1
H ib b le r, B etty C a rte r, a n d L eo
W atson. He can sing the blues, and
he can sing ballads. H e can scat. He
can sing M onk and G illesp ie and
John L ew is and M iles D avis, an d he
can sing soul so n g s an d novelty
songs, and he is a startling, gospel
singer, w ho shouts, hum s, bends
notes in tw o, grow ls, an d locks every
syllable to five o r six notes...
—W h itn e y B a llie tt, T h e N ew
Y o rk er, Ju n e 5, 1995
C e le b ra te d c ritic a n d a u th o r
W hitney B alliett could not have been
Happy Birthday
Elizabeth Washington
From your family &frieiu
FM
eig h ties. U ntil now .
K evin M ah o g an y , born July 30.
The JAZZ Station
1958, in K ansas C ity - that m o st v en
erab le and h istorically sign ifican t o f
ja z z “crad les” - is a pro d u ct o f the
p rev io u s three decad es. A lth o u g h he
p o rtray s a c h a ra c te r m o d eled a lte r Big
Joe T u rn e r in R obert A ltm a n 's u p
co m in g film , K ansas C ity. K evin grew
up in the afterm ath o f the c ity 's all-
night, baw dy, n o -h o ld s-b arred h ey
day. K evin arrived durin g a tim e w hen
classic R & B leaned tow ards M em
p his an d M otow n, and soul co -ex isted
w ith ro ck n ' roll.
“T h e stan d ard s stand the test o f
with
DINNER JAZZ in the
evening from 6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 p.m .
fine d in in g ... fine w ine... fine iazz
Kevin Mahogany
tim e." he states, ad d in g that, “m elodi-
cally, lyrically, a song has to have
so m eth in g extra. T h is helps g u arantee
that it's co n tin u ally perform ed. Even
though we don' I have as many musi
cals today as the industry did in
previous periods, we do have great
songwriters"
they go together!
COMMUNITY COLLEGE • GRESHAM
TEARS OF JOY THEATRE
Celebrating 25 Years o f Puppetry in the Northwest!
ince his au sp ic io u s e m e r
gence in 1985, L L C ool J
has catapulted from overnight
hip-hop sensation to bonafide cross-cul
S
...
tural phenom enon. A seasoned enter
tainer at the tender age o f 28, his lengthy
list o f accom plishm ents boggle them ind:
JUNGLE 4
.
BOOK 4
1
two-time G ram m y A w ard winning rap
per, star o f a hit television series, feature
film actor, trusted advertising pitchm an,
author, com pany chairm an, hum anitar
ian and devoted husband and lather.
Indeed, as LL sw aggers confidently into
the next m illennium som e fans m ust
wonder: W hat unexplored challenges
remain for the undisputed king o f hip-
M pY l
Columbia Arts Center - V ancouver
November 14 - November 30
Winningstad Theatre - P o rtla n d
nitely want a lot m ore,” the hip-hop
legend admits. 'T o be honest, I feel like
I’m at the beginning again. T h ere’s a
desire to im prove what I'v e built thus far
For Times & Tickets Call:
©
status incontemporary culture. W ithover
20 million album s sold h e ’s the m ost
successful hip-hop artist in history, yet
his fame often threatens to overshadow
on “MTV U nplugged."
N ow with his m usic and acting ca
reers linnly on track, LL finds him self
poised on the precipice o f m ultim edia
superstardom. His latest album entitled
Phenomenon, is another m asterful syn
thesis o f accessible rhythm and sublim e
rhyme. Featuring contributions by rap
and pop lum inaries such as Sean “Putt y"
Com bs, Babyface. The Trackm asters,
Kirk Franklin & The Fam ily, Busta
Rhymes, R edm an and M elhixi M an,
LeShawn, The Lost Boyz, Tarnia, Pres
tige, L.E.S., D erek Angeletti, B ig Ron
and Stevie J., Phenom enon is L L ’s m ost
introspective and forthright recording
yet.
For his part, LL attributes his longev
ity to one sim ple fact: “I’ve alw ays been
true to what I w as feeling em otionally
and artistically," he says. “I d o n 't like
violence. I've seen violence, seen people
I love be the victims o f violence and
there’s nothing cool about it. It plainly
just doesn’t interest m e.”
“They pushed the lunch rrxim tables
together and m e and my DJ, cut C reator,
started playing," LL recalls. "A s soon as
it was over there were girls scream ing
and asking for autographs Right then
and there I said’ this is what I want io d o ’.”
Season Tickets Available for $8 a Seat!
TREATSEATS
TREATSEATS coupons fo r t ic k e t discounts a v a ila b le a t T a rg e t.
his artistic achievements.
His vision and com m itm ent to excel
lence have resulted in a senes o f historic
firsts. He w as the first rap artist to release
asingle andalbum on the now -legendary
platinum-plus sellmgal bum s andsix gold
695-0477-Vancouver / 248-0557 - Portland
Children $9.00 / Adults $12.00
and make it better.”
L L'sinsatiable am bition is admirable,
especially consideringhisalready mythic
singles. In 1991 he m ade history by
becoming llie first rap artist togoacoustic
Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays
November 1 - November 9
hop?
It's a reasonable enough question,
one to which LL replies, “plenty.” Still
restless and hungry alter 12 years in the
spotlight, the rapper w ants to elevate his
gam e to even loftier levels. “I haven’t
achieved everything I w ant, and I defi
D ef Jam Records label. He w as the first
hip-hop artist to am ass six consecutive
6 k .
THE HUNTER IS TRACKING THE KILLER.
BUT THE KILLER IS SETTING THE TRAP.
NABCJ
OREGON CHAPTER
Presents:
The lo th Annual All Male Fashion
show and Dance Celebration*****
v
’ T ".
"Mett in Black"
Saturday November 1,1997
Holiday Inn Hotel at 1021 NE Grand Avenue
8:00 to 2:00AM
Music, Fun****Door Prizes
$10.00 In Advance
$15.00 At The Door
Music By “The Pitt Doctor”
Leslie Taylor
Tickets Available At:
Geneva’s Shear Perfection -- 5601 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd.
House of Sound-------- 3620 N. Williams Ave.
JP ’s Framing & G a llery------418 N.E. Killingsworth
Mrs. C ’s W ig s -------- 707 N.E. Freemont
DA N N Y
VROVER
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