Page 8 ©bserver October 13, 1999 When All Hell Breaks Loose ers were on the rise and m y mother who performed with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and never seemed to be able to penetrate even Benny Goodman before she was the market in the United States as a a jazz singer since twenty years old. These connections recognizedjazz singer. Shehadasound leaving her family that floated between the operatic soul- came about when she was in Monaco in T e x a s n early filled Sarah and high-spirited Ella Un­ attending a music festival with some o f twenty years ago. her singer friends, hoping to pick up a fortunately, America was already fu ll His Holy RollersLs- record deal. Pops ter. Shreese, com ­ had a gig playing plains that A dnan is too “worldly” for keys fo r a sm all him. even though group that Miles Davis anil drum sheherselfis falling m er Roy Haynes for the shady, char­ had put together. ismatic pastoro fher Pops had met Miles church. A n d his at a rehearsal one boys - w ho run the night, a n d fro m gamut from player there heplayedkeys to buffoon - react with the group fo r to the news o f his tw o a n d a h a lf engagem ent w ith years. A t the end o f grief and disbelief. the seco n d y e a r tha, s not they went to Mo­ M v ■ enouSh- he s g ° l naco, P ops was A drian, w ho has looking to start his more skeletons in own band. H e her closet than a haunted house W hat’s formed the Alston a brother to do .’W hen All Hell Breaks Jazz Quartet, and Loose Is a debut novel about black my mother audi­ twenty-somethings that is last and funny tioned and was the It’s also a peek into the minds o f young black men. The author, Camika Spen­ chosen vocalist. Back then, Sarah cer, w on’t just have you laughing - Vaughan, B etty she’ 11 have you looking in the mirror tot Carter, E lla see if she’s talking about you.An Ex­ F itzgerald, a n d cerpt: M y mother, Louise Angelina other fem ale sing- Alston, beeam eaverypopularvocalist from France, where she’sbeen living as Akimac Publishing; 1999 By Camika Spencer It’s Sunday morning, and while most people are thinking about getting the paper breakfast. Gregory Alston has something other then eggs on his mind. Today he’s going to propose to Adrian Jenkins, his girlfriend o f three years. But when he actually does, all hell breaks loose and he gets a lot m ore than he bargained for. His m other returns G in g e r s n a p s Y o u ’ll n e v e r fo r g e t th e m . S ix b la c k A One World Ballantine Book; 1998 Do you p r o m is e t o « lo v e , h o n o r an d c h e r i s h y o u r body f o r th e r e s t o f y o u r l i f e ? By Delorys Welch-Tyson A BLACKBOARD BESTSELLER d e rb y b o o m e r s w h o s e p a th s c ris s c r o s s an d c o llid e in a w ic k e d ly fu n n y , e m o ­ tio n a lly c h a rg e d r o lle r - c o a s te r rid e o f as laatureit in maaarine GINGERSNAPS lo v e a n d h a te , je a lo u s y a n d p a s s io n , a m ­ b itio n a n d d e s i r e ... A le th a : T h e r e ig n in g q u e e n o f th e ta lk sh o w s h a s a ro y a l s n a g in h e r lo v e life. D e s ir e e : A s a s i s te r - f r ie n d S ig m u n d F re u d , m a n y w o m e n “ li e ” o n h e r c o u c h . o f Sarahs and Ellas. Plus, m y mother was voung and nobody wanted to deal with a teenage ja zz singer. Respect in thejazz scene came with age and expe­ rience, neither o f which my mother had. I suppose that's why she never could get her big break here. ( I t ’ s tim e t o ren ew y o u r v o w s .) •» Il J ? V e r o n ic a : T h is T V p ro d u c e r is a m a s ­ te r ju g g le r - u n til th e d a d d y o f h e r b a b y I ta k e s h is a c t o n th e ro a d . I D e b r a : A s s h e p u s h e s f o r ty , h e r m o th e r ’s p u s h in g h e r to fin d a m a n - in JOIN A REAL GYM, a ll th e w ro n g d ir e c tio n s . J a n e e n : H e r d r e a m b o a t is a b o u t to c la s h w ith h e r r o m a n tic fa n ta s ie s b ig - tim e. L o u ise : W h e n th is c o n tr o v e rs ia l b e s t­ s e llin g a u th o r p ro m o te s h e r b o o k , i t ’s a rio t - lite r a lly . T h e y ’re g in g e r s n a p s - s p ic y a n d h a rd , b ro w n a n d b o ld - w o m e n w h o r e f u s e to le t th e ir c o o k ie s c ru m b le w h e n fa c e d ft* tB*«f**Y M X D » I