Page 8
May 20, 2020
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
70s Soul Singer Betty Wright Dies
Influential hit-maker remembered
Singer Betty Wright performs the national anthem in 2013 before
an NBA basketball game in Miami. The Grammy-winning soul
singer and songwriter died of cancer at her home in Miami on
Sunday. (AP photo)
(AP) — Betty Wright, the
Grammy-winning soul singer
and songwriter whose influential
1970s hits included “Clean Up
Woman” and “Where is the Love,”
died May 10 at her home in Miami
after being diagnosed with cancer
in the fall. She was 66.
Wright had her breakthrough
with 1971′s “Clean Up Woman,”
which combined elements of funk,
soul and R&B.
Recorded when she was just 17,
the song would be a top 10 hit on
both the Billboard R&B and pop
charts, and its familiar grooves
would be used and reused in the
sampling era of future decades.
The youngest of seven chil-
dren, Wright was born Bessie Re-
gina Norris in 1953 in Miami, the
city whose funk and soul sounds
her music would always be iden-
tified with.
She started singing with the
family gospel group, Echoes of
Joy, and released her solo debut
album, “My First Time Around,”
at age 15 in 1968. The album
yielded a top 40 hit, “Girls Can’t
Do What the Guys Do.”
After “Clean Up Woman,” writ-
ten by Clarence Reid and Willie
Clarke and later sampled by Afri-
ka Bambaataa and Mary J. Blige,
she would have her first hit she
wrote herself with “Baby Sitter,”
a 1973 hit that showed off her so-
called “whistle register” vocals, an
ultra-high singing style later em-
ployed by Mariah Carey and others.
With members of K.C. and the
Sunshine Band, she co-wrote her
1975 proto-disco hit, “Where is
the Love,” which would win her a
Grammy for best R&B song.
A career lull in the late 1970s
and early 1980s prompted Wright
to start her own label in 1985,
leading to a gold album, “Mother
Wit,” in 1987 and the comeback
hit “No Pain (No Gain)”
She spent much of the rest of
her life as a producer and mentor to
younger artists, many of whom were
singing her praises after her death.
“Thank you for being a master
teacher, a friend and one of the
greatest female soul singers in our
industry,” Ledisi said on Twitter.
“You were so much more than
your music. We were blessed to be
around royalty.”
John Legend tweeted that
Wright “was always so loving and
giving to younger artists. Always
engaged, always relevant. She
will be missed.”
Photo by t riStan P aiige
Anis Mojgani is the new Poet Laureate of Oregon. Born in New Orleans to Black and
Iranian parents, he is a National Poetry Slam champion and author of five books of
poetry, including his latest, “In the Pockets of Small Gods.”
Photo by b ev S tandiSh /C ourteSy P ortland y outh P hilharMoniC
The Portland Youth Philharmonic is connecting virtually with its community during
the coronavirus health crisis by conducting weekly video chats for musicians,
live-streamed concerts and conversations for the public.
Youth Orchestra Online
As concert halls across the country go
dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Portland Youth Philharmonic has made
significant efforts to connect virtually with
its community.
The nation’s first and oldest youth or-
chestra has joined other orchestras to give
hope and solace to a quarantined public
by making an unprecedented number of
online performances and educational re-
sources available free of charge.
The Portland Youth Philharmonic is
now featured in the League of American
Orchestras’ a new Symphony Spot website
(symphonyspot.org), a one-stop hub of or-
chestra live-streams, videos and digital
learning events.
In addition, the Portland Youth Philhar-
monic presents “Conversations with the
Conductor,” on YouTube and Facebook.
The outreach will continue every Thurs-
day at 6 p.m. for the time being,” says Mu-
sical Director David Hattner.
“Each week, I create a short playlist of
music without identifying the performers.
I am joined by a panel of musicians, made
up of fascinating people and friends that
I have been fortunate to meet during my
career, and we spend an hour talking about
the performances.”
All episodes of Conversations with the
Conductor can also be found on PYP’s
blog portlandyouthphil.org/blog/conver-
sations.
Oregon’s New Poet Laureate
Gov. Kate Brown has named Anis Mo-
jgani, a two-time individual champion of
the National Poetry Slam and an Interna-
tional World Cup Poetry Slam winner, to a
two-year appointment as Poet Laureate of
Oregon. Mojgani succeeds Kim Stafford,
who has held the post since 2018, to be-
come Oregon’s 10th Poet Laureate.
Brown called Mojgani the “pragmatic
optimist” Oregon needs, especially now
as it deals with the coronavirus pandemic
(COVID-19).
“His words breathe fresh air into the
anxiety and negativity that we all feel. He
urges us to resolutely reflect in the mo-
ment,” she said.
Born in New Orleans to Black and Ira-
nian parents, Mojgani first called Oregon
home in 2004. He is the author of five
books of poetry including his latest, “In the
Pockets of Small Gods.” Mojgani has also
done commissioned work for the Getty
Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum,
and the premiere of his first opera libretto,
“Sanctuaries,” is scheduled for April 2021.
His work has appeared on HBO, Na-
tional Public Radio, in the Academy of
American Poets Poem-A-Day series, and in
the pages of such journals as Rattle, Platy-
pus, Winter Tangerine, Forklift Ohio and
Bat City Review. His performance credits
include hundreds of universities across the
U.S. as well as international festivals.
“I believe all of us wish to be seen on
some level, to be heard,” said Mojgani. “For
then we get a little closer to being known
and understood. The closer we get to that,
the more we are able to see and understand
how we belong to the world we are a part
of -- To belong. That is what poetry does –
it gives us all the power and path to being
known, both to ourselves and to others.”