August 5, 2020
Page 7
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Portland pianist and composer Darrell Grant stands in front of a mural and the cover art for the digital recording and musical video “Take Flight,” a new original song he
wrote featuring vocalist Michelle Willis.
Musician Salutes Young Black Lives
Darrell Grant’s ‘Take Flight’ inspired
by pandemic and racism fight
Inspired by the resilience and courage
of young Black lives in the face of the
pandemic and the fight to end racism,
Darrell Grant, Portland’s critically-ac-
claimed pianist and composer, has re-
leased a new digital recording and music
video of an original song “Take Flight”
featuring vocalist Michelle Willis.
The song will premiere on Grant’s
Facebook page on Thursday and be
available on Youtube, Instagram, and
other social media platforms. Half of
all funds raised through the release be
donated to the Portland branch of the
national non-profit Friends of the Chil-
dren, an organization breaking the cycle
of generational poverty through one-on-
one youth support.
“This project arose from my desire to
represent the beauty, hope, and potential
embodied in our young people.” Grant
says, “I have been inspired by their emo-
tional resilience and courage in the face
of the pandemic and the fight to end rac-
ism, and I see it as my role as an artist
to invest in our future by looking to sup-
port future generations.”
Grant penned “Take Flight” in 2019 at
the request of his son’s 8th grade teach-
er.
“She asked if I would write a song that
we parents could sing to the children at
their upcoming middle-school class pro-
motion,” Grant explains. “I was thinking
about the bittersweet nature of launching
our children into the world, even as we
struggle to let them go.”
Fast forward to spring 2020. The
coronavirus descended on the US and
traditional rites of passage for youth
were suspended, followed by the nation-
wide protests in the wake of the murder
of George Floyd.
“In this challenging and painful time
of re-evaluation I especially feel for our
young people,” Grant says. “I hope this
C ontinued on P age 11