Arts and Culture

Tammy Hall to Salute Jazz Organist Shirley Scott

Published

8 years ago

March 7, 2016

By Lee Hildebrand

Shirley Scott reigned as Queen of the Jazz Organ from the time she joined tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’s combo in 1956 until her retirement in 1995.

Although inspired in part by fellow Philadelphian Jimmy Smith, her style was mellower, though no less swinging, then his take-no-prisoners approach to the Hammond B-3 organ.

She died of heart failure in 2002 at age 67.

She recorded dozens of albums during her career, including some during the 1960s with saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, her husband at the time. The first album to appear under her own name, in 1958 on the Prestige label, was titled “Great Scott!”

San Francisco keyboardist Tammy Hall will play two concerts comprising all eight selections form that classic disc at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, in the SFJAZZ Center’s Joe Henderson Lab, located at 201 Franklin St. in San Francisco.

She will be joined by bassist Ollen Erich Hunt, drummer Kent Byron and saxophonist Kristen Strom. Tickets for each show are $20.

“There’s a sparsity in her playing, and that’s what I appreciate so much about it,” Hall says of Scott. “The standard is that you go wild with the right hand. Even though she did that from time to time, that was not her signature playing. She was more chordal and percussively oriented, just like Trudy Pitts. They were more about the texture and chord construction and how that moved in a song. It wasn’t just about, ‘Look what I can do.’”

Born and raised in Dallas, Hall taught herself piano at age 4 and began talking classical lessons at 8. A year later, she learned to play organ by watching the two keyboardists at the Baptist church she attended.

“It was more sedate than what people think of as a typical Black Protestant church,” she recalls. “It was not a rock ‘n’ roll church. They played gospel, but we were not allowed to clap hands.”

Hall first came to the Bay Area in 1979 to attend Mills College on a scholarship. In recent years she has become the piano accompanist of choice by many of the area’s vocalists and has recorded with Rhonda Benin, Barbara Dane, Frankye Kelly, Veronica Klaus, Lady Mem’fis, Kim Nalley, Denise Perrier and Pamela Rose.

During the last week of February, Hall and Oakland vocalist Amikaela Gsaston took part in a State Department-sponsored cultural-exchange program in Turkminestan that included a revue of American musical theater songs titled “Broadway Abroad.” While in Ashgabat, the capital city of the former Soviet Republic, Hall conducted the Turkminestan Symphony Orchestra.

Unlike Scott, who played piano before focusing on organ, Hall has remained primarily a pianist. She does, however, play organ whenever the occasion calls for it.

“I don’t spend that much time at the organ,” she admits. “It takes me out of my comfort zone, but I’m going to do my best and pay a good tribute to her.”

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Arts and Culture

Richmond Preps for Full Weekend of Cinco de Mayo Festivities

Cinco de Mayo festivities in Richmond and San Pablo are some of the bests in Bay, and organizers say that tradition will be alive and well at this weekend’s annual parade and festival. The action kicks off Saturday, May 4, with the 16th Annual Cinco de Mayo Richmond/San Pablo Peace & Unity Parade. The parade of floats, performances, and community organizations starts at 10 a.m. at 24th Street and Barrett Avenue and Richmond and ends at 12:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 1845 Church Lane in San Pablo.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Scene from the 2023 Cinco de Mayo parade from Richmond to San Pablo. Photo courtesy The Richmond Standard.

By Mike Kinney

The Richmond Standard

Cinco de Mayo festivities in Richmond and San Pablo are some of the bests in Bay, and organizers say that tradition will be alive and well at this weekend’s annual parade and festival.

The action kicks off Saturday, May 4, with the 16th Annual Cinco de Mayo Richmond/San Pablo Peace & Unity Parade. The parade of floats, performances, and community organizations starts at 10 a.m. at 24th Street and Barrett Avenue and Richmond and ends at 12:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 1845 Church Lane in San Pablo.

The parade’s Grand Marshall this year will be community organizer Diego Garcia, owner of Leftside Printing.

The festivities continue Sunday with the Cinco de Mayo Festival along 23rd Street, which last year drew over 100,000 people, according to the 23rd Street Merchants Association. This year’s festival will again run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. between the intersections of Rheem Avenue and Clinton Avenue. It will feature two entertainment stages, one sponsored by La Raza 93.3 FM at 23rd and Rheem, and another sponsored by Radio Lazer FM at 23rd and Clinton.

Both events are important for the city and the region’s Latino community.

San Pablo Mayor Genoveva Calloway, who co-chairs the parade alongside John Marquez, president of the Contra Costa Community College District Board of Trustees, says Saturday’s festivities are about bringing the Richmond and San Pablo communities together in unity.

“This truly connects the spectators and people in the parade as one,” Calloway said. “The parade showcases the real communities of Richmond and San Pablo – our nonprofits, schools, horse riders, classic cars and trucks, our local businesses. All of these people represent the heartbeat of our community.”

Rigo Mendoza, vice president of the 23rd Street Merchants Association, said that at its heart, Richmond’s Cinco de Mayo Festival celebrates the date the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

But John Marquez started up the popular festival to bring the community together and also to exhibit the community’s businesses and culture to visitors, Mendoza said. The gathering was also a way to promote peace in the community.

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Art

Mario Van Peebles’ ‘Outlaw Posse’ Screened at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre

Published

2 weeks ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Film director Mario Van Peebles, who also stars in “Outlaw Posse,” appeared at a press conference held at RBA Creative on MacArthur Boulevard hosted by the Oakland International Film Festival. Photo By Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Oakland International Film Festival hosted a screening of “Outlaw Posse” at the Grand Lake Theatre on Monday. Special guests included director/actor Mario Van Peebles and his co-star, Oakland native Scytorya Rhodes. The film is Peebles’ second western, the first being ‘Posse,’ 13 years ago. Filmmaker Van Peebles shared his passion for independent artistry and producing projects with his son, Mandela, who also starred in the film, along with Whoopi Goldberg and Cedric the Entertainer. Next week, The Post will publish an in-depth interview featuring Peebles’ reflections on his work, future projects, and continuing his father’s legacy and Rhodes on her grandfather, a real-life cowboy.

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Arts and Culture

Kedrick Armstrong: New Music Director for the Oakland Symphony

The Oakland Symphony Announced Kedrick Armstrong as its Next Music Director. In addition to conducting the orchestra’s public concerts, Armstrong will also actively participate in the Oakland Symphony’s many education and community engagement programs, designed to inspire a love of music in people of all ages.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Kedrick Armstrong is the new music director for the Oakland Symphony. Photo credit Scott Chernis.

By Post Staff

The Oakland Symphony Announced Kedrick Armstrong as its Next Music Director.
In addition to conducting the orchestra’s public concerts, Armstrong will also actively participate in the Oakland Symphony’s many education and community engagement programs, designed to inspire a love of music in people of all ages.

Armstrong is the successor to previous music director and Conductor Michael Morgan, who passed away in 2021 after a 30-year tenure at the Symphony.

Armstrong will open the Oakland Symphony 2024-2025 season on October 18.

Armstrong, who is 29 and hails from Georgetown, South Carolina, is currently the creative partner and principal conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony.

The Chicago Tribune has praised Armstrong for his ability to “simply let the score speak for itself.” He enjoys a wide range of repertoire, spanning early music to premiering new works, using his joy and curiosity for all music to cultivate understanding and collaboration within diverse communities.
“I am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the new music director of the Oakland Symphony,” Armstrong said. “As a Black conductor, I find it humbling to stand on the shoulders of both Michael Morgan and Calvin Simmons,” the most recent and the first African American music directors of the Symphony, respectively.

Armstrong led three programs at the Symphony between 2022 and early 2024, which showcased his broad knowledge of the classical repertoire and enthusiasm for spotlighting diverse voices.
On his Oakland Symphony subscription debut on Feb. 16, Armstrong led the world premiere of “Here I Stand: Paul Robeson,” an oratorio by Carlos Simon on a libretto by Dan Harder, commissioned by the Oakland Symphony.

Armstrong was selected unanimously by the Oakland Symphony’s board of directors and musicians after an extensive two-year search. “The search committee was overwhelmed by Kedrick’s scholarship and curiosity about all kinds of music, from classical and jazz to gospel and hip-hop,” said. Dr. Mieko Hatano, executive director of the Oakland Symphony. “We are thrilled to have him join us at the Oakland Symphony.”