Arts and Culture
Book Review: “The Man from Essence”
By Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez
It’s never been done before.
It’s never been done, it’s never been tried. Maybe it’s never been thought of, either, but that hasn’t stopped you. Once a valid idea pops into your head, it’s not long before the idea becomes more.
You’ve been around long enough to know, however, that the road to success can be paved with spikes and nothing ever happens smoothly. In “The Man from Essence” by Edward Lewis (with Audrey Edwards), you’ll see that that phenomenon crosses all industries.
By age 28, Edward Lewis had already endured his share of awkwardness: he’d lost a football scholarship at one college and had flunked out of law school at another. He was, however, able to find and keep a good job at a major bank in Manhattan, which led to an opportunity that would “transform” his life.
The vice president of a New York investment firm invited a ‘bunch of… young bloods” to a think-tank meeting, promising them financing if they came up with a business idea that would work.
One of the attendees mentioned that his mother always dreamed of a magazine specifically for “Negro” women and, offhandedly, the investment VP paired him and two others with Lewis, who knew “something about finance.”
Eager to own their own business, the four men – Clarence Smith, Jonathan Blount, Cecil Hollingsworth, and Lewis – set up a partnership in March, 1969, and began looking for an editor for their new magazine, even though they “knew a little more than zip about Negro women and the consumer market…they comprised.”
There was, of course, a learning curve – including a disastrous almost name of the magazine, staffing problems and many wars of words – but in the spring of 1970, Essence magazine debuted.
Despite an initial problem with funding, a revolving editorial door, plenty of in-fighting, lawsuits, ousting of partners, and “out-of-control behavior,” the magazine thrives with a readership that today “remains ever faithful.”
And of the original four partners, Lewis was the “last man standing” when Essence Communications Inc. was sold to Time Warner in 2008.
This story of a magazine as told by “The Man from Essence” is a good one. It’s filled with advice, insight, and hot-button gossip, but that’s not all. It also includes stories about people who probably won’t like those stories told.
Indeed, author Edward Lewis (with Audrey Edwards) leaves nothing unsaid in this business memoir and I found that completely irresistible.
Here, readers learn a bit of background on what it takes to launch a successful magazine – what to do and definitely what not to do – and we get a behind-the-scenes taste of a business like this.
Along the way, Lewis gives us a sense of the times and attitudes in which this iconic magazine was launched and incubated, which is both entertaining and informative.
That makes this book a nice surprise, and not just for fans of the magazine.
If you’re up for an advice-dispensing business biography that also dishes dirt, in fact, “The Man from Essence” is a book to try.
“The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women” by Edward Lewis with Audrey Edwards, foreword by Camille O. Cosby, c. 2014, Atria, $25, 311 pages.
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.
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.”
Arts and Culture
Faces Around the Bay Dr. Carl Blake, Pianist
Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999. One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.
By Barbara Fluhrer
Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999.
One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.
Blake obtained a Bachelor of Music from Boston University and continued post-baccalaureate studies in Jamaica before earning a Master of Arts in Music at San Jose State University. He was the recipient of two Fulbright residencies in Honduras and completed a third residency at the University of St. Petersburg in Russia. He has a Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University.
At age 19, Blake, then an undergraduate piano major at Boston University, was “discovered” by Impresario Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams, who is the Founder and Director of Today’s Artists/Four Seasons Arts.
Williams honored Blake by awarding him the first Marian Anderson Young Artist Award. Anderson personally presented the award at the Masonic Auditorium in S.F. Subsequently, Blake was presented by Dr. Williams in his San Francisco debut at The Herbst Theatre. Williams subsidized a year of study abroad for Blake at the Paris Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Williams sponsored Blake’s New York Weill Hall debut, where he has performed twice since. Blake performed several times at the Yachats Music Festival in Oregon.
Blake continues to perform nationally and abroad. His hobbies are reading, baking and travel. He says, “I’m still pumping ivories, as Belgian pianist Jeanne Stark described the disciplined practice of concert piano.”
Arts and Culture
Oakland Jazz Great Offers Master Class as City Declares “John Handy Day”
World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city. Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).
By Conway Jones
World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city.
Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).
“John Handy is a jazz icon and an inspiration to musicians everywhere,” said Ayo Brame, a 16-year-old Oakland tenor saxophone player who is enrolled at the Oakland School for the Arts.
In celebration of this day, the reception in downtown Oakland at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle was a gathering of artists, young and old, coming together in his honor and celebrating his 91st birthday.
Handy presented a Saxophone Colossus free masterclass for musicians. This class afforded a rare opportunity to learn about the saxophone from an aficionado. The class was free and open to all – saxophonists, vocalists, aficionados, students, and casual listeners.
“As a longtime friend for over 60 years, and fellow musician who has had numerous opportunities to share the stage with John, it has always been a pleasure performing with him and hearing his creative interpretations of the music and his gift of ease inspiring the next generation of jazz musicians,” said Roger Glenn, a multi-instrumentalist.
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