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Mavis Staples and Buddy Guy Live at New Jersey Performing Arts Center

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Two legends. One incredible double bill. If you have the chance to see them together or separately, you must. Nothing is promised. No one lives forever. See them now, before their next performances are on a stage in heaven.

Published

6 years ago

December 15, 2019

Oakland Post

Mavis Staples and Buddy Guy

By Dwight Brown, NNPA Newswire Film Critic

Combine their ages and these legends, Mavis Staples (80 years old) and Buddy Guy (83), have 163 years’ worth of living to sing about. And when they do, it’s a music and history lesson extraordinaire.

Staples built a reputation for her rugged R&B chops, social activism and fame as the lead singer of the classic soul/gospel group The Staples Singers. As a solo artist she has carved a new niche, backed by a rock guitarist, bass player, drummer and two back-up singers. Somehow her stripped down band brings more than enough sound to performing arts venues.

The musicians help, but it is Staple’s booming contralto, which delivers a raspy-throated sound as grounded as the earth, that captures attention. As she took the stage Sunday night, November 10^th at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the mixed crowd of adults and seniors was quite receptive through her opening numbers. Their reserve went out the window and flipped to high-energy when Staples launched into a rousing cover of the Talking Heads hip rock song “Slippery People.” Mavis sang: “Backslidin’, how do you do? These slippery people, Gonna see you through.”

Staples warmed up the audience with homey chatter: “How you feel? We bring you greetings from the Windy City, Chicago. Home of Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor and Howlin’ Wolf. We come this evening to bring you joy, and positive good vibrations. Can I get an amen?” It wasn’t church, but the crowd responded with a hearty, “Amen!” The singer, with a loving spirit, blessed the audience. It was an intangible feeling of bliss that grew more concrete as her set progressed.

When Mavis vibrantly claps her hand, displaying a sense of syncopation that is in keeping with a musician of her caliber, it makes you remember how vital she has been to the music scene with a career that spans decades. Her gritty voice growled through the Buffalo Springfield classic “For What It’s Worth:” “There’s battle lines being drawn. Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong. Young people speaking their minds … It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound. Everybody look. What’s going down.”

Before she ended the set with classics like “Respect Yourself” and “No Time for Crying,” she lamented the state of politics and the presidency. One lone boo was heard from a jackal in the crowd. Everyone else applauded loudly. Then they went bananas when Mavis said, “I’m going up to that White House. I may run for president myself.” Massive cheering ensued. These were her fans, extended family and constituents. With no encore, no real formal goodbye, she left the stage after what turned out to be her last number. She left them hungry for more. She always does.

Anyone who thought Staple’s heartfelt performance would be the highlight of the evening was dead wrong. Steeped in a legendary aura of Chicago Blues, electric blues and blues rock, Buddy Guy took center stage like a king coming home to share his bounty with his people. But instead of expressing his ambitions, he let his guitar do the talking. Halfway through his first tune, he had displayed enough virtuosity to establish that he is the messiah of guitarists, one that younger musicians mimic as they become his disciples.

If you’ve heard Gary Clark Jr. blast his guitar, Eric Clapton make his axe sing, Keith Richards’ rhythm guitar playing, Jimi Hendrix’s guitar wails, etc. you’ve simply heard echoes of Buddy Guy. And those musicians and others will recognize him as their role model.

Guy has been in the music business since 1953. His brand of playing helped give birth to modern blues and rock. He can be slick, with his guitar licks. Tough. Melodic. Rocked out. Low down and dirty, too. “I can play something so funky you can smell it,” brags Guy. And then he does.

The elder statesman gave a nod to fellow blues player, the late Muddy Waters, with a stirring rendition of “Hoochie Coochie Man:” “Don’t you know I’m here. Everybody knows I’m here. Well, you know I’m the hoochie coochie man!” Damn right. He strummed his guitar as fast a Tommy Gun shooting bullets. Conversely, sometimes his vocals were as slow as molasses dripping off a spoon. You can see where blues/rocker Bonnie Raitt got her vocal chops. It was from hanging out with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. And since Guy is still performing, you can hear that connection between the two.

Guy noted that he is a voice from the past, still faithful to the blues, a music form that is not as popular as it once was. Sadly, he proclaimed, “This is the kind of blues that they don’t play on the radio anymore.” As he crooned, and showed a deep passion for his music, his performance crested with the song “I Just Want to Make Love to You:” “I don’t want you, be no slave. I don’t want you to work all day. I don’t want cause I’m sad and blue. I just want to make love to you.”

When Buddy Guy was on stage you couldn’t control your toe-tapping, hand clapping or body shaking. His music overpowered you with a strength that comes from a man who has lived eight decades, can still spar with the best and stand his ground. After Guy mentioned the name Howlin Wolf, a drunk patron in the front row dared to shout out that Howlin Wolf was from Jersey. Guy stopped playing and gave the man a verbal beatdown: “He’s not from Jersey and you don’t know what the f— you’re talking about … you didn’t hear this kind of music until white rockers did it!” The dude was embarrassed, shamed and the audience watched an icon correct a rookie who was out of line. Then they applauded.

Two legends. One incredible double bill. If you have the chance to see them together or separately, you must. Nothing is promised. No one lives forever. See them now, before their next performances are on a stage in heaven.

Visit NNPA News Wire Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com and BlackPressUSA.com.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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