B4
NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
ARTS & CULTURE
NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER
Will Downing talks life, career
‘Live from the Hill Series’ continued by Renee P. Aldrich For New Pittsburgh Courier
The Soulful sounds of Christmas concert featuring Will Downing and Najee will be in Pittsburgh on November 30. The concert is part of the “Live from the Hill Series” being presented by the Hill House Association. In a conversation with the legendary musician, Will Downing, he explained he has been on tour with the incomparable Najee before and was excited for the opportunity this time around. “We’ve toured many times before, it is good to be back with him, we vibe very well together, he’s a talented artist and it is always good to share the stage with someone who has made a mark in the industry. Pittsburgh is actually the first city on this tour,” Downing said. The pair just left Dallas, Texas and Downing discussed how things stay fresh for them from audience to audience. He shared, “Staying fresh is not necessarily a challenge since each audience
is different, we may have done some of the same things the previous night in a different city; but it is all brand new to them He continues, so we treat them like they’ve all come to see us for the first time—plus we push each other to move to the next level. Going into a market like Pittsburgh adds to that excitement—so it seems like we hear something new every night because of the audience response.” Downing will be spotlighting at the Pittsburgh concert his new release, “Black Pearl,” which is a compilation of 10 songs previously recorded by 10 females. Downing explained that a memory of Phyllis Hyman brought this project about. After a conversation with a colleague where he shared he had never done a cover of a Phyllis Hyman song, he decided to do one. An accomplished composer in his own right, he explains, “I covered Phyllis Hyman’s ‘Meet me on the Moon,’ It was so awesome I thought, why not do some songs by other
WILL DOWNING fabulous singers and turn it into an Album?—since they would be all Black women, and I consider our talented women pearls— hence the name Black Pearl.” His first release in 6 years the album covers
some of the greatest female voices in R&B and includes, Chaka Khan, Denise Williams, and Randy Crawford to name a few. In early 2007, Downing’s career was sidelined when he was stricken with a
rare muscular disease, Polymyositis, relegated to a wheel chair and experiencing a weight loss of 100 pounds, this devastating disease kept him down for a year. He was, however, determined to complete the album
he was working on at the time. “After Tonight” for Peak Records. Coming through that challenging time served as a definite wake up call to him. He candidly shared that he like most men was very cavalier about his health and didn’t feel that he had to go running to the doctor every time there seemed to be something wrong. “I was on the fast track with the music career, I was so absorbed in touring and recording that I was not paying attention to the signs. That is until I had no choice; the next thing I knew I was dealing with this disease and facing the prospect of never walking again,” he said. Coming through it he saw that as bad and as sad as it was to be this ill, it served as a blessing, because he came face to face with life’s real priorities and gained an understanding of the importance of balancing work, family and leisure. And he will never take any of it for granted again Fully recovered now he has an entirely different approach to the work, he is still committed to his craft, touring and recording but is fully mindful of the journey he has traveled. He and Najee will be performing in Pittsburgh, on November 30 at the Bynum Theater. The Hill House sees these concerts as viable demonstrations of the power that music has within our community Of his career and the years of acclaim and making music; Downing said “19 albums and 28 years of recording later and I’m still blessed.”
Freeman to receive AARP Movies for Grownups Award WASHINGTON, D.C.— AARP announced that actor, producer and Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman will receive the 2016 Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award. The Movies for Grownups multimedia franchise was established in 2002 to celebrate and encourage films with unique appeal to mature audiences and to recognize the inspiring artists 50-plus who make them. Freeman will receive Movies for Grownups’ highest honor on Monday, Feb. 6, , at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. AARP The Magazine will host the 16th annual Movies for Grownups Awards, where many other awards, including best actor, best actress and best director, will be presented. Event proceeds benefit AARP Foundation, which helps struggling people 50-plus in Los Angeles and around the country transform their lives through programs, services and vigorous legal advocacy. “We are proud to announce that Morgan Freeman is our AARP Mov-
MORGAN FREEMAN ies for Grownups Career Achievement winner,” said Bob Love, editor in chief of AARP The Magazine. “Morgan is a consummate
artist and an actor whose unforgettable performances year after year disrupt the conventional wisdom about aging in Hollywood. We
couldn’t be more pleased.” “At a certain point in life, if you’ve had some success, awards start to fall from the sky. But this one really means something,” said Morgan Freeman to AARP The Magazine. “I started my movie career at 50 and some of the best years happened since then. I get a lot of pats on the back—they’re all over the place—but this one’s more than fun, it’s priceless.” With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever-popular American actor has become one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Born in June 1937 in Memphis, Tenn, Freeman had his first dramatic arts exposure on the stage, appearing in an off-Broadway production of “The Nigger Lovers” and also in an all-African American production of the exuberant musical “Hello, Dolly!” (1969). His breakout role in film was playing Fast Black in “Street Smart” (1987), a performance that landed him his first of five Academy Award nominations. Today, Freeman’s career spans more than 50 years and includes roles in memorable films including “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Glory,” “Unforgiven,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Amistad” and more. He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for his performance in “Million Dollar Baby.” Additionally, Freeman produced many films in conjunction with his company, Revelations Entertainment, including 2010’s “Invictus,” in which Freeman played Nelson Mandela; the film received Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. In April 2017, he will co-star with Michael Caine and Alan Arkin in the comedy “Going In Style.” Freeman joins a prestigious list of previous AARP Movies for Grownups Career Achievement honorees, including Michael Douglas, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Robert Redford and Robert DeNiro.