in their words
THE AUTHO R WA S N AME D TH E B E ST
S E RIOUS CO LUMNIST OF 2 0 1 1 B Y T H E
N ORTH CA RO L INA
P RE S S AS S O C IAT IO N. HE IS THE CO -
P RODUCE R O F “ G O D
OF THE OPP RE SSE D,” AN UP COMING
DOCUME NTA RY F IL M
ON BLACK L IB E RAT IO N THE OLOGY A ND IS T H E
AUTHOR O F “ P RE AC H A’
All About the Jazz, Man
“H
B Y CA RL W. K E NNEY II
MAN “ AN D T H E SE QUE L “BACK S LID E .” H E H A S
LE D CON G RE G AT IO NS IN MIS S OURI A ND
N ORTH CA RO L INA .
OT CAN BE COOL, and cool can be hot, and each can be both. But hot or cool, man, jazz is jazz,” said the legendary Louis Armstrong while speaking about cool jazz. Cool is an art. There’s a rhythm and a movement that happens when music transforms a room. It’s love for music that led Cicely Mitchell and Al Strong to create the Art of Cool Festival – conceptualized in 2013, the first event took place in April 2014. Art and cool go hand in hand. Cool is both hot and cool. For me, cool is listening to Meshell Ndegeocello play the bass while singing and spitting poetry in a way that separates her from her peers. Cool is daydreaming when Damien Escobar plays the violin and Maxwell reminds me of why I fell in love with his album “Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.” Meshell, Damien and Maxwell will perform at this year’s Art of Cool Festival. Call it heaven for people like me. In addition to those three, Anthony Hamilton, Sons of Kemet, Young Bull, Sango and 9th Wonder will perform on Friday. On Saturday, Erykah Badu, Nas, Royce da 5’9”, Iman Omari, Keyon
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durhammag.com
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AUGUST 2018