http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/ Seattle-bred, Brooklyn-based cultural critic Jalylah Burrell riffs on anything and everything. en Copyright 2009 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:33:58 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification For Part I of the interview, click here. I wanted to ask you about I've Known Rivers and Other Bodies because that was the first time that I had heard your music. I'm wondering if you could talk about that album and how it came to be? Well, that... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/gary-bartz-part-2/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/gary-bartz-part-2/ Interviews Black Gary Bartz Jazz Music Saxophone Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:33:58 -0500 It is Charlie 'Yardbird' Parker who saxophonist Gary Bartz cites as the catalyst for his career. Now silver-haired and living in southern New Jersey, the Baltimore native recalls Bird igniting not solely an interest in Bop but in Black music broadly. Its potential Bartz continues to exhaust, alternating dates... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/gary-bartz/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/gary-bartz/ Interviews Black Gary Bartz Jazz Music Saxophone Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:30:29 -0500 Leela James doesn't remember folding the Clark Sister's gospel classic, "You've Brought the Sunshine," into her 2005 SOB's records release set. But I do. Sitting shotgun, my sister in the back, my mom at the wheel, that song stayed in rotation childhood Sunday commutes so to hear it dared... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/spotlight-leela-james/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/spotlight-leela-james/ Interviews Spotlight Leela James Let's Do it Again Music Soul Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:46:14 -0500 In late January, I headed up to New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) with my friend Joe Schloss, author of the recently released book Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York. An ethnomusicologist and journalist, I thought he would be good company for "Jews, Blacks... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/jazz-jews/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/03/jazz-jews/ Interviews Politics & Culture Black Jazz Jazz at Lincoln Center Jews Race Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:01:16 -0500 Our attention just summoned to questionably adjudicated achievement in film by the Academy Awards, there is no better time to redirect it to refreshing talent Khary Jones. The filmmaker's short, HUG, screened at Sundance Film Festival and presents African America, Black masculinity, hip hop and mental health in concentrated... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/spotlight-khary-jones/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/spotlight-khary-jones/ Interviews Spotlight Black Middle Class Film Hug Khary Jones Race Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:38:28 -0500 I listened to Gil Scott-Heron last Thursday night at New York City's SOB's on the floor, leaned against the venue's furthermost pillar, less than two feet from the stage. Dinner reservations populated the tables but I frequent the venue often enough to know where up close to sit Indian... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/fell-together-a-conversation-with-gil-scottheron-part-2/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/fell-together-a-conversation-with-gil-scottheron-part-2/ Concert Reviews Interviews Gil Scott-Heron Music Soul Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:45:32 -0500 I think I'm speaking to Gil Scott-Heron when I call him Tuesday but I've got his cellular voicemail. Wednesday, the 59-year-old father of three is to begin two nights at lower Manhattan's SOB's, which he later pronounces his favorite performance venue. He has graced their stage quite often in... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/gil-scott-heron-pt1/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/gil-scott-heron-pt1/ Interviews Gil Scott-Heron Music Poetry Soul Writing Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:05:46 -0500 Gratefully, I have no intimate experience with physical violence. If only Robyn Rihanna Fenty could say the same. By now we have all heard about the pretty starlet's alleged run-in with her babyfaced boyfriend's fists and teeth. We have also heard speculation about what instigated the tiff: infidelities, STD's,... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/sweet-lowdown-chris-brown/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/sweet-lowdown-chris-brown/ Politics & Culture Domestic Violence Kobe Bryant Music Pop Rihanna Soul Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:37:49 -0500 In a lofty mood last Thursday, Bilal energized his flock and they are a faithful bunch. "Cut Corners" set them off, which Bilal stoked with the yowl, "the president is black." Then came a Latin-tinged "Something to Hold On To," to refresh arguably the most emblematic song of the... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/all-matter/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/02/all-matter/ Concert Reviews Bilal Music Soul Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:47:49 -0500 I cast not one ballot in end of year polls. In fact, Village Voice missed me thrice. The first time around, they sent me Charles Aaron's ballot, the second time, they sent me one properly addressed and due on Christmas Eve when I was eating T.G.I. Fridays french fries... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/01/likeability-pt1/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/01/likeability-pt1/ CDs & Tapes 2008 Music Soul Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:58:21 -0500 This summer, my Dad and I were on the C train coming home from a Joel Dorn tribute at Damrosch Park when we were drawn out of our conversation by two baby-faced cops who strode through the open subway doors to a far corner of the car, making not a... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/01/fear-in-blue/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2009/01/fear-in-blue/ Politics & Culture Police Brutality Race Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:17:58 -0500 Long since verging on personal insolvency, I have toyed with the idea of moving out of New York City knowing full well that its heart, however, loveless has been beckoning me since I was a tween in suburban Seattle. And even if professional opportunity should draw me from my... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/we-belong-to-the-city/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/we-belong-to-the-city/ Black Middle Class Christianity Church Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:41:10 -0500 Eartha Kitt was always a caricature to me: the flesh-toned stockinged cougar to Eddie Murphy's slick Maarcus. When my Dad called me last year one night to report that he had just seen Eartha Kitt perform live in Seattle and it was one of the best shows he had... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/lady-eloise/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/lady-eloise/ Eartha Kitt Obituary Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:36:41 -0500 All I could twitter about Cadillac Records after I saw it was: "formulaic, disjointed, underwhelming." It was two weeks ago and a cinephile friend of mind had invited me to a New York Women in Film & Television advance screening followed by a Q&A with screenwriter/director Darnell Martin, supporting... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/from-cadillac-to-fruit-snacks/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/from-cadillac-to-fruit-snacks/ At The Movies Beyoncé Cadillac Records Film Music Race Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:22:26 -0500 Singer Kim Burrell's signature rasp and runs have found favor in the sanctuary and the studio since her 1995 emergence. From a saved Sasha Fierce to R&B newbie and multiple Grammy nominee Jazmine Sullivan, the Houston native's praises have been frequently sung. Yet the proud preacher's kid, who has... http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/kim-burrell/ http://blogs.vibe.com/babar/2008/12/kim-burrell/ Interviews Gospel Jazz Kim Burrell Music Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:11:10 -0500