March 22, 2010

JONATHAN GREEN, SYNTHIA SAINT JAMES, PAUL GOODNIGHT, ACTOR BILLY DEE WILLIAMS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NINA SIMONE EXPERIENCE

Renowned fine artist Jonathan Green, 2010 Trumpet Award winner Synthia Saint James, and celebrated artist Paul Goodnight are just three of more than forty five fine artists participating in the fine art exhibition that is a part of The Nina Simone Experience.  But wait, there’s more.   Actor Billy Dee Williams is also a participating featured artist who was delighted to have the opportunity to add his artistic forte to the wealth of diverse talent celebrating Dr. Nina Simone.

In her fifty years as an entertainer, Nina Simone consistently defied categorization by playing — often at the same time — the roles of singer, pianist, dancer, actress, arranger and political activist. Moreover, her repertoire was as diverse as the roles she played, spanning the styles of jazz, soul, R&B and pop to gospel, folk, blues and even Broadway. Her fans called her The High Priestess of Soul, renowned for her distinctive vocal style, characterized by a passionate low-range vibrato and theatrical display of shouts, whispers, moans and even silence. With her rare ability to stir such intense response from her audiences, it is fitting that Nina Simone became a key figure in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, fighting through her art for justice and racial equality. Known to the world by her independence and brave spirit, Dr. Nina Simone is truly one of the preeminent artists of our time.   The Nina Simone Estate preserves Nina Simone’s legacy through the identification of young creative talents, across all genres of art, throughout the United States and abroad, supporting their development in the same spirit in which Nina was supported as a child.

This project is comprised of live theater, the visual fine art exhibition, fashion, theater, dance, literary performance art, and of course the music — all designed to provide an emersion into the life, history and experience of Dr. Nina Simone. The talents of gifted visual and performing artists from across the country are key components of this project. The daughter of Dr. Nina Simone, singer and jazz artist Simone, will be performing as a part of the program events.

Atlanta artists will be well represented in the fine arts exhibition, which will include works created by Pollock Krasner Foundation award winner Charlotte Riley-Webb and artistic genius Louis Delsarte, who just completed the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mural, Dreams, Visions and Change, which was dedicated on Sunday, January 17, 2010 by Mayor Kasim Reed and the city of Atlanta at the Martin Luther King Natatorium. Other national artists include Jeremy Sutton, California, Brian Joiner, Cincinnati, Ohio, Anita Rosenberg, California Michael McBride, Nashville, Tennessee, Gail Fulton Ross, Florida and many more.  “The collection of work is exciting,” said curator E. Joyce Moore.  “The art, the genres and the artists are diverse and their creativity with the subject of Nina is incredible, even mesmerizing.  Patrons of the arts will find this exhibition to be a truly rewarding experience.”

The fine art exhibition and program events will take place April 16 – 25, 2010, Space Atlanta: a new special events center, www.spaceatlanta.weebly.com, 1310 White Street, Atlanta, Georgia.  An opening gala, including a collectors’ preview, will be held on the evening of April 16^th.  Tickets are $75 per person, $100 for those attending the collectors’ preview and are available for purchase now.  Tickets can be purchased online http://ninasimonegala.eventbrite.com/ .

For more information about the Nina Simone Experience and the participating artists, visit the website, www.ninasimone.com.   For media kits, to schedule interviews with the artists, please contact the curator E. Joyce Moore, jemiltd@aol.com.

Links: http://www.trumpetfoundation.org.

Atlanta’s best musicians, poets, performing artists, and vocalists will join forces to honor the High Priestess of Soul in a live theatrical performance featuring Nina Simone’s classic music. On April 21, 2010 at SPACE Atlanta, (located at 1310 White Street, Atlanta) renowned poet and CNN Black in America’s Jon Goode will narrate a riveting story of Dr. Simone’s life.

The April 21^st event, appropriately reflective of Nina’s style, grace, and musicianship, Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter, will take the audience on a multi-sensory journey through Nina Simone’s life beginning in her early years and extending through revolutionary period where her destiny as an icon was sealed through such songs as Young, Gifted, and Black, Mississippi (god)damn, and Four Women.  Poets will recite her lyrics, dancers will interpret her meanings, and artists will provide live painting and sculpting during the performances.

Organized by Atlanta’s own Anthony “AJ” Joiner, the creator and founder of The A Spot, Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter will feature some of the country’s best poets, artists, and singers including Queen Sheba, Jon Goode, and Hank Stewart. This is part of the overall Nina Simone Experience which has been designed by the Nina Simone Estate to create and develop a more complete engagement and understanding of the “High Priestess of Soul.”

The Nina Simone Experience, a ten-day tribute series occurring between April 16^th-25^th this year, will feature a fine art exhibition, a special panel hosted by Spelman College that features the daughter of Nina Simone, Lisa “Simone” Kelly and Deanna Brown-Thomas (James Brown’s daughter) as well as other program activities including a fashion event hosted by Erica James of Profetik, LLC and education initiatives for local youth.

Tickets for Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter will be sold at http://ninasimonespokenword.eventbrite.com/

The show begins promptly at 8pm and the press will be granted access to the venue beginning at 7pm.

For more information, please visit www.ninasimone.com and click “The Nina Simone Experience”.

at The Art Institute of Atlanta

ATLANTA (GA) – As part of the upcoming “Nina Simone Experience,” premiering in Atlanta in April, the art foundations department at The Art Institute of Atlanta created a competition challenging students to create original work inspired by the song lyrics of legendary singer Nina Simone for a special exhibit entitled “Who Am I? The Song Lyrics of Nina Simone.” The exhibit opened on March 2 in the Janet S. Day Gallery at The Art Institute of Atlanta, and will be on view through April 3. An artists’ reception will be held from 4 to 6 pm on Thursday, March 11. Both the exhibit and the reception are open to the public at no charge.

The “Nina Simone Experience,” presented by the Nina Simone Estate, is a multi-genre, multi-faceted national celebration that will include a professional fine art exhibition, panel discussions, spoken word art, performing arts, and a fashion show. In addition to The Art Institute of Atlanta, various locations around Atlanta will host celebration events, including Spelman College. Most of the events in the Atlanta “Experience” will take place between April 16 and April 25, 2010, in the city’s historic West End Community at Space Atlanta and Thirteen TEN Events, located at 1310 White Street.

The artwork by the first, second, and third place student winners will be on view from April 16 through 25  at Thirteen TEN Events. The students will be presented with their awards at a special reception on April 21 at 7 pm.

The “Experience” kicks off on April 16 with a collector’s reception at 6 pm and a public reception at 7 pm at Thirteen TEN for “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” the fine art exhibition , followed by a live performance by Nina Simone’s daughter, Simone.

Nina Simone, who was not only a singer, but also a pianist, arranger, and composer, was often called  “The High Priestess of Soul” and “The Queen of African-Rooted Classical Music.” In addition to being a compelling and accomplished musical artist, Nina Simone was a force in the Civil Rights Movement. For more information about all the events of the “Nina Simone Experience,” visit www.ninasimone.com.

The Janet S. Day Gallery is located at The Art Institute of Atlanta, 6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, 100 Embassy Row, Atlanta, GA 30328.  Gallery hours are Mon. – Thurs., 9 am – 9 pm; Fri., 9 am – 5pm; Sat., 9 am – 3 pm.  For more information or directions, call 770.394.8300 or 1.800.275.4242, or visit www.artinstitutes.edu/atlanta.

The Art Institute of Atlanta (www.artinstitutes.edu/atlanta) is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). The Art Institute of Atlanta, including its branch campuses — The Art Institute of Atlanta – Decatur, The Art Institute of Charleston, The Art Institute of Tennessee – Nashville, The Art Institute of Virginia Beach, The Art Institute of Washington, and The Art Institute of Washington – Northern Virginia —  is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404.679.4500 for questions about the accreditation of The Art Institute of Atlanta. The Art Institute of Atlanta is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), a system of more than 45 educational institutions throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion, and culinary arts professionals.

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Lisa ‘Simone’ Kelly, entertainer, songwriter, actress, mother and daughter of the legendary Dr. Nina Simone appeared at Bayside Marketplace outside Bubba Gump Shrimp on a cozy sunny afternoon. Like a gazelle, she was easy, wearing jeans with a blue plaid gauze shirt. Her affability was immediate. Strolling casually along the outer rim of Bayside it quickly became apparent this should not be the standard, stiff structured interview. This gentle, softly spiritual woman spoke in a voice that was itself musical, yet she emanated a passionate, powerful constitution. Simone spoke dearly of her daughter, paralleling life experiences with those of her own and she spoke of the legacy that became her destiny alone to fulfill. Her warmth and compassion were contagious as she defined herself repeatedly thrust into roles she must embrace without aforethought.

Simone spoke of her experience in the military and how it impacted her mother, Nina Simone. It was difficult to imagine this talented woman who performed so fluidly as ‘Aida’ on Broadway, in military attire. Yet that is Simone, multifaceted in more ways than just her music. She is a chameleon of sorts with no two photos alike. Here Simone speaks about her career and things perhaps no one before has invited her to share. It was a rare opportunity to hear, first-hand, the heart of Simone. Her CD “Simone on Simone” is a unique composition of the songs her mother, Nina Simone, rendered in her time, in her signature style. The CD opens, affectionately, with Nina Simone introducing Simone for their first time together on stage. From that moment on Simone takes you into her artistic style, her soaring voice generating goosebumps. The dual renditions of their songs are at once, complete and fulfilling in their own right. As a fan of Nina Simone since childhood, I know every note, every word, those stylized pauses and inflections in her songs since discovering her on the Newport Jazz Festival album in my Dad’s collection. To relive Nina Simone’s songs through Simone is a thrill one must experience and there is nothing wanting in it. Indeed, if you have not yet discovered Nina Simone you will want also to have the Nina Simone experience.

Some have not heard of Nina Simone, a travesty of American culture, but that is about to change as we explore this path with Simone in what we shall call “The Simone Chronicles”. There was a tearful moment as Simone shared her mother, Nina’s trials in her career with performances that transcended time and space when she was on stage. Simone reminded us, despite her mother’s great legacy as The High Priestess of Soul” Nina Simone, when the lights went down and all was quiet was as human as the rest of us. It is so easy for fans to imagine that an icon rides on a fast train of fame and adoration that never stops nor pulls into a station.

There is so much more to discover of the Simones, it is impossible to grasp in one interview. Fortunately, we have Simone, a treasure right here in Miami. So as long as we can, we will follow her story in The Simone Chronicles. On recall, Nina Simone had a tremendous role in shaping the Civil Rights movement in the United States including a significant historical gesture in the march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. You will need to come back for the sequel to learn more. There are treasures to be told: treasures such as the upcoming Nina Simone Project in Atlanta, Georgia “The Nina Simone Experience” from April 16th through April 25th, 2010. We will cover these stories with Simone right here in Miami, and you will be simply amazed.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1482-Miami-Technology-Careers-Examiner~y2010m3d1-The-Simone-Chronicles-with-Simone-at-Bayside-Miami?cid=examiner-email

(Atlanta, GA) The Nina Simone Estate has responded to resurgent Nina Simone interest by developing a multi-genre arts series titled: The Nina Simone Experience. The multi-faceted tribute to the American music icon includes a fine art exhibition; a fashion show; interactive panel discussions; an evening of spoken word poetry, dance and performance art and of course music. The series also includes a special preview exhibition of student works presented by The Art Institute of Atlanta.

The Nina Simone Experience will take place from April 16th through April 25th in Atlanta’s historic West End Community. There will be an opening gala and collector’s preview on April 16th with scheduled activities daily through April 25th at Space Atlanta & Thirteen TEN Events both located at 1310 White Street.

Anthony R. Page, the Committee Chair and Project Manager, says “We are doing something a little bit different here. Of course we will honor Dr. Simone through her music, but fashion gives us a chance to look at and explore the context of her style while the visual artists will interpret or represent their own ideas / relationship to Nina Simone.”

E. Joyce Moore, national curator of the visual art exhibition said: “This is an exciting fine art exhibition. Artists from across the nation, a few from across the globe, were invited to participate. We have included many artists from Georgia as well. The diversity in art, artists and genre reflects the complexity of Dr. Simone as a person, a musician and the historical impact of her work.”

Perhaps the most personal recognition of the High Priestess of Soul will come from her daughter (Simone), who is a globetrotting singer and actress in her own right, carving out a distinctive legacy in Broadway shows such as Rent, Aida, Les Miserables and The Lion King. She said “I’m in a unique position, as my career has my days filled but as an only child, I know that mommy’s legacy rests squarely on my shoulders. Sometimes it can be a daunting task, being the steward of a legacy as large as Nina Simone, while carrying my own. As so many who have come before me, I know I have to be up to the challenge, but I’m not alone, mommy is with me. So I continue.” During the series she will sing a special collection of songs that have been meaningful to her and the late music icon.

“Atlanta has truly responded to this initiative and will set a great precedence for what we will do in other cities. For example, Czarnowski, an exhibit and event services company has helped us craft an event suited to Nina’s legend. And The Art Institute of Atlanta is one of our greatest relationships. They continue to partner with us in a multitude of ways,” Page acknowledged. As a leader in arts education, the college has developed a student art exhibition that will open on March 11 at the college’s gallery in Sandy Springs. Many faculty and students in other academic departments have become involved in various program activities and have been directly involved in the design, development and overall production of this event.

There are other components to the series as Dr. Rosetta Ross, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Spelman College, will coordinate a panel examining Nina Simone’s legacy and black women’s identities. Spelman College will host the panel. Anthony Joiner, known across Atlanta for his witty and thought provoking newsletter The A Spot, has planned a one of a kind evening that includes some of Atlanta’s most talented spoken word artists, dancers and up and coming vocalists. Joiner recounts the Nina song as he declares, “This event is gon’ be ‘Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter.”

The ‘Experience’ will also be an occasion to reach out to students. The project team has planned guided tours that will give youth a unique experience of art and history. Page reminds us that “…this was important to Nina. She was inspired as a child and always wanted to inspire other young people. Throughout the entire series we hope the public will get a richer, more engaging sense of Nina Simone, not just the music, but what motivated the music and how it resonates with us today.”

The project team will also gather personal reflections, build a database and collect other meaningful anecdotes. The team expects to expand the project vision as they move from city to city.

Over the last few years, there have been dozens of tributes and remembrances celebrating the High Priestess of Soul. These activities have spawned a renewed Nina Simone chatter amongst fans and aficionados around the world. “Every where I go, so many people have come up to me, telling me their Nina stories,” says Simone, Nina’s only child. “They loved her, but at the end of her life, I don’t think mommy really felt that love, so I knew I had to do something.”

For more information visit the website: www.ninasimone.com. For information about Simone, visit www.simonesworld.com. For interviews please contact anthonyrpage@yahoo.com or 404-786-3277.

Other Nina Simone activity across the World:

• Sing the Truth Tour: Goes to Hong Kong, Australia & New Zealand

http://www.pollstar.com/resultsArtist.aspx?ID=226074

• Nina Simone Statue & Plaza in her hometown of Tryon, NC:

http://www.ninasimoneproject.org/

• Young, Gifted & Black Awards Ceremony in New York City:

http://www.ygbawards.com/

• The Nina Simone Experience at the Westobou Festival in Augusta, GA:

http://www.westoboufestival.com/

• Simone on Simone Concert in Paramus, NJ

http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/2010012609031382