o
Entertainment In
Brief
V nlll Ic
urphy n b rd
I The NAACP rolled out the
c rp t recently in Lo
Angele to honor Eddie
urphy with it "Lifetime
.. AChievent Award.
: Murphy' mom w on
h nd. But it wa hi 20-month
old daughte, Bria, who got the
bi gest round of applau e Iter
na_tching the microphone out
of i holder while her f mou
D�ct wa picking up the
coveted honor. By Eddie'
side wa Bria' mom, Nicole
Mitchell.
What a Tribute?
According to MC Trouble's
manager, Charle Roger,
plan are underway to release
her la t album. The album,
"Trouble In Paradise", .
feature cuts she recorded with
Redhead Kingpin, nd OJ
K-Cut and Sir Scratch from
Main Sourrce before her
untimely death in June.
Also on the album are
tribute to Trouble performed
by her friend Nefertit, Rhyme
Syndicate, the Lynch Mob, and
her ister Nikki Kixx. All
proceed are goi ng to be
donated to national epilepsy
charities and to the Latasha
Rogers Scholarship.
I Trouble, who s real name
w LaTasha Rogers, had
p nned on attending the
U)liversity of California in Los
A�gele . Her scholarship will
h Ip inner-city kids who want
to go to that college.
B hind the cene of
Pryor marriage
The third Mrs. -Richard
or, Jennifer Lee (who is
hite) will tell what it's like
t. have been married to the
perstar comedian in a new
ttook "Tarnished Angel:
urviving The Dark Curve of
rugs, Violence, Sex and
ame", due out December 2.
, Few details have been
�Ieased about the book, which
. being published by
hunder's Mouth Press.
ccording to Lee, she and the
'ing superstar have
aintained a close friendship
ince their divorce, and report
re that the book way written
such a way that he doesn't
r houldn't) offend P yor.
t least, not that much.
II eye on Magic
Magic Johnson is makin'
at move-right into
levi ion. His Show, "Magic
hnson's All-Star Slam 'N
m" hits the air for 26 weeks
uring the 1991-1992
sketbaU season. Syndicated
y Western International, the
ow i an hour long and has
tflree-on-three tournaments
ith other NBA players and a
"riety of entertainment
f�aturing film, TV and music
stars.
"21 Jump Street's" Holly
Robinson is the CO-host, sports
announcer Chick Hearn will do
t e play-by-play, and the
ker Girls will perform.
I JSach team will represent a
(\barity and compete for the
tpurnament championship. At
the end of the series, Magic
will give all the charities a
check.
mplled by
- Ka c ne B.rk.
Collin. contributed
ba: Plan
THE ALBUM bought Makeba
together with several old friends:
Simone: Masekela, who plays
flugelhorn on "Vukani"; and jaz­
zman Dizzy Gillespie who con­
tributes a smooth vocal to a duet of
Paolo Conte's romantic "Don't
Break My Heart." Makeba is touring
with Gillespie this summer.
She still sings with the sweet,
bird-like clarity of the young woman
who in the 1950s introduced
• American and European audiences
to the "click sounds" of the Xhosa
language. And at 59, she has
developed a jazzy growl and an
actress' grasp of emotion.
Makeba left South Africa to per­
form in Europe and the United States
in 1959 after her brief appearance
(she sang two songs) in the film
"Come Back, Africa" introduced her
to a wider audience.
At first; she was not politically
outspoken, but her growing
prominence as an artist ralsed
suspicion in Pretoria. In 1960, when
she tried to fly home for her mother's
funeral, her passport was revoked.
In '1963, she appeared before the
U.N. Special Committee on Apart­
heid to call for an international
boycott on South Africa. 'The
government responded by banning
her records.
Since assuming office in 1989,
South African President F.W. de
Klerk has reopened the doors to
many exiles as he attempts to abolish
apartheid and end his country's
isolation. Makeba first returned
briefly last June, when she visited
her mother's grave.
She began work on "Eyes on
Tomorrow" early this year. In April,
she held two concerts in Johannes-
burg: ,
"IT WAS LIKE a revival," she
said. "My music having been
banned for so long, that people till
Cel t the same way about me was too
much for me. (just went home and
'I cried."
De Klerk has overseen the di -
mantling of laws segregating neigh­
borhoods, ho pi tal , property
ownership, parks, beache and many
other facilities. In late June, the
1· • 1
r
Coping
Spi rt Town end, John
Singleton, Chart Lane, Bill Duke - the nam
f young Bl film dire to go on and on. The
powerful imp ct 0 their films g on nd on,
o. Unfortunately, th imp ct upon the Blac
p ych and Bl c behavior h been rno Uy
negative.
A new directors th y have generally
produ d films bout the brutaJ reality of life in
th gh tto, on the street. The violence that many
of th chara t rs in th films carry out is foreign
to most whites and Blac alike. Few people
have een a person get gunned down - except
movies or on TV.
The problem is that these movies about the
BI c community are a representation of but a
small portion of the actual communitie in
which Blac live. Yet, these depictions are ac­
cepted as the behavior of most young Black
males. Many whites, who have a propensity for
a
NBW YORK (AP) - South African
singer Miriam Makeba opens her
newe t album with an exile's lament,
'abut says her years of living aboard
are nearing an end.
Makeba plans to move back to
South Africa in December. For
more than 30 years, she has cham-,
pioned the anti-apartheid cause from
her artist's platfonn.
"I think I have tried my best from
outside to tell the world that we have
a problem," she said. "And now that
I can go home, I can do concrete
things - help the children, help the
elderly. The fact that my country is
in a rotten state doesn't mean I
should stay away."
The song '! I Still Long for You, "
by South African compo er Victor
Masando, "expressed what I feel,
having been to so many countries­
I could till 8 wall wi th the names -
and .missing home," Makeba said in
a recent telephone interview from
her home in Brussels. "I've been
singing that song on stage for two
years.
"In Germany the first time I sang
it at a big arenain Berlin, all you
could see wert torches going back
and forth wi th the rhythm. I guess, I
sing it with a lot of feeling."
Miriam Makeba
THE COMPOSITION ends on
a hopeful note: "My heart it leaps to
think of how your spirit comforts me.
My soul will wake to be renewed, my
darkened eyes will see."
Makeba, who e soft voice is as
compelling her powerful singing,
, said the song is one of her favorites
on "Eyes on Tomorrow," an album
she recorded in South Africa. It was
released June 11 on the Polydor
label. In Johannesburg, she worked
wi th musicians who understood the
music she was doing. "I think there
, was less explaining to do. They un­
derstand even the lyrics, which I
didn't have to translate for them ... as
I usually have to do wi th my
musicians."
She writes in her 1987 memoirs
that friends and relatives who first
encouraged her to perform compared
her voice to that of a nightingale.
'The young nightingale went on to
become "Mama Africa" and "The'
t reotyping BI , tend to think that every
BI c male, youn or old, i eith r Straight ou:
of Brooklyn, or on of the Boyz N the Hood.
Film me. BI d whit, m movie
depicting viol nee beca of the great ppe
th t viole h to th movie-going public. For
whi lm m kers, thi pent tion of viole ce
. only a m n of the total of th films th t
th Y m e. They are eldom accused of ini ting
or instigating violence in the pe pie who view
their movi ,for Bl c film makers however,
it's a different story.
The public already h n idea, pre- up-
position, about the behavior of young Blac
(males, especially). The preconception i , of
course, negative in that Blacks are already con­
sidered to be only partially civilized. Violence
is imply pan of what i considered to be th ir
"natural" behavior. The,.films made by most
Black film makers simply confirm thi
prejudiced characterization of Blacks.
ow, here's the tic ere While violent Blac
films confirm the negative preconceptions bout
Empress of African Song," titles that
recognize the emphasis she has
placed on traditional songs as well as
the work of contemporary African
composers.
The multilingual "Eyes on
Tomorrow" includes "Vukani"
("Wake Up"), 8 song in her native
Xhosa written by South African
trumpeter Hugh Masekela, her
former husband.
"It's a plea to our people to stop
calling each other names, to stop kill­
ing each other, that we must begin to
hold hands to build a nation," she
said. -
She blends a traditional Xho
song, "Thulasizwe" ("Nation, Stop
Weeping") with Bob Dylan's "I
Shall Be Released" in a duet with
Nina Simone. Makeba said both
songs speak of "breaking through."
po itiv w y
en ral tereotyping of Bl
itive.
Th problem' would not up-
port Bl c film rna who nt to produ
films bout nice BI c people doing nice thing
beca much we might like thi id few
people would p y to film th 1 d not
pent violence or controve y. Blac film
ma rs would starve if tb Y tayed aw y from
controversy.
Many whit view violent BI
their eret once-in-a-lifetim 100
Black way-of-life. Many Blac utilize th
films le on in bow to rele e their life-long
pent-up frustrations. They find out how a real­
ly-real tough Bl c bould behave. Thi is one
cause of film ociated violence and is the
major negative impact of films directed by
Black film m ers.
o
frlca
urn
o
South African Parliament repealed
the law that clas ified all citizens by
race.
Last year, de Klerk Iegalized the
main anti-apartheid group, African
Parliament repealed the law that
classified all citizens by race.
Last year, de Klerk legalized the
main anti-apartheid group, the
African National Congress, and
freed its leader, Nelson Mandela.
But the government and the ANC
Blacks a ay in national affairs.
"We till don't have th vote, 0 I
don't sec what change people are
talking about," Maleeba said. "No
change has been made in Soweto.
Maybe there has been change on
paper, but the people have not felt
any change."
MAKEBA SAYS QE wil .
work with anti-apartheid groups in .
South Africa. But her reasons for
returning eern Ie political than
personal.
"I'm just happy to go home, to be ,
around the places I've known as a�'"
child. I:ve bee? cheated of hat for j:'
so long, she said. I ".
,.
Tale' t d yo 9 guitari
emerging on the jazz c'ene
. ,
t
There's a whole new crop of extraor­
dinarily talented young artists emerging
on today's jazz scene, creating music
rooted in the fundamental joy of vir­
tuosity, individuality and craftsmanship.
And there is no more exciting and original
practi tioner of this new jazz tradi lion than
guitarist and composer Mark Whitfield.
The, truth of that taternent can be
found in abundance on TJJe Marksman,
Mark Whitfield's dazzling debut album
for Warner Bros. Records. Produced by
the renowned Tommy LiPuma - the
man behind the boards for George Ben­
son, Joe Sample and Miles Davis - The
Marksman features a half dozen winning
Whitfield originats, including such stand­
out cuts as the title track, "Medger Ever'
Blues" and "Little Digi's Stna," which is
also the subject of Mark's first video.
With memorable renderings of "InA Sen­
timentql Mood" and three other peren­
nials, The Marksman stands squarely in
the mainstream of great jazz offerings,
even as it stakes a claim for this rich
musical form's continued vitality in the
Nineties. ,"
Dubbed simply "the best young
guitarist on the scene today," by TheNew
York Times, 23-year old Mark Whitfield
was born in Syosset, Long Island, New
York. His musical career began at age
seven when he began playing classical
bass in his school orchestra, listening meanwhile to
the big band music of Ellington, Basie and others, that
filled the house of hi musically astute parents.
Always intrigued by the guitar, Mark didn't really
have a chance to perform on the instrument until his
family relocated to Seattle and he landed. a spot a
guitarist in the school orchestra. Substantially self­
taught by this time, Mark's exceptional ability quick­
ly brought him to the attention of the acclaimed
Berklee School of MUSic, which regularly sponsors
high school jazz contests. After walking way with
first prize at two such competitions in New York and
Canada, Mark was offered a full scholarship to the
school and began his studies there in 1983. '
..
Mark Whitfield'
"which made it very excinng for me." Benson, in fact,
took a lively interest in the young guitarist, jumping
with him and eventually making the introduction to
LiPuma. As Vice President of A&R for Progressive
Music at Warner Bros., LiPuma promptly signed
Mark to an exclusive contract. He began recording
hi debut album in �arch of this year.
The result i The Marksman, one of the mo t
encouraging signs of jazz's ongoing evolution in
recent musical memory. Joining Mark in the studio
were drummer Troy Davis and Winton Marsalis' trio
- keyboardist Marcus Roberts, bassist Reginald
Veal and percussionist Herlan Riley.
"When I first started playing," explains Mark on
the origins and inspiration of The Marksman, "all I
wanted to do was to master the music that I loved the
best. But now, my interest and intent have
broadened ... this is music that encompasses a broad
spectrum of tastes. The time has come, I think, for a
new audience to discover what great jazz is all about
and I'd like to be part of that discovery." From the
evidence of his stunning debut offering, Mark Whit­
field will shortly be everyone's favorite new di -
covery.
"I DIDN'T WASTE a lot of time with courses I
didn't need," he recounts, "I took all the basics, but I
already knew what I wanted to do, which was play
real jazz. The best way to do that was to listen and I
spent a lot of time just soaking in the likes of Charlie
Christian, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Grant
Green and other jazz guitar giants." In the meantime,
Mark honed his own chops wi th occasional date in
and around the campus.
After graduating in 1987, Mark returned to New
York to pursue his musical dream in earne t. Appear­
ing witha number of local groups on the thriving New
York jazz circuit, he eventually landed a spot a
guitarist for Brother Jack McDuffs combo. "It was
where George Benson got his start," Mark recounts,
Mark Whitfield will be in concert with Brandford
Marsalis at the Chene Park M usic Theatre in Detroit,
MI August 22, 1991. Tickets are $18.50/$16.50.
Showtime is 7:30p.m. For information call 872-1000.
.'