Talk about a busy Weekends

I have this theory that the world goes through a variety of cultural renaissance, some of the most famous being the Harlem Renaissance period which had a variety of epicenters including yes even Durham, and the Greek Renaissance if we are talking more ancient history, and often times these renaissance take place during hard economic times...remember one of the most famous movies, the Wizard of Oz, which is being re-released theatrically on a one time basis was done during the Depression....So with all of that said, I truly believe we are in and have been for some times in the midst of a new cultural renaissance...I think we are seeing some innovative music, thought provoking poetry, and even some new and deep literature surfacing and I believe that will continue for some time......
Now, coming back to what has been happening in the Bull City of Durham, a area I love calling home, and which I firmly believe will play a role in the new cultural renaissance....On Friday, I was working at Hayti and Lenora Helm was celebrating her new CD and gave a great concert in front of a small but appreciative crowd....There was so much going on of a positive nature on that Friday...That same day, Nnenna Freelon, the grammy nominated jazz singer, was doing a fundraiser for See Saw, an organization that teaches youths about a variety of things ranging from Graphic Design to Photography...This is indeed a worthwhile organization and my friend, Michelle Gonzalez, has been doing a great job of running this group and I look forward to seeing what new and innovative projects the kids involved with this project come up with........In addition to that, both the Carolina Theatre and the DPAC had national performances in town on Friday....Saturday was equally busy with Centerfest jumping off downtown in the Parking lot near the YMCA....I am still hopeful that one day the festival will return to the Streets of downtown...It just seemed like more of a truly community activity and had a lot more energy when it was spread out throughout downtown....I also noticed it had many more vendors then, and the music seemed to be of a higher quality back in those days in my opinion. As it is, it just reminds me too much of a county fair, the only thing missing from what I remember seeing in Warrenton is a Ferris Wheel, some cheap amusement games, and the prize animals being shown.....I know Durham can do better, but I do know these are hard times and that has to be considered....
In the past, I had a more direct involvement as one who helped in the planning and booking of entertainment, but even with limited involvement hawking information and painted violins for the Durham Symphony, I do still enjoy outside festivals and yes, even enjoy Centerfest but I look forward to it rising up to what it once was.......
By the way while Centerfest was taking place in the Bull City, Sparkcon was taking place this weekend in Raleigh and on Sunday, Carrboro was having its music festival....I have worked that in the past, but not this year...Hopefully soon I will be back to doing some announcing at that event as well...
Another event that I had fun attending Saturday was Lois Deloatch's birthday party thrown at the Washington Duke....Hard to believe the woman just celebrated her fiftieth, she could easily pass for her 30's, and she's incredibly talented as a singer...It was great seeing friends of hers like Dianne and Vincent Pledger, Titus Heagins and his wife Maureen, as well as Desiree and Michael Palmer, Ira Wiggins and his wife, as well as Scott Sawyers, E'vonne Coleman, and others celebrating this fascinating and wonderful ladies birthday........
Sunday after being at the Symphony for awhile, I went to see Mallarme's performance at Nelson Music Room on Duke's campus......It was great hearing a great vocalist as well as the Saxophone group perform these wonderful tangos, some composed by a Duke professor I had the pleasure of meeting, and seeing some great Tango dancing..Tango is such a sensual and lovely dance to watch, and one of these days, along with Swing Dancing, I'm going to learn how to do those steps........By the way, my friend John Brown was playng on the Bass during the performance and talking about a man having a busy Sunday...He told me was leaving from there to go to the Mama Dip party which featured Lois, and from there he was going to a recording session with Nnenna Freelon.......
Oh well, enough of this for now, don't forget that this Thursday there will be pep rally featuring both Duke and NCCU marching bands, as well as some of other entertainment over at Duke on Thursday evening........Now, while I think it's wrong that Duke scheduled Central as its homecoming game, and while I have ties to both universities, you know I'm going to be rooting for the impossible and the unlikely, a NCCU upset of Duke right here in Durham.......Wouldn't that just be too fun and interesting....Wonder how Durham would handle that.........
In other news, I recently learned that Scene of the Crime Rovers will be returning to the Massachusetts area for Honk fest which is made up of many social activist marching bands, some borrowing from the tradition of Brazil and some from the tradition of New Orleans, and some that are just scrappy and fun like our own folks....This is taking place the second weekend in October and sounds like it should be a lot of fun...The week before that, the Beer Festival will be taking place at the Durham Athletic Park, and this is on the same weekend that Chuck Davis and AADE is having their home shows at the Carolina Theatre. That same weekend Central will be opening its October play, and it will be playing both that weekend and the following one.
I'll holler at you folks later with more news and interesting developments from the Bull City and nearby...