Jazz Flowering Within Like Sunflowers in A Garden

It is amazing to me that as I delve more and more into the culture of jazz, love for it grows more and more within me like flowers in a spring garden.


First it was an appreciation for the sounds of the musical art form. Then it became a desire to sing like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Then I started singing the songs that they sang not realizing that it was more than just an art form but identifying who you are, your experiences and your life through the music, like jazz musicians have been doing since the beginnings of what Miles Davis calls "the only cultural contribution that America gave to the world which came from African Americans." And now, it is a deep fondness for the culture. 

I started to study Jazz, wanting to know about it which has become a case study for me for my undergraduate thesis and I came across a wonderful read. "The Culture of Jazz" by anthropologist Frank Salamone which offers an anthropological look of the musical genre and culture and is a very interesting and enjoyable read starting from the beginnings of jazz and providing background information as well as historical events and accounts that occurred in the history of jazz. I love discovering more about different aspects of icons of jazz's attitudes. This book is a walk through history and I love it. 

But what I am loving most is reading and seeing all these throwback accounts and images of pianist Danny Mixon and vocal stylist Marion Cowings, and to have shared a stage with Mixon and gained vocal instruction from both Cowings' vocal workshop and at jazz mobile makes me feel honored. Loving this book! 

I am also appreciative to follow in the footsteps of so many of the jazz greats of the past and to sing some of the wonderful standards and popular songs that make up the cornerstone of the jazz repertoire; which gives me deep pleasure to invite you out to

A Spring Affair
Hosted by the Medgar Evers Jazz Ensemble
at Medgar Evers College
1650 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, NY
(Corner of Bedford Avenue & Crown Street)
on
Thursday, March 31, 2016
6PM to 7PM


I am a member of this awesome group and will be singing with them and hope that you will join us this evening, and perhaps the sounds that oscillate from this group will uproot in your heart like sunflowers and keep the sunshine beating within you. 
Look forward to seeing you there!

Istwa Dayiti Film Festival at Medgar Evers College

Tonight I had the pleasure of presenting the Haitian Film Festival at Medgar Evers College.

What a privilege to celebrate my culture and heritage in such an extraordinary way. And to think Medgar Ever's main concern was for people of color to have an identity. 

This film festival makes that identity for the Haitian community at this school even more relevant. Very cool event!!! 

CoverGirl Clump Crusher: Excellent Choice of Mascara for Photos

So I got this Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara for free in exchange for my review and I love it.

Applies clean and makes my lashes stand out. What a great choice for the photos that photographer EJ Haughton took today in and around awesome sites of Brooklyn, NY. 

Try the mascara for yourself. I think you will enjoy the stiletto long lashes it leaves you with that lasts for a pretty long time without running or rubbing off. 

 

This Sunday at 7:30pm on WNYE 91.5FM JAZZ ON THE JNOTE

On Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 7:30pm

Please turn your radio dials to 

WNYE 91.5FM 

For 

Jazz on the JNote

Brought to you from the studios at Medgar Evers College

And

Hosted by

Stephanie Jeannot

This week's show will be attributed 

To

Jazz innovator, trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong.

You can also listen to this show at the same time 

On theenglishconnectionmedia.com 

or 

on theenglishconnectionmedia channel on mixlr.com or tunein.com

Looking forward to connecting with you this Sunday.

But until then, peace and jazz breezes. 

Ode to Lewis (Did you mean Louie? No! Louis!)

This poem is a dedication to one of the greatest influences in jazz history. 

Ode to Lewis 

(Did you mean Louie? No! Louis!)

by Stephanie Jeannot (c) 2016

Louis Armstrong’s horn was blasting the night away.

Communally! With the backdrop of the stage,

and he was singing lullabies

and I joined into the glories of jubilation time.

He was sketching compositions with his brass.

I burst into flames so fast I got whip lash.

Hot, fiery sounds coming at me like high tide in the afternoon

I mean, for all intents and purposes; 

culture runs through the body of his tunes.

Five stories down on the dancing streets folks heard him.

Their emotional tones were slightly altered when 

they give his melodies a swim.

And suddenly we all gained the power of the Amazons.

The onus of trying to move peeps worked; that shit was on!

Could you hear how he ornamented his character 

with them caterwauling cries?

With the grace of a jaguar, they took his music up for size.

I can’t believe I had to tell some 
to not abnegate from enjoying his cheeky calls.

But it didn’t take long before they started to 
own the air around them and into the buttery mix fall.

The waves of sound, they let move their feet as 

love flooded all up in their ears.

You could tell by the way everyone moved that there were 

no veils of silence in the atmosphere!

The greatest influence of music of all time, 

Satchel Mouth, was sparking up minds.

The blues he lived was being articulated and 
we took his expressions for a pulchritudinous ride.