Wednesday MidDay Medley
TEN to NOON Wednesdays – Streaming at KKFI.org
90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

“Remembering MLK”
+ Cat Mahari & Hermon Mehari

Wednesday Midday Medley celebrates the life of human rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Born Jan. 15, 1929. MLK led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination thru civil disobedience and non-violent means. As Pete Seeger wrote: “Songs gave them the courage to believe they would not fail.”

By the time of his death in 1968, Dr. King had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War. King was assassinated, April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 198I.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday is Friday, January 15, 2016

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday is January 18, 2016

0. “Main Title Instrumental – It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / Universal / Dec. 20, 1979
[WMM’s theme]

1. Soweto Gospel Choir – “Pride (In The Name of Love)”
from: In the Name of Love – Africa Celebrates U2 / Shout! Factory Records / 2008

2. International Noise Conspiracy / MLK Jr. – “The First Conspiracy / Let Freedom Ring”
from: Adbusters – Live Without Dead Time / Adbusters / 2003

3. Labelle – “Something in The Air / The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
from: Something Silver / Warner Archives / 1997
[Originally from: Pressure Cookin’ / 1973, 3rd album from the funk/soul trio of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash who each shared a rap on “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron. It was the B-side to Scott-Heron’s first single, “Home Is Where the Hatred Is”, from his album Pieces of a Man (1971). “Something in the Air” is a song orig. recorded by Thunderclap Newman, a band created by Pete Townshend for The Who’s former roadie John ‘Speedy’ Keen who wrote and sang the song. It was a UK #1 single for three weeks in July 1969.]

10:13 – Soul Brother…

4. Curtis Mayfield – “Beautiful Brother of Mine”
from: Roots / Curtom-Buddah / 1971

5. Maceo & The Macks – “Soul Power ’74”
from: James Brown’s Funky People, Pt. 2 / People Records / 1988 [Not only is this particular record sampled more than hors douvres in a supermarket aisle, it contains samples itself in the form of tape overlays of civil rights rallies, a Dr. King speech, and an announcement of King’s assassination. Maceo Parker has played saxophone with James Brown, Parliment, Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and Prince.]

6. Sweet Honey in The Rock, Aaron Neville, Lamar Campbell & Spirit of Praise -“Ella’s Song”
from: Soundtrack to Boycott / HBO / 2001 [Critically acclaimed 2001 film staring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Terrence Howard as Ralph Abernathy, and CCH Pounder as Jo Ann Robinson.]

10:25 – Underwriting

10:27 – King’s Life, Death, and Spirit…

7. Common & John Legend – “Glory”
from: Selma (Music from the Motion Picture) / Paramount Pictures-Pathe / January 6, 2015
[Golden Globe winning song from the new motion picture Selma. Most of the millions of African Americans across the South had effectively been disenfranchised since the turn of the century by a series of discriminatory requirements and practices. Finding resistance by white officials to be intractable, even after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This led to the three Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 where Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) were joined by organizers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committeeand also invited Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and activists of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to join them. These marches were part of the Selma Voting Rights Campaign and led to the passage that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark federal achievement of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. The 54-mile highway from Selma to the Alabama state capital of Montgomery was a demonstration showing the desire of black American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote, in defiance of segregationist repression. ]

8. Mahalia Jackson – “How I Got Over”
from: The Original Apollo Sessions / Couch & Madison Partners / May 25, 2013
[Gospel hymn composed & published in 1951 by Clara Ward (1924-1973). It was performed by Mahalia Jackson at the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 before 250,000 people. Mahalia Jackson (Oct. 26, 1911 – Jan. 27, 1972) was referred to as “The Queen of Gospel”. She became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world, heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as “the single most powerful black woman in the United States”. She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career, and her 45 rpm records included a dozen “golds”—million-sellers. “I sing God’s music because it makes me feel free,” Jackson once said about her choice of gospel, adding, “It gives me hope. With the blues, when you finish, you still have the blues.”]

10:35

9. Martin Luther King Jr. – “MLK – I Have A Dream 1963 (excerpt)”
from: Inspirational Speeches, Vo. 3 / Orange Leisure / May 16, 2011
[American civil rights leader/activist and Baptist minister, born Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. King’s speeches have been issued on numerous releases – his most well-known and influential address being “I Have a Dream”, which was held during “The March on Washington” in 1963. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.]

10. Marian Anderson – “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”
from: He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands / BMG / Orig. 1961 [Reissued 1991]
[Marian Anderson (Feb 27, 1897 – Apr. 8, 1993) was one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century. In 1939, the (DAR) refused to let Anderson sing in Constitution Hall. With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. before a crowd of more than 75,000 people and a radio audience in the millions. Anderson became the first black person, to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC on Jan. 7, 1955. Anderson worked as a delegate to the UN Human Rights Committee and “goodwill ambassadress” for the U.S. Dept. of State, giving concerts all over the world. She participated in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, singing at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Anderson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, the National Medal of Arts in 1986, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.]

11.Tramaine Hawkins, Ella Mitchell, Billy Porter & Chorus -“Rocka My Soul”
from: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre “Revelations” / V2 / 1998

10:43 – Freedom…

12. Nina Simone -“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”
from: Silk and Soul / RCA / 1967

13. Solomon Burke – “None Of Us Are Free”
from: Don’t Give Up On Me / Fat Possum / 2002
[Back up singers: The Blind Boys of Alabama]

14. Nina Simone – “I Shall Be Released”
from: To Love Somebody / RCA / 1967

10:55 – The Staple Singers & Bobby Watson

15. Pops Staples – “You Gotta Serve Somebody”
from: e-town live volume 3 / e-town /
[orig. written by Bob Dylan. / Rec. Sept. 16, 1994, Live in Boulder] [Roebuck “Pops” Staples was born on a cotton plantation near Winona, Mississippi, on December 28, 1914, the youngest of 14 children. When growing up he heard, and began to play with, local blues guitarists such as Charlie Patton, who lived on the nearby Dockery Plantation, Robert Johnson, and Son House. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade, and sang with a gospel group before marrying and moving to Chicago in 1935. A “pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s,” and an accomplished songwriter, guitarist and singer. Patriarch of The Staple Singers, which included his son Pervis and daughters Mavis, Yvonne, and Cleotha.]

16. Mavis Staples – “Down in Mississippi”
from: Live – Hope At The Hideout / Anti / 2008
[Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Mavis Staples, of The Staple Singers, is a celebrated equal rights activist. She’s performed at inaugural parties for Presidents Kennedy, Carter and Clinton, Recorded in June, 2008, in the run up to the Presidential election of Barrack Obama. Recorded live in the intimate bar The Hideout, in her hometown of Chicago. Mavis Staples, marched, sang & protested alongside Dr. Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.]

17. The Staple Singers – “When Will We Be Paid”
from: Single / Stax (Fantasy / Ace) / 1967

18. Bobby Watson & The I Have a Dream Project–”Check Cashing Day” [feat. Glenn North]
from: Check Cashing Day / Lafiya Music / Digital – Aug. 28, 2013 / Physical – Nov. 12, 2013
[From wikipedia.org: “Bobby Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, August 23, 1953. he is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 27 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role. Watson has recorded more than 100 original compositions. Watson grew up in Bonner Springs and Kansas City, Kansas.]

11:12 – Interview with Cat Mahari & Hermon Mehari

Cat Mahari is a dancer, performance artist, and choreographer. Her work in movement is informed by explorations of human conditions through multiple styles of dance and theatre, including breaking, funk, house, ballet, contemporary, and physical theatre. She is an alumni of the Conservatory of Music & Dance in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Royal School of Speech & Drama in London, England. Cat was a Charlotte Street Foundation / Urban Culture Project performing artist-in-residence, and was awarded a 2010 KC Arts Inspiration Grant for the multimedia work The Projects. Cat Mahari joins us to share information about BAM! the Workshop, A dynamic interactive multimedia performance approach to diversity and inclusion training focused on honest and impactful
conversations about America and blackness.

Kansas City jazz trumpeter, Hermon Mehari, is a 2010 graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City Music Conservatory. This fall he finished first at the prestigious Carmine Carusa International Jazz Trumpet Competition at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas. Hermon was a semifinalist in the 2014 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition. In 2014 he released the CD “Our Journey” with Diverse, which was recorded in Paris featuring Logan Richardson on alto saxophone. Hermon Mehari was also featured on the world renown saxophonist Bobby Watson’s 2013 release, “Check Cashing Day.” Hermon was also the winner of the 2008 National Trumpet Competiton and placed second in the International Trumpet Guild competition in Sydney, Australia. He splits his time between touring and playing all over the world and creative projects in Kansas City. Hermon collaborates with Cat Mahari on BAM! the Workshop, he is also a founding member of Diverse Jazz, Diverse Trio, and The Buhs, and he has brought new music from The Buhs to share with our radio audience.

Hermon Mehari and Cat Mahari shared their thoughts about Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He would be 87 years old if he were still alive.

Cat Mahari spent her teenage years in St. Louis, and has lived in Miami, Dallas, New York. She has said that the UMKC Conservatory brought her to KC.

Hermon Mehari grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, home of Lincoln University.

Cat Mahari created BAM! the Workshop as an interdisciplinary theatre collaboration built through a framework of community engagement in collaboration with artists including Hermon Mehari.

BAM! is composed of localized stories and questions about America and blackness. With street dance, music, and visual imagery, it engages the iconography and realities of Blackness in Kansas City.

BAM is Black American.

BAM! the Workshop, is a multimedia performance approach to diversity and inclusion training, that is focused on honest and impactful conversations about America and blackness, localized stories and events to develop better workplace diversity, economic growth and community development.

With BAM! the Workshop collaborators include: fellow UMKC Conservatory of Music alumni, Herman Mehari, on trumpet; research from the Black Archives of Mid-America and Poet Glenn North; Leo Gayden, & Patrick Alonzo Conway.

Cat Mahari-Johnson’s project practices are based in wide ranging collaboration, investigation and exploration of relations between people, ideas, objects and language. She is a featured vocalist on works of visionary multidisciplinary artist Guilliame Zenses and house producer Steve-OH.

In 2013 she received a RAC artist support grant for the creation of her first full-evening length ensemble work: the floor, a work that explores repetition as a critical component for transformation in culture, and premieres autumn 2014. She is a 2014 visiting guest artist of the dance department of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

She received a BFA in dance from UMKC, and a MA in Performance, Practice, and Research from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She is the co-founder of INCYPHER a digital media dance magazine.

Vol I, of the practice-as-research solo series Violent/Break has been shown in London, England; Carei, Romania; and will be seen this coming April at York University in Toronto, Canada. She is currently in the planning stages of a 25 city tour of Violent/Break Vol I, which will culminate in a published work.

Cat Mahari’s work is based in exploring collaboration, practice, and research of known and unknown movement disciplines, video projects, and music.

We talked with Hermon Mehari about his band Diverse with Hermon Mehari (trumpet), Ben Leifer (bass), and Ryan Lee (drums). KC based Diverse have released 2 albums, and play Pop, Jazz, R&B, Soul, Hip Hop. The band is also known for their shows, Diverse plays Michael Jackson, which has led to Hermon’s newest musical band, The Buhs.

The Buhs is a KC based Pop/Soul/Hip-Hop super group made up of Julia Haile, Lee Langston, Anthony Saunders, Reach, Les Izmore, Ryan J. Lee, Hermon Mehari, Ben Leifer, Tim Braun, Brad Williams and Kinyon Price. The Buhs includes singers: Julia Haile, Lee Langston, and Anthony Saunders along with emcees: Reach and Les Izmore. In November the band shot a music video in Paris. More info at: http://www.thebuhs.com

11:38

19. The Buhs – “Can’t Let Go”
from: Can’t Let Go – unreleased single track / January 13, 2016

For more information about Cat Mahari & Hermon Mehari:
http://www.expectbam.com
http://www.hermonmehari.com

11:42 – Underwriting

11:43 – Remembering MLK where Gospel & Folk Music Carried the Message…

20. Pete Seeger – “We Shall Overcome”
from: The Essential Pete Seeger / Columbia – Legacy / 2004
[derived from a gospel song by Reverend Charles Tindley called “We Will Overcome” written in 1901. Adapted and made famous by Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and others the song became central to the civil rights movement of the 1950 and 1960s and eventually used all around the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made use of “we shall overcome” in the final Sunday March 31, 1968 speech before his assassination.]

21. Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion – “Dr. King”
from: exploration / New West / 2005
[written by Pete Seeger]

22. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – “This Land is Your Land”
from: Naturally / Daptone / 2005
[written by Woody Guthrie, Sarah Lee’s Grandfather.]

27. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]


Next week, January 20, we talk with Cody Wyoming & John Rensenhouse about Pontypool, now playing at The Living Room Theatre; Mike Alexander of Hipshot Killer joins us to share music from the band’s new album and info on their album release shows January 16 at Josey Records KC, and January 23 at miniBar. Also, Sara Glass aka Miss Conception and poet performer, C. Woods, join us to share original spoken word and singing words, and info on Sara’s “Class Action” book release performance January 23 at Prospero’s Books; We’ll also talk with Kianna Alarid lead singer in the band Yes You Are.

Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org 


Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:

www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,

www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM,
http://www.kkfi.org

Show #612