Tag: music

July 15, 2013 - Legendary musician Lester Chambers was attacked after dedicating a song to Trayvon Martin yesterday in Hayward, California. Lester was trying to play and dedicate Curtis Mayfield's song, "People Get Ready" to Trayvon when a woman pushed him down and started yelling at him. The 73-year-old activist singer suffered bruised rib muscles and nerve damage. The woman was cited for battery. Read more on the KTVU website here.  (photo credit: Lester Chambers/Facebook)

July 15, 2013 - Neambe and Ietef Vita are a couple from Colorado that mix music, activism, healthy eating and family in a unique way, and are featured in a Denver Post article by John Wenzel. They mix traditional African music and family, and work with inner-city kids to educate and empower them to eat non-GMO, organic and healthy foods, and channel their creativity through music to help change their community and lives for their better. They formed "Brown SugaYouth Fest" to hold music festivals and spread their seeds of change at youth centers in the community, and dubbed it "Going Green, and Living Bling". They teach the importance of community and are currently promoting community gardens which JTMP strongly supports. The more food we grow ourselves, the less Frankenfood we have to eat from Monsanto. 

Ietef is better known in the Denver area as "DJ Cavem Moetavation", and has recorded with other artists such as Dead Prez and Arrested Development. He writes songs with a positive message for young kids about organic foods and spirituality. On stage right next to his turntable he will have fruits, vegetables and a blender and promote healthy smoothies and a vegan lifestyle. They attest to the difficulty in their community work, but are dedicated to it. Read more about this awesome couple and their great work on the Denver Post here, and below is a video of Ietef as "DJ Cavem Moetavation" spreading a positive message with his musical activism about not buying that "bag of chips", but reaching for healthy food.

Global Citizen, a non-profit that is trying to eradicate extreme poverty worldwide by 2030, will be holding a free concert in New York's Central Park on Saturday, September 28, 2013 with acts like Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, John Mayer and more.

The great thing about this is to get the free tickets, citizens must "Take Action" and better the world community through action. One goes to the Global Citizen website, and registers with them. After that, you are presented with 4 key areas they are focusing on right now which are education, health, women's equality and global partnerships. I signed up, and picked the issue close to my heart, which is health. After choosing your issue, you can "take action", earn points and better the world. Once you get to 20 points, you can enter in the drawing for the free tickets to the concert. I think this is a great way to not only get people motivated to act, but it makes them feel involved in the process. One can sign petitions and pressure UN or governmental officials to act on certain priorities. I signed a petition for the UN to make childhood immunizations a priority. One child can be saved with a shot that costs .30 cents! Try this cause to make a difference also!

JTMP will hopefully be able to get tickets through the drawing, or we will get press passes and cover it for you. Check back regularly for updates, and check with us in September after the concert for pictures and video of the event. For now, head on over to the Global Citizen website and TAKE ACTION!

July 1, 2013 - Musical-activist Natalie Maines, famous of course for her dissing of Dubya back in 2003, joined thousands of activists surrounding the Texas Statehouse building as they protested the attempts by Republican state lawmakers who are currently trying to ram through legislation attacking women's reproductive rights. The Republicans tried to ram it through last Friday, but the great State Senator Wendy Davis mounted an 11-hour filibuster and the midnight deadline passed, and they couldn't get it voted on. Activists were worried that Republicans would once again try and strip away women's reproductive rights in the second special legislative session this week, so they staged a huge rally today featuring musicians, speakers, celebrities, activists, and of course State Senator Wendy Davis. Watch the videos below of Natalie Maines singing the national anthem, and "Not Ready to Make Nice". Read more on the rally on Reuters.com here.

June 7, 2013 - Who "invented" the electric guitar solo? Have you ever thought about that? Who was the first person to "shred" the electric guitar and pave the way for all the greats we know of today like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and others? The electric guitar when it first came out was mainly just rhythm, in the background. Around 1939 "bebop" and "cool jazz" started coming out and becoming popular. One musician, who was playing with Benny Goodman's Sextet and Orchestra, stepped out and started playing "solos" on the electric guitar and paved the way for all the guitar shredding we enjoy today. That man is Charlie Christian. Some argue he wasn't the first, but in many people's opinions (including mine) he made the electric guitar lead solo "popular", and in essence "invented" it.

Charlie Christian was born in Bonham, Texas in 1916 to a musical family, and they soon moved to Oklahoma. He inherited his musical talent from his father, who lost his sight due to a fever, and had to turn to "busking" to support the family even involving the children. He eventually became very popular in the Oklahoma City area, and in 1939 caught the attention of John Hammond, who told Benny Goodman about him. He quickly became part of Benny's new sextet. Charlie's "tension and release" technique on the guitar was groundbreaking, and he started a whole new way of playing the electric guitar, bringing it out of the shadows of a rhythm guitar, to lead solos out in front. He first played a Gibson ES-150, and the special electric pickup was eventually named after him. 

Charlie had contracted tuberculosis in the 1930s, and in the 1940s it flared up again and his health declined, and the late night jam sessions in Harlem, NY didn't help. He died March 2, 1942 at the very young age of 25. Sadly, he was buried in Bonham, Texas in an unmarked grave. It wasn't until 1994 till people attempted to locate his burial place in Gates Hill Cemetery. A headstone and historical marker was placed to honor this pioneering musician, who led the way for Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Buddy Guy, Eddie Van Halen and all the great guitar shredders. Watch a video below of him, with a good representation of what he pioneered in the song "Stompin' at the Savoy" from wilson mcphert on YouTube.