22 Mar 03.30: Young Lions & Lionesses (One Mic Panel Line Up)
Sunday, March 30th
Young Lions & Lionesses: A Look at Jazz in a Hip Hop World
HR57 | 1007 H Street, NE -WDC | 7PM
Moderated by: John Murph
Panelists: Dr. William E. Smith | Derek Hodge | Shaolin Jazz Project (DJ 2-Tone Jones & Gerald Watson) | Tamara Wellons
There’s a new generation of classically-trained, Jazz musicians who grew up on Hip Hop and bring its elements into an often seen pretentious arena. This panel will discuss the interconnectivity between jazz and hip hop and whether or not the synergy between the two, pushes musical boundaries. With jazz as its framework, the panel will explore what Hip Hop might look like in another twenty years as panelists discuss sustainability, curation and audience appreciation. Post-discussion dj sets by John Murph and DJ 2-Tone Jones immediately to follow.
About the panelists:
John Murph is an acclaimed music journalist who writes about jazz, hip-hop, R&B and soul. He’s written feature stories and reviews for The Washington Post, NPR, The Atlantic Monthly, JazzTimes, Down Beat, and VIBE Magazine. Twitter: @johnmurph
Derrick Hodge has spent his youthful career transcending between various styles of Hip-Hop, Gospel, R&B, Funk, Singer/Songwriter, and Jazz, performing and/or recording with an impressive roster of GRAMMY® nominated and awarded artists including Maxwell, Common, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Timbaland, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Bilal, Gerald Levert, Kanye West, Andre 3000, Sade, and many more. Hodge currently performs as a solo artist in front of sold out crowds at diverse venues including Summerstage and Blue Note Jazz Club, maintains a steady career as a film composer, and serves as the Musical Director for Maxwell.His debut solo project Live Today is now available. Twitter: @DerrickHodge | Website: http://music.derrickhodge.com/
Dr. William E. Smith (W.E.S.) is an active musician, producer, composer, author and educator who has released four albums with his group, The W.E.S. Group, and has produced and recorded music for many notable artists. He is a published author (Hip Hop as Performance and Ritual and How to Be an MC – CLS Publications,) and is an assistant professor of music technology at Bowie State University. He also teaches classes at Howard University. Prior to that, he was the music industry coordinator and online ethnomusicology program coordinator at North Carolina Central University and was the jazz ensemble director at American University in Washington, DC. Twitter: @wesmusic | Facebook: www.facebook.com/thewesgroup
Gerald Watson, through his creative shop Art vs Commerce, develops creative marketing programming for a variety of brands ranging from Heineken, to Adidas, to Vitamin Water. In addition to this work, Watson also curates a variety of art exhibitions one of which led him to develop a boutique music project, along with business partner DJ 2-Tone Jones, called SHAOLIN JAZZ – The 37th Chamber, which is an artful blend of Wu-Tang acappellas and instrumentals from various jazz greats. Twitter: @SHAOLIN_JAZZ37, @artvscommerce | Website: www.shaolinjazz.com
DJ 2-Tone Jones (Bio coming soon)
Tamara Wellons is an artist that has the will –and the power—to influence a generation. Tamara Wellons is more than a triple threat entertainer. Tamara is a singer, songwriter, performer, and educator who truly sings from her heart as she mesmerizes audiences with her unyielding yet commanding vocals and hypnotic blend of soul, jazz and soulful house varieties. Twitter: @TamaraWellons | Website: www.tamarawellonsmusic.com
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