2017 A Year to Remember! The mission of DC Legendary Musicians (DCLM) is to preserve, protect, and promote the artistic legacy, contributions, and well-being of performers, and to educate the students and the community as a whole on the careers and contributions of Washington, DC’s professional musicians.
From the Director’s Desk Washington, DC has long been an overlooked center of music, despite its dynamic nightclub industry and the historic Howard Theatre. In particular, Washington, DC has not had a successful recording industry, a key reason why many professional musicians—including native Washingtonians—have left the city in pursuit of professional opportunity and success. DC can lay claim to many great professional musicians and performers who were born or lived in the city, including Duke Ellington, Keter Betts, Charlie Rouse, Ron Holloway, Edward “Butch” Warren, John Malachi, Nasar Abadey, Robert “Brotha Ah” Northern, Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, Roger Wendell “Buck” Hill, Shirley Horn, Billy Stewart, Marvin Gaye, Charles “Skip” Pitts, Johnny Gill, Gregory “Guitar Greg” Gaskins, Carter Jefferson, Jimi Smooth, Robert “Mousey” Thompson, Billy Taylor, Frank Wess, Al Johnson, Whop Frazier, Curtis Pope, Jimi Dougans, King Raymond Green, Harold Winley’s Clovers, The Jewels, Chuck Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Rainbows, Don Covey and many others. DC Musicians have made great strides and contributions to the world of music that should be recognized and documented. (Continued on page 2.)
Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale is the founder, director, and chair of DC Legendary Musicians, Inc., and she is an Associate Minister at Metropolitan AME Church.
From the Director’s Desk (Continued from page 1.)
Washington DC is home to a large number of musicians whose artistic legacies and well-being are imperiled due to a lack of organizational and financial resources. The challenges facing many
Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project
of DC’s professional musicians include the following: • Lack of employment or steady employment. • •
Lack of affordable housing. Unavailability of promotional and performance opportunities.
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Uncertain ownership and control over intellectual property, including compositions, performances, recordings, and images
The challenges facing DC’s professional musicians are further complicated by the fact that the legacies and achievements of many of DC’s finest musicians have never been fully recognized or promoted. In addition, Washington, DC has not been viewed, traditionally, as a center of musical innovation on the level of other American cities, such as New Orleans, Chicago or New York. As a consequence, many of DC’s professional musicians remain obscure and unrecognized by the broader musical community and the American public in general. Professional success remains an elusive goal to many of DC’s professional musicians even after decades of labor. DCLM is working to change all of this. This publication highlights some of our accomplishments in 2017. It is dedicated to the memory of Denyse Pearson (right), a jazz vocalist and DCLM board member who made her transition in 2017. —SBT 2017 Board Members Baiyina Abadey Nasar Abadey Ida Campbell Lisa Fitzpatrick Gregory Gaskins Karen Harris Mary House Michael Zakee Jones Wayne Kahn Arviet Lee 2
Jackie Lee Roxanne Richardson Blair Ruble Jacqui Smith James “Jimi Smooth” Smoot Sandra Butler-Truesdale Regennia Williams Cornelius Willis Ahmad Davis, Attorney DCLM, 2017
Shown on page 2, from the top left, are Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale, Manny Kellough, Lavenia Nesmith, and Aaron Myers. Pictured here on page 3 are (counterclockwise) Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale, Moshe Snowden, Donald Edwards, Coniece Washington, Je’lan Harwell, Mark Meadows, and Kim Jordan.
Gibson Guitar Studio May 2-3, 2017 Interviewees not shown in this issue: Cush Abadey, Janine Gilbert-Carter, Howard Chichester, Kiana Faircloth, Corcoran Holt, Jeff “Left Hand” Neal, and Lori Williams. Special Thanks to Rainy Williams for sharing some of her memories (over lunch) about her mother, pianist and vocalist Shirley Horn. 3
DCLM, 2017
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Honoring the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Retired DC Pastor and Congressman
The Rev. Congressman Walter Fauntroy is pictured here with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton at the May 28, 2017 benefit at Busboys and Poets. Special thanks to everyone who donated their time, talent, and treasure to make this event a success.
Pictured here (from the top, left) are Dr. Viola Bradford (standing), vocalist Jesi Terrell, Toni Foster (in hat), Jimi Smooth, Rock Newman, Jim Bennett, Melvin Caldwell, Memphis Gold (seated, foreground), Perry Grayson (drums), and Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale.
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DCLM, 2017
Kudos to the Kennedy Center
(Above) DCLM members Ida Campbell (left) and Lady Mary, shown here is a photo taken at the Howard Theatre, are among the District’s vocalists who have been invited to perform on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. (Above, right) Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale prepares to present a 2017 Black History Month Award to Lee’s Florists, prior to the Millennium Stage performance by trombonist Moshe Snowden. (Video Available on YouTube.) In June, Snowden (Above, right) was the featured artist in a series of performances at Ben’s Next Door on U Street NW. Kennedy Center staff member Ariel Shelton (right) is shown here with Rev. Dr. Sandra ButlerTruesdale (center) and Dr. Regennia N. Williams. 5
DCLM, 2017
Oral History on the Go
The group of narrators for the on-site interviews for the Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project included (above, left to right) Nasar Abadey, Rev. Dr. Ginger Cornwell, Brother Ah, and Herbert Scott.
(Below, right) Chip Ellis and Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale posed for these photos--under the beautiful blue lighting in the newly restored Howard Theatre. They also contributed their oral history narratives to the Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project.
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DCLM, 2017
Around Town with DCLM The Duke Ellington Plaza
Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale and Prof. Marty Lamar at Metropolitan AME Church
James Cunningham (left) and Jerome Paige at the Mulebone Restaurant
Melvin Caldwell at the Lamond-Riggs Library If you have heard them on WPFW’s “Don't Forget the Blues” radio show, seen them perform at the historic Howard Theatre, the Kennedy Center, Ben’s Next Door, and the Lamond-Riggs Library, attended luncheon meetings with them at the Mulebone Restaurant, or worked with them to help spruce up the landscaping around the sculpture at Duke Ellington Plaza, then you know that the members of DC Legendary Musicians, Inc. have proven themselves to be great performers, excellent radio programmers, and good neighbors. 7
DCLM, 2017
Black History Month at the Woodrow Wilson Center
Dr. Blair A. Ruble, Vice President for Programs at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and Director of the Center's Urban Sustainability Laboratory, served as the host for the Black History Month performance and reception. Dr. Ruble is the author of U Street, A Biography and many other works. .
(Above, left to right) Rosita Hickman, Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler Truesdale, Shaarona Harris (holding a copy of Dr. Ruble’s book, U Street, A Biography), Dr. Regennia N. Williams, and Karen Harris (Below) Vocalist Steve Alston (left) and saxophonist John Woodridge pose with Dr. Truesdale after the February 23, 2017 Black History Month Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
We need your support!
If you would like to learn more about how you can support our ongoing work, please visit our website at: http://dclmusicians.org/ or contact: Sandra Butler – Truesdale 225 O Street, SW, Suite 14 Washington, DC 20024 Phone Number: 202-246-6300 Email: dclegendarymusicians225@gmail.com *DC Legendary Musicians, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all contributions are tax-deductible. FYI: Thanks to our donors and community partners, in 2017 DCLM was able to distribute 100 Thanksgiving turkeys and 10 food baskets to musicians and families who need a hand-up! 8
DCLM, 2017