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| Fundraiser To Help Belita Woods, P-funk Living Legend And Celebrated Singer, Presented By Who Knows? And P-funk Those who were there in the day, and serious students of R&B of yore, know the name and work of Belita Woods going back to her '60s sides for Ollie McLaughlin's Moira label and '70s work with the group Brainstorm (she had the lead vocals on "Loving is Really My Game" and "This Must Be Heaven"). No doubt, more have seen and heard her as a vocalist with George Clinton's P-Funk aggregations from the 1990s up until recently. Now her friends are rallying to pay for her medical bills in the wake of a massive heart attack on April 10, 2011. She had to undergo emergency open heart surgery. The fundraiser features the music of Who Knows?, a special blend of guitarist/vocalist Richie Nagan, alto saxophonist Mark Whitecage, and clarinetist Perry Robinson, joined by guests from the P-Funk All Stars: Michael "Clip" Payne on percussion, Greg Thomas on alto sax, and Bennie Cowen on trumpet. The concert takes place at the comfortably casual Yippie Cafe at 9 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village on Wednesday, June 1 at 8PM. There is a suggested donation of $10. for the evening. The music surges and eddies, taking surprising and sometimes sudden turns that can soften the sound to a whisper or raise it to a roar. Guitarist/vocalist Richie Nagan's songs originate from his long-time study and love of the Grateful Dead and Pete Seeger, while his many performances with George Clinton's P- Funk and Detroit drummer Muruga's more free-form bands add other dimensions. Saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Mark Whitecage is a musician whose creativity, adventurous spirit and beautiful tone have led to a long career filled with fascinating people and projects. He has collaborated with just about every musician of note, including bassists Dominic Duval, Joe Fonda, Adam Lane and William Parker; pianist Michael Jefry Stevens, drummers John Betsch, Paul Motian, Ed Blackwell, Peter LeMaitre, Jay Rosen and Lou Grassi; multi-instrumentalists Anthony Braxton, Gunter Hampel and Sabir Mateen; trumpeters Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell, Jr.; trombonist Steve Swell, guitarist Dom Minasi, clarinetists Perry Robinson and Rozanne Levine; vocalists Nicki Mathis and Jeanne Lee; and choreographers Jean Erdman, Murray Louis and Nancy Allison. Along the way he has led and co-led an array of notable bands including Liquid Time, The Glass House Ensemble, No Respect, The Nu Band, the Bi-Coastal Orchestra, and Drunk Butterfly. He has recorded over 50 discs, many of them award winners, including BushWacked – A Spoken Opera, No Respect – Duval/Rosen/Whitecage, Fractured Standards & Fairy Tales, Moon Blue Boogie, Split Personality, and Mark Whitecage & Liquid Time. Clarinetist Perry Robinson is a master of the clarinet in jazz, folk and avant-garde music. He has worked with an incredible array of international musical artists, including the Brubeck Family, Gunter Hampel, Henry Grimes, Bill Dixon, Carla Bley, Archie Shepp, Charlie Haden, Badal Roy, John Carter, Anthony Braxton, Mark Whitecage, Dr. Michael White, Pete Seeger and George Clinton. He has been a mainstay of pianist Burton Greene's Klezmokum and of drummer Lou Grassi's Po Band. The Perry Robinson Quartets and Trios, featuring pianist Christoph Adams, bassist Ed Schuller and drummer Ernst Bier, have released six CDs and toured extensively in Europe. Recently Perry has been playing with Wynne Paris and Groovananda, the pianist Nobu Stowe, the Israeli clarinetist Harold Rubin, the Israeli composer-pianist Anat Fort, and in clarinetist Rozanne Levine's Chakra Tuning ensemble. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |