Newspaper Page Text
6
August 22, 1996
‘ SN
S S N
SRR RN 8 N
, SN L R &
: & N.- w 9
N W 7
A
S
e
o
x 3 »
N BTN R R R o 9
R 3 L e e L N
SR A R R R 3 B
R R RR A R * 1
B Snal RN R ! R S
§ B ¥ b ol R %f Sy
DR SR el e e e
N ‘\ RN . S ‘:‘E;"' : ;\“\’ &
ng SR i e ; . i
TR o 3 P i
T oo i ;
TN ; et TR
wm\"\ \\\ o o 3 i»:j‘j:jgj‘f«;-.io'.';;\j{“vif":-,"»fi::‘.E:?::-'<,- e
ST P o e
SRR B s
N T E—— e i
e SRR ) > e e e
% L ::E"@;’efié:i:i.f'g-:::ififliiiz'E;::li3sE§':Q:?s‘3s:‘:3sss3§s§i§ss3?§s§s:s§::s~£s§s§ss§3s'
: : 3 : R e
. : : i *"&\
’ e .
S A L B : '\ pa R
kS 4 R S
£ E oo G
L 4 & e
P o o Seha et
A 7 e 2 g B o
1 ,{; Ea
3 TR o e ; G e
R § ik E @ F -
g L o S Gme
e e o N ’ 74 G .
. LR :
Beee 3 ¥ R ;
TR .’¢::>=:::;-=‘:;:<z§s:>:::..czw:m o T e R KR 2 G SSR
S e R R W Py e
5 R R A X e B SR S 3 R AR s e
o N T e 1 e e 3 o
e L el TR oy *\;\ N e
e ORI e T e e
¢ ie N fi.’-fi\sfi:sz,- e e S e s
- ;& AT gTR e
AR @ ; O e “W*'“dw“w i
¥ oL T e R e B B e Get
llustration by Tom Feelings from the book The Middle Passage.
By Wim Roefs
SANDLAPPER Freelance Writer
“I am an illustrator, a story
teller in picture form, who tries to
reflect and interpret life as I see
it,” says the internationally re
nowned Tom Feelings, one of
South Carolina’s best-kept artis
tic secrets. His message is ulti
mately optimistic: that all the sor
row in the history of black Amer
icahasnot managedtokill thejoy.
The work of black artists, Feel
ings argues, “must show a sense
of triumph and faith in our peo
ple’s ability to change, or force
change, for the better, individu
ally and collectively. Since we
believe we have this ability, we
must also believe in the capacity
for all human beings to change
or to want to do so.”
Over the past three decades,
Feelings has published abouttwo
dozen books, mostly for children,
some in cooperation with noted
authors such as Maya Angelou
and Julius Lester. Later this
year, The African Holocaust: The
Middle Passage, Feelings’ tour
de force on which he worked two
decades, will be published. It is
“a picture book for adults,” in
which pictures, and picturesonly,
will tell the story of the torturous
trip to the Americas that Afri
cans were forced to make aboard
slave ships.
The 61-year-old University of
South Carolina art professor, “an
African who was born in Ameri
ca,” has worked as an artist and
teacher in Ghana, Africa and in
Guyana, South America. He has
been featured on various televi
sion programs and in the 1976
documentary Head & Heart,
broadcast on PBS. Feelings, from
Brooklyn, New York, is regarded
by the Richland County Library
children’s book staff as “a heavy
weight, who won just about ev
erything there is to win” in that
genre.
Two of his books were named
Caldecott Honor Books in what
is probably the most prestigious
children’s book competition. He
has won the American Library
Association Notable Children’s
Book Award, the Library of Con
gress Children’s Book Award,
and a National Endowment for
the Arts fellowship to work on
The Middle Passage. He was also
I Publix.
SUPER MARKETS
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Feélings
Tom Feelings and
the joy and sorrow
of black America
nominated foran American Book
Award. His Soul Looks Back in
Wonder, published last year, re
cently wonthe Coretta Scott King
Award for children’s books by
African Americans. It was Feel
ings’ third award in that compe
tition.
Yet in 1992, when Benedict
College in Columbia organized
an overview of more than three
decades of his art, the exhibition
went virtually unnoticed in the
local media. Feelings’ paintings,
line drawings, posters, record
covers, wood carvings and sculp
tures showed, apart from a stun
ning quality, an enormous ver
satility. The robust but delicate,
relatively small but monumen
tal, expressive but understated
sculptures of black women —
next to children, probably Feel
ings’ favorite topic asan artist —
were perhaps the biggest sur
prise. “A lot of people don’t even
Its Our Pleasure.
know that I've done sculptures,”
he says.
Feelings is above all a book
illustrator. Illustrated books are
a natural extension of the Afri
can oral tradition, he says. “The
bestillustrated books can stretch
a child’s mind and strengthen a
child’s spirit, preparing the child
to facereality and reject the shal
low and slick.”
For Soul Looks Back in Won
der, Feelings’ first book in full
color, Angelou, Margaret Walk
er and others wrote poems to
“illustrate” the artwork for and
about black children. The book
alsoincludes a never-before-pub
lished poem by Langston Hughes,
who died in 1967.
Young black kids “really are
having a hard time nowadays.
That is why I made this book,”
Feelings says. “Too many teen
agers are growing up in an envi
ronment where indifference and
art » music » literature - theatre
hostility are bullets aimed
straight at the core of their spir
its,” he wrote in Soul Looks Back
in Wonder. “One way to project
our positive hopes for the future
is for young people to see their
own beauty reflected in our eyes,
through our work.”
The inner strength of the chil
dren in Soul Looks Back in Won
der is clear, like it is in most of |
the peoplein Feelings’ work. That ‘
strength adds confidence to the |
melancholy and joy to the sor- ‘
row. The childrenread anddraw,
clearly on a mission. They quiet
ly hurt but smile and wonder,
not always without suspicion.
They are slightly sad, usually
pensive, always proud. They
stare into eternity, albeit not
without focus, orlook the viewer
straight in the eyes, dignified,
with piercing perception suggest
ing wisdom beyond their age.
“Pain and joy never simply
existsideby side,” Feelings wrote
in 1985. “Rather, they interact
with each other and build on
each other.”
In his upcoming book, The Af
rican Holocaust: The Middle
Passage, the ink-and-white tem
pera pictures are drawn from
the perspective of someone at
the scene. Like real slaves, we
look into the eyes of grim slave
drivers with clubs and whips, or
into a rifle barrel and the open
mouth of the screaming slave
just struck by a bullet from that
barrel. Chained slaves in close
quarters, floggings and rapes
make for unsettling viewing.
But, Feelings says, people —
particularly African Americans
— shouldn’t be depressed by The
Middle Passage. “They should be
uplifted and say to themselves,
‘You mean we survived this? We
made it through all this and we
are still here today?”
“Ifldidn’t believe in the ability
of human beingsto face the truth
and change wrong to right,” he
told the USC Times, “I would
never have expended so much
energy on one book. I would have
made as much money as I could,
lived on an island somewhere
and painted flowers for the rest
of my days. But the spirits of my |
ancestors don’t give me that lux
ury, and I don’t ask for it.”
Wim Roefs is a free-lance writ
er in Columbia. ‘
Music industry experts to share
tips with aspiring vocalists
ATLANTA
The National Academy of Re
cording Arts & Sciences, Inc.
(NARAS) will host Vocal Tech
96, a full-day seminar dedicated
to educating vocalists about all
aspects of the music business.
The day will include four sepa
rate panel discussions led by in
dustry professionals who will
share expert advice about theins
and outs of singing in today’s
competitive music industry. The
seminar will be held Saturday,
September 21, at the Wyndham
Hotel located on 10th and
Peachtree Street.
The seminar is open to the
public and will feature well
known performers and leading
industry professionals speaking
on topics such as vocal instruc
tion, physical maintenance of the
voice, performing, recording, pro
motion and exploring additional
opportunities available to vocal
ists in the industry.
The medical panel, The Sur
geon Says, features Dr. Michael
dJ. Koriwchak, an ear, nose and
throat specialist from St. Joseph’s
Hospital; Jana Harmon, a prom
inent speech pathologist at St.
Joseph’s Hospital, and allergy
specialist Dr. Donald Gilner. The
panelists will offer suggestions
and give instructions on the
healthy ways to preserve a sing
er’s voice.
For the vocal instruction pan
el, Tools of the Trade, the experts
include Atlanta vocalist, musi
cian, songwriter and highly
sought-after vocal coach, Jan
Smith; vocal instructor Laura
English Robinson; Sharon West,
choir director for The Unity
Church and private vocal instruc
tor; and Judith Sullivan, private
Test your jazz I.AQ.
b z
: 4
d i h qh" dl
| LN ‘
L O
e e
LociiaEE R
P :
o
o R
E i
e L
e R
e A
e G
e e
e
S o
o
B 3
e
.’ RSN
1. Dizzy Gillespie the great trum
peter started his own record com
pany. What wes it called?
2. Which Clifford plays the saxo
phone: Brown or Jordan?
3. Name the trumpet player who
co-led one of the most well-orga
nized, high-quality combos in
hard bop—The Jazzet—and has
played more in Europe than in
the U.S.
4. Name the trumpeter and edu
cator who became the head ofthe
first jazz studies division in the
history of Howard University.
5. Who first coned the term
“mainstream”?
6. Whosaid “Jazzis a whiteman’s
word, and rock is a white man’s
word”?
7. What is the term for the years
of learning and searching for an
individual sound and style while
the pay is small and off-time ir
regular?
Artßeat checks the pulse of art and
entertainment around the CSRA and the world.
vocal coach specializing in the
training of voice-over talent and
broadcast professionals.
Onthe Been There, Doing That
panel of artists and radio per
sonalities are Moby, award-win
ning KICKS 101.5 FM radio per
sonality; Francine Reed, Ichiban
recording artist and veteran
backup vocalist for Lyle Lovett’s
Large Band; Will Turpin, musi
cian and member of the Atlantic
recording act Collective Soul; Taj
Harmon, an acclaimed singer in
the local commercial music in
dustry; and Lisa Rayam, evening
news anchor for WAGA-TV,
Channel 5.
On The Business of Music panel
will sit Emory Gordy Jr., award
winning producer and senior vice
president of A&R for Rising Tide
Entertainment; Claudia Gaines,
president of The Headline Group,
a public relations firm specializ
ing in the entertainment indus
try;and Michael Hughes, program
director for WKLS-FM/96 Rock.
They will conclude the afternoon
with helpful tips about artist pub
licity, recording contracts and
record labels.
Vocal Tech orientation/regis
tration will begin at 8:15 a.m.,
with the first panel beginning at
9 a.m. and the last panel discus
sion ending at 4 p.m. Tickets are
$35 for the general public, S2O
for NARAS members and stu
dents and include lunch. Space
is limited so advance registra
tionis recommended. Tickets are
availablein advance through the
NARAS Atlanta office (999
Peachtree Street in Midtown) or
may be purchased the day of the
seminar at the Wyndham. For
more information, contact the
NARAS office at (404) 249-8881.
8. Name the musician who used
glasses, bottles, tin mugs and
anything else that could act as a
mute.
9. Name the saxophonist who
played by ear; his father fired
him from his father’s band and
only hired him back after he had
learned to read music.
10. Who was the band leader
who was told that Billie Holiday
was too yellow to sing with all
the black men in his band?
11. What white band did Billy
Holiday later travel with?
12. What Negro trumpet player
had his album withdrawn from
sale because the album cover
showed him with his white Swed
ish fiancee?
13. Of the following—Sonny
Payne, Sonny Stitt, Sonny
Rollins, Sonny Fortune, Sonny
Criss, Sonny Berman, Sonny
Greer, Sonny Murray, Sonny
Simmons and Sonny Taylor—
which is not a musician?
14. Who was the music director
of the Modern Jazz Quartet?
15. The Musicians’ Clinic, which
provides a psychiatric resource
for chemically dependent jazz
musicians, islocated in what city?
16. What kind of drug was Gerry
Mulligan addicted to?
17. What instrument does Bob
Brookmeyer play?
18. Stix Hooper, jazz percussion
ist, played with which blind pia
nist?
19. For what do the initials N. J.
F. stand?
20. Forwhatdothe Band Nin B.
N. Records stand?
Answers on page 15