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Kalimba Master Meets Hip Hop/Jazz Prodigy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Vinson Muhammad 478-361-2880
January 12, 2013
Macon, GA—Kevin Spears, an Atlanta-based Kalimba artist with blinding skill and musical creativity often compared to innovators like Herbie Hancock, Jimi Hendrix and Les Paul; and Macon's own Allah's Apprentice aka Vinson Muhammad, gifted poet, inspirational mc and jazz trumpeter will team up for a live show Sunday, February 3rd at 5 p.m. at Macon's Historic Douglass Theatre. Tickets to this unique performance starting off Black History Month 2013, are $10 in advance, $15 and now on sale at the Douglass.
The concert is dedicated to the legacy of great African-American musicians demonstrating the unifying power of music to touch and give meaning to the lives of all people. The community is urged to support positive progressive music. In this case the kalimba, a hand held wooden percussion instrument of African origin, with ringing metal strips played as a thumb piano has been revolutionized by Kevin Spears, who has performed internationally, including a recent tour of Japan and was recently featured by Japan's legendary radio personality Masaharu Yoshioka. Spears has also teamed up with Grammy winning percussionist Count M'Butu of the Derek Trucks Band to form a dynamic world fusion duo called Rhythm Nomadic and has worked with and/or opened for India Arie, Eric Benet, Victor Wooten, Arrested Development, Toubab Krewe, Col. Bruce Hampton, Richard Smith (guitarist for Earth, Wind and Fire), Vinx, Mamadou Doumbia (of Salif Keita band), Epizo Bangoura, Jhelisa Anderson, Yonrico Scott (of Derek Trucks Band), Moziak (of Fela Kuti) and Divinity (bassist for Beyonce).
Macon native Vinson Muhammad, whose performing name is Allah's Apprentice, is a multi-talented hip hop recording artist, accomplished b-boy, host of Macon's popular, annual Real Talk Hip Hop Summit and Kwanzaa Youth Night events, and a jazz trumpeter. He also has performed internationally in London, Egypt, and Haiti as well as in Dallas, Texas, New York City, and frequently in Atlanta and Macon. Resume credits include opening onstage for James Brown, Dwele, Lailah Hathaway, and appearing in TI's music video “Here Ye, Hear Ye” featuring Pharell Williams. Known as a “certified renaissance man”, Muhammad is a graduate of Morehouse College in Business Administration with two independent albums, and several music videos under his belt.
The Black history artistic renaissance continues at the Douglass Theatre with this exciting, positive, and progressive concert by two beautiful rising star artists from our own region. This is a show for the whole family and the whole community; support great music in Macon, February 3rd.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
The Groove is Real!
MACON, GA -- Allah’s Apprentice, one of Macon’s artistic ambassadors, shook the ground Monday, November 26th before a near capacity crowd of 200 plus at Groove Speak, a new monthly event featuring the best in spoken word, neo-soul, and hip-hop presented by the B.L.A.C.K. Poets at the 567 Center for Renewal in downtown Macon.
Cultural Leader, Poet, and Bloomfield Middle School Teacher, Mike Scott, hosted the event which drew a diverse audience of varying ages and cultures to this month’s event. The Groove Speak crowd was electrified with excitement and appreciation for a variety of high school, college, and traveling professional performers that took the stage featuring cutting edge spoken word, live music, and more. He gave Allah's Apprentice, this month’s feature artist, the high compliment of being the events "First Georgia Artist." "It's not like we didn't have plenty of other Georgia artists to choose from," Scott noted, "but we wanted a particular quality of artist to take this set to another level, and that artist is Allah's Apprentice."
During his feature performance, Allah's Apprentice took listeners on a musical joyride of excerpts from his sophomore release, “The Priceless Giveaway”, accompanied by the amazing Groove Speak house band. Songs performed including crowd favorites "Put it On Repeat", "Queen", and “Successful”. Going from lyricist to musician at a moment’s notice, Allah's Apprentice is the epitome of a complete performer. Often interacting with the crowd, Muhammad connected everyone in the room through a common love of good music and ended with an original song entitled, "What That Be Like" encouraging substance in music, peace, and interfaith love and respect.
Allah’s Apprentice, better known as Vinson Muhammad in his hometown of Macon, is no stranger to community or music. A recent graduate of Morehouse College, Muhammad is an active member of the community working with Torchlight Academy, Inc. to host and support local community events encouraging positive choices for youth such as the Real Talk Hip Hop Summit. As an artist he has released two independent albums, and has performed all over the world as a hip hop artist and jazz musician on three continents including North America, Europe, and Africa.
November marked Groove Speak’s fourth month of successful events and will resume with a highly anticipated fifth event on January 28th featuring internationally acclaimed poetess Queen Sheba. Continuing to build on the community work of artists like Yolanda“Y-O” Latimore's Poetic Peace and other positive artistic innovators over the years in Macon, it is another rich, unique, and positive event adding to the vibrancy of downtown Macon. In addition to the monthly Groove Speak, Mike Scott and The B.L.A.C.K. Poets also host poetry and creative writing workshops called the Teen B.L.A.C.K. Initiative for youth ages 13-18 each Saturday at 10 a.m. at the 567 Center for Renewal, dedicated to cultural progress in the city, located at 533 Cherry Street.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
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