In some cases inspiration is a fluid, intangible and mysterious force. In other cases, inspiration comes ambling down the 125th St. strip in Harlem sporting extravagant silver jewelry, two sets of headphones and what appears to be sprayed on electric blue hair. The latter occurred when the eye-catching appearance of a fellow named, O.G. sparked me to take his photo outside of the Apollo Theater’s “Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan.” As he tells it, “I have the blue hair because my sign is Aquarius and the water is blue. I am retired now at 65 and I’m upgrading myself.” You have to respect a man who is all about reinvention, no matter how, er, questionable his style choices may be. What wasn’t questionable was the fact that those in attendance were having a joyful time with an afternoon full of lively interaction and a night of performances for a special edition of Amateur Night, “Apollo Stars of Tomorrow.”
From there I headed to the always hip and inviting Harlem Stage Gatehouse for Imani Uzuri’s “MOSAIC Sacred Music Extravaganza. Uzuri’s material and arrangements do not offer enough variation to live up to the potential of her dexterous vocal instrument. I so badly wanted to get sent to that place of nirvana but I had to settle for limbo.
Settling is not something that visual artist and writer, Danny Simmons does, especially when it comes to romance. At a reading held at the Skylight Gallery in Brooklyn he signed copies of his book Deep in Your Best Reflection, a collection of erotic poems written in 160 characters or less. “People have so much information coming at them nowadays. You have to be creative and pay attention to your partner and what they want to do,” he advises.
At the C.M.E. Group’s wonderful “Inspired in New York” event held at The Faison Firehouse Theater, Anthony Hamilton (not in attendance), Mona Scott-Young and the legendary Roberta Flack were presented with proclamations from New York. Flack informed me that current issues was her motivation behind covering the Beatles song “Let it Be,” on her forthcoming tribute album (which she had to somewhat forcefully remind the event producers to play). “The world is in an uproar. When we are not sure of the direction, we can mess it up,” she notes. “The Bible says be still to decide what direction you have to take.” While Time magazine may be honoring the loud protester this year, Flack has a slightly different perspective that is provoking me to quietly reflect on how I can be an instrument of positive change. From blue hair to the words of a diva, inspiration is like finding a job in a recession; you never know where it’s going to come from.
For more information on the Harlem Arts Alliance, visit www.harlemaa.org.
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