Walter’s World: Weekend Picks Music, Dance, Film and Jazz

By Walter Rutledge

This week we have a very diverse offering of arts events. Music lovers can groove in the Village, there is dance in midtown and uptown, film in Brooklyn, and jazz Harlem style . Here are a few of the many events taking place around the city and in our community.

Vocal stylist Gordon Chambers will perform his annual birthday celebration concert at the Blue Note located at 131 W. 3rd Street. The Saturday, October 13 midnight set is being called “For The Grown and Sexy. Ticket prices are $15 and can be purchased by calling  212-475-8592 or on line by visiting http://www.bluenote.net/newyork/schedule/moreinfo.cgi?id=10431.

Chambers has written for over 60 recording artists including Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, Usher, Brandy, Glayds Knight, Chaka Khan and Marc Anthony. He is best known for his 1994 Grammy Award winning hit I Apologize for Anita Baker and his 1995 number one hit If You Love Me for the trio Brownstone. Last year Chamber released his third solo album, Sincere, which is a collect of original songs in the pop, R&B, and soul genres.

The legendary Apollo Theater kicks off the third season of the highly successful, Apollo Music Café Series. The Apollo Soundstage is transformed into a nightclub in the tradition of the golden age of Harlem nightlife.  This weekend the series will present Concrete Blues: Tre Williams and the Revelations on Friday, October 12^th,  Mateo on Saturday, October 13^th and on  Monday, October 15^th The New Class Hosted by Amanda Diva featuring Cuz I’m Dope, PJay Johnson, Justine Skye, LiKWUiD, Mike Hurtt, Sene, The Cranberry Show and Rich.

 The doors open at 9pm and begin promptly shows are at 10pm. Drinks and a late night food menu are available prior to show time. We suggest you arrive early due to demand. 
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in person at the Apollo Theater Box Office, by telephone Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000 and
online at Ticketmaster.com. For more information visit www.apollotheater.org/

The 2012 New York Dance and Performing Arts Awards
 The Bessies will take place onOctober 15, 8 p.m at the Apollo Theater. The awards, which has been saluting dance in the city since 1984, and will honor outstanding work in dance performed during the 2011-12 season. The evening will hosted by Elizabeth Streb, include live dance performances by Trisha Brown Company and Souleymane Badolo. Choreographer Paul Taylor will receive the
2012 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance and Alice Teirstein the 2012 Bessie Award for Service to the Field of Dance. The Bessies  is named for Bessie Schonberg, one of America’s most influential teachers of dance composition and a mentor to several generations of dancers and choreographers.

The Bessies grant awards for groundbreaking choreography, design, composition, and performing to artists from many dance disciplines. The awards also honor those who have helped shape the dynamic world of dance in the city with awards for lifetime achievement in choreography and outstanding contribution to the field of dance. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in person at the Apollo Theater Box Office, by telephone Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000 and
online at Ticketmaster.com. For more information visit www.apollotheater.org/

The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival will celebrate their 15th  anniversary October 13^th and 14^th with films by women of color from across the world. The two-day festival will take place at the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, LIU Brooklyn campus, at Flatbush and Dekalb Aves. The festival offers an awards ceremony, a professional workshop, a panel and the Brooklyn première of the film Soul Food Junkies.

This year’s honorees are pioneering film distributor/curator Michelle Materre, founder of Creatively Speaking, actor/producer couple Tim Reid and Daphne Maxwell Reid, founders of New Millennium Studios and veteran casting director Winsome Sinclair, founder of Winsome Sinclair and Associates and co-founder of Legacy Media Group. Terrie M. Williams, founder of the Terrie Williams Agency, will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies for the awards ceremony and singer Imani Uzuri will  perform. The venue is. For schedule, descriptions and workshop registration, visit reelsisters.org / kumbletheater.orgor call 718-488-1624 / 347-534-3304.

VON USSAR danceworks presents the 6^th Annual Dance Gallery Festival, featuring original works from emerging and renowned choreographers from around the country. The Festival will take place on October 12 and 13, at 7:30pm and 14, 7pm at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 W. 55^th Street.  Tickets are $20 ($15 for students with valid ID and seniors).  Tickets are available at www.smarttix.com or by phone at 212-868-4444.

Companies scheduled to perform are Allison Jones Dance, Celli Contemporary Ballet, Jaxon Movement Arts, Marcus Jarrell Willis, Mettin Movement Collective, Mojca Ussar and Dancers, NobleMotion Dance, Revolve Dance Company, VON USSAR danceworks. As part of Dance Gallery Festival’s continued mission to find up-and-coming choreographic talent at the national level, the festival announces a new program, LEVEL UP, which will serve as a performance showcase for three talented dance companies/choreographers BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT, iMEE, and Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup. Each company will receive 25 minutes of performance time at the prestigious Ailey Citigroup Theater and a small stipend.

As always thank you for letting me share my world with you.

In Photo: 1) iMEE 2) Gordon Chambers 3) Apollo Marquee 4) Tre Williams and the Revelations  5) Tim Reid and Daphne Maxwell Reid 6) Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup
Photo Credit: 1) Mike Mesikep 2) Courtesy Gordon Chambers 3&4) Courtesy of Apollo Theater 5) Courtesy of Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival   6) Greg Barret