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The Marque - 'DISSoNANCE' Premiere video hosted by Brittany Darrington! March 23, Part 1

Awesome video from 'DISSoNANCE' film and 'REASON' music video premiere !

The 'DISSoNANCE' AFFAIR - TX PR EVENTS

Thank you Van Shotwell for lovely review!

http://van5481.livejournal.com/37113.html

Van Shotwell  Roxanne Rox

Van Shotwell is a talent manager/publicist/producer in the entertainment industry and owner and operator of Forte Talent Management.
http://www.fortetalentmanagement.com/

'DISSoNANCE' FILM & 'REASON' MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE @ THE MARQUE

Spectacular is the only word that comes to mind to describe the Houston Premiere of 'DISSoNANCE' and Jonathan Luke's music video premiere of 'REASON', a grand soiree held at The Marque, a breathtakingly sexy and opulent venue in the City Centre.
'DISSoNANCE'  - Official Selection for Cannes Film Short Corner from director Natasha Fissiak and music video 'REASON' from Jonathan Luke  - premiered at The Marque on March 23, 20thirteen.  It was an unforgettable night of movies, music, masquerade, and magic! 





https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151603982785649.1073741826.582805648&type=1

A Good Time Was Had By All!

Kevin Dowd  Natasha Fissiak

Natasha Fissiak

Josh Weisman  Natasha Fissiak

Jonathan Luke  Andre Madyarov

Robert Reese  Natasha Fissiak

Natasha Fissiak  Mykle McCoslin

Kimberly Cudini  Paris & Hunter Cudini

Tishaun Scott  Dacia Bertrand  Natasha Fissiak

Paulin Bertrand  Dacia Bertrand Buchanan

Trisha Gordon  Brittany Darrington

BLUES MAN :: LITTLE JOE WASHINGTON

Its been a while since I've been to a blues show. Growing up in New Orleans, we took the blues for granted.  It was everywhere.  Literally everywhere.  There was always a horn player on a street corner in the French Quarter or Irma Thomas or Rebirth Brass Band or Kermit Ruffin or one of the Marseilles brothers playing somewhere.  Or some kids on the way home from school tapping on a snare drum, blowing a tuba, or a trombone, or shaking a tambourine playing little bits of old time brass blues songs while their friends second line behind them.  It wasn't until I became a grown up and moved away from New Orleans that I realized all this just didn't go on in other cities.  I didn't know legendary jazz and blues musicians didn't play in the neighborhood bar and I certainly wasn't going to hear live music flowing out to the streets every time I turned the corner. And, its been a long time since those days I lived in New Orleans.

Last night, I went to Boondocks to check out Little Joe Washington, a legendary Houston blues man.  My neighbor Chrystene told me about Little Joe, about his legendary playing, often rolling up to the club on a bike.  Curiosity got the better of me so I had to go see for myself.  

Little Joe Washington plays at Boondocks on Tuesdays.  Nothing could prepare me for this experience.  I heard Little Joe plays by his own rules.  He plays for about 20 or 25 minutes.  He's often late for his own shows.  I heard that Little Joe can play the guitar with his teeth.  I heard he's damn near a musical genius.  All of these rumors are 100% true.

I got there at nine pm, the time the show was supposed to start.  Little Joe appeared from the shadows and began to play around eleven.  He actually did play the guitar with his teeth.  And his leg, his behind, and the back of his leg.  He laid the guitar on the ground and picked the strings into pure blues.  He went from rollicking good time blues songs such as 'Sweet Home Chicago' and switched the entire arrangement to a down tempo version of oldie but goodie 'Down Home Blues,' and took it back up to rock infused blues  - and this is just one song!  He definitely looks like a blues man with a beat up guitar and long well worn trench coat.  And Little Joe is old.  I mean way up there - and he didn't miss a beat to talk major ish in the middle of quite a few songs.

Little Joe Washington made me remember the blues of my youth, the blues rooted deep in the heart of American music.  Without the blues, there would be no rock and roll, rhythm and blues, hip hop or country - all of our innovative music is built on the foundation of the blues.

I had a great time and as they say in New Orleans, Little Joe Washington knows how to le bon temps roulette!

To learn more about Little Joe Washington, go here:  http://www.littlejoewashington.com/

or here:http://newsfixnow.com/2012/10/26/blues-legend-little-joe-washington/


https://www.facebook.com/boondocks.houston?fref=ts


A good time was had by all.

The New Favorite

I have finally figured out Tumblr - somewhat - ok slowly.  Tumblr has quite a few layouts but I was surprised to discover the best one's will cost you, anywhere from 9$ to 50$.  Navigating is a little awkward (is it me?) and some of the free layouts don't allow you to change the background, add banners, or change font size for example.  But, overall I'm really digging the portfolio style mix of foto's , posts, and random thoughts.  Stop by and check out yours truly!

db

http://wonderlandway.tumblr.com

take the stairs - its just one more floor....

VANGUARD HOUSTON

van·guard[van-gahrd] noun

1.  the forefront in any movement, field, activity, or the like.

2.  the leaders of any intellectual or political movement.

I want to say something about Houston.  I want to say Houston is a mecca of the most avant of avant garde in music, film, art, fashion, entertainment, and culture.   I want to say that the best minds in the nation are flocking to Houston and thus making it a hub of creativity that rivals Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago.   When asked “What’s Houston like?” I want to say all of the above and I want to say it with swagger, like they do in Brooklyn, or Philly, or Miami.  I want to say it so bad.  And sometimes I do.  The problem is…well, when I say what all Houstonians want the rest of the country to believe is true about our city I end up feeling so….fraudulent.  Because truth be told, and lets tell the truth Houston, the fourth largest American city isn’t anywhere near a cultural hub for music, film, art, fashion, or entertainment and lets just leave out Avant garde altogether.   At best, Houstonians  pride themselves on being “culinary experts” or “foodies”, which I would have to agree judging from the proliferation of bbq, Chinese buffet, Cajun, Vietnamese, sushi, steak, seafood,  fast food, and  generic Americana restaurants .  Perhaps this is the reason Houston tops the list year after year of “The Fattest City in America.”  Yet, I digress.

I know it’s not just me.  There are a growing number of people who do flock to the city.  They come from the cultural cities all along the west coast and the eastern seaboard.   There are people moving to Houston from collapsed economies, such as Detroit and New Orleans, who come to Houston for affordable, spacious housing, for stable employment in oil and gas and health care.  They come from all over for exemplary schools found in the suburban sprawl that continues to blanket any piece of endless land that is sure to be developed soon enough.  I mean, let’s face it, the worst school in HISD is still better than schools in Baltimore, the Bronx, the entire state of Mississippi, and LA proper put together. And there is many other practical solid reasons why people are flocking to Houston and none of those reasons are bad reasons.  Who doesn’t want an economically solid, nice place to raise a family or start a family, or relocate as a young professional starting her or his career?  All this is fine and dandy and wonderful and makes lists of “cities on the move” and this is all good. 

But, this isn’t what I’m saying.  What I’m saying is that it’s time for Houston to set a new standard, change up the same ole same ole, raise the bar.  What we have learned in history about great civilizations we have learned from the art its artists left behind.  Egyptian artists left us the beauty of hieroglyphics sketched out in the walls of magnificent pyramids that told of their life, their culture, and their struggles.  The Mayans left us with an intricate calendar which is the foundation of Western history.   The Romans,  the dynasties of the Far East, the great cultures of Russia which is still evidenced throughout St. Petersburg and Moscow, England the Great, the royalty of the Ethiopians and other kingdoms throughout Africa, the Native Americans   - all great civilizations, which have been studied, analyzed, adopted, incorporated, and copied,  have its artists to thanks for its remnants. 

So while Houstonians and those that come to Houston for “A Better Life” go about making a living, going to and from work, day in and day out,  we run the risk of creating a colorless, lifeless, society that says nothing about us, that says nothing about our inner life, our imaginations, our ideas, or creativity.  We have nothing to show for the diverse well of art that is unique to our collective experience of living and being in Houston.  There is history here, not just the cowboys and the wards and oil – there are people who have come here and who have been here that are ready for something….unnamed , not known, slightly smaller than everything’s bigger, or familiar, or the tradition of this how We’ve Always Done It.   It’s time for inspiration to grow from unlikely street corners, and gentrified urbane loft living, and the Metro Rail, and the grit of city life.  There are MC’s with experimental  beats to flow to,  rock and rollers bangin it out like Cobain in the Heights, filmmakers making unsafe movies about real shit with courageous actors unafraid of a stigma like being downlow, or sadly still segregated in this moderne unmodern city,  painters brushing away the convention of sellable nice art with violent strokes  to shock, to ignite the unsuspecting viewer , a  pret a porter with a never- seen- before completely fresh out the box Houstonian sensibility.

I can only pose the question of what is to be done.  The answers will come from us – the musicians, the filmmakers, the actors, the writers, the painters, and the dancers – the artists who can also only pose the question to city officials, to suburbanites, to the old guard - to make space in the city budgets for culture.  It is necessary.  It is vital.  Houstonians need to hold a magnifying glass up close to this growing issue.  There is frustration mounting among the burgeoning artist community here that are throwing in the towel and moving away to other cities that value art and culture, taking with them a standard of excellence that deserves to stay here.  A serious shift in consciousness and perspective need to take place and it needs to start at the top – from the mayor, representatives, councilmen and councilwomen – to push for profitable opportunities for artists in this city to earn a livelihood by way of a valuable contribution to society.  The most glaring oversight and obvious place to start is the film industry.  Raise the tax incentive for God sakes in order to attract big budget, award winning film productions to come to Houston and employ Houston filmmakers as first AD’s, 2^nd AD’s, editors, DP’s, grips, sound engineers, and the like.  Our neighbor to the east, Louisiana, raised the tax incentive to 30% from day one of production, in order to boost the devastated economy in the wake of Katrina.  Today, Shreveport, believe it or not, has become the “Hollywood of the South.”  Go figure.   Allow space in the city budget to fund and partner with investors in theatre so that theatre professionals such as stage managers, costume designers, and set designers will be able to work on more projects at a fair rate.  Find a way to build specialized schools for music and dance so that young people can be properly trained for careers in the arts.  Create programs with industry professional to outreach to schools to excite, train, and educate children and adults about artistic disciplines.  Form a coalition between the artist communities and liaisons in government to bring fresh energy to Houston.  Revitalize, organize, and give birth to something Houston has never seen before.  The cowboys and bbq have been around a long long time now.  But, we can be more, much more.  Until we find the courage to make the rhetoric a reality and recognize that art and culture is the heartbeat and foundation of progression and innovation, Houston will be remembered as nothing more than a dinosaur, at once mighty and extinct.