Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

https://www.youcaring.com/funkparade-1121941

Fundraising for Funk Parade

So now DC is finally suing the Howard Theatre Restoration Board years after they should have looked into the board, developer Ellis, & Blue Note's handling of the theatre

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/district-suit-alleges-mismanagement-at-howard-theatre/2018/03/07/b9619ab4-224d-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html?utm_term=.c10deef118a2

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/20995599/the-scene-report-des-demonas-dupont-brass-and-more

Short blurbs from me on recent releases by Dupont Brass, Des Demonas, Dogo du Togo, and Veronneau

Events DC did not have any go-go bands at the S x SW showcases. The rappers they had were all Md residents.

Lots of DC area rap

http://dcmusicdownload.com/2018/03/28/ladies-to-the-front-meet-the-emcees-igniting-d-c-s-hip-hop-scene/

Funk Parade 2018 is back on, thanks in part to $25 thousand from Mayor Bowser and DC government

City Winery opens in the old Love club on Okie Street NE at the end of April. The neighborhood has changed. They'll be narrowly booking mainly acts that appeal to over 50 mainstream white folk-rock fans

TroubleFunk recorded a Tiny Desk today.

Meanwhile Events DC told me they didn’t have a go-go band at S x SW this year because the stage they used was too small.

https://local.washingtoncitypaper.com/publication/best-of-dc/2018/arts-and-entertainment/best-street-corner-percussionist

That's Malik Dope Drummer Stewart (whom you should follow on Instagram)

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/21000633/being-a-woman-in-the-gogo-scene-is-an-uphill-battle

Interesting read

Malik Dope Drummer Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_JZR5hX0Sc&app=desktop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_JZR5hX0Sc

Friday the 13th-- Pretty Girls Crank Too (women in go-go event) with Beladona, Ms. Kim, Michelle Blackwell, Pretty Nikki, Lysette, Kee Kee and more at Paradigm Lounge in Upper Marlboro, MD

Messthetics at Black Cat

* Ezko at Songbyrd (rap)

* Backyard Band and TOB at Aqua in DC (go-go and bounce-beat go-go)

RE at 4 for free today Saturday at Freedom Plaza Emancipation Day Concert after parade

curmudgeon - sad news about Rory Felton

Sure is. He played sax with RE and Little Benny

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/man-fatally-stabbed-early-friday-in-southwest-dc/2018/04/20/c2cd23f8-4489-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0e1b9f1895be

Betty Green has passed away (after being sick for awhile). She was the self-proclaimed bass-playing Grandmother from r'n'b/funk cover group Mother's Band and Show. For a brief period in the 80s they were managed by Jeff Krulik. The band frequently played gigs for the mentally impaired patients at St. Elizabeth's. There's a Youtube video of an indoor gig there. I went with Jeff to a Mother's Band outdoor on the grounds gig there, once. She was a sweet, nice person.

Tony Java, a DC reggae/ dancehall promoter who did a Reggae Awards event circa 2005, has passed away too.

WPFW interim PD K. Stitt just dumped the Saturday 4 pm to 6 pm soul oldies show "Baby Boomer Boogie " , hosted by onetime Roadhouse Oldies clerk Scooter Macgruder and soul music filmmaker Beverly Johnson. No announcement of what will replace the show. Rumors of other changes.

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/21003804/rip-rory-dc-felton

Go-go musicians talk to Alona W. about the influence of the recently deceased Rory DC Felton, go-go sax and cowbell player with Rare Essence and Little Benny & the Masters and others. He was recently killed

So Funk Parade needs help to better recruit DC high School marching bands (Ballou marched in first one in 2014, but not since. Eastern High has been in a few. But they only had Phelps this year) for next year, but I still had a good time. Eleanor Roosevelt High from MD step squad were great in parade, while on stages around U I saw a crazy set from bounce-beat and more band TOB, solid go-go from all female band Be'la Dona, old-school sax man Ron Holloway (he's played with both late nut Root Boy Slim and jazz cats like Sonny Rollins) ; Crush Funk Brass, Malik Dope Drummer, and jazz-go-go hybrid band Jo-Go Project (led by Elijah Balbed)

Funk Parade should also reach out to the old DC Caribbean Carnival crowd and get them involved. Plus they need to better reach the WHUR and other old r'n'b outlet types to get more old-school DC folks there. It was cool that some Howard graduates in caps and gowns stopped by.

Had a fun night Friday at Artes de Cuba at Kennedy Center too. They have art everywhere, a cool old car outside, and on Thursday nights through Saturday nights from 9:30 pm to 12 midnight a Noches Cubanas room on the atrium level with great free music and mojitos for sale (with cool Cuban movie posters and more on walls and other Cuban sculptures and art)

It's that time of the year: Fort Reno

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1950118003/fort-reno-concert-series-50th-anniversary-fundrais

Nice John Kelly article in W Post on the return of DC rockabilly musician Tex Rubinowitz. He's gonna perform at the sold-out Billy Hancock tribute on Sunday.

Hamil Harris, who wrote about gospel well for the Washington Post for years, just did a nice City Paper cover story on DC gospel quartets (who mostly perform out in PG County MD now) . I went to a big national act gospel show at Scripture in Maryland. Those bills are mentioned in article. I follow the promoter on Facebook now so I can keep up

DC based Palestinian oud player and singer Huda Asfour debuted her new album Kouni at Atlas last night. Wow. She had a guest string section, guest jazz horns, and others plus great video visuals behind her. Ambitious. Some was classic Arabic Music, some rocked, some jazzy ballad like

Busy weekend. I also saw Los Van Van from Cuba at Kennedy Center, and the Billy Hancock tribute with Tex Rubinowitz and others at Pearl Street.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/oldies-are-goodies-at-the-monthly-music-fest-at-gees-club/2018/04/23/c258db2a-4708-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?utm_term=.600d83cd5ceb

I used to go to the old Gee’s at 4400 Rhode Island Ave. The current Gee’s in Hyattsville has a soul oldies event on the 4th Sunday of the month

Hardway Connection play at Lamont's down in Pomonkey, MD every other Sunday from 6 to 10 (3 sets). Had fun there seeing them Sunday do a mix of original southern soul and 60s and 70s soul covers (Al Green and Sam & Dave)

On June 7 the lawsuit by the non-profit associated with the Howard Theatre against the company hired to run the place (a DC based entity associated with the Blue Note out of NYC) goes to hearing in DC. The defendant is allegedly 1 mil behind in rent (per J. O'Connell of Washington Post tweet)

Earlier this year the DC Attorney General, Karl Racine, had brought a lawsuit against the Howard Theatre non-profit for its alleged negligence in allowing the entity running the theatre to get behind on rent and bills. I wonder what is happening with that lawsuit?

WAMU Arts reporter M. Lefrak has a story out about Arena Stage and in it says that pre-Wharf all DC southwest had other than Arena Stage was a "couple of nightclubs" and the old fisherman's wharf. Ugh, no names for the clubs and no elaboration on their cultural and social importance. Zanzibar had African, Caribbean and African-American music; H20 (once Hogates) had big name Latinx acts; Channel Inn had old-school DC r'n'b.

The old seafood wharf remains important too.

Here's a 2010 piece I wrote. 8 years later many don't know this.

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/13074513/zanzibar-on-the-waterfront-closes-down

Nena Perry-Brown on Michelle Blackwell go-go and r'n'b album

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/21008175/on-her-debut-album-michelle-blackwell-puts-her-unique-stamp-on-gogo

Fort Reno schedule posted. 7 gigs. Kickstarter made over $13,000

Messthetics naturally drew the biggest crowd I've seen in a long while to Fort Reno

Call me obsessed, but it bugs me that the Fort Dupont Park concert schedule meanwhile has not even been announced yet alone started. It's in SE DC so the right media folks don't care.

Thursday is nostalgia and cake night at Fort Reno.

Too many DMV rappers to keep up with— I give up. Here’s a list of young ones in an article about a contest for DMV rap producers

Real quick, who’s your favorite young rapper from the DMV? Maybe you said Rezt, or YBN Cordae, or Baby Boof, or the Khan, or Miss Kaniyah, or El Cousteau, or Marty Heem, or WiFiGawd, or Shabazz, or Lil Dude, or Chachi, or Ciscero, or Lil Xelly, or Goonew, or Chelly the MC.

Oops, here’s the Chris R story
https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/music/madeinthedmv-is-looking-for-the-perfect-beat/2018/07/17/265fc9ca-852b-11e8-9e80-403a221946a7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.59b030771ecb

Thankfully that noise ordinance got tabled (though it might be up for discussion in the fall. I don't get people moving downtown to Gallery Plce area and then griping about street musicians).

Malik Dope Drummer, one of my fave streetcorner percussionists is over in Paris and then going to South Africa as part of a special music program I think.

Still no Fort Dupont Park concert season announcement, and no news on Carter Barron fundraising.

FOrt Reno Night of 100 Cakes was fun. Unbilled act--Ian Mackaye and Amy Farina from Evens did a Lungfish cover and another song. John Davis with Chris Richards was good too. Got there late and missed Betsy Wright, Jerry Busher and others I think.

MD rapper Rico Nasty sold out the Fillmore the other night. She also signed to Atlantic Records.

Flasher were good despite wet weather and technical problems at Fort Reno last night. They have been busy touring the US.

Fort Dupont Park is showing the movie Black Panther Saturday, but the rest of the Saturdays into September are labeled "tba".

There's a DC go-go panel coming up August 25 at 3 at the Benning Library.

I am going to assume you heard the Kojo show on Summer in the Park / Fort Reno the other day? It was nice.

Actually read that it was happening but haven't heard it yet. Am hoping/thinking it is archived. Although as much as I like Fort Reno, and I do, I must confess that I became quite a contrarian at a Shaw Library DC music salon awhile back hearing Amanda proclaim the superiority of hanging out there, over anywhere else in DC. I am guessing she never went to Carter Barron when it was open, and has never been to Fort Dupont Park.

Fair enough. Agree that Amanda can be a trifle one-track. Having the USPS rep there meant they could talk about other things, and did.

Hello there DC dwellers!

I am in town and managed to get out of work early to catch a band called Campdogzz this evening at DC9. The band is a Chicago-based alt-country group whose brand new album In Rounds was sent to me as a promo and I really enjoy it, especially the vocalist Jessica Price.

Spotify link to new album:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3jaUBuWZpQSQnm10zF3uP9

If any ILM/ILX folks will be there, say Hi to me! I'm the guy in the Feelies shirt!

If I can swing it tomorrow as well, I'm gonna try and catch Alice Bag. Probably gonna wear a different shirt though.

My email address here works and I am reachable through the Facebook as well if anyone wants to ply me with liquor.

Well I went and had a wonderful time. Great band, were nice to chat with. I ate at the Po Boy place next door which was really terrific and brought a dozen hipster donuts back for this morning at work.

I also managed to get out of work tonight and I can see either Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the Baltimore Soundstage or Alice Bag at Comet Ping Pong. Not sure what I'm doing yet - GYBE involves a longer drive and I haven't seen them before whereas Alice Bag is in DC but I have seen her before and she won't be onstage until midnight which will be a late night.

I'll figure it out but I am leaning towards GYBE.

They’re unbelievably boring live

Literally nothing happens and everyone just stands and watches. GY!BE might be the worst concert experience I’ve ever had

X-post - hope you had fun whichever you chose. I attended friends anniversary celebration last night. 1 of the couple had gone to high school with Guitarist Thalia Zedek. Thalia was there and did 2 songs solo .

GYBE was a lovely, spiritual experience. Sorry no DC ILXors wanted to hang out but oh well.