"BELIEVING IN THE DREAM"
Breaking records, racking up the most steals! Read more out this standout in the WNBA. Click on the link below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_McCoughtry
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| Courtesy: WNBA |
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| Courtesy: WNBA |
News/Entertainment/Restaurant Scorecard/Varion/Celebrity News/What's Hot!
Saturday, October 24, 2015
ANGEL McCOUGHTRY AND THE WNBA'S "ATLANTA DREAM!"
Monday, October 12, 2015
UP CLOSE WITH RAHEEM DeVAUGHN-"LOVE, SEX, PASSION TOUR"
KING OF LOVE WORKING OVERTIME AGAINST "DOMESTIC VIOLENCE"
(Chattanooga, TN.)--October is Domestic Violence Month and no one is working harder to be "THE VOICE" of victims and survivors than R&B Singer Raheem DeVaughn. PRESS PLAY and Check out Varion's candid talk with the singer minutes from the stage about why he's a "Single man on a Single Mission" to raise the awareness against Domestic Violence! Spread the word, tell a friend VISION/VOICE/VARION..."always on, always connected!"
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| Track 29-Chattanooga, TN. |
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| Photo Credit: RollingOut.Com |
Sunday, April 26, 2015
STELLAR LINE-UP FOR JAZZANOOGA 2015
JAZZANOOGA'S "SUNDAY BEST!"
(Chattanooga, TN.)-Jazzanooga 2015 is almost in the history books, but now before one of the biggest headliners in the music festival's 4 year history takes center stage. Take 6 is the 10 time Grammy Award winning; multi-platinum selling, ensemble celebrating 25 years in the industry with a stop in Chattanooga. Jazz and gospel lovers like VISION/VOICE/VARION applaud Jazzanooga organizers for truly "presenting their Sunday Best" with climax of the music festival. The "smooth and sultry sounds" of Gretchen Parlato and Alan Hampton are also apart of the 2015 line-up.
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| Photo Credit: Jazzanooga.org |
Jazzanooga started in 2010 as a one day community festival and has grown to a month-long celebration that honors and promotes Chattanooga as "the destination for arts and culture" during Jazz Appreciation Month in April. Ticket sales support local youth Jazz education activities and music scholarships.
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| Gretchen Parlato PHOTO CREDIT: Jazzanooga.org |
The April 26th performance will be held at The Robert Kirk Walker Community Theater, a smaller more intimate venue at the famed Memorial Auditorium. Organizers tell VISION/VOICE/VARION they are committed to making certain every single note of Jazzanooga 2015 is "savored" until the last performance. Tickets are still available at the theater box office. For more information on this incredible event that rivals New Orleans and Memphis in May visit: www.jazzanooga.org.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
JAZZANOOGA EXTRA: Eric Roberson Improvises Song at Jazzanooga
(Chattanooga, TN.) Eric Roberson is truly an incredible talent. In addition to a "Biggie Smalls" melody, he asked the audience to participate and give hime 6 phases to add to an impromptu song. PRESS PLAY and check out the results in this JAZZANOOGA EXTRA!
JAZZANOOGA 2015: ERIC ROBERSON
APRIL-JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH
(Chattanooga, TN.)--April is Jazz Appreciation Month and it has never sounded better! For years music lovers have trekked to "Jazz Meccas" like New Orleans and Memphis. Surprisingly, Chattanooga, Tennessee is making headlines as one of the top arts and culture destinations in the South.
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| Photo Credit: Eric Roberson Music |
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| PHOTO CREDIT: NICOLE BROWN |
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Check Out The Stellar Awards Easter Sunday on TVOne
ASCAP MORNING GLORY RECEPTION
6TH ANNUAL
BREAKFAST RECEPTION HONORS 2015 STELLAR AWARDS NOMINEES IN LAS VEGAS
PASTOR SMOKIE NORFUL AND THE WILLIAMS BROTHERS RECEIVED ASCAP SONGWRITER AWARDS
Grammy Award Winner Michelle Williams hosted The 6th Annual ASCAP Morning Glory
Photo Credit: George Bekich, Picture Group
(LAS VEGAS, NV— March 30, 2015) The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) honored some of gospel music’s most prestigious names at the 6th annual ASCAP Morning Glory Breakfast reception in Las Vegas, NV at The Orleans Hotel & Casino on March 28. The breakfast, which was one of the premiere events leading up to the 30th annual Stellar Awards, honored revered Pastor Smokie Norful with the ASCAP “Spirit of Song” Award, legendary quartet The Williams Brothers with the ASCAP “Gospel Icon” Award, and recognized a multitude of other 2015 Stellar Awards honorees. Hosted by GRAMMY-Award winner Michelle Williams, the breakfast also featured special performances by powerhouse gospel recording artist Dorinda Clark-Cole and acclaimed male vocalist, William McDowell.
“We’re very excited to honor so many gospel greats and 2015 Stellar Award nominees at our annual Morning Glory Breakfast,” stated Nicole George-Middleton, ASCAP VP, Rhythm & Soul/Urban, who regretfully couldn't be in attendance, but left the event in the great hands of ASCAP Associate Directors Jennifer Goicoechea, Moya Nkruma, Joncier Rienecker and Director Jonathan Jones.
ASCAP’s honorees were also nominated for Stellar Awards: Pastor Smokie Norful for Artist of the Year, Contemporary CD of the Year – “Forever Yours,” Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year; and The Williams Brothers for Group/Duo of the Year, Quartet of the Year, Traditional Group/Duo of the Year. Morning Glory Breakfast performer William McDowell was nominated for Praise and Worship CD of the Year – “Withholding Nothing,” Traditional CD of the Year – “Withholding Nothing,” and Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year.
ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Director of
Creative Services Jonathan Jones presents Pastor Smokie Norful with the ASCAP
“Spirit of Song" Award. Photo credit: George Bekich, PictureGroup
Also in attendance were other ASCAP Stellar Award nominees including Larry D. Trotter (Traditional Choir of the Year), Charles Butler (Contemporary Choir of the Year), Darnell Davis (Contemporary Choir of the Year), Harmony Samuels (Song of the Year – “Say Yes”), Rick Robinson (Producer of the Year), STL3 (Youth Project of the Year – “All Things New”), Tasha Page-Lockhart(Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year, Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year, New Artist of the Year), Warryn Campbell (Producer of the Year, Song of the Year – “Help”), Will Bogle (Producer of the Year), along with recording artists Kirk Franklin, Shawn Stockman and The Walls Group, songwriter Gerald Haddon and motivational speaker/preacher DeVon Franklin.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVER: RHODES SCHOLAR CREATING A LEGACY- FULFILLING A DREAM
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Promise of Desegregation Leads to Oxford
By Nicole Brown, MPA and Dr. Felicia McGhee, Ph.D(February 2015)--The media has a constant flow of stories about young African-American males, but they rarely depict positive images of our black youth. For some, the Millennial generation has been defined by saggy pants and tattoos. However, one Tennessee college student is an example of all things right with this generation. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) student Robert Fisher, was recently named a Rhodes Scholar (32 scholars were chosen out of 877 applicants). He is also one of five African-American college students who received this honor.
Fisher is the third student from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to earn this distinction, and the first African-American student from the university.
The desegregation of the university (formerly known as the University of Chattanooga), was recently chronicled in a documentary, “Reaching the Light: The Desegregation of the University of Chattanooga.” In 1886, black applicants Louis Gibbs and William Wilson applied to the University of Chattanooga (UC) but were denied based on race. The United States Supreme Court’s 1954 decision of Brown vs. The Board of Education recognized the struggles minorities have endured with equality and access to education.
Photos: First black applicants to the University of Chattanooga Louis Gibbs and William Wilson
Nine years after that decision, Horace Traylor, then president of Chattanooga City
College (a black community college),applied to UC but was denied admission based
on race. In 1963, after a second application attempt, UC admitted Traylor as the first
African American student in its graduate program.
Generations before Fisher was born, local African American pioneers like Traylor were creating a path for a young man whose grandparents graduated from segregated schools. Now fifty years later, Robert Fisher stands on the shoulders of those pioneers.
Fisher was raised by parents who served in the military in Clarksville, Tenn. He enrolled at UTC as a Brock Scholar in Fall 2011, with a major in Political Science and minors in History and Africana Studies. The faculty, staff and students instantly recognized Fisher as the powerful representative of his generation. Fisher is completing his second term as the Student Government Association president. He has worked with three Chancellors, city and county mayors, the governor’s office and is a Presidential Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.
Photo from UTC: Fisher greets President Barack Obama
April 2014, Fisher was selected as a Truman scholar. He is the fourth student from
UTC to receive this honor. Truman scholars are recognized for their academic
success, outstanding student leadership and potential in public service leadership.
Fisher is aware of the new spotlight and has embraced the opportunity to reflect how he sees America from the Millennial perspective. During his message at the Fall 2014 commencement, Fisher challenged his peers to “Think, Talk and Act.” He stated, “Think about the systems and structures that inform--or misinform--your perspectives of other people. Talk about race, gender, sexuality, ability--because yes, all these things still matter. Act because thinking and talking without action, just leaves us with regurgitated thoughts and repeated conversations.”
Fisher will enter Oxford University in October 2015 to pursue the Master of Philosophy
in Comparative Social Policy. Sixty years after the landmark Brown vs. Board of
Education verdict, and 51 years after UC admitted its first African-American student,
Robert Fisher, is the result of a promise fulfilled.
Fisher is aware of the new spotlight and has embraced the opportunity to reflect how he sees America from the Millennial perspective. During his message at the Fall 2014 commencement, Fisher challenged his peers to “Think, Talk and Act.” He stated, “Think about the systems and structures that inform--or misinform--your perspectives of other people. Talk about race, gender, sexuality, ability--because yes, all these things still matter. Act because thinking and talking without action, just leaves us with regurgitated thoughts and repeated conversations.”
Authors Relevant Experience:
Nicole Brown is the Academic Advisor and Adjunct Faculty member in the Communication Department at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is former radio personality “Khole Brown” where she worked for Brewer Media Group stations WJTT- FM and WMPZ-FM.
Brown created UTC’s first student run, web-based radio station The Perch in 2009. She is also the executive producer of the documentary 9 United for Equality: Reflections on the Struggle for Civil Rights in Chattanooga (2014). Before joining the Communication Department full time, Brown created several diversity workshops for the University while working in the Office of Equity and Diversity.
Dr. Felicia McGhee is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Department at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. McGhee is a former reporter of WTVC- ABC affiliate, WTOK-ABC Affiliate and WHOA-ABC Affiliate. She is also the former host of Tennessee Insider, a public affairs show on WTCI- PBS affiliate.
McGhee is also the co-producer of the documentary Reaching the Light: The Story of the Desegregation of the University of Chattanooga (2012). Dr. McGhee’s research focuses on media framing of the Civil Rights Movement. She has currently published in The Alabama Review, Mobilization and Media Watch Journal.
Remembering Malcolm X 50 Years After His Assassination
A Look Back at the Charasmatic and Controversial Leader
CBS NEWS | February 21, 2014
New York, New York--"By any means necessary!" Four words that put a huge divide among a people during one of the most turbulent times in American history, the Civil Rights Movement.
For so long as a child growing up in the late 70's, I was intrigued by the two messages for equality that were anything but equal. Martin Luther King Jr's message of non violence, while Malcolm X who also wanted to see the injustices eliminated sought "equality "by any means necessary!"
Two foot soldiers in the war for "civil rights," but with two different approaches. One leading a nation of "black and white standing in solidarity. The other leading a "nation of Islam" standing in defiance.
50 years after Malcolm's assassination and MLK's historic walk across the Emund Pettus Bridge, I have truly discovered there was room for both. Press play and watch Malcom X's daughter Attallah Shabazzz as she clarifies and defines her father's place in history as a charismatic, but controversial leader.
CLICK HERE TO SEE CBS CORRESPONDENT VLADIMIR DUTHIERS' REPORT
REMEMBERING MALCOLM X
Sunday, February 8, 2015
A Conversation With "Sweet Gina Brown"
Black Music Month’s Featured Artist
A CONVERSATION WITH “SWEET GINA BROWN”
Of all the performers out there, few can rock you out of your seat like the “one and only” Gina Brown! Her high energy shows have satisfied audiences from Dubai to Daphne! That’s right, for more than 20 years she’s left adoring fans all over the world dancing in the aisles and begging for more of the “Gina Experience!"
Anyone who knows Gina knows she’s been singing as long as she’s been talking! Some might even say this New Orleans native was “born to sing.” No one knows that more than me, Gina Brown and I have been best friends since we were 14 years old.
Through the years I’ve had the privilege of watching her career flourish. She began performing at family functions and high school talent shows. As an Air Force brat, she travelled the world, but she launched her professional career in Mobile, Alabama where we both grew up. We shared a chuckle recently about how she started out her professional career as a wedding singer. “My first paying gig was singing at a wedding with vocalist Vincent White,” recalled Gina. I only got twenty-five dollars for that gig, but at the time I was happy to have it. Honestly I love singing and I would have done it for free,” chuckled Brown.
Though we’ve talked almost every day for the last 25 years, I recently discovered just how much I didn’t know about my longtime friend. Anyone familiar with her history knows Gina got her start in New Orleans by performing with noted jazz musicians like violinist Michael Ward. She has also shared the stage with other noted artist such as Gerald L. Levert; Jon B, Pattie Austin, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia of American Idol, just to name a few.
She also took it to “another level” when she formed her own band more than eight years ago. She has released a live CD –“Gina Brown and “Anutha Level”. She also currently has two singles, “Can’t Stop Thinking of You” and the very popular “G Slide”, Gina’s own line dance produced by Southern Soul recording artist Mel Waiters.
But, few people know one of Gina’s biggest joys comes from sharing the stage with some noted musicians whose names are no longer plastered across the marquee. “At least two times a year, my band and I visit nursing homes. It’s important to me to give back and to say thank you to those who came before me. A lot of people in those centers opened doors for me and other artists are still making a living in New Orleans today. I try to remember that anytime I step up to a microphone at the House of Blues, or during any of my other performances in the city. I’m standing on the shoulders of some giants and that’s just my way of letting them know you haven’t been forgotten and somebody still cares,” said Brown.
Another revelation about this breakthrough artist, Gina comes from a family steeped in New Orleans' musical history. “My mother, Sandra Jones, was famous in the gospel circuit in this area.” She was a child prodigy who sung with Andre’ Crouch. She also performed with Mahalia Jackson and became a recording artist” Brown noted.
Brown isn't the only child of music royalty who's keeping the tradition alive. “Bourbon Street is known worldwide and there are a lot of big named artists whose children are still here. Everyone from Irma Thomas to Marva Wright, “The Queen of New Orleans Blues” her daughter Gerry McKey picked up where her mother left off. Fat’s Domino’s son also performs in New Orleans too. It’s that kind of rich heritage that can’t be ignored and continues to separate New Orleans from any other place in the world and it’s really cool to witness,” Brown said.
New Orleans’ rich heritage is also why she jumped at the chance to join the cast of the wildly successful production of “The Joints Jumpin”! It’s a classic celebration of New Orleans rhythm and blues. For nearly three years, Gina has been part of a famous ensemble of top New Orleans singers and musicians showcasing artists like Etta James, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, The Dixie Cups. Chart topping performers who had hits which helped “The Crescent City” define its place in world class jazz and R&B almost a century ago. “I love “The Joints Jumpin” because it reminds us of some great songwriters like Bo Dillard who wrote a couple of hits Etta James recorded including “At Last”. There’s also Alan Toussaint who still has ties to New Orleans today. He wrote a string of hits for everybody from Aaron Neville to James Brown and the Pointer Sisters. It’s that kind of history that truly makes it just a little bit more exciting to be in New Orleans than anywhere else,” exclaimed Brown.
Her love of “The Crescent City” is what naturally had Gina advocating and fighting for many of New Orleans' singers and musicians following Hurricane Katrina. Musicians like Irma Thomas, Alan Toussaint were displaced. So, Gina fought to become part of The New Orleans Musician’s Clinic. It is a healthcare program that helped struggling New Orleans musicians, singers and songwriters to get free health screening. “That was so rewarding to actually fight for the money to make a difference in the lives of musicians who didn’t have a place to go when it came to just their health screenings, blood pressure, diabetes, regular check-ups and assistance with their medicine as the city was trying to rebuild,” said Brown.
Its' also been rewarding for me to watch as my best friend has become an outstanding teacher. Gina has been showcased as a local judge for BET’s “Sunday Best”. It’s the Black Entertainment Television Network’s gospel version of American Idol! Together with a panel of other seasoned industry veterans, Gina passes on solid advice to many of those kids who also dream of making it to the big time.
She also is known to take a number of artists under her wing. “Every opportunity I get I go back and pull someone into the industry. I try to teach them what to do and what not to do. I have to do that because somebody helped me. I’ve worked with several artists who are making a name for themselves in the city including Franklin Davis, IV, Teresa Betts, and Anthony Bailey from The Apollo. One of my biggest success stories is Kourtney Hart. Kourtney just signed with Jive Records,” said Brown.
Her talent coaching skills have come in handy as the third generation of Brown family performers gets ready to take the stage. We're talking about her daughter Tyler. “She’s only 16 and she’s already a triple threat; Tyler can sing, dance and act! Though her father wants her to pursue being a doctor or a lawyer, I want it to be her decision. But, when and if she’s ready, I’ll be here to remind her of the shoulders she’s standing on as a third generation performer in this family, plus the rich history and heritage of the city we both call home!
To get your dose of the "Gina Brown experience” be sure to Click onto the enclosed link and website for a look at Gina Brown’s complete performance schedule at www.ginabrownonline.com , www.neworleansjazzcafe.com
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
VISION, VOICE, VARION....."REMEMBERING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR"
HONORING "THE DREAMER"
(Atlanta, GA.)--The Observance of "The Dreamer's" Birthday is almost in the history books, but first Varion Walton gives us a look back at the week the nation called "King Holiday!"
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