By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
The Grammy Museum will celebrate the Iconic Artists Group release of “Nat King Cole‘s Live at the Blue Note Chicago” on July 10 with a panel featuring music director of the stars Michael Bearden (Madonna, Michael Jackson, and currently Lady Gaga) and others discussing the creative process behind the album.
Featured songs meticulously restored from the never-before-heard 70-year-old audio of the 1953 performance include Unforgettable,” “It’s Only A Paper Moon,” “Sweet Lorraine,” “Mona Lisa,” “Too Young,” “Straighten Up And Fly Right,” “Nature Boy” and “Route 66.”
One of the most identifiable and memorable voices of the 20th century, Nat King Cole recorded nearly 40 albums and over 150 singles that reached Billboard’s pop, R&B and country charts and sold more than 50 million copies.
As the first Black man to host a radio show and a national television show, NBC’s “The Nat King Cole Show,” he was a civil rights pioneer. Cole appeared in several films, including “St. Louis Blues” (where he starred as “father of the blues” W.C. Handy) and “Cat Ballou.” He won the Grammy Award for Best Performance for “Midnight Flyer” and was honored with a Special Achievement Award from the Golden Globes.
He was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Science and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Visit GrammyMuseum.org for more details.
COMING SOON: After mixed reactions at the Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded return to moviemaking, “Megalopolis,” has found a distributor in Lionsgate, which will release it in theaters Sept. 27. The visually impressive film described as “a Roman epic fable set in an imagined modern America,” features Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza and a reunion of famed “Midnight Cowboy” stars Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.
CLIPPETTES: Grammy-Award winners PJ Morton, Terence Blanchard, Jon Batiste, Trombone Shorty and more New Orleans music makers have teamed to record the soundtrack for “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure” — a new themed ride at Walt Disney World and soon to open at Disneyland Resort based on the film “The Princess and the Frog” …
Special guests Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff perform at The Forum on July 5 in support of New Kids On The Block …
Smooth jazz keyboardist Brian Simpson plays Spaghettini’s on July 6 …
Grammy-winning Godmother of Soul Patti LaBelle returns to the Hollywood Bowl on July 7 for a dazzling night under the stars …
Sunset Comedy Night with Craig Robinson, Patton Oswalt and special guests comes to Catalina Jazz Club July 9 …
The Rolling Stones: Hackney Diamonds ’24 tour (sponsored by AARP) arrives at SoFi Stadium on July 10 (with soulful openers The War and Treaty) and on July 13 (with all-girl group The Linda Lindas) …
Also July 10, comic actor Kumail Nanjiani is doing this again at Largo …
Missy Elliott’s Out of This World – The Experience, featuring Ciara and Busta Rhymes with special guest Timbaland, comes to Crypto.com Arena July 11, as Tate McRae’s Think Later World Tour hits The Greek, Ramy Youssef illuminates The Peppermint Club, and the Grammy Museum presents An Evening with Judith Hill.
TASTY QUIP: “When ‘Scandal’ first came out, for a lot of people, Olivia Pope was the Black woman they knew best. Until they spent an hour with her every week, they hadn’t allowed a Black woman to spend that much time in their home. And she was a real human being, beyond the label of ‘Black woman.’ [She had] complexity, nuance, flaws, brilliance. She was aspirational and also such a mess.” – KERRY WASHINGTON to Bustle
TC ON TV: July 5 – “Back To Black” (Peacock): The biopic of the late British singer Amy Winehouse, starring Marisa Abela, comes to streaming. “Friday Night Vibes” (TBS): Superhero films “Black Adam” and “Hancock” form this night’s double feature. “Down In The Valley” (Starz): A groundbreaking new six-episode docu-series hosted by Nicco Annan (“P-Valley”) that attempts to pull back the curtain on the surprising but always intriguing people and places that make the Deep South a place where anything can happen and usually does. “Roots of Comedy with Jesus Trejo” (PBS): Loved last week’s episode! Turn in for some thoughtful laughs from Adam Pasi and Sierra Katow.
July 7 – “Delicious Miss Brown” (Food): “Bringing The Moms Together” “Uncensored” (TV1): Kandi Burruss “Raising Fame” (TV1): Hosted by Lucille O’Neal (mother of Shaquille O’Neal) and Sonya Curry (mother of Stephen and Seth Curry), this new series gets candid stories from families who raised some of today’s biggest superstars. Tonight’s premiere focuses on Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”) and her road to stardom.
July 8 – “The View” (ABC): Amandla Stenberg (“The Acolyte”) “The Bachelorette” (ABC): The franchise’s first Asian American lead Jenn Tran begins her jet-setting journey to find love as 25 men arrive ready to make a lasting impression. “All American: Homecoming” (CW): The third and final season premieres.
July 9 – “Beat Shazam” (Fox): Teams of hairdressers, twins and priests are locked in a back-and-forth battle to see who can conquer Shazam in this edition of the Jamie Foxx-hosted musical game with daughter Corinne Foxx serving as DJ. “Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC): The evening starts with the retrospective special “Family Feud: Decades of Laughs” hosted by Steve Harvey followed by the 10th season premiere pitting Megan Thee Stallion vs. Ne-Yo and NFL players vs. Olympians. “Bobby’s Triple Threat” (Food/MAX): The third season opens with Bobby Flay’s culinary Titans (Brooke Williamson, Michael Voltaggio and Tiffany Derry) facing off against Marcus Samuelsson for a chance to win $25,000. “Password” (NBC): Roy Wood Jr. vs. Jimmy Fallon “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC): The War and Treaty are performing in advance of their date with the Rolling Stones. For free tickets to their taping at 1:45 p.m., hit up 1iota.com/fanbase/view/12352.
July 10 – “Sunny” (Apple TV+): A 10-episode mystery thriller with a darkly comic bent executive produced by and starring Rashida Jones as an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash. As “consolation” she’s given Sunny, one of a new class of domestic robots made by her husband’s electronics company. An unexpected friendship and dark truth develop. “In The Arena: Serena Williams” (ESPN+): The eight-part series provides the most complete, intimate and compelling account of her legendary career, featuring firsthand perspective from Williams and key figures throughout her life. “Receiver” (Netflix): Follows the 2023 season of NFL receivers Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Amon-Ra St. Brown. “Sneaker Hustle” (Tubi): Selema Masekela explores the history, influence and generational impact of sneaker culture. “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” (ABC): Jimmy Kimmel returns to host this primetime reboot with Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell in the hot seat. “Claim To Fame” (ABC): Twelve more celebrity relatives enter the house concealing their identity and lineage in the quest for $100,000. “Quad Gods” (HBO): Chronicles the world’s first all-quadriplegic E-sports team. “The Real CSI: Miami” (CBS): Real crime scene investigators examine the tragic murder of rising rap superstar XXXTentacion at the age of 20.
July 11 – “Tyler Perry’s Divorce In The Black” (Prime): Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict star in this movie about a woman devastated by her dissolved marriage and stalking ex-husband. “The View” (ABC): Naturi Naughton, Keith Robinson “The 2024 ESPYS” (ABC): Serena Williams hosts the ceremony in which South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley will receive the esteemed Jimmy V Award.
END QUOTE: “It’s all fun and games until people start getting hurt. Remember this, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF! I knew Tupac, I knew Biggie. I partied with them, hung out with them, saw them both 20 minutes before they got shot. Violence is real. Everyone can be touched. Don’t entertain the devil. Walk away from the bulls–t. With peace, with love, with positivity. Life is short … even shorter if you spend your energy on breaking each other down instead of building each other up. Hate seeing our kings at war. We are too few. STOP! And I say this with love.” – MARLON WAYANS on today’s hip-hop feuds to Baller Alert
As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly one million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached at tastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.
Photo by Phillip Harrington/Alamy Stock Photo
