By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Creative Chair For Jazz, Herbie Hancock and Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel are bringing together distinguished artists and guests for Power to the People!, a multidimensional vision of music and social change, May 29 through June 10.
Celebrating the role artists have played and continue to play in advancing social change, civil rights and humanitarian causes, the Power to the People! festival is about imagining the world as it could be and inspiring people to act.
Musical performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall include a recital by organist Nathaniel Gumbs (May 29), J’Nai Bridges with Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic Orchestra (June 2 and 5), guest vocalists Devendra Banhart, Edna Vazquez, iLe, Mon Laferte, Rodrigo Amarante, Silvana Estrada (June 4); and Ted Hearne’s “Place,” created with poet-librettist Saul Williams and director Patricia McGregor with the LA Phil New Music Group (June 7).
Power to the People! also features talks and participatory events at Walt Disney Concert Hall and venues throughout the city including the California African American Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center.
Angela Davis will discuss creativity’s role in social change (June 5 at Walt Disney Concert Hall), Bryonn Bain’s multimedia production “Lyrics from Lockdown” celebrates the release of his book “Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape” (June 2 at Skirball Cultural Center) and Williams offers a reading and leads a conversation about the intersection of art and politics in America (June 9 at CAAM).
Free online programs include a new episode of LA Phil’s Sound/Stage digital concert series, spotlighting Dudamel leading a program curated by Jessie Montgomery highlighting work by Ellen Reid (June 10). A Power to the People! playlist by Alexsandra Mitchell, manager of education and public programs at CAAM, is available online at laphil.com/power.
TASTY QUIP: “Y’all was singing [TLC’s] “No Scrubs” way too aggressively when we was younger to grow up and still pick the baby fathers y’all picked.” – MARTIN LAWRENCE on Twitter
CLIPPETTES: Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue are on the bill of the New Kids On The Block Mixtape 2022 Tour landing May 27 at Crypto.com Arena. Also that night, Steely Dan and Steve Winwood perform at the Hollywood Bowl; Sean Paul promotes his new album at The Novo; Dru Hill sing at The Saban; and Soulja Boy & Friends Memorial Day Weekend Party is going down at The Vermont …
For the first time in 10 years, Atlanta vocalists Anthony David and Algebra Blessett have come together for a just released version of the BeBe & CeCe Winans hit “Heaven.” The two last united in 2011 for the popular wedding song “4 Evermore” …
Kiss N Grind Legends will be held May 28 at The Belasco with Vikter Duplaix, Just Blaze, DJ Printz, Lady G, Pharoahe Monch and Aly-Us. Meanwhile, Mya is at The Saban; and Grupo Firme begin a two-night stand at Sofi Stadium …
Trumpeter, singer Johnny Britt Does Marvin Meets Miles on May 29 at The Venice West …
Pusha T closes the month May 31 at The Novo; as Ravyn Lenae is at The El Rey …
In a can’t miss show previewed in Tasty Clips earlier, Stanley Jordan Plays Jimi [Hendrix] at The Mint on June 1; as rapper Fivio Foreign takes the stage of The Fonda …
Three-time Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and musician Fantastic Negrito (neé Xavier Dphrepaulezz) debuts his new film “White Jesus Black Problems,” followed by an intimate conversation and an acoustic performance on June 2 at the Grammy Museum. Disney+ and Marvel’s “Ms. Marvel” is also having its Hollywood premiere at the El Capitan Theatre …
In celebration of Miles Davis’ 96th birthday, Creative Producer Kentyah and the Gil Evans Estate will present a special once-in-a-lifetime, immersive 360 dome theater performance of “Sketches of Spain: Live!” featuring music legends Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws, Alphonso Johnson and more on June 3 at WisDome.LA.
TASTY QUIP: “This is the first moment I have been allowed to talk about this. Marvel is so top secret, but it’s so exciting. I’m so excited. Can I say who’s stronger? Well, the woman is always stronger. I think Mark Ruffalo would agree. I’ve been a huge Marvel fan forever. I feel so crazy that I can say out loud that I’m in ‘She-Hulk.’ We have this great group of actors. It’s a very women powerful show. … It’s just really a powerful place to be, when you’re dreaming for women.” – RENEE ELISE GOLDSBERRY on CBS’ “The Talk”
TC ON TV: May 27 – “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Disney+): Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprise their roles as the iconic Jedi Master and his young apprentice turned Darth Vader in this series beginning 10 years after the dramatic events of “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.” Joining the cast are Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit”), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (“Straight Outta Compton”), Joel Edgerton, Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend and Sung Kang (“Fast and Furious” franchise). “Stranger Things” (Netflix): Season four premieres with seven episodes with the remainder coming in July. “Emergency” (Prime Video): RJ Cyler (“The Harder They Fall”) leads an ensemble in this feature expanding the Sundance Festival-winning short. “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” (AppleTV+): Season five kicks off with Simu Liu and Jessica Henwick; Anitta and Saweetie; and others. “Friday Night Vibes” (TBS): Jennifer Holliday, Loretta Devine, Diimond Meeks and Paula Patton sit in for the double feature of “Dreamgirls” and “Just Wright.” “Soul of a Nation” (ABC): “Together As One: Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage” “Pause With Sam Jay” (HBO): “The Crackas Is Coming”
May 29 – “National Memorial Day Concert” (PBS): Dennis Haysbert, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rhiannon Giddens and more. “Nomad with Carlton McCoy” (CNN): Concludes with back-to-back episodes visiting Toronto and Mississippi.
May 30 – “Biography” (A&E): “Bobby Brown” is the subject of this four-part special with the first two episodes tonight and the rest airing the following evening as a lead in to his new reality series “Bobby Brown: Every Little Step.” “Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore” (HBO Max): The window of movie releases to streamers gets even shorter as this chapter from J.K. Rowling’s “Wizarding World” arrives. “The Bad Seed Returns” (Lifetime): The sequel to 2018’s “The Bad Seed” with Rob Lowe, Mckenna Grace (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) returns to headline the continuation of the story of the kid with dark sinister behaviors. “Origins of Hip Hop” (A&E): A documentary series from Mass Appeal (“Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men,” “Rapture”) exploring the stories of Busta Rhymes, Eve, Fat Joe, Grandmaster Flash, Ice-T, Ja Rule, Lil Jon and Uncle Luke. Narrated by Nas.
May 31 – “Yo! MTV Raps” (Para+): Latto “30 For 30” (ESPN): “The Greatest Mixtape Ever” examines how 1990s streetball and the And1 Mixtape transformed basketball culture at large. “Tom Swift” (CW): Tian Richards stars as the young, wealthy inventor as introduced decades ago in the pulp fiction family of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. With Ashleigh Murray (“Riverdale”), April Parker Jones (“Bel-Air“) and LeVar Burton. “Black Patriots: Buffalo Soldiers” (History): Spotlights the soldiers that played a pivotal role in shaping and protecting the nation. “Dancing With Myself” (NBC): A group of everyday people compete each week in a series of high-energy dance challenges designed and demonstrated by the show’s celebrity creators Shakira, Nick Jonas, Liza Koshy and host Camille Kostek.
June 1 – “The Real Housewives of Dubai” (Bravo): The first original international iteration of the popular franchise, the series follows the opulent, over-the-top lives of Nina Ali, Chanel Ayan, Caroline Brooks, Dr. Sara Al Madani, Lesa Milan and network fan-favorite Caroline Stanbury. “Sistas” (BET): Tyler Perry’s hit drama is back.
June 2 – “The Orville” (Hulu): Almost three years after its last new episode on Fox, the sci-fi dramedy with creator Seth MacFarlane, Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, J. Lee and Chad L. Coleman returns on a new network. “The Book of Queer” (Disc+): A five-episode series, celebrating and recognizing the incredible history of the LGBT community, narrated by notable queer game changers including Dominique Jackson (“Pose”), Leslie Jordan, Ross Mathews, Alex Newell (“Glee”) and Margaret Cho. “For The Love of Jason” (AllBlk): In season two, everyone will be forced to face the consequences of their actions, or in some cases – inactions in this series looking at dating from the Black male perspective. “Ellen” (Syn): Guest host Dwyane Wade welcomes Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”) and Lily Singh. “Her Majesty The Queen: A Gayle King Special” (CBS): Marking the platinum jubilee of Elizabeth II.
END QUOTE: “At the end of the day, there’s no cancel culture. Cancellation doesn’t have its own culture. That was people of color. That was us policing our own culture. That was people without a voice being trashed by people just because they had a bigger name than them and more money than them and a better office than them, they could sweep them under the rug like they didn’t matter.” – KATT WILLIAMS on “The Joe Budden Podcast”
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.
