Connect with us

Entertainment

Malcolm Washington and the cast of “The Piano Lesson” about family and the creation of historic black cinema – Essence

Published

on

(Photo: Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Netflix)

Filmmaker Malcolm Washington and the cast of the Netflix series – Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington – discuss the importance of family, healing together and letting go of generational fears.

August Wilson’s historic film adaptation of Washington, D.C. has turn into a family-friendly cinematic endeavor. A theatrical release on November 8 and on Netflix on November 22 signifies that filmmaking is outwardly an inherent gene in the Washington family’s DNA. Denzel Washington, two-time Oscar winner and Malcolm’s father, produced the film and starred his other son, John David. “My mom is a pianist,” says first-time director Malcolm Washington. “She couldn’t play the piano for a long time. She had a strange relationship with the piano and that became very powerful in the story.”

In 1990, Wilson’s play won the Pulitzer Prize for its dramatized narrative presenting a realistically complex portrait of family life for Black Americans in Mississippi and Pittsburgh from 1911 to 1936 during the Jim Crow era. The successful 2022 Broadway version of Wilson’s work starred Jackson as “Doaker” and John David as “Boy Willie.”

“He was so generous” – John David talks about working with Jackson, who played many of the roles of August Wilson. “He has 40 years of experience with this text alone.”

Malcolm Washington and the cast of 'The Piano Lesson' on family and the creation of historic black cinema
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 21: (L-R) Cori Murray, Malcolm Washington, John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler, Todd Black, Katia Washington and Denzel Washington attend Netflix’s Piano Lesson, the New York Tastemaker show at The Whitby Hotel on October 21, 2024 in New York. (Photo: Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Netflix)

Jackson’s repertoire of characters in cinema tends to convey a palpable sense of armed masculinity and toughness. Doaker could be very much the latter, which adds depth to Jackson’s varied game. From taking over the role of “Boy Willie” at Yale Theater School in 1987 to playing the quiet “Doaker” on Broadway in 2022, Jackson’s return gave him an entire recent perspective on these harrowing characters. “When you adapt, you have to lose a lot of things because you’re going beyond the original material and expanding the scope of the script itself,” Jackson states. “People and places will come together, and Willie is the engine that drives this story, while Doaker is the unwavering spirit.”

Next to him, Jackson was the headstrong Deadwyler, who took on the role of consciously protective mother and daughter, Berniece. Her character makes it her life’s work to take care of the most precious family heirloom, the piano that stood of their front room day by day. This piano was stolen from the Charles family by their ancestors’ slave owners, the Sutters. The instrument is a manifested vessel of blood, cultural and generational heritage, and knowledge that has outlined a family’s lineage; despite living in times that attempted to erase their each day existence. “When we were shooting the movie, my mom came on set and I saw her play the piano for the first time in years,” Washington recalled. “I haven’t heard this since I was young, it touched everyone and got everyone emotional.”

Black music and spirituality have been intertwined for hundreds of years, and Wilson’s raw play shows how collective trauma and the refusal to face fear can hinder a family’s healing. John David’s fiery portrayal of Willie shows that the pursuit of opportunity doesn’t all the time equate to true manhood and a fruitful legacy. His siblings’ conflicts with Berniece cause tension to mount in the family home, causing unexpected, terrifying ghosts to linger and resurface. “I think about stories and how important they are in keeping us connected across generations,” Deadwyler says, sitting next to John David. “I have a set of earrings from my grandmother and it speaks to how possessions can contribute to folklore in creating a family.”

When it involves collaborating with esteemed Black performers who’ve had illustrious careers on stage and screen, Deadwyler goes back to pure basics. “It’s an education,” Deadwyler describes his craft. “Art is a spiritual endeavor. It’s a political and personal endeavor, and doing it with serious people makes it all seem real. Filmmaking is meant to change who you are, and in turn, possibly change others, as well as create a rich conversation within the larger community.”

Growing up in Los Angeles, Malcolm Washington credits movies like these with giving him the artistic dimension to tackle his first film project. His directorial debut is all about sparking conversations and letting emotions run high. uses dialogue as a dynamic tool while moving the audience without clear directives or resolutions for the Charles family. It focuses on character relationships that leave audiences reeling – “the material found me when I needed it most, and I’m grateful it did,” Malcolm explains to me.

“Malcolm has a very clear vision,” says John David of witnessing his brother’s first directorial appearance. “He has always been a director I am a fan of. He was an artist I admire and someone I was ready to spread my wings with… and he took off.”

When adapting from stage to film, the creative collaboration of Malcolm and his family knew they’d to succinctly tackle confronting scenes related to grief, acceptance of loss and familial uncertainty. “My approach to the house, where most of the film was shot, was to chase dynamism,” Malcolm details his directing techniques. “I really wanted a camera that was moving, wandering and dynamic, speaking to the subtext of the scenes, able to communicate what was between the lines and sometimes working in opposition to the lines, something that would represent the subjective experience of the film and reach inside the characters.”

Although the dialogue Wilson had originally created was of great value to the filmmaking, Malcolm focused on allowing his multi-talented cast to take a relaxed approach to bring the organic performances to life. “I wanted the cast to find a rhythm that felt good for us as a whole, so we would break through the kind of stiffness that can sometimes come with a sacred work when we are so afraid.”

In this case, viewers can follow the events in the Charles family home as tensions rise when Berniece touches the piano keys. She and the piano are a tethered source and conduit for a lot of of her family’s invisible guardian angels – their ancestors. Earth, wind, fire and water are seasonal because despite the fact that family and community dynamics may change, nature will all the time remain, but the most significant thing is when everyone comes together.

When Willie’s dad shows him the land and notes that it’s the land that may take more,” Washington continues. “His father puts his hand on his back and I remember my dad doing the same thing and putting his giant hand on my little back.” This idyllic, easy scene is the quintessence of the essential story that Malcom creates, which goals to firmly root and ground Black people in the family despite confusion and troubles. The full gathering of the Charles family in the final minutes is conflict, climax and resolution – together they only archive their presence through memory. “I will never take for granted the love that goes into a project. Sacrifice required from everyone, from top to bottom,” Washington says.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Entertainment

Kanye West’s wife Bianca Censori causes a scene and allegedly flashes customers of a Tokyo fast food restaurant

Published

on

By

Fans Accuse Kanye West and Wife Bianca Censori of Looking

Paparazzi caught Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori at places similar to a fashion show, an airport and a fast-food restaurant.

Some of West’s Japanese fans met the “Vultures” producer at a local McDonald’s in Tokyo, Japan, where he has been staying for the past few months working on his recent albums. Although the person didn’t explain intimately what he was talking about, his friend sent snap from the meeting on X’s profile.

“My friend just had a quick chat with Kanye West at McDonald’s in Tokyo,” user X wrote, sharing a photo of West and Censori taking a look at a kiosk to put an order.

Fans accuse Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori of
Fans accuse Kanye West and wife Bianca of censorship (photo: @aminamuaddi / Instagram)

The Australian architect may be seen wearing a tiny halter top and sheer iridescent tights, suggesting she’s either wearing a tiny thong or has gone commando mode. Many accused Censori of flashing other guests as people allegedly saw her private parts through her pantyhose.

Her hair is perfectly coiffed, slicked back with bangs at the underside, while her husband was seen fully wearing an olive bomber jacket and white or cream pants.

The couple orders food on the restaurant’s kiosk, apparently browsing through McDonald’s burger selection.

When the Daily Mail sent about Ye-Binc’s sighting, their readers immediately expressed their opinions.

“Fast food workers have feelings just like the rest of us, and in ultra-conservative Japan they must have been completely offended,” one person commented, while one other called them “pathetic attention seekers.”

Many began joking around, coming up with their very own names for the couple, inspired by the restaurant’s menu.

“Mctrashy goes all out,” one person wrote, while others added: “McGreasy and McNasty.”

One person alluded to rumors that he was controlling and abusing her, writing: “Kanye ordered one piece off the menu… for himself. Nikkid the girl drank some water.

One person within the comments section of the Page Six report he said“Just disturbing. What are they trying to achieve?”

Yeezy, 47, and his much younger wife, 29, have been in Asia for weeks this 12 months, and the Chicago native says he likes it there because he doesn’t must worry about hiring security because most individuals respect him privacy – a luxury he cannot afford in America.

As one of probably the most successful artists of his generation 24 Grammy Awards (out of 75 nominations), only beaten by ten people, including the late Quincy Jones, who has 28, Kanye appears to be crowded wherever he goes, with people specializing in what he and his wife do and what they’ve I wear it almost each time.

While he seems to have limited his visits to special spots, it is not unusual to catch him diving locally – irrespective of what continent he’s on.

In August 2024, surveillance footage captured a couple ordering food at a KFC counter in Los Angeles.

Censori was spotted wearing a skimpy, threadbare bikini that hardly covered her chest, paired with silver tights, and while she wasn’t asked to depart, the web had a lot to say because Kanye was fully clothed.

Her outfit was very just like the McDonald’s set in Tokyo, probably the identical pants.

“Damn, she never hides, does she?” one person wrote. Another joked: “There’s no way his wife would walk into KFC looking like a prostitute.”

A 3rd comment asked, “What’s going on that she’s naked in public more often than porn stars are in porn movies?”

“Bro, a full outfit at @ZARA costs $100, come on,” one person chided him.

Censori has more freedom in dress when in America or Japan, in comparison with how she dresses in South Korea or China. In other Asian countries, where the federal government can set dress codes, she is sort of forced to cover up.

South Korea has strict laws prohibiting nudity in public places. Violators could face imprisonment or a wonderful of as much as 100,000 won, as public nudity is assessed as a sexual offense under Art. 3 of the Act on Punishment for Minor Crimes and marked as “vulgar exposure”.

The law defines obscene exposure as “excessive exposure of the genitals, buttocks, or other private parts in public places that embarrasses or offends others.” While the punishment could appear lenient, the interpretation of the word “indecent” is subjective and more severe penalties could also be imposed depending on the situation.

Since Ye appears to be comfortable in Asia, even recording an upcoming project and performing some major concert events for his Chinese and South Korean fans, he and his love have found a option to circumvent such strict dress codes.

They covered up when obligatory, but every probability Censori shows up in his signature look, they accomplish that.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
Continue Reading

Entertainment

Quincy Jones, the musical titan who collaborated with everyone from Michael Jackson to Ray Charles, dies at 91 – Andscape

Published

on

By

Quincy Jones, multi-talented musical titan which is big heritage he produced Michael Jackson’s historic album, wrote award-winning soundtracks for movies and tv shows, and collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and tons of of other recording artists, died at the age of 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of the death of our father and brother Quincy Jones,” the family said in an announcement. “And while this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the wonderful life he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones rose from working with gangs on Chicago’s South Side to the heights of show business, becoming considered one of the first black executives to prosper in Hollywood and amass extraordinary music catalogue which incorporates a few of the richest moments of American rhythm and song. For years, it was difficult to discover a music lover who didn’t have at least one album with his name on it, or a pacesetter in the entertainment industry and beyond with whom he didn’t have any bond.

Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged recordings for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed soundtracks for and , organized President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural ceremony, and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World,” a 1985 charity album. for famine in Africa.

Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” and was considered one of the lead vocalists, called Jones the “principal orchestrator.”

In a profession that began when vinyl records were still played at 78 rpm, top honors probably went to his productions with Jackson: , and the albums were almost universal in style and appeal. Jones’ versatility and imagination helped unleash Jackson’s explosive talent, which transformed him from child star to “King of Pop.” On such classic songs as “Billie Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Jones and Jackson created a world soundscape of disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B, jazz and African songs. For , a few of the most memorable touches got here from Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for the guitar solo on the genre-mixing “Beat It” and enlisted Vincent Price to provide a spooky voice on the title track.

In 1983 alone, it sold over 20 million copies and equals, amongst others, The Eagles as the best-selling album of all time.

“If an album doesn’t do well, everyone says, ‘it’s the producers’ fault’; so if everything goes well, it should be your ‘fault’ as well,” Jones said in a 2016 interview with the Library of Congress. “Paths don’t suddenly appear. The producer must have the skills, experience and ability to see the vision through to completion.”

The list of his accolades and awards spans 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography, including 27 Grammy Awards (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received the French Legion of Honor, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy, and the Kennedy Center Tribute for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of the 1990 documentary “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones” and the 2018 film by daughter Rashida Jones. His memoirs made him a best-selling writer.

Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones cited the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he remembered. But he recalled his childhood with sadness, once telling Oprah Winfrey: “There are two kinds of individuals: those who have caring parents or guardians and people who don’t. Nothing in between. Jones’ mother suffered from emotional problems and eventually entered care, which made the world seem “meaningless” to Quincy. He spent most of his time in Chicago on the streets, amongst gangs, stealing and fighting.

“Man, they nailed my hand to the fence,” he told the AP in 2018, showing off his childhood scar.

Music saved him. As a boy, he learned that a neighbor in Chicago had a piano, and shortly he was playing all of it the time. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10, and his world modified at a close-by recreation center. Jones and a few friends broke into the kitchen and helped themselves to lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room with a stage nearby. There was a piano on the stage.

“I went there, stopped, looked, and then jingled for a while,” he wrote in his autobiography. “That’s where I began to find peace. I used to be 11 years old. I knew this was it for me. Forever.”

Within a couple of years, he began playing the trumpet and befriended the young blind musician Ray Charles, with whom he became lifelong friends. He was talented enough to win a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones continued to work as a contract composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a young person, he supported Billie Holiday. At the age of twenty he was touring with his own band.

“We had the best jazz band in the world, and yet we were literally starving,” Jones later told Musician magazine. “That’s after I discovered that there was music and there was a music business. If I were to survive, I’d have to learn the difference between them.”

As a music executive, he overcame racial barriers to turn into vice chairman of Mercury Records in the early Sixties. In 1971, he became the first black musical director of the Academy Awards. The first film he produced received 11 Oscar nominations in 1986 (much to his disappointment, it didn’t win any). In cooperation with Time Warner, he created Quincy Jones Entertainment, which owned the popular culture magazine Vibe and Qwest Broadcasting. In 1999, the company was sold for $270 million.

“My philosophy as a businessman has always come from the same roots as my personal credo: accept talented people on your own terms and treat them fairly and with respect, no matter who they are or where they come from,” Jones wrote in his autobiography.

Michael Jackson (left) and co-producer Quincy Jones (right) won several awards for Jackson’s Jail album at the twenty sixth Annual Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on February 28, 1984.

He was comfortable with virtually every kind of American music, whether setting Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” with its strong, rolling rhythm and wistful flute, or opening his production of Charles’ soulful “In the Heat of the Night” with a rousing tenor saxophone solo. He has collaborated with jazz giants (Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington), rappers (Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J), singers (Sinatra, Tony Bennett), pop singers (Lesley Gore) and rhythm and blues stars (Chaka Khan, rapper and singer Queen Latifah).

Only in “We are the World” the performers were Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. He co-wrote hits for Jackson – “PYT (Pretty Young Thing” – and Donna Summer – “Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger) – and sampled songs by Tupac Shakur, Kanye West and other rappers. He even composed the theme song for the series “Sanford and Son.”

Jones was a moderator and star maker. He gave Will Smith a key role on the hit television show produced by Jones, and in the process introduced viewers to Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg. Starting in the Sixties, he composed over 35 soundtracks for movies, including:

He called scoring “a multifaceted process, an abstract combination of science and soul.”

Jones’ work on the film’s soundtrack led to his collaboration with Jackson, who starred in the 1978 film. In an essay published in Time magazine after Jackson’s death in 2009, Jones recalled that the singer kept sheets of paper with him containing the thoughts of famous thinkers. When Jones asked about the origin of 1 passage, Jackson replied “Socrates” but pronounced it “SO-crayts.” Jones corrected him: “Michael, they’re SOCK-ra-tees.”

“And the look he gave me then made me say, because I was so impressed with everything I saw in him during rehearsals, ‘I’d like to try producing your album.'” Jones recalled. “Then he came back and told the people at Epic Records and they said, ‘No way. Quincy is too jazzy». Michael was stubborn, so he and his managers came back and said, “Quincy is producing the album.” And we started doing it. Ironically, it was one of the best-selling Black albums at the time and the album saved the jobs of people saying I was the wrong guy. That’s how it works.”

Tensions emerged after Jackson’s death. In 2013 Jones sued Jackson’s estateclaiming he’s owed multimillion-dollar royalties and charges for producing a few of the superstar’s biggest hits. In a 2018 interview with New York magazine, he called Jackson “as Machiavellian as possible” and alleged that he drew material from others.

Jones was addicted to work and play and sometimes suffered due to it. He nearly died of a brain aneurysm in 1974 and fell right into a deep depression in the Eighties when Oscar voters rejected “The Color Purple”; it never received a competitive Oscar. Jones, a father of seven children and five moms, described himself as a “dog” who had countless lovers around the world. He was married 3 times, his wives included actress Peggy Lipton.

“For me, loving a woman is one of the most natural, blissful, life-enhancing – and dare I say, religious – acts in the world,” he wrote.

He was not an activist in his youth, but he modified after attending the funeral of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and later becoming friends with the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jones dedicated himself to philanthropy, saying that “the best and only useful aspect of fame and celebrity is having a platform from which to help others.”

His goals included fighting HIV and AIDS, educating children, and caring for the world’s poor. He founded Quincy Jones Listen Up! foundation designed to connect young people with music, culture and technology, and said that throughout his life he had been guided by “a spirit of adventure and a criminal level of optimism.”

“Life is like a dream, said the Spanish poet and philosopher Federico Garcia Lorca,” Jones wrote in his memoirs. “Mine was in Technicolor, with full Dolby sound thanks to THX amplification, before they knew what these systems were.”

In addition to Rashida, Jones is survived by daughters Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Martina Jones, Kidada Jones and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and Margie Jay.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
Continue Reading

Entertainment

From LL Cool J to Victoria Monét – the world reacts to the death of Quincy Jones at the age of 91

Published

on

By

Quincy Jones, Quincy Jones death, reactions to Quincy Jones death, Black celebrity deaths, theGrio.com

The world woke up to the news of the death of renowned music producer Quincy Jones over the weekend. He was 91 years old.

Music experts equivalent to LL Cool J and Victoria Monét, in addition to fans around the world, shared touching tributes to the legendary producer and songwriter who, over the years, produced Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” “Off the Wall” and “Bad” and music for movies and tv programs 70-year profession.

“You were a father and an example at a time when I really needed a father and an example. Mentor. A role model. King. 👑You gave me opportunities and shared wisdom. Without you, music wouldn’t be music,” LL Cool J wrote in the caption Instagram post which included a photograph of Jones holding several Grammy Awards.

He continued: “My condolences to the entire family. I love you. Rest forever in the sweetest music. #ripquincyjones one of one.”

After startup her post on X with five heart emojis, Monet wrote: “this is one of my biggest inspirations! Quincy, I love you so much!!! Your legacy will live forever 😢 Heaven has certainly been improved because of you.”

“Abbott Elementary” star Sheryl Lee Ralph sent: “Rest in peace and great game Quincy Jones! What a life well lived.”

IN long tribute to X playwright Jeremy O. Harris posed the query, “What couldn’t he do?”

Harris continued: “Quincy Jones, literally born at a time when the limits to the size of a black boy’s dreams were unfathomable, taught us that there is no such thing as a limit. His contributions to American culture were limitless. First black person nominated for an Oscar for best rating. First black person nominated twice later in the same yr. Producer of undoubtedly the biggest albums of the twentieth century. EGOT. The father of several incredibly talented children and the godfather of musicians around the world. CRUSH QUINCY.

He added: “It fucks me up. I wish I could have told him how much he meant to me, reading about him when I was a teenager in Virginia. When I was in Tokyo, I heard stories from people like Makoto Ozone, a Japanese jazz musician, about his mentorship. He was a model of how to live art.”

Featured Stories

Ghanaian-American singer Ammarae sent“I thought Quincy Jones would live forever. What an incredible loss. RIP to the greatest to ever do it!”

Written by actor Colman Domingo entry on X “He asked: Where are you from? Philly, I replied, his eyes lit up and he talked about the Uptown Theater. I was very excited to meet Mr. American Music himself. I literally knelt down because he was the king. Thank you to Mr. Quincy Jones for giving us the right sound.”

Reverend Al Sharpton as well as“I’m saddened to hear of the death of Quincy Jones. Today we remember a real giant – a cultural icon whose transforming influence will proceed.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, announced that the iconic music producer died on Sunday, November 3, at his Los Angeles home surrounded by his family.

According to his family’s statements, including: Billboardthey said: “He is truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed; we take comfort and great pride in knowing that the love and joy that were the essence of his being were shared with the world through all that he created.”

The family added: “Through his music and boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will continue to beat for eternity.”

Two days before his death, the father of seven sent a sweet birthday tribute to one of his daughters, Martina Jones.

“Happy birthday to my Tina Beena @martinafotos1!! 🎉. I’m so proud to be your dad! Hugs tight, I love you forever 🫶🏾💜,” he wrote in the caption Instagram post which included a photograph of the two posing together.

In addition to Martina, Jones is survived by daughters, actress Rashida Jones, Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Kidada Jones and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and (*91*) Jay.


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending