(Tracy E. Hopkins) The first time I saw Tony! Toni! Toné! in concert, I was a sophomore at Howard University. The New Jack Swing-leaning lineup for the 1989 Homecoming concert at Cramton Auditorium also included Guy (Aaron Hall, Damian Hall and Teddy Riley). Photo credit for all photos: David “Odiwams” Wright Back then, Guy was the silk set wearing headliner and the boho cool Cali trio – brothers Raphael Saadiq (real name Charles Wiggins) and D’W ayne Wiggins and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley – were the opening act, trying their hardest to win over the East coast-heavy crowd with an energized performance punctuated by choreographed dance moves and their single at the time, “Little Walter.” But if you ask me which group’s music catalog resonates more deeply with me now and hits the right nostalgic notes (like in that Bee Gees “How Deep is Your Love” way), without any Verzuz battle necessary the answer would clearly be Tony! Toni! Toné!. Although they only recorded four studio a
Memorial Day Weekend 2023 Cultural Highlight: DanceAfrica Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Throughout Brooklyn
In her essay, " African Dance is Medicine for the Mind, Body and Spirit ," dancer, teacher and choreographer Cherie Hill wrote, "The more I perform African dance, the more I discover and enjoy euphoria. When the drums are beating and the body is dancing everything fits in sync and I feel limitless and powerful." Photo by Nate Palmer Hill is honored with a portrait by Cecilia Lamptey-Botchway that's on display at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House during the annual DanceAfrica Festival . The festival celebrates Black joy and resilience and the regal power of African dance. I mark my calendar each year for the DanceAfrica Bazaar, where I often run into old friends and see familiar faces. In a Brooklyn that has quickly become gentrified, I love to see us walking tall, beaming with pride and to quote Bey, "shining, shining, shining, y