Haiti "We Are One" benefit concert
Haiti “We Are One” benefit concert
Posted by jgelfand
January 28th, 2010, 3:30 pm
This Feb. 20 event will feature many of the Cincinnati area’s most talented musicians from the worlds of jazz, blues, R&B and world, with two floors of music going simulaneously.
Date: Sat. Feb 20Place: The Leapin Lizard
726 Main Street Covington, KY
Time: 7pm – midnight
cash bar available
$10 donation recommended ($5 minimum)
The lineup includes Ricky Nye (blues & boogie piano), The Medicine Men Band (blues), Bruce Menefield Ensemble (jazz), Harper (folk), Liz Wu (world), Wade Baker Jazz Collaboration (jazz), Thrownback Jack (R&B), Chico Futuracho (jazz/rock fusion), Keshvar Project (tribal belly dance fusion)….with more performers to be named.
All proceeds will be donated to: The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund ( http://clintonbushhaitifund.org/ ) and Hope for Haiti ( www.hopeforhaiti.com ) . Both funds state that 100% of donations go directly to Haitian relief efforts and Hope for Haiti is is rated Four Star by Charity Navigator.
“Help Them To Sing Again” Jazz Jam Fundraiser with
CityBeat
February 15, 2010
Monday 7:00pm
Local Jazz musician Bruce Menefield and his Omni Works Music organization (which normally works to expose “new generations of youth” to Jazz music and culture) will shift focus this Monday for the fundraiser “Help Them Sing Again” at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club downtown. The 7 p.m. event will feature a Jazz jam session featuring students from UC’s College-Conservatory Music, as well as established local Jazz artists Mike Wade, Marc Fields, Stan Ginn, Eugene Goss and a host of others. A minimum donation of $10 is requested; all money raised will go to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund (clintonbushhaitifund.org).
"Omni Works Music All Star fundraising event"
CityBeat
December 7, 2009
Monday 7:30pm
Detail: President and Founder of Omni Works Music, bandleader Bruce Menefield chose Walnut Hills High School as the first school to participate in his upcoming Omni Works Music All Star fundraising event being held at the reputable Blue Wisp Jazz Club on Monday evening, December 7th because of the balanced educational approach of WHHS Department Chair, Kerry Kruze.
Mr. Kruze, Department Chair since 2002 is zealous about the success of the WHHS music department. A graduate of Morehead State University (1978) with a MA in Educational Administration, he has been at Walnut Hills since 1982. A hands-on bandleader, Kruze says, “I enjoy teaching and preserving a true American art form!” Mr. Kruze’s primary instrument is the trumpet and he proudly specializes in jazz music.
There is a lot going on musically at Walnut Hills High School, in particular their jazz course with the emphasis being placed on Big Band Jazz with basic improvisational techniques incorporated within this style. Many of their students elect to participate in festivals and competitions at local, regional, and national venues. Students who have elected to major in music have gone on to attend such prestigious institutions as Julliard, Oberlin, Eastman, Westminster Choir College, Carnegie Mellon, Roosevelt University College of the Arts, UC’s College Conservatory of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music, to name just a few.
While most Ohio schools were cutting back on their music programs, Walnut Hills was maintaining its 11 bands largely due to the vision of Department Chairman, Kerry Kruze. Kruze believes that students thrive on the arts. “The participants in the wind ensemble play with amazing precision and brilliant sound”, according to Kruze, “proving that music is not just for kids whose parents can afford it”.
When asked for their motivation to pursue jazz, students who participate in the jazz band said they “enjoyed the complexity of the music” and “found it to be a good balance to the academic rigors of the day” amongst other things. Jazz has “lots of truth, you can’t fake it” and many “enjoy the freedom and challenge of improvising”.
Tremendous support is garnered when parents are involved. Bruce Menefield appreciates WHIP, the Parent Booster group for all of the music programs and music performing groups at Walnut Hills High School. “Their terrific support is what makes the music programs live and breathe.”
On December 7th, jazz saxophonist and bandleader, Bruce Menefield and his Omni Works Music All Stars will feature the Walnut Hills High School Jazz Band in a special fundraising event at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club. This important event was produced to offset the costs incurred by OWM to teach jazz in after-school programs around Cincinnati. Exposing young people to the inspirational benefits of making jazz music is the purpose of Omni Works Music.
Students from WHHS will perform alongside celebrated local musicians like Mike Wade, Marc Fields and Billy Larkin, (also a graduate of WHHS). Both Bruce Menefield and WHHS Department Chairman Kerry Kruze agree that student involvement in extra-curricular activities like this will provide additional opportunities for pursuing intellectual and experiential goals as well.
The public is invited to come out and support this exciting event, Monday evening, December 7, 2009 at the Blue Wisp in downtown Cincinnati. The performance begins at 7:30 PM. A $20.00 donation will help to support Omni Works Music and provide proceeds for the Walnut Hills High School Jazz Band.
Where:
Blue Wisp Jazz Club
318 E. Eighth St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Contact:
513-241-9477
Cost: $20 (donation).
Category:
Bar
Music Venue
Nightclub/Lounge
Rumors, Lies and General Misunderstandings
CityBeat
Rumors, Lies and General Misunderstandings
By Mike Breen
It should be crystal-clear to anyone paying attention that music education in public schools ain’t what it used to be. Thanks to budget constraints and selfish, child-less people who vote down school levies so they can keep paying for their extravagant satellite TV subscriptions, arts and music studies have been increasingly lessened or cut. Not only does this mean that children our losing out on vital creative stimulation, it also lessens their ability to learn about our country and the rest of the world’s artistic history and classic artforms.
Veteran Jazz musician Bruce Menefield has taken matters into his own hands, forming the Omni Works Music organization to teach about Jazz via after-school programs around the city. Menefield (pictured) teams up with a local school that does recognize the intellectual importance of music education, Walnut Hills High School (thanks to the diligence and vision of the school’s Department Chair, Kerry Kruze, himself a Jazzman), for the first Omni Works Music All Star fundraising event, this Monday at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club. For the 7:30 p.m. event, Menefield and his Omni Works Music All Stars (which will include Mike Wade, Marc Fields and Billy Larkin) will be joined by the Walnut Hills High School Jazz Band. Your $20 donation at the door will help the school’s Jazz Band as well as OWM’s programs. (Get details here.)
Frank Duveneck Arts and Cultural Center
www.duveneckcenter.org/partnerships.html
Cincinnati World Cinema - "That Old Black Magic"
www.cincyworldcinema.org/x_90222tobm.php
