Freakin’ It: A Betty Davis Retrospective

Speaking of Miles Davis, let’s talk about his former wife Betty Davis. I know I should have posted this in March, but school distracted me until now. But better late than never, right? Betty Davis is one of my favorite artists and when I heard about the concert on March 7th at the Schomburg Center, I jumped at the chance to go. Even better, my class happened to be canceled that day, so I didn’t have to skip (Lucky me!).

As part of the Black Rock Coalition‘s spring music tributes, the lineup for the night included Tamar-Kali, KimberlyNichole, Joi, N’Dambi, Nucomme, and Alkebulan. The band included guitarists and singers Kat Dyson and Jerome Jordan. This was one of the best concerts I had attended; it was a beautiful tribute to a woman who has inspired many and receives little attention. The entire band sounded amazing and after a while I did not even care that the singers were reading the lyrics on the stands. All the performances were fierce, but the two singers who were the most fiery were Tamar-Kali, who was the co-musical director with Victor Axelrod (keyboard), and KimberlyNichole.

And for those of you who do like these performances, this saturday the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra is doing a tribute at the Schomburg Center to another singer I love, Sam Cooke. Just click on his name to buy tickets. Enjoy!

Here is Tamar-Kali, KimberlyNichole and Kat Dyson performing “Game Is My Middle Name”

KimbelyNichole performing “If I’m In Luck, I Just Might Get Picked Up”

Tamar-Kali performing “When Romance Says GoodBye”

Joi, N’Dambi and Tamar-Kali performing “Steppin’ in Her I. Miller Shoes”

Joi performing “Nasty Gal”