J ohn Levy, the first prominent African-American personal manager in the jazz or pop music field, whose clients included Nancy Wilson and Ramsey Lewis, has died at age 99.
Devra Hall Levy posted on his website that her husband died Friday in his sleep at his home in Altadena, California, less than three months before his 100th birthday.
An accomplished bassist, the New Orleans-born Levy performed with such jazz greats as Stuff Smith, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner and Billy Taylor in the 1940s before joining pianist George Shearing’s original quintet. In the early 1950s, he became Shearing’s full-time manager and later went on to form his own management agency, John Levy Enterprises Inc.
Levy’s client roster over the years included more than 85 artists, including Wilson, Lewis, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Betty Carter, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Freddie Hubbard, Ahmad Jamal and Abbey Lincoln as well as comedian Arsenio Hall.
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 UNDER AFRICAN SKIES is a documentary that revisits Paul Simon’s legendary South African album 'Graceland' and the controversy that surrounded it.
Shot largely during a 2011 visit to South Africa for a 25th-anniversary concert, Under African Skies reunites the songwriter with the musicians who inspired the album and created its irresistible grooves. In between rehearsals for the show -- where we get to see Simon rearranging some of his hits to interact more meaningfully with his guests -- men like guitarist Ray Phiri and Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo sit to tell stories of mid-'80s recording sessions and the effect the LP's huge success had on them.
A good deal of video footage from those sessions appears here, and it's delightful stuff -- not only a thrill to watch, but a great help in the doc's efforts to chronicle how "Graceland's" songs were assembled: Some were based on pre-existing South African tunes, some used instrumental beds cut-and-pasted from long, rambling jam sessions. If Simon has sometimes been accused of giving too little credit to others (Los Lobos has long claimed he stole "Graceland's" closing track from them), he spreads it around here, and studio footage makes it obvious just how much he drew upon the creativity of the musicians he hired.
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 African Soul Jam presents “African Gold,” a new After-work Dance Party in New York City featuring the best mix of African club hits, Thursday, January 26, 2012, 6:00 to 11:30 p.m., at Pranna, 79 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Admission is only $5, with dress code enforced. For more info, special request, or subsequent events, e-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or visit www.AfricanSoulJam.org
African Soul Jam’s DJ SM will spin Afrobeat, Soukous, Coupe decale, Hiplife, Naija, Makossa, Kwaito, and other African popular genres. “African Gold” will be hosted by E-Uneek and will feature Ndigo on percussion. The evening’s best dancers will receive prizes. Drink specials are available before 8:00 p.m. with complementary naan bread.
African Soul Jam is a dance party series with a social and cultural mission. Since April 2009, when it was created by Seyi Macaulay (aka DJ SM) through the online social networker Meetup.com, African Soul Jam outfit determined to expose a wide range of people to African music and to make African music a staple part of New York City’s nightlife. Others who also felt that Africa’s infectious dance music was lacking in the city’s club scene joined forces with DJ SM. In particular, Kim Foote (aka Kimi) was inspired during the first event by the music as well as DJ SM’s initial vision to use event profits to fundraise for African schools. She signed on as the event’s main promoter immediately. Akin Akinsanya, organizer of Panla, an African food catering event, has been a key supporter as well. Several past events have been co-organized by African Soul Jam and Panla. Another major support is Euneek of H-Factor, who has been hosting ASJ party since its inception. While financial profit is not a goal of African Soul Jam, a modest cover is now in effect due to the difficulty of maintaining consistent venues.
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Mwamy Malden
