February 2020

Clazzical Notes and the Pasadena NAACP​

present
MAYA!
A Jazz, Gospel Music, and Spoken Word Celebration of the life and legacy of poet, author Maya Angelou​
Thursday, February 13th, 2020
Free Parking
Boston Court Performing Arts Center
70 Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106
Free Parking
Admission $15.00
Children 12 & under free
Featuring
Lanny Hartley, Jazz Pianist
Yvette Freeman-Hartley, Actress, Singer
Robert Henley III, Gospel Singer
Brittany Daniels, Dancer
Beverly Lafontaine, Poet, Host
Santiago Hayden, Cello
Mina Thorenson, Piano accompanist
Akasha Royal, Background singer

Maya Angelou
An early life of bad breaks and unfortunate choices led the young Marguerite Annie Johnson to a short-lived choice of prostitution, an early pregnancy and failed marriages but the world would come to see this determined young woman, Maya Angelou was not going let anything or anyone define her life by circumstances. She met people who believed in her and discovered although by societies standards she wasn’t pretty, or slim, she had a multitude of talents such as the ability to write, act, sing and speak so eloquently that she was a gifted teacher on the importance of self-determination, human decency and female empowerment. She taught us that we decide it will be and it will not be defined by others. Her ability to make words sing with poignancy and hope, made her a generational icon loved and respected by people around the world.

2019 MARKS 50 YEARS SINCE THE DEBUT OF MAYA'S triumphant autobiography I" Know Why the Cage Bird Sings"

Yvette Freeman Hartley (Vocalist)
​Yvette has starred in the Broadway, First National, Paris and International companies of "Ain't Misbehavin'" the New York production of "Dinah Was," based on the life of the legendary jazz singer Dinah Washington, and won the 1998 Obie for Best Actress. Most recently she starred in Ma Rainey at the Huntington Theater in Boston. She played the role of 101 year old Dr. Bessie in Having Our Say at the acclaimed McCarter Theater directed by Emily Mann.
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Two of the TV roles she is most proud of is - Nurse Haleh Adams on the acclaimed dramatic series ER, and the character of Evelyn Smalley on the NBC sitcom Working. In 2010 and 2011, Yvette had the honor of being nominated for NAACP Image Award for her role as Dr. Lewis in the soap opera "The Bold and The Beautiful". Her second album "In My Arms" was released in May 2012.

​Lanny Hartley (Piano)
​Lanny is a member of Northridge United Methodist Church, is a jazz pianist, conductor and composer, and studied Music Education at Indiana University. Jazz piano became his love and he performed with such great Jazz artists as Wes Montgomery, Lou Rawls, and Linda Hopkins. Lanny has also played for such Pop Artists as Thelma Houston, The Fifth Dimension. He has been the Musical Director/Conductor for such shows as Ain't Misbehavin', Tracks (Yolanda King); The Late Great Ladies of Blues and Jazz (Sandra Reeves: The Della Reese Musical Tour; and Dinah Was (New York, Los Angeles, and Williamstown)

Bob Henley III (Vocalist)
Bob Henley III's musical foundation began first in the world of gospel and church music, where he was first able to explore his vocal talents. Throughout his formative high school and early college years, Bob had the chance to perform with an eclectic number of musical acts, choir groups and jazz bands. He is a true tenor with a powerful vocal range. He is also a gifted bandleader and choir director, as well as a masterful keyboardist and percussion player. Not one to be kept to only one type of music or live performance style, he has also worked in the world of theater. His work includes 'West Side Story,' 'Black People Who Knew' and 'The Message is in the Music.'

Brittany Daniels (Dancer)
Brittany Daniels began dancing ballet at the age of eight and later studied hip-hop, modern dance, and ballroom at the age of 14. She completed Cecchetti examinations 1-5 and earned international honors for her last examination. Some summer dance intensives she attended are Cecchetti USA (nominated for an award in her division), American Ballet Theater, Ballet Magnificat! (full scholarship), and LINES Ballet (scholarship). She was awarded the most promising dancer in her home city, Temecula, California, by ODC modern dance company, as well as offered a full scholarship to their dance intensive. She was offered an apprenticeship to the modern company, PGK Dance Project when she was 18. She traveled and danced in New York, Italy, and Cuba with Dunamix Dance Project. She was honored with many opportunities to perform, serve, and teach dance at places that served underprivileged children, abused children, individuals with HIV/AIDS, and individuals who are homeless. Currently, Brittany leads the dance program at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, and dances with the Lineage Dance Company at the Lineage Performing Arts Center.

​Beverly Lafontaine (Poet, Moderator)
Beverly Lafontaine, Moderator, poet is a Los Angeles-born poet and playwright. She has enjoyed four productions of her plays in the Los Angeles area and has had her poetry published in various online and print poetry journals and anthologies, including MORIA, Poets Reading the News, Blue Satellite, Spillway, the Anthology of the Valley Contemporary Poets, So Luminous the Wildflowers: An Anthology of California Poets, and Beyond the Lyric Moment. Four of her poems are to be published in Waves, an upcoming anthology published by the AROHO Foundation. As a collaborative artist she has worked with composer Tom Flaherty to create Scenes from Sarajevo, a prize-winning chamber music piece.

​Additionally, she was commissioned to create six poems that were incorporated into the sculptural work of Walk a Mile in My Shoes, a public art project dedicated to Martin Luther King sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. As a journalist she has written for publications as wide-ranging as Essence Magazine, Soul Magazine and Caesura: the Journal for the San Jose Center for Poetry and Literature.

Santiago Hayden (Cello)
​Attends St Marks Episcopal School