CMW OLD TIMEY RADIO SHOW

Show and Related Curriculum to Go Into More Schools

Beginning in February 2012, Carolina Music Ways (CMW) will launch the third season of the Carolina Music Ways Old Timey Radio Show. The show features a combination of jazz, blues, bluegrass, old-time, rhythm and blues, and Moravian brass band music, music styles reflecting the unique musical heritage of North Carolina’s Northwest Piedmont. 

The show is a musical tribute to historic musicians from, or with strong ties to, this region who have influenced the worldwide music scene.  These include John Coltrane, the “5” Royales, Doc Watson, Tommy Jarrell, Blind Boy Fuller, Shirley Caesar, and the Salem Band.  The show proudly features some of North Carolina’s finest current-day musicians and performers. See CAST BIOS below.

To view show excerpts and an interview with Musical Director Matt Kendrick and trumpeter Joe Robinson, click here.   This video is courtesy of The Winston-Salem Foundation.

This season is the first time the show will also go into middle schools. Most of the shows to date have been at the elementary school level, with one show performed to high schoolers.  Since the show has been successful at both these age levels, CMW is also eager to reach middle school audiences.  CMW customizes the show for each age level.

This spring, the school assembly show and related classroom lessons will go into eight schools in Forsyth County.  As funding allows, CMW plans to bring the show to students in other counties in the Northwest Piedmont in the near future.

Funding for this season’s shows has been generously provided by The Winston-Salem Foundation ($5,000 from the Samuel A. and Roslyn S. Harris Fund), as well as  from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County in the City of Arts and Innovation ( $4,000 in Arts-in-Education grant funds). 

CMW is very  pleased with audience feedback from the first two seasons. A number of teachers said that this is the best school assembly program they have seen. Comments such as this one received last spring from a third grade teacher at Ashley Elementary School in Winston-Salem continue to encourage CMW:  “Everything was fantastic… The people, the musicians, the music and the slide presentation were wonderful… The only way you could make the program stronger is to allow me to see the show daily.  It made our day.”

CMW will continue to offer schools that host the show its related music class curriculum, as well as its social studies/language arts unit.  This integrated unit focuses on John Coltrane from High Point, as well as the “5” Royales, an influential, pioneering R&B group from Winston-Salem.  (For more information on the “5” Royales and its lead songwriter and guitarist, click here. )

 CAST:

Matt Kendrick (Musical Director, bassist)  www.mattkendrick.net

Double bassist and composer Matt Kendrick is one of North Carolina’s most respected jazz artists.  He teaches Applied Bass and Jazz Improvisation at Wake Forest University.  A two-time recipient of the North Carolina Jazz Fellowship, Kendrick received jazz and classical training at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of Tennessee.  A graduate of Reynolds High School, he began his musical career in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Ron Stacker Thompson (host) 

 wuncsa.edu/filmmaking/facultyscreenwriting.htm

 A faculty member in Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Ron Thompson has extensive professional experience in stage and screen.  As a writer and director for the theater, he has mounted projects at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the National Black Theater Festival, the Henry Street Settlement and AMAS Musical Theater.  As a producer and writer for film and TV, his credits include Sister Act 2 and Hoodlum.  He is the recipient of many awards, including the NAACP Image Award, Cable Ace Award, Audelco Award, and the Bay Area Critic’s Circle Award.

Debbie Gitlin (fiddle/violin)

Debbie Gitlin has won over 100 first-place prizes at bluegrass and old-time stringband competitions around the Southeast.  Classically trained in viola at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Interlochen Arts Academy, she moved south after hearing Tommy Jarrell's music on the radio.  Once settled in our region, Gitlin enjoyed playing with the famed fiddler from Surry County.  For the past three decades, Gitlin has called the Winston-Salem area home.  She teaches violin and viola at her studio in downtown Winston-Salem.

Wiley Porter (guitar)  www.wileyporter.com

A professional musician for the last 40 years, Wiley Porter has performed for the past six presidents, has backed up greats such as Barbara Streisand and Michael Jackson, and has played in a myriad of Broadway shows. He performed at Opryland in Nashville for 10 years and toured for 20 years with the Mr.. Jack Daniels Original Silver Cornet Band. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Arranging and Composition, he has taught at the college level and currently teaches students in his studios in the Winston-Salem area.

Abdullah Rahman (drums)

Performing professionally for over 20 years, including with the Winston Salem Symphony, Mr. Rahman began his classical musical training at East Carolina University.  He holds a degree in Music Business from Winston Salem State University and is currently obtaining the Master of Music graduate degree at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.  Mr. Rahman also conducts  jazz master classes with noted jazz musicians and vocalists.

Joe Robinson (trumpet) www.joerobinson.net

Joe Robinson, named a “North Carolina living legend” by Latitude Magazine, headlines jazz and blues performances in the Triad and around the state and has backed up some of the biggest names in jazz. Mr. Robinson attended the Berkelee School of Music and has served as the Musical Director of the National Black Theater Festival.  He began his musical career in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and is a graduate of Atkins High School.

Cle Thompson (vocals) www.clethompson.com

Cle Thompson’s jazz vocals have entertained audiences from New York to Los Angeles, where she divides her time when not in Winston-Salem.  Her recordings have received outstanding reviews from the national jazz press.  Among her credits is her work with Academy Award-winning composer/arranger for film Elmer Bernstein.

Diana Tuffin (vocals)

Diana Tuffin performs jazz, R&B, and sacred music. Ms. Tuffin began studying jazz greats at age nine. She performs at restaurants, clubs and festivals around the Southeast in a variety of music styles, including jazz standards, urban contemporary, and Motown.  Ms. Tuffin made her Triad debut at the 2003 National Black Theater Festival.

Moravian Brass Quartet:

       This quartet, arranged especially for this show, features some of the finest professional brass performers in the Southeast, including Anita Cirba, principal trumpet for both the Greensboro and Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestras.

BEHIND THE SCENES:

Elizabeth Carlson (Script and Curriculum Writer)

Mrs. Carlson’s research into the musical heritage and living traditions of North Carolina’s Northwest Piedmont inspired her to write the show’s script and classroom curriculum.  She has taught in the Title Program in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, as well as in classrooms and reading clinics in Massachusetts and California.  Mrs. Carlson received her training in American Studies and in Education from Princeton University (A.B., English and American Studies), the Harvard Graduate School of Education (M.Ed., Language and Literacy), and Lesley University (M.Ed., Elementary Education).

Jo Daniels (Technical Director)   www.visiondigitalprojects.net

Mr. Daniels is the CEO of Vision Digital Projects, a production company specializing in live music and theater productions.  A graduate of Winston-Salem State University in Music Education, he holds a master’s degree in Media Technology from North Carolina A&T State University and has taught commercial music at the college level.  Mr. Daniels is also a professional musician, performing jazz, R&B, and reggae around the Southeast.  He began his musical career in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and graduated from East Forsyth High School.

A SPECIAL THANKS to the PIEDMONT TRIAD REGIONAL COUNCIL for MAKING CAROLINA MUSIC WAYS WORK POSSIBLE.

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Photos by Jo Daniels.

Area Heritage Music Greats

Cast 2010: (l. to r.) Cle Thompson, Wiley Porter, Derrick Parker, Matt Kendrick, Diana Tuffin, Debbie Gitlin, Abdullah Rahman, Joe Robinson

Old Richmond performance 2010

(l. to r.) Matt Kendrick, Joe Robinson, Debbie Gitlin

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