Category Archives: Artist News

Lilli Lewis: Orange Music Series

Lilli Lewis is releasing her “Orange Music” series of themed EPs in 2016 to prepare for her next full release. Volume I is entitled “Water & Light” and is a 3 part art piece about what she believes to be essential needs for humankind, including personal and collective sovereignty, and the call to allow one’s light to shine forth. Volume II’s “Anatomy” is a deeply intimate mixtape installation of the pain and vulnerability that lies beneath the surface, mapping Lewis’ own experience through despair, defiance, self-acceptance and surrender. The last track is a gospel like rendering of “Sparrows” by acclaimed Cajun singer/songwriter Gina Forsyth. The topical “Orange Music, Volume III: The Matter” is a musical essay on the grit and rub of the current socio-political landscape in the US covering everything from gun control to #blacklivesmatter, but ultimately reminding us again and again that we share this one journey and we therefore belong to each other.

“O, Let Your Light Shine Bright” from Volume I was digitally distributed by EOne Music Group through Louisiana Red Hot Records. Volumes I & II are currently available in their entirety at bandcamp.com.

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Lilli Lewis: PYRAMIDS Kickstarter Launch

The fundraiser for PYRAMIDS: A Cantata for Chorus, Orchestra and Soloists is now active and finished its first day at 6% funded.

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Lilli Lewis: PYRAMIDS Cantata

Lilli Lewis is launching a kickstarter.com campaign in support of her large scale classical work PYRAMIDS: A new cantata for Chorus, Orchestra and Soloists based on an epic poem by Black Arts Movement leader and American Book Awards winner Askia M. Touré.

The story of Africans in America holds resonance for every culture on the planet that has found itself imperiled by imperialism, but still recalls and seeks to restore the ancient vision of itself – one with a straightened spine and purposed gait. It is a narrative of operatic proportions by any measure, and this large scale work for chorus, orchestra and soloists, will attempt to tell the story in three parts, representing well over 75 minutes of music. Fund from the Kickstarter campaign will be used to complete what Emmy award-winning composer/pianist Dick Hyman has called “a worthy and ambitious project,” as well as to prepare the score for choral ensembles everywhere.  More information is available at www.pyramidscantata.com.

About The Author
Askia M. Touré is a poet and griot.  He spent early apprenticeships in New York under the critical guidance of Langston Hughes, John Oliver Killens and John Henrik Clarke.  Touré’s From the Pyramids to the Projects: Poems of Genocide and Resistance was a winner of the American Book Award for Literature in 1989.

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The Shiz “Meet You in the Morning” Official Digital Release

“Meet You in the Morning,” the ambitious new studio album from The Shiz is now available for download on Bandcamp and iTunes.

The long anticipated release received downloads within minutes of it announcement at midnight on 12/19/2013. The 14 track collection clocks in at a little over 70 minutes and features special guests Monica McIntyre (cello), Drew Robin (violin), and Owen Scott III (guitar).

The Bandcamp download includes a special bonus track and is available for on $8. Preview the album below:

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The Shiz: “Meet You in the Morning” Pre-Release Album Review

The Shiz is an up-and-coming folk rock band from New Orleans, and their sophomore album Meet You in the Morning, should set the bar for 2014. Running nearly 80 minutes, it is a journey through emotions that span a lifetime, spread over three movements. If you’re in need of a booty-shakin’ good time that will also jog the far recesses of your mind, look no further. The joy and the sorrow; the battle scars and victory cries — it’s all there. [read more]

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Lilli Lewis in Nina Simone Tribute Concert at Ellis Marsalis Center

Lilli Lewis will be the pianist for “Feelin’ Good – A Tribute to Nina Simone” on Saturday, November 9th from 5-9:00 pm at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in the Musicians’ Village in New Orleans, Louisiana. With performances by some of New Orleans most talented female artists, the event will pay homage to legendary jazz vocalist Nina Simone. The evening celebrates the collective talents of women and girls. The event includes an opening reception with food & wine, and a full jazz concert interspersed with a variety of other artistic performances. There will also be a silent auction during the event.

The event will raise funds for SISTAWorks’ SISTA Scholar Program (SISTA stands for Stay-In-School-Tuition-Assistance) which provides vital support to girls from Ghana, West Africa’s most rural areas to continue and complete their secondary school education.

Performers include: Sharon Martin, Betty Shirley, Michaela Harrison, Tonya Boyd-Canon, Erica Falls, Monica McIntyre, Jasmine Butler, Lilli Lewis, Rebecca Green, Tonya & Dorise, Silhouette Dance Ensemble, McGehee School’s Ensemble Choir & Orff Band, Asia Rainey and Fiya like Ayanna.

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