Let’s say you assembled a team of friends to make a comprehensive documentary about some precious but overlooked musicians and the unique small-town community that surrounded them. You did this for love. Friends jumped in on faith and fellowship. It took more than seven years and $250,000 out of your own pockets to get this project to the finish line.
Last year, in the middle of a pandemic, you found a distributor who believed in the doc. Wow.
Many DIY documentaries don’t get that far.
Our documentary “The Center of Nowhere (The Spirit and Sounds of Springfield, Mo.)” got off to a [...]
We all need a soulful angel on our shoulders.
That was part of the resume of Danny Ray, the “Cape Man” for soul brother number one James Brown. Ray died of natural causes Tuesday in Augusta, Ga. He was 85 years old.
On Wednesday the James Brown Estate called Ray “the second hardest working man in show business.”
Ray served as master of ceremonies for the James Brown and the Famous Flames Revue, but he was best known for draping a flowing cape over a worn-out Brown in at the end of a concert.
In my career, I always tried to look beyond the stars. That’s how I wound up backstage with Ray after [...]
David Leong, 1920-2020
“The Cashew Chicken Capital of America” is a true made-in-America story delivered from the hills and highways of Springfield, Mo.
Springfield’s population is approximately 168,000 people. And nearly 100 regional restaurants serve cashew chicken.
David Leong, the beloved founder of “Springfield Style Cashew Chicken” died July 20 in Springfield. He had been battling pneumonia. David was 99 years old. He would have turned 100 on August 18.
David’s remarkable journey incorporates so many things I love: cashew chicken, Route 66, soul music, [...]
In loving memory of Clarence Burke, Sr, 1929-2020. (Photo courtesy of Keni Burke)
Clarence Burke, Sr., the beloved patriarch of Chicago’s Five Stairsteps soul and rock group died on July 16, following a seizure in an Atlanta area hospital. He would have turned 91 on July 17.
I interviewed Mr. Burke in late June for a New City magazine article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the group’s biggest hit, “O-o-h Child.” A couple of days after our conversation he fell in his home and suffered a fractured hip. When I heard that news I recalled the satisfied, empathetic tones in Mr. Burke’s voice. He [...]
