African American Cultural Events to Enjoy in North Carolina

Music
Durham’s John Brown Quintet, featuring vocalist Carmen Lundy, will present a Valentine’s concert and CD release party and dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 14, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Cotton Room in Durham. Tickets are available for a live concert performance only, or for an accompanying three-course dinner. Click here to make reservations.

Finger-style Piedmont blues guitarist Boo Hanks will appear at the N.C. Museum of History as part of its Music From the Carolinas series presented by PineCone, Williams Mullen and WLHC-FM/WLQC-FM. The free program takes place Sunday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. PineCone’s Down Home Concert Series brings the Taj Mahal Trio to Meymandi Concert Hall, Progress Energy Center, Raleigh, on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. For more information on these events, visit  www.pinecone.org.

The Williams Family, featuring Snow Hill gospel artist Dr. Mal Williams, will perform at the Victory and Dominion Church, 1438 Highway 258/13 North, Snow Hill on Thursday, March 29, as part of the Greene County Performing Arts Series.

World-renowned South African vocal ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo appears at Thalian Hall in Wilmington, Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 8 p.m. For more information, call (910) 632-2285 or visit www.thalianhall.org.

Jazz at Lincoln Center drummer Alvin Atkinson and his quartet perform a family concert exploring the diversity of jazz music from swing to boogaloo to Afro-Cuban at UNC Wilmington’s Kenan Auditorium, Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. For more information, call (910) 962-3500 or visit www.uncw.edu/arts/jalc.html.

Durham bassist John Brown and his 15-piece big band joins with the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival to present Such Sweet Thunder, combining the works of William Shakespeare with the music of jazz greats Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. They’ll perform in three locations: the International Ballroom at the International Home Furnishings Center in High Point, Friday, March 30, at 8 p.m.; Charlotte’s Booth Theatre, Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m.; and Durham’s Cotton Room, Thursday, April 26, at 8 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.jbjazz.com/.

The late pianist Billy Taylor, a Greenville native, served as a visiting distinguished professor at East Carolina University. The school’s annual Billy Taylor Jazz Festival will be held Saturday, April 21. For more information, visit http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/music/jazz/jazz-festival/

Literature
The N.C. Museum of Art presents a free evening of poetry hosted by Dr. L. Teresa Church, independent archivist and playwright, and Dr. Sheila Smith McKoy, NC State University professor of English, Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. Hear spoken word poetry, some inspired by works in the museum’s collection, from area college students and district winners from the North Carolina Poetry Out Loud competition, sponsored by the N.C. Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit http://ncartmuseum.org/

North Carolina A&T State University’s Creative Writing Program celebrates the Obsidian Journal’s special edition Aforebo: A Harvest of North Carolina Writers of African Descent as part of its Carolina on My Mind Reading Series Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. Authors scheduled to read include Sandra Govan, Sheila Smith McKoy, Beverly Burnette, Lenard D. Moore and others. The free program takes place in the General Classroom Building, auditorium A218 (second floor) at the corner of North Benbow and Sullivan Roads in Greensboro. Parking is available in lot G-1 on the North Benbow Road side and at Aggie Stadium. For more information, contact Dr. Anjail Rashida Ahmad, arahmad@ncat.edu or (336) 334-7771, ext. 2370.

The Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington will host a spoken word poetry jam featuring local poets and music by Eclectic Soul Thursday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. For more information, call (910) 763-0973 or visit www.cameronartmuseum.com.

Theater
The N.C. Black Repertory Company in Winston-Salem presents a double bill of stage works including Dr. May Edward Chinn, based on the first African American woman doctor at Harlem Hospital, and Big Mama Speaks, based on Hannibal B. Johnson’s book Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District, Friday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.nbtf.org/.

Barefoot Theatre brings contemporary adaptations of two folktales of the Baluba and Ashanti peoples, featuring Anansi the spider, Elephant and other characters to the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh, Saturday, Feb. 4, at 11 a.m. For more information, visit http://ncartmuseum.org/

Craft
Winston-Salem’s Delta Fine Arts features Loved Through the Years: Three Centuries of Black Dolls highlighting African American dolls from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries Sunday, Feb. 12, through Sunday, March 31. For more information, visit http://www.deltafinearts.org/

Visual Arts
The work of Greensboro’s Beverly McIver is on view in Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver at the N.C. Museum of Art through Sunday, June 24. For more information, visit http://ncartmuseum.org/

Born and raised in eastern N.C., Wilmington artist Ivey Hayes will be featured in Ivey Hayes: A Retrospective at NC Central University’s Art Gallery, Sunday, Feb. 19, through Friday, April 20.

Durham native Stephen Hayes’ relief sculptures of former slaves can be seen in Cash Crop at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture in Charlotte through Saturday, June 30. The Gantt Center is part of the Levine Center for the Arts which also includes the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Mint Museum Uptown.

Converge at the McColl Center in Charlotte through Friday, March 23, features works from artists Sonya Clark and Quisqueya Henriquez exploring themes of identity and inclusion. For more information, visit http://www.mccollcenter.org/.

Film
The 11th annual North Carolina Black Film Festival, sponsored by the Black Arts Alliance, will be held at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, Thursday, March 22, through Monday, March 25. It features screenings of independent films by African American filmmakers with guest artists, panel discussions, workshops and more. For information, call (910) 612-7832 or visit www.blackartsalliance.org.

UNC Wilmington hosts an Intercultural Week and Festival celebrating the rich diversity of cultures found within the university and the Wilmington community, Monday, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 18, including film, theater, dance and lectures. For more information, call (910) 962-3685 or visit www.uncw.edu/iweek.