{"id":20843,"date":"2017-05-30T09:05:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T13:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=20843"},"modified":"2017-05-30T09:06:01","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T13:06:01","slug":"on-stage-extra-motown-comes-to-philly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=20843","title":{"rendered":"On Stage (Extra): Motown comes to Philly"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Motown, The Musical<\/p><\/div>\n

The \u201cMotown Sound\u201d began in 1959 when Berry Gordy Jr. founded Tamla Records in Detroit, Michigan.<\/p>\n

One year later, the record company was incorporated as the Motown Record Corporation with the name coming from \u201cmotor\u201d and \u201ctown\u201d \u2014 a reference to the city\u2019s link to the auto manufacturing industry.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the \u201cMotown Sound\u201d became one of the most important influences in the record industry.<\/p>\n

With acts such as the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Four Tops, the Jackson Five and Marvin Gaye, Motown\u2019s version of soul and rhythm-and-blues music created a crossover link that took the traditionally black R&B music to wider, more diverse audiences.<\/p>\n

Now, there is a hit musical that is devoted to that sound and its development \u2014 \u201cMotown the Musical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The popular show will visit Philadelphia for a two-week engagement from May 30-June 11 at the Academy of Music (Broad and Locust streets, Philadelphia, 215-731-3333,\u00a0www.kimmelcenter.org<\/a>), as part of the Kimmel Center\u2018s \u201cBroadway Philadelphia\u201d series.<\/p>\n

Motown played a huge part in the racial integration of pop music as a conduit that brought inner city music to the suburbs and as an African American-owned record label which achieved crossover success.<\/p>\n

The Motown sound became a major influence in all genres of American pop music. In the 1960s, Motown was in full stride.<\/p>\n

The label, which was small in comparison to its West Coast and New York counterparts, placed 79 records in the Top Ten of the\u00a0Billboard\u00a0Magazine\u2019s Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969.<\/p>\n

Despite many ups and downs since then, the label is still alive and is now a subsidiary of Capitol Records.<\/p>\n

Directed by\u00a0Charles Randolph-Wright, \u201cMotown the Musical\u201d is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy\u2019s journey from being a journeyman boxer to a top-level music mogul.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

David Kaverman<\/p><\/div>\n

Chester Gregory plays the role of Berry Gordy, Jr. and David Kaverman performs in the key role of Smokey Robinson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started in December with rehearsals in New York and then did a week of tech in Utica, New York,\u201d said Kaverman, during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Kalamazoo, Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been on the road since January. We officially opened in L.A. Berry Gordy, Jr. and Smokey Robinson were in the audience so I was a little nervous. After the show, Smokey came backstage. He was complimentary and gave me a hug.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaverman, a native of Lima, Ohio, is making his Equity and National Tour debuts with this tour, He is a graduate of Otterbein University and the Manhattan School of Music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get a chance to see the show when it was on Broadway because I was working on a cruise ship at the time,\u201d said Kaverman.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I got the role, I wanted to go watch it at the New York Performing arts Library at Lincoln Center but the director told me not to. He didn\u2019t want me trying to copy what someone else had done. He wanted all of us to do our own thing while re-creating these legends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featuring more than 40\u00a0classic hits such as \u201cMy Girl\u201d and \u201cAin\u2019t No Mountain High Enough,\u201d\u00a0\u201cMotown the Musical\u201d tells the story behind the hits as Ross, Robinson, Gordy and the whole Motown family fought against the odds to create the soundtrack of change in America. Motown broke down racial barriers and took listeners to a place where they all moved to the same beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cMotown music is now prevalent in everyone\u2019s lives \u2013 TV shows, commercials, elevators \u2013 it\u2019s everywhere,\u201d said Kaverman. \u201cSo, I knew a lot of the music before I joined the cast.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I didn\u2019t know much about Smokey Robinson. I learned a lot about him as a musician \u2013 and as one of the major people in the Motown company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMotown the Musical\u201d\u00a0is produced by\u00a0Berry Gordy Jr. The arrangements and orchestrations are by Grammy and Tony Award nominee\u00a0Ethan Popp\u00a0(\u201cRock of Ages\u201d) with co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Tony Award nominee\u00a0Bryan Crook(\u201cSmash\u201d) and dance arrangements by\u00a0Zane Mark\u00a0(\u201cDirty Rotten Scoundrels\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cMotown really is American music,\u201d said Kaverman. \u201cIt\u2019s ingrained in our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cMotown the Musical\u201d — https:\/\/youtu.be\/QygMr7g1UBk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Performances include are Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.; Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m.; and matinees Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m. and June 8 at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $20-$132.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

West Coast Get Down<\/p><\/div>\n

On the same night \u201cMotown the Musical\u201d starts its run in Philadelphia, a concert featuring a facet of today\u2019s African-American music will take place at the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The concert features Miles Mosley, Cameron Graves and the rest of the members of West Coast Get Down. Mosley is a founding member and upright bass player for the acclaimed Los Angeles- based group, the West Coast Get Down (WCGD), a collaborative group of musicians born and raised in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Apart, they are some of the most sought-after musicians in the world. Together, they are uninhibited innovators moving effortlessly through multiple genres of music.<\/p>\n

They have added to their reputation by playing and recording with such as Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill, Chaka Khan, Snoop Dogg, Rihanna and Korn.<\/p>\n

West Coast Get Down\u2019s major players are Miles Mosley (upright bass), Kamasi Washington (saxophone), Cameron Graves (piano), Ronald Bruner Jr. (drums), Stephen Bruner, a.k.a. Thundercat (bass), Ryan Porter (trombone), Brandon Coleman (keys), and Tony Austin (drums).<\/p>\n

This winter, four members of that crew released solo albums of their own \u2014 most of them recorded in the same month-long stretch of communal recording sessions. The albums are Thundercat\u2019s \u201cDrunk,\u201d Ronald Bruner Jr.\u2019s \u201cTriumph,\u201d Cameron Graves\u2019s \u201cPlanetary Prince\u201d and Miles Mosley\u2019s \u201cUprising.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recorded 120 songs in one month,\u201d said Graces, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Boston, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did the whole thing at King Size Studio in the Echo Park section of L.A. It was organized by Miles Mobley. We had been playing at his club in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe session took place in December 2012 and the stuff is just coming out now. It took a long time to get labels interested in the music and convinced that it would be sellable. It also took time to get all the paperwork together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The members of WCGD have a long history together.<\/p>\n

According to Mosley, \u201cI was 14 when I met Tony, Kamasi, Cameron, Ronald and Stephen, we all grew up together. Kamasi and Cameron and I went to the same high school. We were really lucky to grow up in the \u201890s with Clinton as president and a lot of government funding going into music education programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cameron Graves<\/p><\/div>\n

Graves said, \u201cWe all went to Hamilton High or Locke High in Los Angeles. I appreciate growing up in L.A. It\u2019s pretty hardcore. But, it taught us how to be well-rounded people and how to speak through our instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n

At only 16-years-old, Graves, along with Washington and the Bruners, made his recorded debut with their collective group, the Young Jazz Giants. That band, which became the precursor to the WCGD, forged their telepathic interplay through years of weekly gigs at a local poetry hang called Doeboy\u2019s Dozens, playing behind poets.
\n\u201cI was 1996 or 1997 when we started playing at Doeboy\u2019s Dozens in South Los Angeles,\u201d said Graves. \u201cThat\u2019s when we started getting into our groove.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, we expanded to a 10-piece and started playing at Fifth Street Dick\u2019s in Inglewood. In 2008, we did a weekly series \u2013 every Wednesday and Friday night \u2013 at the Piano Bar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where we were able to work on songs and bond. And, we were able to get audience feedback. We spent so much time with those songs, we didn\u2019t even need charts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were learning from each other and creating that chemistry that we have today. The 10-piece collective has spread out but, at the same time, all of us are still together\u201d
\nVideo link for the West Coast Get Down \u2013https:\/\/youtu.be\/VkjZ1lRGtes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the World Caf\u00e9 Live will get underway at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times The \u201cMotown Sound\u201d began in 1959 when Berry Gordy Jr. founded Tamla Records in Detroit, Michigan. One year later, the record company was incorporated as the Motown Record Corporation with the name coming from \u201cmotor\u201d and \u201ctown\u201d \u2014 a reference to the city\u2019s link to the auto manufacturing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7441],"tags":[9080,6269,9079],"class_list":["post-20843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-cameron-graves","tag-featured","tag-motown-the-musical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20844,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20843\/revisions\/20844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}