Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 8 –Lavenia A. Nesmith

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director

Lavenia A. Nesmith

*LAVENIA A. NESMITH –a Freelance Jazz and Gospel Vocalist and Recording Artist—Says the Roots of Her Professional Career Can Be Traced to the Church and Her Performances As a Teen with the El Corols Band and Show

“I always knew as a small child—I think it [started when I] was around the age of eight or nine, but I always knew that I wanted to be a singer.”
“I started in church. Then, when I went to junior high school, I took band lessons. I took music lessons, played clarinet, and qualified for the marching band.”
“There was a group of neighborhood children, mainly boys, and they all played instruments . . . We decided that we wanted to form this Rock and Roll band called the El Corols Band and Show. Although we were teenagers, we were very fortunate to have as our manager a gentleman by the name of Captain Bill Rumsey.”
Interviewed on May 3, 2017
By Dr. Regennia N. Williams
Founder and Director, The RASHAD Center, Inc.
Photograph by Regennia N. Williams
Lavenia A. Nesmith Performs “Peel Me a Grape”
The El Corols Perform “Chick Chick”
#WashingtonDCJazz
#DCLegendaryMusicians
#OralHistoryRocks
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Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 6

Posted on July 29, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director
*CONIECE WASHINGTON – a native of Trenton, New Jersey with roots in the Holiness Church –is also a jazz vocalist and member of DC Legendary Musicians, Inc. In addition to acknowledging the receipt of some sage advice on vocal jazz performance from Dick Smith, Chris Grasso, and Vince Evans, she is also thankful for the opportunities that Washington DC’s churches have created for jazz artists.

Coniece Washington

 

“I have to work harder now, because several of the venues that were here for jazz have shut down. If it wasn’t for the churches . . . I mean, God has had grace and mercy on us, because a lot of the churches have jazz – jazz jams and jazz shows. So I would say there are more opportunities here than there are in Trenton, New Jersey. It could be better, but I am grateful that I am here.”
Interviewed on May 4, 2017
By Dr. Regennia N. Williams
Life Member, Oral History Association
Founder and Director, The RASHAD Center, Inc.
Photograph by Lawrence A. Randall
2015 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Performance
#WashingtonDCJazz
#DCLegendaryMusicians
#OralHistoryRocks
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Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 5

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director
*Mosche Snowden — a Trombonist and South Carolina Native — Discusses His Musical Mentors

Mosche Snowden

“My father played, my brothers played, and my cousins played. Everyone around me that I was associated with played, so it was the thing to do . . . The trombone is a staple of the church that I was attending, so we had brass, trombone bands. I was kind of forced into the trombone [section]. I wanted to play sousaphone, but we had a sousaphone player, so I started playing trombone. . . I was born and raised in the United House of Prayer for all People . . . That was the biggest part of our service, playing in the trombone shout bands.”
Interviewed on May 3, 2017
By Dr. Regennia N. Williams
Life Member
Oral History Association
Photograph Courtesy of Mosche Snowden
2017 Kennedy Center Performance
#WashingtonDCJazz
#DCLegendaryMusicians
#OralHistoryRocks
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Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 4

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director
*LORI WILLIAMS — Native Washingtonian, vocalist, educator, recording artist, mother, and DC-based international performer — identified Dianne Reeves as her muse but also described individual faculty members and experiences at Virginia’s Hampton University as being some of her most important teachers.

Lori Williams

“I was in a vocal jazz group [at Hampton University]. I also worked for the college radio station, WHOV FM, as the Program Director. There I would be able to [play] jazz selections . . . So, I got a chance to sit in my little cubbyhole and just listen to music for hours. That was “the teacher” for me, just being in that area and just being able to immerse myself in the music.”
Interviewed on May 10, 2017
By Dr. Regennia N. Williams
Life Member
Oral History Association
Photograph courtesy of Lori Williams
#WashingtonDCJazz
#DCLegendaryMusicians
#OralHistoryRocks
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Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 3

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director
*JE’LAN HARWELL — a 13-Year-Old Guitarist and Fan of B.B. King, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, and Jackie Lee—Says We Need to Do a Better Job of Supporting Our Musical Artists.

Je’Lan Harwell

“We have a lot of musicians out there that we probably don’t know about. They are practicing every day, but we don’t say anything, because they are on our corners practicing, playing . . . We need to get better at that, and we need to keep on grinding and become a better country.”
Interviewed on May 4, 2017
*With the Permission of Mr. Avery Harwell (Father)
By Dr. Regennia N. Williams
Life Member
Oral History Association
Photograph by
Dr. Regennia N. Williams
#WashingtonDCJazz
#DCLegendaryMusicians
#OralHistoryRocks
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The Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 2

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director

Kim Jordan

KIM JORDAN—renowned keyboard artist, composer, producer, director, preacher, teacher, mentor, entrepreneur, Howard University alumna, and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. —says, “Do not sleep on DC, because this is where the magic happens!”

“There is great history here; there is great jazz history, anything dealing with any kind of musicality . . . going back to the early years when Duke Ellington was playing at all the clubs and the Howard Theatre, then coming down the pike with Shirley Horn, and, I would dare to say, all of those who are out here now doing fabulous things and keeping this jazz history alive—and those who are coming after us . . . DC has always been a musical place, but the roots go deep, the sound is still full, and the spirit is still alive in DC. . . Do not sleep on DC, because this is where the magic happens.”
Interviewed on May 2, 2017 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams
Life Member of the Oral History Association
Photograph by Nathaniel Rhodes
Photograph Courtesy of DC Legendary Musicians, Inc.
#WashingtonDCJazz  #DCLegendaryMusicians   #OralHistoryRocks
#PutYourHandsTogether https://youtu.be/bFL35vtKtq0
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The Washington DC Jazz Oral History Project, Chapter 1: Ronald Edward Holloway

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director
“At the Age of 13, Ronald Edward Holloway Decided to Become ‘A Saxophone Player for Life!'”

Ron Holloway

. . . I was standing in the basement, where I used to put on albums, listen to the guys play, and learn from them . . . So, I was standing in front of the record player, and my dad came downstairs and was standing beside me. We were talking about music and the saxophone, and I said to him, “Dad, I want to get my own horn.” He said, “Well, maybe we should wait a while, and see how you feel about it.” When he said that, I looked up at him with a surprised look, like I was surprised he would say that. I said, “I already know what I want to do. I am not going to change my mind.” So, at 13, I was very sure that I was going to be a saxophone player for life!

Interviewed by Dr. Regennia N. Williams
January 12, 2018
Photograph by Allison Murphy
Photograph Courtesy of the Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale
Founder and Director, DC Legendary Musicians, Inc.
#WashingtonDCJazz #DCLegendaryMusicians #OralHistoryRocks
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Meet the “Washington DC Jazz” Oral History Narrators!

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director

By Regennia N. Williams PhD

Humanities Scholar and Life Member of the Oral History Association

From the late spring of 2016 through the early winter of 2018, I had the pleasure of interviewing 23 incredible jazz artists in the Metro DC Area.  Many were members or friends of DC Legendary Musicians, Inc. (DCLM), and they ranged in age from under 15 to over 50.

Each informant gave generously of their time and abundant knowledge to support the research for Washington, DC, Jazz, a co-authored book by Dr. Regennia N. Williams and the Rev. Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale. (Forthcoming 2018, Arcadia Publishing)

For 23 days in July and August of 2018, I will share photographs of these artists and brief quotes from their interviews with my Facebook friends and the readers of the RASHAD Center’s blog.  This is my way of thanking the artists publicly for their support and offering a preview of some of the information in the book.

Please follow me on Facebook, visit my blog site often, and learn more about what makes these musicians so amazing.  Also, please continue to support the work of jazz artists in Washington, D.C. and throughout the global community.

*For more information on the research for the book and the ongoing work of DCLM, please see the special Black Music Month issue of DCLM’s newsletter at http://dclmusicians.org/.

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Happy Black Music Month!

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director

Dear Friends,

You are cordially invited to read the special 2018 Black Music Month issue of Traditions & Beliefs, RASHAD’s program newsletter. Here is the link to the online publication: https://issuu.com/regennia.williams/docs/winter_spring_traditions___beliefs_

Happy Reading . . .

Happy Black Music Month!

Dr. Regennia N. Williams

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Coming Soon: “My Jazzy Journey and Duke Ellington’s Washington,” A Black Music Month Publication

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Founder, President, and Executive Director

Regennia N. Williams, PhD (Nathaniel Rhodes, Photographer)

In 2008, I wrote a paper on the reception of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts in America and began a 10-year journey through a fascinating chapter in jazz history and Black culture.

That journey took me across America, over the airwaves, and into communities in Africa, Asia, and Europe.  In the present historical moment, that jazzy journey  provided the inspiration for a special 2018 Black Music Month issue of the Traditions & Beliefs Newsletter. I look forward to sharing that publication and the Washington, D.C., Jazz book with you in the near future.

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