Rosetta Reitz, Champion of Jazz Women, Dies at 84
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: November 14, 2008
Rosetta Reitz, an ardent feminist who scavenged through the early history of jazz and the blues to resurrect the music of long-forgotten women and to create a record label dedicated to them, died on Nov. 1 in Manhattan. She was 84.
Skip to next paragraph
Jill Lynne, 1977
Rosetta Reitz
The cause was cardiopulmonary problems, her daughter Rebecca Reitz said.
Ms. Reitz (pronounced rights) came by her interest in jazz through her husband and male friends, but as the feminist movement gathered steam in the 1960s, she noticed something was missing: the music’s women. So she started collecting old 78s of performers like the trumpeter Valaida Snow, the pianist-singer Georgia White and a bevy of blues singers who had faded from memory.
At the same time, she unearthed lost songs by more famous artists like Bessie Smith, Ida Cox and Ma Rainey.
“In that decade of the 1920s, when jazz was really being formulated and changing from an entertainment music to an art form,” Ms. Reitz said in an interview with The New York Times in 1980, “these women were extraordinarily important and instrumental in accomplishing that.”
She continued: “Louis Armstrong was a sideman on records in the ’20s with singers like Sippie Wallace, Eva Taylor, Hociel Thomas, Virginia Liston and Margaret Johnson. These women’s records were made as their records. But when they come out now, they’re reissued as Louis Armstrong records, when actually he was not that important on them.”
These women “had the power,” she told The Christian Science Monitor in 1984. “They hired the musicians and the chorus line, a lot of them wrote the music themselves, and they produced their own shows. They were more than just singers; they were symbols of success.”
Music was at first just one element in a busy life. Ms. Reitz was at different times a stockbroker, a bookstore proprietor and the owner of a greeting card business. She was a food columnist for The Village Voice, a professor, a classified-advertising manager and author of a book on mushrooms. She was a founding member of Older Women’s Liberation. She reared three daughters as a single parent.
Ms. Reitz also wrote “Menopause: A Positive Approach” (1977), considered one of the first books to look at menopause from the viewpoint of women and not doctors. She listened to her recordings of women while she wrote the book, many of them celebrating the strength of women rather than treating them as victims.
“I was so alone and needed to be nurtured, and I found I was getting it from them,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992.
Ms. Reitz started Rosetta Records in 1979
with $10,000 she had borrowed from friends. Her routine was to scout out lost music, usually through record collectors. She then supervised the remastering of records that were often severely damaged; researched and wrote detailed liner notes; and designed graphics and found period photographs for the album covers. She personally wrapped each order and took it to the post office for shipment. (Around a dozen stores later carried the Rosetta label.)
Over the years Ms. Reitz went from vinyl recordings to tapes to CDs. She refused to give sales figures, but she did tell The Los Angeles Times that the four titles in her “independent women’s blues” series of compilations — including “Mean Mothers” — sold around 20,000 copies each. Some albums centered on themes like railroads or prisons.
Much of the music she recorded was in the public domain, but Ms. Reitz said she had devoted time and energy to tracking down the rights to some songs and to paying artists royalties when she could. Her label had not issued a recording in at least 13 years, but previous releases are sometimes sold on the Internet. And a number of mainstream labels have also reissued albums of the artists Ms. Reitz admired.
Rosetta Goldman was born in Utica, N.Y., on Sept. 28, 1924. She attended the University of Wisconsin for three years, moved to Manhattan and got a job at the Gotham Book Mart. She negotiated a loan to buy her own bookstore, the 4 Seasons, in Greenwich Village, where literary figures like Ralph Ellison were celebrated.
For years Ms. Reitz lobbied for a postage stamp honoring Bessie Smith, which was issued in 1994. She produced concerts by longtime female blues singers for the Newport Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
She married Robert Reitz when she was 23, and they divorced in the late 1960s. Besides her daughter Rebecca, of Manhattan, Ms. Reitz is survived by two other daughters, Robin Reitz of Tucson, and Rainbow Reitz of Manhattan; and a granddaughter.
Ms. Reitz did not always finish what she started. She had planned to make 26 albums, she said, but completed only 17. She never finished a book on women in jazz. And even her success with the Rosetta label had left her with a conviction that more work still had to be done.
“My hope and dream,” she said, “is that there won’t be a need for a women’s record company.”
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Kenya: Nairobi Orchestra in 60th Anniversary Gala Concert
Kenya: Nairobi Orchestra in 60th Anniversary Gala Concert
East African Business Week (Kampala)
9 November 2008Posted to the web 10 November 2008
Brian Coutinho
Nairobi Orchestra has organized 60th Anniversary Gala Concert come Saturday 15th November at Braeburn Theatre, Nairobi. The concert will see guest conductor, Damian Penfold and guest soloist, Ivan Kiwuwa. Visiting conductor Damian Penfold has conducted two Christmas concerts here, in 2004 and 2006 and he makes a very welcome return. He has a lot of experience with amateur and professional musicians and was a finalist in the highly prestigious International Sibelius Competition for young conductors.
He conducted a programme of Vaughan Williams' music in London in September and, since this year is also the 50th anniversary of that composer's death we are, at Damian's suggestion, including Vaughan Williams' lyrical Norfolk Rhapsody. Perfomers will incude Nicolai of Merry Wives of Windsor Overture, Schumann the Piano Concerto, Grixti, an Australian in Kenya and others. Ivan Kiwuwa a visiting soloist is a Ugandan pianist, who delighted audiences when he gave an NMS recital at the Kenya National Theatre two years ago.
Graduate, postgraduate and now Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Ivan is the winner of many prizes and scholarships, including the Martin Musical Scholarship, the Sevenoaks Festival Young Musician of the Year and the Royal Overseas League's Philip Crawshaw Memorial Prize
East African Business Week (Kampala)
9 November 2008Posted to the web 10 November 2008
Brian Coutinho
Nairobi Orchestra has organized 60th Anniversary Gala Concert come Saturday 15th November at Braeburn Theatre, Nairobi. The concert will see guest conductor, Damian Penfold and guest soloist, Ivan Kiwuwa. Visiting conductor Damian Penfold has conducted two Christmas concerts here, in 2004 and 2006 and he makes a very welcome return. He has a lot of experience with amateur and professional musicians and was a finalist in the highly prestigious International Sibelius Competition for young conductors.
He conducted a programme of Vaughan Williams' music in London in September and, since this year is also the 50th anniversary of that composer's death we are, at Damian's suggestion, including Vaughan Williams' lyrical Norfolk Rhapsody. Perfomers will incude Nicolai of Merry Wives of Windsor Overture, Schumann the Piano Concerto, Grixti, an Australian in Kenya and others. Ivan Kiwuwa a visiting soloist is a Ugandan pianist, who delighted audiences when he gave an NMS recital at the Kenya National Theatre two years ago.
Graduate, postgraduate and now Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Ivan is the winner of many prizes and scholarships, including the Martin Musical Scholarship, the Sevenoaks Festival Young Musician of the Year and the Royal Overseas League's Philip Crawshaw Memorial Prize
"Mama Afrika" Miriam Makeba
"Mama Afrika" was not only a singer but a humanitarian and an activist. This photographic tribute to her memory records a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in March 2008, eight months before her death.
Congo-Kinshasa: South African UN Goodwill Ambassador Meets Rape Survivors
UN News Service (New York)
13 March 2008Posted to the web 13 March 2008
Women who have survived sexual violence endure a "triple tragedy" - physical, psychological and social - in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South African singer and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Goodwill Ambassador Miriam Makeba has said.
Ms. Makeba, on a four-day visit to the capital Kinshasa, is touring small farming projects which seek to help rape survivors feed their families and boost their self-reliance. The women taking part in the scheme have received seeds, tools and agricultural training from FAO.
"Women guarantee the survival of 80 per cent of the households in DRC. Yet despite their crucial role for the well-being of the family, they are frequently victims to rape and sexual violence," she said, adding that the systematic rape of women in recent years is the "most horrifying feature of the complex emergency" in the vast Central African nation.
In the volatile North Kivu province alone, 27,000 cases of sexual violence were recorded in 2006, the singer, who was appointed FAO Goodwill Ambassador in 1999, noted.
She also pointed out that despite the DRC's "vast potential for economic growth," 70 per cent of the population faces food insecurity, malnutrition rates are rising and approximately 3.5 million people have lost their lives in the past two decades to violence, famine and disease.
In concert with other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local authorities, FAO's Emergency Coordination and Rehabilitation Unit has helped 500,000 households, or over two million people, and intends to increase their assistance to aid some 800,000 households this year.
The agency's projects, prioritizing vulnerable groups such as internally displaced persons (IDPs), malnourished children and ex-combatants, have provided farming and fishing equipment, seeds and disease-free plants and road repairs to bolster market access.
"I would like my visit to this country to be an opportunity to renew and strengthen our commitment and ensure that innocent victims suffering from hunger have access to the necessary resources to cultivate their hope for a better life," said Ms. Makeba, recipient of the 1986 Dag Hammarskjöld Prize for Peace.
While in the DRC, she also plans to visit a project for families impacted by HIV/AIDS, as well as meet with high-ranking Government officials and representative of UN agencies and NGOs
South Africa: Miriam Makeba Sang the Music of Her Roots
allAfrica.com
10 November 2008Posted to the web 10 November 2008
Adiel IsmailCape Town
Singer, song writer, political activist and actress Miriam Zenzi Makeba, or "Mama Africa" as she was popularly known, was born in Johannesburg on March 4 1932.
She made her debut as a vocalist with the Manhattan Brothers in the 1950s. After leaving South Africa to star in the Todd Matshikiza musical, King Kong, she attracted international attention with her vocal ability and released many famous hits such as "Pata Pata," "The Click Song" and "Malaika" while abroad.
When she attempted to return to South Africa after her mother's death, Miriam was refused entry. She lost her passport and after she became known as an anti apartheid activist abroad, her music was banned. She stayed in exile for 31 years, returning only after Nelson Mandela was released and persuaded her to come back.
8
Makeba captured the hearts of many South Africans as some of her songs dealt with the political plight of blacks oppressed by the apartheid regime.
In her autobiography, "Makeba: My Story," she wrote: "I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots. Through my music I became the voice and image of Africa and the people."
Amongst her top accolades is a joint Polar Music Prize with Sofia Gubaidulina. She was voted 38th of the "Top 100 Great South Africans" and was given the "International Award for Social Engagement" by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
As "Mama Africa's" music continues to reach both the heights and depths of her listeners' emotions, she will always be remembered as an instrument with the ability not only to speak out but to sing out against all social vices
Congo-Kinshasa: South African UN Goodwill Ambassador Meets Rape Survivors
UN News Service (New York)
13 March 2008Posted to the web 13 March 2008
Women who have survived sexual violence endure a "triple tragedy" - physical, psychological and social - in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South African singer and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Goodwill Ambassador Miriam Makeba has said.
Ms. Makeba, on a four-day visit to the capital Kinshasa, is touring small farming projects which seek to help rape survivors feed their families and boost their self-reliance. The women taking part in the scheme have received seeds, tools and agricultural training from FAO.
"Women guarantee the survival of 80 per cent of the households in DRC. Yet despite their crucial role for the well-being of the family, they are frequently victims to rape and sexual violence," she said, adding that the systematic rape of women in recent years is the "most horrifying feature of the complex emergency" in the vast Central African nation.
In the volatile North Kivu province alone, 27,000 cases of sexual violence were recorded in 2006, the singer, who was appointed FAO Goodwill Ambassador in 1999, noted.
She also pointed out that despite the DRC's "vast potential for economic growth," 70 per cent of the population faces food insecurity, malnutrition rates are rising and approximately 3.5 million people have lost their lives in the past two decades to violence, famine and disease.
In concert with other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local authorities, FAO's Emergency Coordination and Rehabilitation Unit has helped 500,000 households, or over two million people, and intends to increase their assistance to aid some 800,000 households this year.
The agency's projects, prioritizing vulnerable groups such as internally displaced persons (IDPs), malnourished children and ex-combatants, have provided farming and fishing equipment, seeds and disease-free plants and road repairs to bolster market access.
"I would like my visit to this country to be an opportunity to renew and strengthen our commitment and ensure that innocent victims suffering from hunger have access to the necessary resources to cultivate their hope for a better life," said Ms. Makeba, recipient of the 1986 Dag Hammarskjöld Prize for Peace.
While in the DRC, she also plans to visit a project for families impacted by HIV/AIDS, as well as meet with high-ranking Government officials and representative of UN agencies and NGOs
South Africa: Miriam Makeba Sang the Music of Her Roots
allAfrica.com
10 November 2008Posted to the web 10 November 2008
Adiel IsmailCape Town
Singer, song writer, political activist and actress Miriam Zenzi Makeba, or "Mama Africa" as she was popularly known, was born in Johannesburg on March 4 1932.
She made her debut as a vocalist with the Manhattan Brothers in the 1950s. After leaving South Africa to star in the Todd Matshikiza musical, King Kong, she attracted international attention with her vocal ability and released many famous hits such as "Pata Pata," "The Click Song" and "Malaika" while abroad.
When she attempted to return to South Africa after her mother's death, Miriam was refused entry. She lost her passport and after she became known as an anti apartheid activist abroad, her music was banned. She stayed in exile for 31 years, returning only after Nelson Mandela was released and persuaded her to come back.
8
Makeba captured the hearts of many South Africans as some of her songs dealt with the political plight of blacks oppressed by the apartheid regime.
In her autobiography, "Makeba: My Story," she wrote: "I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots. Through my music I became the voice and image of Africa and the people."
Amongst her top accolades is a joint Polar Music Prize with Sofia Gubaidulina. She was voted 38th of the "Top 100 Great South Africans" and was given the "International Award for Social Engagement" by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
As "Mama Africa's" music continues to reach both the heights and depths of her listeners' emotions, she will always be remembered as an instrument with the ability not only to speak out but to sing out against all social vices
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Adopting New Healthy “Hot” Water Habits
http://circa50-liberated-boomer-communi1.blogspot.com/2008/11/virtual-picket-and-strike-action.html
http://circa50-liberated-boomer-communi1.blogspot.com/2008/11/heart-attacks-and-drinking-warm-water.html
http://circa50-liberated-boomer-communi1.blogspot.com/2008/11/heart-attacks-and-drinking-warm-water.html
Adopting New “Hot” Water Habits
Epson salt will flush toxins and heavy metals from the body. Taken internally, Epson Salt acts as a detoxifying agent for colon cleansing. The magnesium sulfate is absorbed through the skin, such as in a bath, it draws toxins from the body, soothese the nerves, reduces swelling, relaxes muscles, is a natural emollient and exfoliator.
Epson salt will flush toxins and heavy metals from the body. Taken internally, Epson Salt acts as a detoxifying agent for colon cleansing. The magnesium sulfate is absorbed through the skin, such as in a bath, it draws toxins from the body, soothese the nerves, reduces swelling, relaxes muscles, is a natural emollient and exfoliator.
Following are several recipes:
1 cup epsom salt, 1 handful sea salt, 2 tablespoons bath oil;
Equal parts epsom salt, baking powder and ginger powder. The ginger opens up pores and promotes sweating (thereby ridding the body of toxins) and the epsom salt has purifying properties
1 cup epsom salt, 1 handful sea salt, 2 tablespoons bath oil;
Equal parts epsom salt, baking powder and ginger powder. The ginger opens up pores and promotes sweating (thereby ridding the body of toxins) and the epsom salt has purifying properties
Simply soak in warm water and 2 cups of epsom salt.
If available, add some melted cocoa butter for extra moisturizing -- but watch out; it will make the tub very slippery.
Rejuvenating Detoxifying Bath: Use about 2 quarts 3% hydrogen peroxide to a tub of warm water. Soak at least 1/2 hour, adding hot water as needed to maintain a comfortable water temperature.
Rejuvenating Detoxifying Bath: Add 6 ounces of 35% hydrogen peroxide to a tub of water. You may increase up to 2 cups. Soak at least 1/2 hour.Alternate Bath: Add 1/2 cup 35% hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 cup sea salt, 1/2 cup baking soda or Epson salts to water and soak.
RECIPE FOR A DETOX BATHDaily full bath2 Cups Epson Salt (or Sea Salt)2 Cups Hydrogen Peroxide (3% solution).Soak for 20 Minutes
Virtual Picket and Strike action against the healing Line
This season may require us to “Picket” and Strike action the healing Line. The healing Line Strike action (“Picket”), often simply called a healing Line strike, is a refusal to patronize the healing caused by poor eating habits.
This season may require us to save the Healing Line for the miraculous.
Picket the healing line by:
This season may require us to save the Healing Line for the miraculous.
Picket the healing line by:
1. Adopting spiritual habits that support adopting healthy habits
2. Adopting healthy healing daily habits
3. Fellowshipping with more family and friends who live holy, wholly, and healthy
4. Limiting the “ham sandwich” and choose to eat and live healthy
Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm Water
Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm Water
This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about Heart Attacks The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and can lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
Common Symptoms Of Heart Attack... A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting . Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line . You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.
....... you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send to a friend. It could save a life. So, please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.
Look And Live Richard D'Abreu Jr. Rave Reviews Download $0.99 Rate-Comment-Review
Click here: Amazon.com: Look And Live: MP3 Downloads: Richard D'Abreu Jr.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
. "Look and Live" is a delicious music delicacy for us mere mortals, November 6, 2008
By
Philip Bingham (Montclair) - See all my reviews "Look and Live" is not a coincidence...though the markets have traded down, "Look and Live" has spiraled back-up to rank in the top ten personal gospel-jazz songs for hard times in 2008-2009. "Look and Live" is a delicious music delicacy for us mere mortals, usually too precious for human consumption. "Look and Live" takes Take 6 and Manhattan Transfer Vocalies and morphs them to another level. The Saxophone offers a smoothe innovative shift to/from emotional gospel shouts to jazz riffs. "Look and Live" makes my heart dance, causes my feet to tap positive emotions in Morse code, and refreshes my soul. PB
Comment Permalink Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons appear only when you look at reviews submitted by others.
Talk of the Town , November 10, 2008
By
D. Manning (Hempstead,NY) - See all my reviews Move over world get Ready!!!!!!!!!!get Ready!!!!!!!!!!for a new sound in the christian music. Saxophone sound offer a smoothe innoviative to our everyday spiritual lift each of us in the morning. I truly enjoy the sound. Im looking forward to the entire album for Mr D'Abreu. God blessing and guide you to your album coming.
Comment Permalink Was this review helpful to you?
!!!, November 7, 2008
By
Moonchild "Moonchild" (EUR) - See all my reviewsI LOVE this! What a great production and sound. I look fw to hearing more.
Comment Permalink Was this review helpful to you?
'
Click here: Amazon.com: Look And Live: MP3 Downloads: Richard D'Abreu Jr.
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
. "Look and Live" is a delicious music delicacy for us mere mortals, November 6, 2008
By
Philip Bingham (Montclair) - See all my reviews "Look and Live" is not a coincidence...though the markets have traded down, "Look and Live" has spiraled back-up to rank in the top ten personal gospel-jazz songs for hard times in 2008-2009. "Look and Live" is a delicious music delicacy for us mere mortals, usually too precious for human consumption. "Look and Live" takes Take 6 and Manhattan Transfer Vocalies and morphs them to another level. The Saxophone offers a smoothe innovative shift to/from emotional gospel shouts to jazz riffs. "Look and Live" makes my heart dance, causes my feet to tap positive emotions in Morse code, and refreshes my soul. PB
Comment Permalink Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons appear only when you look at reviews submitted by others.
Talk of the Town , November 10, 2008
By
D. Manning (Hempstead,NY) - See all my reviews Move over world get Ready!!!!!!!!!!get Ready!!!!!!!!!!for a new sound in the christian music. Saxophone sound offer a smoothe innoviative to our everyday spiritual lift each of us in the morning. I truly enjoy the sound. Im looking forward to the entire album for Mr D'Abreu. God blessing and guide you to your album coming.
Comment Permalink Was this review helpful to you?
!!!, November 7, 2008
By
Moonchild "Moonchild" (EUR) - See all my reviewsI LOVE this! What a great production and sound. I look fw to hearing more.
Comment Permalink Was this review helpful to you?
'
Click here: Amazon.com: Look And Live: MP3 Downloads: Richard D'Abreu Jr.
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)