Get Yr BLUES ON!

Valerie Ghent LIVE
at

Nick Ashford’s “Nuttin but the Blues”
March 20 & March 27

RESERVATIONS: 212.579.0222

Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar
254 W. 72nd Street
NYC NY 10023
212.579.0222
sugarbarnyc.com

valerieghent.com

About Valerie Ghent

Powerhouse recording artist Valerie Ghent is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and recording engineer from New York City. An outstanding live performer, Valerie weaves together blues, soul, R+B, jazz and pop, treating listeners to soulful, romantic, highly melodic music rendered with passion, undeniable skill and a mighty heart. With a bluesy, funky piano style and a stunning 3 1/2 octave range, Valerie has toured, performed and recorded with world-renowned artists including Ashford & Simpson, Debbie Harry, Defunkt, Valerie Simpson, Dr. Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Sir Cliff Richard, and Luther Vandross.

As a solo artist Valerie has five albums released under her own name, including Day to Day Dream, which launched a #1 hit song on iHeart Radio, Love Enough for a Lifetime; and Velours, named Soul Tracks 50 Best Albums of 2016. In 2017 Valerie released The French Sessions, her first release on a French label, and her song New York City Streets was hailed as an “anthem for New York City”.

Valerie grew up in SoHo and Greenwich Village. Born into a musical family, she began writing songs as a child, recording in her father’s electronic music studio, absorbing her mother’s string quartet rehearsals and falling asleep to the music of Ornette Coleman, who lived and rehearsed in the same building. Longtime keyboardist, vocalist and recording engineer for legendary hit singer-songwriters Ashford & Simpson, Valerie worked closely with the duo for over two decades, recording their music as well as collaborations with Angelou, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Sir Cliff Richard and many others. Literally a whirlwind of musical energy, in addition to her own music career Valerie continues to perform and record with Valerie Simpson, is founder of arts nonprofits Feel the Music! and Songwriter’s Beat and travels regularly to China to further her studies of Chinese internal martial arts. Music, video and more at valerieghent.com

Follow Valerie on:
facebook.com/valerieghentmusic
twitter.com/valerieghent
youtube.com/valerieghent
instagram.com/valerieghent
reverbnation.com/valerieghent

Cultivate Your Own Garden
Curated by Patricia Spergel
and Shazzi Thomas

Painting Center
547 27th St., 507, NY, NY 10014
https://www.thepaintingcenter.org/cultivate-your-own-garden

February 27 – March 24, 2018

Jazz musicians are real American heroes: but their true stories have not been truly told. Find out how they created an original American art form while battling discrimination, poverty, violence, even defying death, to create an original music of the American people. Jazz is America’s greatest gift to World Culture!

The jazz heroes in this series have something in common with each other; they have given to the world a wonderful legacy of music. For decades; all over the planet, people continue to read about their lives, study, sing, play, dance to and enjoy their music. These super heroes have provided the soundtrack to our lives; their music is constantly around us. It can be heard everywhere; on elevators, in department stores, on the radio, on TV commercials and movie soundtracks.

Because their music is around us all the time, it will be surprising to a lot of young people to learn what these heroes went through in order to accomplish what they did! Each of these real life heroes, in spite of the terrible conditions they experienced, triumphed over dangerous and depressing situations and found the inner strength and concentration to learn jazz music so well, that they could make it up their own way and start exciting new styles for audiences to appreciate. This is why they are Jazz Superheroes!

Billie Holiday Jazz Superhero at Amazon

Lester Young “Prez” Jazz Superhero at Amazon

Westbeth resident Erica Fae’s feature film, TO KEEP THE LIGHT, will be released online in the United States on February 27.

Set in the 1860s on an island off the coast of Maine, the film — which Erica wrote, directed, and stars in — tells the story of salt-of-the-earth homesteader Abbie, the lighthouse keeper’s wife, who must manage her household and the lighthouse post while also caring for her bedridden husband. A gorgeously-shot tale of love, loss, and a woman finding her place in the world, TO KEEP THE LIGHT won numerous awards — including an international critics prize and awards for best director, best in show, best narrative feature, and best cinematography — during its festival run.

TO KEEP THE LIGHT will be available on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and various cable and video-on-demand platforms. Order it on iTunes HERE

Find out more at www.tokeepthelight.com

About Erica:

Erica Fae is a filmmaker, theatre maker, and actor, and she teaches physical acting in the MFA programs at Yale School of Drama and the New School for Drama. Her play, Take What Is Yours, (with Jill A. Samuels) received a critics’ pick in the New York Times & Backstage. Erica is currently in development on her second feature film and on a new solo play, Saved Again and By Him, which will premier in May 2018 as part of the New Ohio Theatre’s Archive Residency. Erica and her husband, Jordan Fletcher, are also proud new parents to Ezra Wolf (perhaps Westbeth’s newest resident).

Westbeth Icons is a project that celebrates the work and life of senior Westbeth artists who continue to passionately work in their artistic field. It is funded by the Westbeth Artists Residents Council with a grant from NYC Council Speaker, Corey Johnson.

The films feature a video interview produced and directed by Ted Timreck and Terry Stoller as interviewer, as well as a video of the evening itself before a live audience and includes speeches by colleagues and the artist.

Additional Cameras: Christina Maile, Sandra Kingsbury
Lighting Design: Frankie Alduino

A filmed event of the February 17, 2018 evening honoring Vija Vetra, dancer, choreographer, and Latvia’s
National Treasure

Vija Vetra WB Icon Presentation from theodore timreck on Vimeo.

A filmed event of the January 21, 2018 evening honoring Edward Field, poet.

Edward Field Icon Portrait 006 from theodore timreck on Vimeo.

A filmed event of the January 18, 2018 evening honoring Edith Stephens, dancer, choreographer and filmmaker

Edith Stephen Presentation from theodore timreck on Vimeo.

A filmed event of November 19, 2017 evening honoring Jack Dowling, painter, printmaker, curator and writer.

Jack Dowling Icon Presentation 11-19-17 from theodore timreck on Vimeo.