Concerts Galleries

AFA '09 - George Clinton (Sep 09) : George Clinton was the African Festival's 2009 headliner. Her put on a great show and seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit at age 68. It was interesting to see that the elders in the village didn't mind his foul language as much as they did during the hip hop set the previous day. Go figure. After the show, I had a chance to speak with some of the band. Consistent with other artists I've seen in CHI, they were all really gracious and down to earth folks. Cool. If you want the link to the other 300 photos, email me. I had some trouble identifying all of his band members, so if you have the missing ones, please email me or comment on the photo. Thanks!

AFA '09 - George Clinton (Sep 09)

George Clinton was the African Festival's 2009 headliner. Her put on a great show and seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit at age 68. It was interesting to see that the elders in the village didn't mind his foul language as much as they did during the hip hop set the previous day. Go figure. After the show, I had a chance to s ...

Updated: Sep 12, 2009 8:22am PST

Earth, Wind and Fire (May 08) : The finale of a three day meeting on the Big Island of Hawaii was an outdoor dinner and concert by Earth, Wind and Fire. After not shooting much during the trip (I was actually in meetings), I took about 200 photos during the show. Here are a few favorite 30 or so. A few other thoughts: I did my best to identify the band members based on numerous google searches. I could not get the woman who was our promoter/ point person to give me the names because she claimed she'd "get in trouble". Mind you, Phil Bailey introduced them ALL during the show, I just didn't have a pen. I didn't realize playing in EW&F was the equivalent of being an undercover CIA agent. She seemed relatively clueless, and wouldn't even let me ask the band manager. No good reason, I guess she's just like that [insults deleted] During the "meet and greet" after the show, Phil Bailey essentially tried to hit on my wife (I'm only 1/2 kidding). I guess he's still in the '70s. More power to him.

Earth, Wind and Fire (May 08)

The finale of a three day meeting on the Big Island of Hawaii was an outdoor dinner and concert by Earth, Wind and Fire. After not shooting much during the trip (I was actually in meetings), I took about 200 photos during the show. Here are a few favorite 30 or so. A few other thoughts: I did my best to identify the band members bas ...

Updated: Jun 01, 2008 12:41pm PST

AFA '08 - Ms. Rachelle Ferrell (Aug 08) : Let start it this way: Rachelle Ferrell is the most talented singer I've ever heard. Rachelle Ferrell blessed Chicago with another great concert this year. She was funnier than ever and talked to the crowd like we were just 2-3 people in her living room. She had been sick in the days leading up to the show and used a nasal inhaler, tissues, and all kinds of stuff througout the show - and clowned around the whole time while doing it. She did a few songs that had most of the crowd wiping their eyes - including a tribute to Bernie Mac. She also did some songs praising the Lord. The scat version of Blackbird was amazing. Lastly, the facial contortions were certainly in effect. I took well over 200 photos from up close, thanks to my media tags. Here are my favorite photos from the night.

AFA '08 - Ms. Rachelle Ferrell (Aug 08)

Let start it this way: Rachelle Ferrell is the most talented singer I've ever heard. Rachelle Ferrell blessed Chicago with another great concert this year. She was funnier than ever and talked to the crowd like we were just 2-3 people in her living room. She had been sick in the days leading up to the show and used a nasal inhaler ...

Updated: Sep 21, 2008 3:36pm PST

AFA '07 - TUCC Women : The Trinity United Church of Christ Women's Choir opened the Main stage on Labor Day at the African Festival of the Arts in Chicago. I took over 100 photos of my home church's Women's Choir. Here are a few favorites. Please let me know, in advance, if you would like to use these pictures in any publication. Consider them copyrighted. If you want a link to the other photos, contact me at the link above.

AFA '07 - TUCC Women

The Trinity United Church of Christ Women's Choir opened the Main stage on Labor Day at the African Festival of the Arts in Chicago. I took over 100 photos of my home church's Women's Choir. Here are a few favorites. Please let me know, in advance, if you would like to use these pictures in any publication. Consider them copyrighted ...

Updated: Sep 29, 2007 12:09pm PST

AFA '09 - Ahmad Jamal, Soukous Stars, Booker T. Jones, and Julia Huff : Over the course of the weekend, on the main stage, a lot of talented performers shared their craft. Here are 45 of my favorite photos from those shows. Booker T. Jones was an interesting performer. He wasn't the most animated man on stage, but he was clearly passionate about his music. The good news is that his band was pretty colorful. This was especially true of his bassist who had ink all over. Although his music wasn't my style, he was great to hear. Julia Huff had a great voice, although I had never heard her sing before. On the downside, she used her voice to sing covers of other artists' songs. On the plus-side, she sang many of them as good (or better) than the original artist - including a Jill Scott track, which says a lot! Ahmad Jamal was nice on stage. That is a smooth man right there. The best part of his Jazz set was that I could take my earplugs out for a night. He had a lot of fun on stage. A while back I saw Ben Vereen perform in Wicked. Everyone else on stage was "acting" and Ben was clearly in his element, is was like watching a master perform. Ahmad had that same air about him. Lastly, the Soukous Stars were probably the most entertaining act of the weekend outside of Mr. Clinton. Their two dancers, Jessica and Maria, were fantastics and really got the crowd into the show. The lead sing showed his stuff too, and must have been reliving a past life on stage. He was an intesting contrast to Maria and Jessica, but to his credit - they all put on a great show!

AFA '09 - Ahmad Jamal, Soukous Stars, Booker T. Jones, and Julia Huff

Over the course of the weekend, on the main stage, a lot of talented performers shared their craft. Here are 45 of my favorite photos from those shows. Booker T. Jones was an interesting performer. He wasn't the most animated man on stage, but he was clearly passionate about his music. The good news is that his band was pretty colorf ...

Updated: Sep 07, 2009 11:31am PST