Greetings! The 2019 Grammy Awards “Music’s Biggest Night” live from Los Angeles/Hollywood had several major highlights. Hosted by 15-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keyes, the show opened with Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and a special guest appearance by none other than bestselling author and former first lady Michelle Obama. Cardi B won a Grammy for Best Rap Album and became the first female solo artist to achieve that honor. Drake won for Best Rap Single and seemed to be cut off after he suggested that fans were more important than Grammys. The event paid tribute to Motown, with performances by Diana Ross, Smoky Robinson and Jennifer Lopez. The late Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway were also feted.
Condolences to family, friends and colleagues of Kermit Eady, president and founder of the Black United Fund of NY; services were held at St. Mark AME Church, 95-18 Northern Blvd., Jackson Heights, N.Y.
Many thanks also to the many, many friends and colleagues who have expressed support for me and my family over the loss of my daughter Zakia Goulbourne-Byrd, who passed at the age of 43 from Lupus complications. We are deeply touched by the outpouring of support. Lupus is a challenge to our community, especially Black women. Please visit www.lupus.org to find out more.
THEATER
“Behind The Sheet” Charly Evon Simpson confronts the history of a great medical breakthrough by telling the forgotten story of a community. In 1840s Alabama, Philomena assists a doctor—her owner—as he performs experimental surgeries on her fellow slave women, trying to find a treatment for the painful post-childbirth complications known as fistulas. Reframing the origin story of modern gynecology, “Behind the Sheet” tells how these women supported each other, and questions who and what history remembers. Now through Feb.17 at Ensemble Studio Theatre, second floor, 7799, 545 W. 52nd St., Manhattan. For information, visit www.ensemblestudiotheatre.org.
“The Lion King.” Minskoff Theatre, 200 W. 45th St., Manhattan. For information, visit www.minskofftheatre.box-officetickets.com.
“Kinky Boots the Musical.” Al Hirschfield Theatre, 302 W. 45th St., Manhattan. For information, visit www.kinkybootsthemsuical.com.
“The Artivist: The Bayard Rustin Story,” a solo show telling the story and life of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin through speeches, songs, monologues, letters and documentary footage. Written-directed by Carla Alleyne. Now through Feb. 17. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. East Village Playhouse, 340 East Sixth St., Manhattan; home of the City Kids Foundation.
“Choir Boy,” by Alvin McCraney, Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Moonlight.” A talented student has been waiting for years to take his rightful place as the leader of a legendary gospel choir. But can he make his way through the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key? Now through Feb. 24. Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., Manhattan. For information, call 212-239-6200 or visit www.Telecharge.com.
MUSIC
“Amateur Night at the Apollo,” every Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. World famous Apollo Theater, 253 W. 125th St., Harlem, N.Y. For information, visit www.apollotheater.org.
Anita Baker “The Farewell Concert” Thursday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Ave., Manhattan. Due to popular demand, second show added! For information, visit www.musichall-ny.com.
Ladies Night R&B Super Jam returns to Brooklyn on Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. with an all-star lineup of R&B favorites including Brian McKnight, Faith Evans, Jagged Edge, Musiq Soulchild, K. Michelle, Mario, Lil’ Kim, Marsha Ambrosius, After 7, Jon B. Silk and Chaka Demus & Pliers. For information, visit www.barclayscenter.com.
Kool & The Gang, Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m., St. George Theatre, 36 Hyatt St., Staten Island. For information, visit www.stgeorgetheatre.com.
Patti Labelle with special guest Freddie Jackson. Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark, N.J. For information, visit www.njpac.org.
Gladys Knight, Friday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m., Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 N. Brunt St., Englewood, N.J. For information, call 201-227-1030 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.
FILM
“If Beale Street Could Talk” is about a woman in Harlem who desperately scrambles to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime while carrying their first child. Directed by and written for film by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins. Based on the book by James Baldwin. Check theaters.
COMMUNITY
“No Matter What: Celebrating the Journey of Nana Camille Yarbrough” as an artist and cultural custodian. Performances by Ghail Rhodes Benjamin and Talivu Donna Cumberbatch, plus many more. Special guests: Pam Afrika, Bob Law and Imhotep Gary Byrd. Live at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture-Langston Hughes Auditorium, 515 Malcolm X Blvd., Manhattan. Thursday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.) An Ancestor House Production. For information, call 212-865-7460 or visit www.CamilleYarbroughNoMatterWhat2019.EventBrite.com
The Harlem Fine Arts Show, celebrating its 10th anniversary, is the largest traveling African Diasporic art show in the United States. HFAS prides itself on its uncanny ability to bring people of all backgrounds together to celebrate fine art. Inspired by the Harlem Renaissance, HFAS provides a platform for African diasporic visionaries, as well as American visual artists, to exhibit and sell their artwork. HFAS has attracted more than 100,000 collectors, art enthusiasts, educators, students and professionals to venues including Martha’s Vineyard, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Westchester County and NYC. In NYC, Thurs-Sun, Feb. 14-17, at the historic Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, Manhattan. For information, visit www.hfas.org.
“Malcolm X Lives! Citywide Forum.” Discussions about the 2020 census; Single Payer Health Care (a human right); Ethnic Cleansing of the Black Community as an international crime against humanity; and the 50th anniversary Black Solidarity Day 2019. Thursday, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m. at House of the Lord Church, 415 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn. For information, call 718-398-1766 or visit http://d12m.com/malcolm-x-lives-citywide-forum/.
Listen to Imhotep Gary Byrd’s “Express Yourself,” Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and simulcast over WLIB 1190AM. The full show can also be heard on HD radio at WBLS-HD2 and at WBLS.com, WLIB.com and NextRadio. IGB’s “Beat Experience” is heard Fridays 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Archived online at www.wbai.org. For bookings or to reach us about your GBEvent or for comments, email co-editor Nyerere, nyerere1@aol.com, find us at Imhotep Gary Byrd on Facebook or call 212-592-3279.