( Postered Poetics Xscape graphic derived from original art by Mat Maitland ) “He talked always about giving love. It was never about how much love he got back.”––Antonio “L.A.” Reid discussing Michael Jackson , Xscape Documentary DVD Any announcements of “new music” from Michael Jackson must necessarily and rightly be met with a healthy amount of skepticism. Important questions have to be answered: Is this new music going to be something dug out of once-private vaults simply because of its guaranteed ability to stimulate cash-flow for all those who manage to attach their names to it?  Or will it emerge and stand as a true representation of Jackson’s certified brilliance and successfully extend the incandescent legacy of soul-nourishing rhythms and altruistic service he spent a lifetime creating? The now much-discussed 17 tracks on the “deluxe editio...

                         The Bayou Maharajah himself: James Booker. (photo by Henry Horenstein) “…His music pushes the boundaries of what is possible on the piano with an intricacy that surpasses Chopin. It was this complexity that attracted me to Booker. I needed to find out how a man could be both barely tolerated and completely loved – and how his music might make that possible.” ––Lily Keber, Director’s Statement  Bayou Maharajah , a film by director Lily Keber and producer Nathaniel Kohn on the life of the late New Orleans genius of jazz James Carroll Booker III made its Savannah, Georgia, debut before a full audience at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts on December 19, 2013. Keber’s exceptional accomplishment in Bayou Maharajah has been acknowledged with several important awards. Among them are: the Oxford American’s Best Southern Film Award, and both the Audience Award and Special J...

Crowd celebrating life of Michael Jackson after his death during Black Music Month 2009.  (Getty image) The basic idea underlying the concept of Pan Africanism is that of cultural awareness and connection leading to mutually beneficial cooperation between people of African descent throughout the Global Village . It is a concept which those who are possibly more politically, philosophically, and economically motivated have promoted at least since the year 1900. One of the ways this powerful theory has met with notable success in practice has been in the area of music. To help ensure the viability of African-American music in particular, famed music producer Kenny Gamble and broadcast executive Ed Wright in 1979 persuaded then President Jimmy Carter to declare June as Black Music Month. The crowning event that year was a celebration concert held on June 7 at the White House. Featured on that occasion were representatives of the broader spectrum of black music, from the rock...