A Guide to African-American Culture September 23-29, 1991 (212) 627-5241 Vol. I No.18 $1.00 LISTINGS INSIDE: ART • CABARETS • CONCERTS • DANCE RESTAURANTS • FREE-FOR-ALL • THEATER EDMONIA LEWIS Sculptor 1845-1890 lack Africans who emigrated to these shores Bbefore, on and after the landing of the Mayflower were designated Free Men. During the early Nineteenth century, the vast majority of these Free Men were settled in the more liberal northern colonies where they lived close to and in harmony with indigenous Americans. Edmonia Lewis was born in 1845, in Albany, New York, the child of a free African man and a Edmonia Lewis Chippewa Indian woman. After the death of her parents, Edmonia was reared for a while by her mother's tribe then later placed in an orphanage. She was subsequently adopted by an abolitionist family. In 1859, Edmonia entered Oberlin College where she became involved in the abolitionist movement, which brought her to the attention of William Lloyd Garrison, a dominant figure in the movement and publisher of the abolitionist newspaper. The liberator Garrison, who knew of Edmonia's ambition to study art and her talent at modeling, arranged her introduction to Edmund Brackett, the prominent Boston sculptor. Under Brackett's careful tutelage, Edmonia launched a career that earned her the dual distinction of being the first African-American woman artist and the first of her race and sex to be recognized as a sculptor. The first exhibition of her work was held in Boston in 1864. Her bust of Robert Gould Shaw, the martyred leader of an all-black Civil War regiment, evoked the kind of response in the art community that resulted in the wide sale of her work; the proceeds from which were used to finance her trip to Rome in 1865. In Rome, Edmonia mastered the exacting techniques of sculpture; moving directly from the image she held in mind to the difficult medium of marble. Her creative gifts quickly brought her to prominence. Edmonia spent most of her adult career in Italy riding the crest of the neoclassical revival of the late 1870s. She captivated Rome and attracted worldwide notice in artistic circles with her exotic look, mannish garb, intense personality and forthright manner; characteristic of the later Josephine Baker. As her fame grew, Edmonia was invited to America to exhibit her work in Chicago in 1870, and again in 1876 at the Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia. Her best works, portrait busts done in the classical style of the Edmonia Lewis photograph on carte de Romans, include those of Abraham Lincoln, visite. Collection: Wendell Phillips, Charles Summer, John Brown Walters Museum of Art and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Among her better known completed figures and groups are: Hagar, depicting a biblical theme; Hiawatha, The Marriage of Hiawatha, and The Departure of Hiawatha. Her figure group, Forever Free, aroused the greatest general interest. It portrays a black couple, just out of slavery, becoming aware of the fact that they are no longer in bondage. The man has his left arm raised and his fist clenched in a symbol of black power and freedom that would appear to be timeless and universal among Africans throughout the diaspora. Other of Edmonia's noted works are the Death of Cleopatra, The Madonna with The Infant and An Old Indian Arrow Maker and His Daughter, perhaps reminiscent of her early life among her mother's people. During her later years, Edmonia returned to the United States. However, the vogue of neoclassicism was becoming less fashionable and Edmonia Lewis gradually passed from public notice into obscurity. Historians are at variance as to the place and year of her death. It is believed that she eventually returned to Rome, the home of her heart, where she died around 1890*. Several of Edmonia Lewis' works are on exhibit at the Oberlin College Archives, part of the permanent collections of the Howard University Gallery and at the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian. –Toni Roberts *Since the publication of this article, recent documents indicate that Edmonia died in 1907 in London, England. Volume 1. Number 18. Published by OCR for Publishers, Inc. 521 W. 23rd St. New York, NY 10011. Subscription Rate US$36. Send subscriptions to ROUTES, A Guide to African American Culture, P.O. Box 20103, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10011. ROUTES is published 48 times per year. For advertising rates call 212 527 5241. Publisher/Editor in Chief, Ronald Bunn, Associate Editors Estelle Whiting, Toni Roberts. Editorial Staff: Perri !2—ROUTES, A Guide to African-American Culture, September 23-29, 1991 CLUBS & Al Gray Tal Farlow ABARETS Marty Napoléon Gary Mazzaroppi C Big Nick Nicholas September 23-28 • Mike Freeman & Benny Powell Zinno 126 W. 13th St. Spellbound Bucky Pizzarelli 924-5182 September 23 Darryl Sherman Lou Soloff •New Jersey • Mike Clark Trio Harvey Swartz Kenny Barron Billy Taylor • Billy Childs Harvey Schwartz September 27&28 September 25 & 26 St. Peters Church, Living Room Lexington Avenue/ • Bob Bianco Trio • Mark Murphy 54th St. 688-6022 September 29 September 27 & 28 • Average White Band Trumpets 6 Depot Square Sets 9pm, 10:30pm at September 25 Montclair 201 746-6100 midnight • Pato Banton & the Reggae Birdland 2745 Broadway/ Revolution CONCERTS 105th St. 749-2228 September 26 Stephen Scott Amateur Night • S.O.B's 204 Varick St/W. Every Wed. 7:30pm September 23 Houston St. 243-4940 Tony Bennett with Ralph • Don Grolnick Quintet Apollo Theatre 253 W. 125th Sharon Trio • St. 864-0372 September 24-29 Joe Lovano Blue Note 131 W. 3rd St. Randy Brecker RESTAURANTS Peter Washington 475-8592 Abyssinia Bill Stewart Ethiopian cooking, very • Kirk Lightsey, piano September 24-28 Kevin Eubanks, guitar informal Rufus Reid, bass • Eddie Chamblee Quartet Saturdays, 2-6pm 35 Grand St./Thompson St. September 23-28 226-5959B. Smith's • Craig Handy, Sax • Doc Cheatham Southern & American cuisine Kenny Barron, piano Sundays, 3-7pm Trendy David Williams, bass Sweet Basil 8 Seventh Ave/ September 29 Bleecker 242-1785 771 Eighth Ave. 247-2222 Music after 10pm Mingus Big Band B. Smith’s Bradley's 70 University September 19 & 26 Southern & American cuisines Place/11th St. 228-6440 Time Café 380 Lafayette/ Trendy • Charlie McPherson Great Jones Street 533-7000 Kenny Kirkland Quintet September 22-29 Chuck Brown with the P September 27 & 28 Funk Horns • Clifford Jordan Big Band 771 Eighth Ave. 247-2222 Mondays September 27 & 28 Condon’s 117 E. 15th St. Tramps 45 W. 21st St. Caribe 254-0960 (between 5th and 6th Jamaican cuisine Avenues) 727-7788 Cassandra Wilson with Rod Pleasant and informal, cash Williams Tania Maria Septet only. Kevin Bruche Harris September 24-29 117 Perry St./Greenwich St. Tani Tabal Village Gate Bleecker/ 255-9191 September 24-29 Thompson Sts 475-5120 Copeland’s Fat Tuesday's 190 3rd Ave. Johnny Griffin Quartet Southern cuisine 17th St. 533-7902 Michael Weiss A Harlem Institution. 547 W. Jeff Keezer, piano Dennis Irwin 145th St. 234-2457 Dwayne Burndt, bass Kenny Washington September 25-28 September 24-29 Honeysuckle Southern cuisine Knickerbocker Bar & Grill 33 Sets at: 9:30pm, 11:30pm & University Place 228-8490 1am Trendy A Tribute to Jack Village Vanguard 178 7th 507 Columbus Ave. Kleinsinger Ave. So. 255-4037 Columbus Avenue 496-8095 September 23, 7-10pm • Eddie Henderson Quartet Jamaican “Hot Pot” Jimmy Heath September 23 Restaurant of 7-8 tables Milk Hampton • Herb Robertson Quartet Oliver Jackson September 24 inside and 3 outside—has a Sheila Jordan large reputation for good Jay Leon Hart • Fred Hersch Quintet food at bargain prices. Ray Barreto September 25-27 2060 Adam Clayton Powell, Joey Cavaseno Visiones 125 MacDougal St. Jr. Boulevard/133rd St. Jon Faddis 673-5576 491-5270 Panama Francis !3—ROUTES, A Guide to African-American Culture, September 23-29, 1991 Vernon’s Jerk Paradise McDonald's Dining Room A Comedy by Hazel Smith. Jamaican cuisine, Jerk Country home cooking - Tues.- Featuring, Jimmy Hayeson, preparation of meats. Sun. Louise Mike, Jerry Love, Lee 252 W. 29th St. 268-7020 327 Stuyvesant Ave.(718) Kirk, Kim Yancey, Boysie White & James Smith. Jezebel 574-3728 Southern/American cuisine Green Avenue Grill Bury the Dead Grilled American & southern September 19, 20, 26, 27, Scarfs, swings & cuisines October 3& 4, 8pm; September sophistication. 21, 28 & October 5, 3pm 630 9th Ave./45th St. 13 Green Ave./Fulton Street (718) 797-2099 A one act play looks at the 582-1045 beneficiaries of war. La Famille Restaurant •Queens• Written by Erwin Shaw & Southern cuisine directed by Ken Lowsletter La Detente Roomy & informal Continental & Caribbean Harlem School of The Arts 2017 5th Ave./125th St. cuisines 645 St. Nicholas Ave. 534-9909 362-3681 23-04 94th St. E. Elmhurst Livi's Restaurant (718) 458-2172 Nobody Loves A Black Caribbean & Southern cuisine Little Girl When She Manhattan Proper Cafe Becomes A Woman Informal Southern cuisine September 27 & 28. 7:45pm 29 E. 126th St./Madison & 217-01 Linden Blvd/ An examination of how the Fifth Avenues 831-4931 Springfield Blvd (718) 341- harshness of life has Pan Pan 5th Avenue CAFE transformed the innocent Southern cuisine and beautiful little girl into a THEATER hardened woman, and what Informal needs to be done to reverse 1325 5th Ave./between 110 & Language of the Soul that course. Written by Ina 111th Streets 996-1212 By Cheryl Alexander Norris Perk’s Fine Cuisine Theater Arielle 432 West Henry Street Settlement Southern cuisine 42nd St. 967-7079 Louis Abrons Arts Center 466 Elegant-Trendy Harlem Six Degrees of Separation Grand St 598-0400 Nightspot; Dancing Courtney B.