Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

Freed from pandemic considerations and restrictions, The Carver Community Cultural Center has just announced a high-caliber season, sizzling with music, dance and talent to energize and delight San Antonians. From jazz and African dancing to soul, gospel, R&B and rock, plus charismatic vocalists and multiple-award winning instrumentalists, it’s a season-long festival of famed artists and entertainers.

“This season contains a very eclectic line-up of artists,” noted Cassandra Parker Nowicki, the Carver’s executive director. “There’s a heavy emphasis on music this season, but each artist is so different. When putting the season together, I have a general sense of how I want it to look and feel overall but looking at this season now that it is announced, I am really struck by how many artists, are arguably at the top of their field or genre. “

The process of booking these artists is made easier by the fact that the Carver has long-standing relationships with artist management agencies. These are already familiar with the institution’s mission and the type of artists that it likes to present, so the agencies often contact the Carver with suggestions.
Patrons and artists also make suggestions, explained Parker-Nowicki.

“However they come to us, we look for artists that we feel are not just immensely talented, but are also innovative, curious artists who are interested in engaging with the audience,” she added. And she went on to say that audiences respond to artists who are interested in an authentic connection with the audience.

Among the 2023-24 season artists, one of the hardest to get was Samara Joy who will end the season next June. Since she won the 2023 GRAMMY for both Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album, she has been in high demand, commanding larger venues and higher fees.

Parker-Nowicki is excited and looking forward to Joy’s show. But she also points out that the Carver will premiere a new work that it co-commissioned with Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson and Syrian opera singer, Lubana Al Quntar, titled “The Seasoned Woman.” Sanderson is a former San Antonio poet laureate, who is very active in the community.

So, here’s what’s coming up:

It all starts with the explosive Step Africa!, the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of “stepping,” which is a polyrhythmic, percussive dance form practiced by historically African-American fraternities and sororities, that uses the human body as its main instrument. The show blends this foot-drumming style with traditional African dances as well as contemporary dance styles. The press release says the show “leaves audiences on their feet.” Featured prominently at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the company has toured more than 60 countries, becoming a great cultural export for the United States. (Oct, 20, 2023 at 8 p.m.; tickets: $36)

This dynamic season opener will be followed by the events listed below.

Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective & Turtle Island Quartet.
Blanchard is a seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning trumpeter & composer who pays homage to legendary saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. Blanchard will perform with his ensemble, The E-Collective,and the Turtle Island Quartet, who are also GRAMMY AWARD winners. In addition to Shorter’s music, they will also play original compositions by Blanchard and his Collective. The Turtle Island Collective won the GRAMMY twice for Best Classical Crossover Album. (Nov. 4, 2023 at 8 p.m.; tickets: $41)

Take 6 is a group of six virtuosic voices “united in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms.” The group includes Claude McNight, Mark and Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley. The multi-platinum-selling sextet has toured across the globe and has been recognized as the preeminent a cappella group in the world. (Dec. 9, 2023 at 8 p.m.; tickets $41)

Haley Reinhart “feels just as at home in the Sixties as she does in the age of TikTok,” says the release.
Her music plays homage to classic rock and pop hits from the late Sixties. After placing third on season 10 of American Idol, she’s appeared in high-visibility videos on YouTube with more than 300 million views. (January 4, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $36)

A Rhythm and Blues Battle Royale- Eli Paperboy Reed vs. Harlem Gospel Travelers.
The Travelers were students of Reed’sat a foundation in Harlem, but in this winner-take-all matchup, it will be revealed if the students can beat the teacher at his own game. (Jan. 19, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $36)

Lakecia Benjamin is an esteemed and popular saxophonist who is also a composer who fuses traditional jazz, hip-hop, soul and funk. Praised for her charisma as a player, she first picked-up the saxophone at Fiorello La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts in New Tork City, and later studied in the jazz program at New York’s New School University. She has shared the stage with many luminaries, such as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Christian McBride and others. (Feb. 17, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $36)

Houston Contemporary Dance Company
Under the artistic leadership of Mariana Doyle, HCDC “seeks to ignite passion for the art form through a diverse curation of repertory “that spans a full range of emotion, content and physicality” The company also engages prominent choreographers to continue developing the skills of its dancers. (March 9, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $36)

Meshell Ndegeocello: No More Water/The Fire Next Time; The Gospel of James Baldwin
In this special evening, Grammy-winning instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, Ndegeocello, along with her band, will share her ever-evolving exploration of novelist, playwright and poet, James Balwin’s work and the way he empowers others through the written word. (April 6, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $41)

The Seasoned Woman featuring Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson and Lubana Al Quntar
This is described as a “celebration of the beauty, strength, resiliency and wisdom of womanhood across time and cultures.” The presentation is a collaboration of Sanderson, a poet, and Syrian opera singer Lubana Al Quntar. The multicultural work marries poetry, music, jazz standards, opera and a few other things. (May 2, 2023 at 8 p.m.; tickets$36)

Cedric Burnside: The GRAMMY-winning Mississippi Hill Country blues guitarist and songwriter, tells stories about love, hurt, connection and redemption in the South. His “I BE Trying” won the 2022 GRAMMY for Best Traditional Blues Album. (June 1, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $36)

Samara Joy is only 23 but already making herself known as a performer of the caliber of Sarah, Ella and Billie. (You know the last names of those ladies) She has released a self-titled debut album in 2021 and won Best New Artist in 2021’s Jazz Times Critics Poll. (June 1, 2024 at 8 p.m.; tickets $41)
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All shows take place at the Carver Community Cultural Center’s Jo Long Theater, 226 E. Houston; for more info and tickets call 210-207-2234; www.thecarver.org