Month: July 2024

“All The Way Live”

The city of Inglewood sponsored the 2nd annual Inglewood Music Festival. This year’s foray into music appreciation interrupted the silence for nearly seven hours at the north-eastern edge of Darby Park. The event was hosted by KJLH morning anchor, Adai Lamar, with DJ QWest providing continuous entertainment between onstage musical acts.

       A cavalcade of featured entertainers included local talent as well as well known recording artists, all of which performed their best sets for a receptive audience. Many of the crowd had brought their own portable seats and baskets, although there was a line of food trucks available, stage left. There was dancing, and crowd participation, singing along with the performing groups.

As the afternoon progressed we were visited by and met some of our local leaders who graced the stage in between acts introducing themselves with their messages. Among them was Inglewood district 1 city councilwoman, Gloria Grey, one of the main organizers of the event. Also appearing onstage, helping to introduce the fans to other leaders was district 4 councilwoman, Dionne Faulk. Other visiting leaders were intorduced. Yasmine-Imani McMorrin, Mayor of the nearby City of Culver City, was introduced and made a short speech. Also on  board and on stage offering positive and in some cases political messages to the fans, were Senator Steve Bradford, El Camino board member Brad Roberts and Inglewood school board member Margaret Evans, who announced her intentions to run again for her seat on the board.

Not to be outdone, we were blessed with an energized (and colorful) speech lfrom our own district congresswoman, Maxine Waters.She sought to galvanize support for President Biden, following the less than stellar performance in the last week’s debate, and advised neighborhood homeowners to be steadfast as they consider their home ownership options. Most importantly the congresswoman emphatically expressed the need to vote like we have never voted before.

Although the Music Festival’s hosts squeezed in a fair chunk of important information, to be absorbed, as the bands were changing the stage set up, DJ Qwest kept the party grooving and people moving. The weather was extraordinarily cooperative with a mild 80 degree temperature and a cool ocean breeze blowing in from the south west. The atmosphere was accommodating and the music made for ambulatory feet, bouncing booties, and nodding heads. There were smiles on every face and not a cross word was spoken. This was a party.

The city sought out and delivered six top flight local bands, and a number of old school pedigreed recording artists. Among the invited vocalists and instrumentalists was “A Piece Of Paradise” and “Louie Cruz Beltran”. I had heard about the group Durti-Ryce, an R&B\Soul, tribute group out of LA. ‘Ya Boy Deron puts down the most convincing Frankie Beverly tribute on the street. I suggest you Google them if you missed this opportunity.

Way back when, I performed with a cover band. We were the opening act at the world famous Beverly Hills Friars Club, for Milton Berle’s birthday party. Yesterday one of my bandmates reminded me that the headline act that evening was Ambrosia. I guess me and Uncle Milty had one too many virgin martinis that night, because I thought that we were the headline act that evening. Nevertheless, Ambrosia is a soft rock band from the 70’s. They had at least 5 top 40 hit singles, most notably “How Much I Feel”, which reached the top 5. They rocked the house Saturday afternoon. I recall their songs but I still don’t recall opening for them.

Eric Darius is a young fellow and a fellow Sagittarius, out of New Jersey. His main instrument is the saxophone, but his vocals were first class, and his showmanship was off the chain. He ended up bouncing from the stage with his horn, and parading around the park with a harem of lovelies following behind him like the Pied Piper. His guitar player complemented the act quite handily. All in all, I can’t wait to get all dressed up with Bae and catch him in a more  intimate setting.

Last but not least, headlining was the showstopper – the group everybody on the quad had waited for. As soon as the first line of the bass guitar reflected through the air, those standing near the front of the stage started chanting the name,  “Mark!” In our home town of Dayton, Ohio we sang together in our high school men’s choir. Then Mark Wood bid farewell to our fair city and along with the R&B/Funk band now known as Lakeside, headed out to Los Angeles in pursuit of gold. When they landed in LA, they secured a recording contract with ABC Records, before striking gold with the album “Fantastic Voyage”, released on the Sound Of Los Angeles Records (SOLAR). Mark was the lead singer on virtually all of the band’s hit records.

Saturday’s show featured the group’s hits as well as a couple of Mark’s original songs, including a firey dance number in which his wife joined him onstage. After a couple of costume changes Mark ended the evening and the show with a crowd sing-along of the chorus.

See you next year.