Guest Co Host: Monica Rosales, Executive Director of DocMiami.org
Special Guest” Georgia Van Cuylenburg, a young Australian Comedian who lives in Hollywood California. Her life goal has always been to change the world – one smile at a time. In 2007 Georgia lost all of her hair suddenly and was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata. For the first time in her life she found it hard to smile. Rather than hiding away, choosing an easier career and giving in to her disorder Georgia decided to go loud and proud.
She allowed cameras into her life to share what it is like to be a woman, specially one who relies on her appearance to make a living, and to lose one’s hair. She shared her tears, her pain and her triumphs. And she put them all together into one film to show the world how she learned that life is not about the hair on your head, it is about the lessons you learn the friends you find and the difference you can make.
Baby Let Your Hair Down is a documentary that follows one girl on her journey from discovery to acceptance of her autoimmune disease. Alopecia Areata (immune related hair loss. Before she had the condition Georgia worked as a hair model, actress and comedian and relied heavily on her appearance.
Tracy Walton began his career in music by picking up his first guitar at the age of 10. He quickly realized that his ear bent towards the low end and he switched to bass. His teen years brought a string of punk and hard rock bands, local glory, and a gig teaching at an area music store. The journey to rock and roll stardom has many bumps, and when the only apartment he and his band mates could afford was condemned, he knew he was in serious need of a plan B.He bought an old plywood and started playing Zeppelin grooves on it to find his bearings. He soon tracked down Dave Santoro Professor at Berklee College of Music for lessons and after a summer of instruction, Tracy accepted a scholarship to study jazz at the Hartford Conservatory.Tracy soon joined the Eric Miller Trio, a straight ahead jazz group that logged close to 200 shows a year in the mid-nineties. After a few years, what started as a joke of quoting classic rock lines during solos, turned into the formation of the female fronted rock act Missing Slim. It was at this time that he also joined the faculty of The National Guitar Workshop and Kent School.
So having finally found that steady gig to fall back on, Tracy decided in 2010 that it was time to start “Brand New Again” and focus all of his energy on his solo career. And with the release of “If I Ever Get Away”, 2013 is starting out strong featuring the song “Songs for You” which many are calling Tracy’s best song to date and his breakout track.
Join Cubanarama as Tracy talks about his new album and listen to great music!
Daniel P. Quinn is the founder of Arts PR Unlimited, Inc. in Montclair, NJ, that produces and directs On & Off-Broadway shows. Mr. Quinn is an Award Winning Producer, Director, Writer. His notable works included the World Premiere production of Janet. Noble’s Away Alone; the NY Premiere of Graham Reid’s Remembrance, the NY Premiere of Tom Murphy’s The Gigli Concert with Kate Burton in a well received staged reading and the Obie Award for Tim McDonnell as Best Actor in Diary of a Madman. Quinn is immersed in intercultural programming, opera and theater.
To commemorate a time in history where the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) galvanized a strike against the Paterson Silk Industry in search for better wages, establish an 8 hour work schedule, age limits and better working conditions Daniel P. Quinn of Arts PR Unlimited and Christina Ibbotson, Author, Blog Talk Radio Producer & Host of ChrisCross Radio and founder of ChrisIbby & Co. LLC invite you to a Benefit Gala at Biricchino Restaurant on June 7, 2013 in New York City.
Tickets: $150-PP for ArtsPRunlimited, Inc., POBox 1794, Montclair, NJ 07042; includes dinner and program, cash bar with Northern Italian cuisine. 212-695-6690 to RSVP.
Song “The Rebel Girl” – written by Joe Hill in 1911 sung by Mats Paulson in 1968. Mats Paulson is a famous professional songwriter and composer as well as an author and a painter.
“Uniqueness is the individual gift that lies within each of that wants to be expressed. This expression can only come alive through our physical experience. The ultimate purpose of our quest for happiness is to find a way to reconnect to that which makes us unique – this is our gift to our self first, and then to the world.”
The alchemy of Mindful and Soulful Abundance is a Catalyst Workshops. It is a practical path to an abundant life through the conscious reactivation of the mind/body/spirit channel.
2013 is a year of renewed energy through which what is being found essentially in the heart can be actualized through the mind and experienced in reality.
The innovation about this holistic workshop lies in the synergistic approach of its 4 consecutive guidance’s designed to progressively steer the mind away from the illusion of lack and towards the reality of essential abundance that exists at the source of each of us.
I have developed a specific course through which the participant is guided mindfully and soulfully through his/her own essential labyrinth. Each session unlocks one level that becomes a stepping stone for the next level to be accessed and empowered.
The workshop is called an Alchemy because there is a true magic happening when each level of abundance is reached and unleashed.
This workshop is so effective that everyone in search for abundance in their life should do it. Where ever you are in the world, this class is possible for you via Skype (4 consecutive sessions) in the comfort of your home.
I became aware of the Artist Pablo Hernandez a few months ago through a short film titled, “Pablo: The Artist Within” produced and directed by Noah DeBonisis.
Pablo was arrested at 16 years old and became a man in a Cuban Forced Labor Camp where many intellectuals were held as political prisoners. His interest in art and music continued developing through the years inside the camp.
Inside Pablo’s mind was a place the Communist could not get in, there was a place where Pablo was free to go and explore another world, a place where creativity had no boundaries.
Pablo’s hands were not only blessed to play some of the most beautiful classical music you will ever hear but he was also blessed with the grand ability to paint.
We’ll hear about how Pablo reached US soil and how he began to receive the appreciation, recognition and respect that he dreamed of for his work.
You can also watch Pablo speak about his passion for art being both a painter as well as a pianist in a short documentary titled ‘Expressions of a Modern Minstrel’ by Roberto Cayuso.
Iliana Rose is nothing short of a fantastic musician. As an accomplished piano player, percussionist, clarinetist and vocalist, she performs with her band and sits in with some of the finest session players in Los Angeles and Miami. As a percussionist her timing is phenomenal and impeccable. She never misses a beat.
As a singer her voice is pure, warm, sensual and beautiful to listen to. Iliana captivates an audience in English, Spanish and even a little Portuguese and has a unique ability to phrase that is given only to natural born jazz singers.
Born in Miami, and raised by Cuban parents and grandparents, Iliana is steeped in Cuban rhythms and culture. She is a genuine prodigy who started playing music at the age of four only to later graduate from the prestigious University of Miami with a double major, one in Studio Music & Jazz Voice and another in Clarinet Performance.
She then moved to Los Angeles where she presently lives composing music for films, orchestrating and arranging for twenty five piece Latin jazz bands, working as a recording engineer, producer, lyricist and is the voice behind several radio commercials. Plus she was an on-air personality for a nationally syndicated radio show!
Iliana Rose is a complete entertainer. She is spontaneously funny and able to make intelligent hilarious conversations with audience members and it is impossible to resist her charm. In addition to all her talent she is also amazingly beautiful, a diva with a midriff meant to be revealed. When she performs you can’t take your eyes off her. Her presence commands your attention. We won’t soon forget this curvaceous Cuban babe!
Abdias Ernesto Garcia is a folk experimentalist from Puerto Rico who adorns his roots as a percussionist with a sensibility for poetry and culture. Combining different genres into one cohesive package, Abdias fuses magnetic and hypnotizing soulful grooves, mesmerizing vocals that create a lushful landscape of multi-cultural sounds. He has understood and spoken the universal language of music since the tender age of 2 when he began playing percussion on his grandma’s pots and pans. Abdias has been living in the experiment of life and music from the days of his youth when his uncles introduced him to some of the greatest musical concoctions in their 78 Vinyl records to currently producing albums for performing artists in his Orlando, Florida Studio, Abdias has soundly embraced music as a part of himself in his lifelong journey. Abdias began to build his artistry from scratch through winning talent shows and international competitions including Sabado Gigante & Juventud Vibra, studying at La Escuela Libre de Puerto Rico as he trained and played with the likes of Tito Puente & Giovanni Hidalgo, also performing in concert halls with Awilda Carbia (a prominent Puerto Rican Comedian), working alongside musical director Tito Curet Alonso, performing with El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and playing on stage with Willie Colon. Abdias’ latest release entitled “Mas Colores y Menos Horrores” (More Colors and Less Horrors) presents ten new original songs that highlight his personal growth as he continues to explore the experimental acoustic sound that has become a trademark for the passionate songwriter. He approaches this album with elegance and simplicity that allows the listener to become a part of the conversation not just a listener. Now touring with his wife and two sons throughout the United States and the Caribbean performing and offering workshops on drumming and improvisation.
For multi-platinum selling recording artist Diane Arkenstone a renewed sense of freedom can be discovered by
composing and performing contemporary music in one of her many well versed styles. Early in life it was clear Diane Arkenstone was blessed with the gifted abilities of a natural born artist and composer, which has led to many achievements during each phase of her music career. The multi-talented Diane Arkenstone is a popular artist most people will recognize, especially those who favor the Celtic, Native American, instrumental, new age, and world music categories. In addition to her own releases like the Billboard Charting Jewel in the Sun, and top radio chart recording, The Best Of Diane Arkenstone, she has also been a member of associated groups most people are familiar with.
Union Road is the newest album by Diane Arkenstone you may soon be calling your favorite like I have. Union Road is an instrumental vocal album with 11 select songs in the folk ballad tradition. Performing acoustic guitar, dulcimer, kalimba and percussion, Diane Arkenstone’s songwriting talents as a vocalist and lyricist are on display, highlighting her capabilities as a contemporary singer with charming lyrical optimism on nine of eleven songs.
Diane has plans for a concert tour in 2013 so watch for an upcoming concert news announcement.
Jill Brzezinski-Conley was diagnosed with Stage IIIC invasive breast cancer one day before her 32nd birthday on July 15th 2009 – just 6 months after she married the man of her dreams. Her journey began with the most progressive form of treatment available. Jill’s treatment included 16 rounds of grueling chemotherapy, 31 rounds of radiation and 4 surgeries including a double mastectomy with additional surgery ahead. During her treatment she suffered a broken rib and endured serious complications after her reconstructive surgery. Her strength and determination proved pivotal, and after 2 years Jill was in remission and now considers herself a survivor. Unfortunately 12 months later Jill found out she had developed bone cancer and at 35 years old, the prognosis is terminal. Through all of this, Jill has kept her wit, determination, and never ending smile, with no room for self pity, while frequently making jokes about her baldness, lack of eyebrows and eyelashes. Her sense of humor, courage, positive attitude and inner beauty is truly remarkable. Anyone who has ever met Jill will tell you that she leaves you with a lasting impression. The room lights up upon her arrival. In September 2012, Jill’s best friend Nikki Closser reached out to world acclaimed portrait photographer Sue Bryce. Sue was so overwhelmed with Jill’s story and the message she wanted to share with the world, that she was instantly determined to help this beautiful girl spread that message. Sue arranged for Nikki and Jill to meet her in Paris where she would photograph Jill, capture her incredible beauty and help to tell her story to inspire others and educate the world about Breast Cancer.
If you were down and out, could you see yourself being on top and motivating others? That is exactly what happened to Becky Blanton, a true story of a woman who lost almost everything but hope and the desire to thrive in life.
Becky Blanton’s father died from a brain Cancer in February 2006. At the time, Becky was the editor of a small town newspaper in Colorado. Becky quit her job, bought an old van and decided to hit the road and freelance her way around the country. Things didn’t work out quite the way she planned. The van was old, her freelance work (photographer) ran out, Becky could not get a living wage job, and the only way to survive without having to give up her companions, the Rottweiler and cat, was to live in the van and work a temp job. So she did for a little over a year.
The road to TED Global.
In 2006 Becky Blanton was living in a Walmart parking lot in a stripped out 1975 Chevy van with her Rottweiler and a house cat. In 2009 she was speaking at TED Global at Oxford University in England, courtesy of best selling author and former vice presidential speech writer, Dan Pink. Becky says that “no one in this world gets anywhere without the help, caring and support of others”
It is an honor to have as a guest Becky Blanton. Please feel free to call in with any questions or comments. Open Mic.
