interviews – First Take PR

February 13, 2024March 18, 2024

Virtuoso Bass Issue 3: “Putting the Bass Up Front” Stars the Legendary Stanley Clarke on the Cover

Virtuoso Bass Issue 3 with Stanley Clarke on the Cover

Editor At Large Bunny Brunel features Stanley Clarke, Brian Auger, Wayne Shorter, Meshell Ndegeocello, Scott Ambush, Hiromi, The Gibson Bass Book, & jazz fusion pioneers!

Los Angeles, CA (PRUnderground) February 13th, 2024

Virtuoso Bass magazine proudly presents the highly anticipated Issue 3, an immersive journey into the world of bass and jazz fusion. With a rich array of exclusive interviews, in-depth profiles, and insightful commentary, this issue is a must-read for bass enthusiasts everywhere. The cover story of Issue 3 shines the spotlight on multi-Grammy-winner Stanley Clarke, an iconic figure in the world of bass. Through an exclusive interview, Clarke shares intimate insights into his illustrious career and early years, offering a glimpse into his incredible contributions to music and his role as a trailblazer who helped elevate the bass to the forefront of the industry. Renowned bassist Bunny Brunel, Editor at Large, presents Clarke’s captivating narrative alongside a stunning lifestyle editorial photographed by Ash Gupta.

In addition to the cover story, Issue 3 features an array of exclusive interviews and profiles, including bassist Scott Ambush, who reflects on his 30-year journey with Spyro Gyra and his passion as a luthier and designer of bass accessories. Grammy-nominated Brian Auger shares fascinating anecdotes about his career and interactions with jazz legends like Jimmy Smith, while Greg Boraman of Soul Bank Records provides insights into the label’s outstanding artists and recent releases.

The issue also profiles Meshell Ndegeocello, the German-born bass marvel known for her innovative compositions and activism. A spotlight on Ndegeocello’s latest CD, The Omnichord Real Book, highlights her prolific journey as a bassist, composer, singer, and activist. Readers can dive into the world of bass history with an interview featuring Rob Van Den Broek, author of The Gibson Bass Book: An Illustrated Tribute, shedding light on the vision behind the comprehensive “almanac” of Gibson basses. Issue 3 also pays tribute to the late Wayne Shorter, exploring his groundbreaking influence in jazz fusion and classical music.

Furthermore, Issue 3 includes CD reviews, such as the latest release from Hiromi, SonicWonderland, which features fretless player Hadrien Feraud with the Sonicwonder Quartet. The review praises Hiromi’s venture into drastic changes of tempo and musical styles, alongside consistent and organic sonic backdrops.

The magazine also features a review of the CD release concert “Bass Ball 2,” showcasing performances by Bunny Brunel, Stanley Clarke, Kyle Eastwood, Armand Sabal-Lecco, Larry Dunn, and Kaylene Peoples. Additionally, The Jazz Fusion (thejazzfusion.com) introduces a new radio chart for the underserved genre of “jazz rock.” As we delve into what spurred the early jazz fusion movement, we review the following albums: Miles Davis: In A Silent Way (1969), Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin: The Inner Mounting Flame (1971), and the eponymous Herbie Hancock Head Hunters (1973).

Don’t miss out on the unparalleled insights and engrossing articles featured in Virtuoso Bass Issue 3, curated by Editor At Large Bunny Brunel whose mission is to put a spotlight on exceptional bassists, furthering the evolution of this increasingly popular instrument!

Virtuoso Bass magazine extends its gratitude to advertisers and sponsors, including LaBella Strings. Visit virtuosobass.com to learn more about this exciting new issue, published by KL Publishing Group.

About Virtuoso Bass

VIRTUOSO BASS Magazine, headed by Bunny Brunel is the ultimate destination for bass enthusiasts, featuring in-depth interviews, captivating profiles, and insightful commentary on the world of bass and jazz fusion. Each issue showcases legendary bassists, rising stars, and iconic albums, providing readers with a comprehensive look into the rich landscape of bass music. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for the art of bass, Virtuoso Bass Magazine continues to inspire and educate bass players around the globe.

January 10, 2023September 28, 2023

Black Design Collective Presents “Designing the Costumes of WAKANDA FOREVER” with Oscar-Winner & BDC Co-Founder Ruth E. Carter

Production Stills from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Discover the importance of costumes in storytelling as Ruth E. Carter gives a behind the scenes look into the costume design process. Proceeds support the Black Design Collective Creative Center and The Black Design Collective Scholarship Fund.

(By Sean McKenzie) Los Angeles, CA

On January 12, 2023, the Black Design Collective will host a conversation with Academy Award-winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter as she shares the design process of creating over 2000 unique costumes for Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER.

Film Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter — Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Costume Designer)

Carter introduces superheroes and the underwater world of the Talokan to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with hundreds of new looks and multiple builds for characters that are steeped in symbolism and storytelling from two civilizations that battle on land, in air, and underwater. She elevates the Afrofuturistic Wakanda with more brilliance and depth of culture, creating new costumes and super suits for the original characters from the film BLACK PANTHER (2018) for which Carter won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Production Stills from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Featuring Angela Bassett

In the summer of 2020, Ruth Carter was approached by director Ryan Coogler, who informed her that the sequel would be introducing underwater dwellers—the Talokanil—inspired by Mesoamerican cultures. When Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020, the question was how would Wakanda continue. WAKANDA FOREVER is not only a tribute to Boseman, but an evolution of the world that was created in the first film.

The event, “Designing Costumes of Wakanda – A Conversation with Ruth E. Carter,” will be held at the Black Design Creative Center, located at The New Mart Building/Black Design Collective Creative Center 127 East 9th Street Los Angeles, CA 90015.

Bartender Melodie Murphy, owner of MIXED BAR SERVICES will craft 3 Signature cocktails honoring “Wakanda Forever”, Ruth E. Carter and Chadwick Boseman for the evening with UNCLE NEAREST, the Most Awarded American Whiskey or Bourbon of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The brand is named for the first known African American master distiller: Nearest Green. Whisky Magazine’s American Icons of Whisky Awards named Nearest’s great-great-granddaughter Victoria Eady-Butler as Master Blender of the Year in both 2021 and 2022, the first person in history to take home that honor two years in a row. Led by Founder and CEO Fawn Weaver and CBO Katharine Jerkens, the all-female executive team of Uncle Nearest is changing the face of American whiskey while honoring the best whiskey maker the world never knew.

For Tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/designing-the-costume-of-wakanda-forever-a-conversation-with-ruth-e-carter-tickets-498523676737

Date & Time:
Thursday, January 12, 2023
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM PST

ABOUT:
Ruth E. Carter is the Academy Award-winning film costume designer, known for turning the BLACK PANTHER superhero into an African King; making history as the first Black person to win in the category, and earning Marvel Studios their first Oscar recognition. Over three decades in film, television, and theater, Carter has earned seventy credits and collaborated with prolific directors, including Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Ava DuVernay, and Ryan Coogler. Carter’s costumes based on real and imaginative characters provide an arc to the narratives of African Americans. From DO THE RIGHT THING, MALCOLM X, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, AMISTAD, THE BUTLER, MARSHALL, SELMA, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, COMING 2 AMERICA to BLACK PANTHER; her devotion to retraining the eye to see beauty through costume design and telling stories that enrich the humanity of the Black experience cements her legacy as a preeminent voice and expert on period genres and Afro aesthetics. Carter’s outstanding costume design work has been honored with Academy Award nominations for MALCOLM X (1993) and AMISTAD (1998), and an Emmy nomination for the miniseries reboot of ROOTS (2016). The impact of her career in filmmaking has been recognized with the Costume Designers Guild’s Career Achievement Award (2019) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2021). Carter is a member of the board of governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Black Design Collective (BDC) Founded in 2018 is comprised of accomplished fashion industry professionals of color who seek to amplify the influence of and create opportunities for the community of black apparel and accessory designers and costume designers within the US and abroad. The BDC mission is rooted in the promotion of scholarship, mentorship, and entrepreneurship within emerging generations of black fashion design talent. Through this work, the BDC aims at ultimately fostering an independent and self-sustaining Black fashion community. BDC Founders are Ruth E. Carter, Kevan Hall, TJ Walker, and Angela Dean. Visit: blackdesigncollective.com.

August 25, 2018September 28, 2023

Interview with Artemis Director/Founder Melanie Wise About the 5th Edition Film Festival

AGENDA | Aug. 25, 2018

Ooh la la, the excitement, the energy, the mix of creative, powerfully artistic human beings describes the fourth edition of Melanie Wise and Zac Baldwin’s brainchild – the Artemis Women In Action Film Festival! It was our first time there and AGENDA was honored to co-sponsor. We love niche, and this is one festival that focuses on a very specific one.

Agenda – Melanie, share some highlights of 2018 AWIAFF

Melanie Wise – Our last edition was the bomb! I was so incredibly pleased because we were able to honor our very first female director, Rosemary Rodriguez. Since our festival celebrates powerful women, it was really a great honor, and so very perfect, to finally be able to recognize a female director at a festival with a focus such as ours. And in all honesty, our whole team felt so grateful to be able to recognize our 2018 honorees (Michelle Rodriguez, Ming-Na Wen, Rosemary Rodriguez, TJ Scott, Dana DeLorenzo, and stunt performers Debbie Evan, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Danielle Burgio, Heidi Pascoe, Kachina Dechert and Cassandra Ebner). Each of them were so deserving and some of them have never been publicly recognized for their contributions to female action and empowerment heroes onscreen.

INTERVIEW: Chase Masterson Revisits ‘Leeta’ in Newest STAR TREK ONLINE Expansion, “Victory is Life”

By Trekor.com

Back in March, we reported that Star Trek Online was getting a runabouts’-worth of Deep Space Ninecast members back for their 25th Anniversary “Victory is Life” game expansion which debuts next month — and this week we had the opportunity to chat with Trek actress Chase Masterson, who returns to Federation space to reclaim the role of Leeta.

In our conversation, we explore what one-time barmaid — and now wife of Grand Nagus Rom — is up to in the nearly two decades since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine concluded its on-screen adventure, as well as touch on several other topics close to the actor’s heart. (Read more…)

Original Source: https://trekcore.com/blog/2018/05/interview-chase-masterson-returns-in-star-trek-online/

April 20, 2018September 28, 2023

Arcgames.com Interviews Chase Masterson

Star Trek Online, the free-to-play online role-playing game based in the iconic Star Trek universe, is thrilled to reunite twelve of the original cast members from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for the new PC expansion, Victory is Life. Joining the crew aboard the infamous space station is Chase Masterson, who is reprising the role of Leeta, former Bajoran Dabo girl and wife to Ferenginar’s Grand Nagus, Rom. The Star Trek Online team had a chance to sit down with Chase after her recording session at Cryptic Studios to talk about her return to the game (Captains may remember as Mirror Universe Leeta in Season 11: New Dawn) and the incredible work she’s been doing with her anti-bullying organization, Pop Culture Hero Coalition.

STO: Welcome back to Star Trek Online, Chase! Thank you for joining us. What is it like returning to the character of Leeta to see how she’s grown?

Chase Masterson: I really value the opportunity to do this. Part of the reason why is that I get to show a really more mature Leeta. I get to walk in the shoes of a woman who has been in charge of an entire empire with Rom, for nearly 20 years now. She’s someone who has definitely grown and come into her own. That was something I felt like I really wanted to do for a long time now. We saw quite a lot of that on the show, but here we see a Leeta who has grown into her own shoes. She’s become an intelligent woman, a strategic thinker who is still very much adoring of her husband, but is able to walk beside him in a way that is extremely valuable.

STO: One of the interesting things about the character of Leeta is that she started off as more of a comic relief and then grew over the course of Deep Space Nine. What was it like playing a role like that?

CM: It was really interesting because a lot of people did see Leeta as eye candy. I’m grateful to say that she was in all the sweeps week episodes in that cat suit, and I think that was certainly one of the reasons why. But you have to credit our amazing writing team under the direction of Ira Behr for her growth and René Echevarria, who created Leeta; she was never just a Dabo girl, she was never just eye candy and they always had more of a vision for her than that. They had a vision of a woman who was very compassionate and knew how to stand up for justice.

April 20, 2018September 28, 2023

“WE ALL CAN BE HEROES:” AN INTERVIEW WITH STAR TREK ONLINE’S CHASE MASTERSON

By massivelyop.com

With a dozen members of the all-star cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine returning to reprise their roles for this June’s Star Trek Online: Victory is Life, one actress has the advantage over the others. Chase Masterson is back for at least her third stint in the MMO, having played fan favorite Leeta in past updates (including as a hologram and as a Mirror Universe villain).

With the heavy Deep Space Nine focus on the game’s third expansion, it’s good to see the reunion of a cast from a show that’s now 25(!) years old. Masterson has since gone on to act in many TV shows and movies, perform as a jazz singer, and found an anti-bullying organization called Pop Culture Hero that uses film, comics, and TV to take a stand against bullying in schools and communities.

We sat down with Masterson to talk about reprising the role of Leeta, the continuation of Deep Space Nine, the benefits of maturity, and how we all can be heroes. (Read More…)

Original Source: https://massivelyop.com/2018/04/20/we-all-can-be-heroes-an-interview-with-star-trek-onlines-chase-masterson/