Dayton Music

The word 'thrilled' doesn't do justice to how I feel about my new position as Development Manager at Cityfolk. I'm diving in head first so I can begin to contribute to the long-term sustainability of this amazing organization! 

My husband Jason and I live in Kettering with our three 'furry children'. I grew up in the Five Oaks and Quail Hollow neighborhoods in Dayton, and I'm very proud to be a 'native'. My parents have always been active in the community and I'm proud to continue in their footsteps at a homegrown non-profit organization. I graduated from Chaminade-Julienne High School in 1997 and earned my B.A. in history from Bowling Green State University in 2001. For the past eleven years I've been in the membership and marketing fields, where I have been fortunate enough to meet many of the community leaders who are passionate about making Dayton a great place to live. It is through these connections I hope to spread the word about Cityfolk and help it continue to grow and prosper. Stay tuned for some exciting new membership opportunities to celebrate our 30th anniversary!

Some fun facts about me:

RECORDINGS I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: Revolver (Remastered) by the Beatles, Florence and the Machine, The Black Keys, Simon and Garfunkel, Iggy Pop

LAST THREE BOOKS I'VE READ: Emma by Jane Austen, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and blogs on Dayton History Books Online.

FIRST CITYFOLK MEMORY: Seeing Natalie McMaster at one of the festivals...I was mesmerized.

WHAT I ENJOY MOST ABOUT CITYFOLK: It is uniquely Dayton, and there are so many things we do that people don't know about...I want to change that!

FAVORITE LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCE: Radiohead concert, 2003

FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD: Authentic Mexican food, fettucine Alfredo, deep dish pizza, brownie sundaes

FAVORITE PASSTIMES: Live music, hiking, cooking, museums, American history

DREAM VACATION: I would love to have a month to tour Europe properly...meaning private jet, chauffeur, and plenty of fine dining experiences. But more realistically, an Alaskan cruise may be in our near future.

…after 4 1/2 years, we are officially announcing that The Buddha Den will cease to be an active blog as of February 10, 2012. We appreciate all of the support we’ve received from our readers over the years. We’d like to thank all of the bands from Dayton [and beyond] that we met as a [...]

The fast-rising Canadian band Genticorum is a Québécois acoustic power trio with a distinctive sound that is at once both ancient and modern—what Sing Out calls “a very full and glorious noise, both instrumentally and vocally.” The charismatic young group won two Canadian Folk Music Awards (Junos) this year: Ensemble of the Year, and Nagez Rameurs won Traditional Album of the Year. Hear what the buzz is all about on Saturday, February 25 as we wrap up this year's Celtic Series.

Partnerships are wonderful for all sorts of reasons. Strengthening alliances with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, businesses – it is fundamental support. Knowing that others share your passion, being able to share tasks, giving and receiving commitment, having others to call on, standing tall with colleagues at your side, looking proudly together on an accomplishment - these are just some of the inherent perks of partnership.

Well let me just list some of the amazing alliances we’ve been fortunate to build in the planning process for Culture Builds Community!

• Dayton Public Schools’ Neighborhood School Centers
• The Fitz Center, University of Dayton
• Art Street, University of Dayton
• The Women’s Center, University of Dayton
• East End Community Services 
• Unified Health Solutions
• YMCA
• McClendon Institute
• Stivers School for the Arts
• Turkish Cultural Center(s)
• Central State University
• Omega Baptist Church
• Hispanic Catholic Ministries
• Sinclair Community College
• Muse Machine
• Dayton Masonic Center

…and these are organizational partners. You can imagine the numbers of people involved! This is before we add the young participants up to 25 per school/neighborhood), who, of course, are partners as well. This is CBC’s fundamental support system, ever growing, and reminding us through each day of the process that we are, indeed, BETTER TOGETHER!

Years ago, when my nascent interest in blues and jazz was just a bud on the vine, I heard a record that spun my head around. It was sensual, mysterious and hinted at the beautiful bounty that lay just around the bend. It was the Johnny Otis version of "Harlem Nocturne." It led to a pile of music that Otis left his fingerprints on: Big Mama Thornton, Esther Phillips, Mel Walker, Pete Lewis and that place between 1945 and 1950 where jazz, gospel and blues morphed into rhythm and blues and paved the highway for rock and soul. Born John Alexander Veliotes, this son of Greek immigrants operated at the center of black music for a decade and a half before concentrating on other interests in his life including organic farming, politics and the civil rights movement.

I recently re-read the extensive interview that Arnold Shaw did with Otis for his book Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues. It reveals a stunningly versatile musician and entrepreneur who literally did it all. To excerpt it would be to not do it justice. Otis also turns up in Jon Hartley Fox's recently published history of Cincinnati's King Records, King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records (Music in American Life). As both musician and talent scout for King founder Syd Nathan, Otis figured in the careers of Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and many others. He was the kind of "jack of all trades" that was essential to the success of every independent label.

Just a few weeks ago, Art Snyder, longtime blues host on WYSO, sent this YouTube clip  from the television show Otis hosted in Los Angeles in the 50s and 60s. It's a version of his 1958 hit "Willie and the Hand Jive".


Want more? Listen to an interview with Otis on Fresh Air and read an homage to him in his New York Times obituary.

What gets you out of your seat?

Really. What motivates you in such a way as to make you active?

More specifically, in the realm of things you don’t HAVE to do, but might enjoy doing, what gets you going, nudges you into activity??

For some of us, it might be other people that motivate us. “If she’s gonna go, I’ll go.”

For others, maybe we have family involved, someone we really want to support.

Maybe we hope to learn or gain from an event. Or hope to create similar events ourselves. Perhaps you easily follow your curiosity to new things. Maybe you honor perceived obligations. Hey, hey – maybe you won free tickets!!

Whatever your motivation, we want you to get out of your seat for Soul Rhythms, the unique, unmistakable Culture Builds Community project for 2012. Soul Rhythms will be a practical example of communities coming together. If you live in Dayton, you are the very face of this community. You are the gifted participants that build community, YOU are part of WE and WE are who we’ve been waiting for!!!

From March 5 through April 22, Cityfolk will join a network of partners, merging performers, distinctive cultures, rich Dayton neighborhoods and middle school students together in school buildings around the city. The task: make art, make friends, make history – together. We will see the fruits in performance on April 22 at 3:00 pm at the Dayton Masonic Center. Tickets will be on sale soon! And Hey, Hey: you might WIN free tickets! Keep an eye on the Culture Builds Community page on Facebook! Or check the website! We want you with us every step of the way!

However you take part in Soul Rhythms—learning online (blog or Facebook) or at the schools (Neighborhood School Centers), participating on stage (culmination performance at the Dayton Masonic Center), or watching from the audience (our best tellers of the tale)—DO IT! Your own soul rhythm will be glad you did!

by Ellen Jackson
Culture Builds Community Intern