Entertainment
Texas Is Well Represented At 61st Grammy Awards

Photo – Best New Artist nominee, Black Pumas are a soul-funk duo from Austin, Texas, that consists of singer Eric Burton (pictured left) and guitarist-producer Adrian Quesada.
40 Texas born-or-based (or raised) acts received a total of 59 Grammy nominations.
The Recording Academy will present the 61st GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast on CBS from 7:00 pm CT.
The 59 Texas based nominations are as follows:
Yolanda Adams (Houston)
Best Gospel Performance/Song for Talkin’ ‘bout Jesus (Gloria Gaynor ft. Yolanda Adams)
Chris Athens (Austin)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Ella Mai (with Chris “Shaggy” Ascher, Jaycen Joshua & David Pizzimenti)
Kal Banx (Dallas)
Best Rap Album for Revenge of the Dreamers III by Dreamville
Brian “Malik” Baptiste (Leander)
Best Pop Vocal Album for Thank U, Next (as a producer with Ariana Grande)
Album of the Year for Thank U, Next (as a producer, with Ariana Grande)
Beyoncé (Houston)
Best Pop Solo Performance for SpiritBest Pop Vocal Album for The Lion King: The Gift Best Song Written for Visual Media for Spirit (with Timothy McKenzie & Ilya Salmanzadeh)
Best Music Film for Homecoming
Black Pumas (Austin)
Best New Artist
Cardo (Fort Worth)
Best Rap Album for Championships by Meek Mill
Best Rap Album for I Am > I Was by 21 Savage
Gary Clark Jr. (Austin)
Best Contemporary Blues Album for This Land Best Rock Performance for This LandBest Music Video for This Land
John Congleton (Dallas)
Album Of The Year for Norman F****** Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
Crowder (Texarkana)
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for I Know a Ghost
Ronnie Dunn (Coleman)
Best Country Duo/Group Performance for Brooks & Dunn Brand New Man
Bryan Fowler (San Antonio)
Best Gospel Performance/Song for Talkin’ ‘bout Jesus (Gloria Gaynor ft. Yolanda Adams)
Kirk Franklin (Ft. Worth)
Best Gospel Performance/Song for Love TheoryBest Gospel Album for Long Live Love
Patty Griffin (Austin)
Best Folk Album for Patty Griffin
Jazzmeia Horn (Dallas)
Best Jazz Vocal Album for Love & Liberation
Intocable (Zapata)
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) for Percepción
Craig Hella Johnson (Austin)
Best Choral Performance for The Hope Of Loving
Sarah Jarosz (Wimberley)
Best American Roots Song for I’m With Her Call My Name (with Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins)
Best American Roots Performance for I’m With Her Call My Name
Jonas Brothers (Dallas)
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Sucker
Khalid (El Paso)
Record Of The Year for Talk
Jeff Hyde (Marshall)
Best Country Song for Some Of It by Eric Church
Best Country Album for Desperate Man by Eric Church
La Energia Norteña (Dallas)
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (including Tejano) for Poco A Poco
Miranda Lambert (Lindale)
Best Country Song for It All Comes Out in The Wash (with Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose)
Lizzo (Houston)
Record Of The Year for Truth HurtsAlbum Of The Year for Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)Song Of The Year for Truth HurtsBest New Artist
Best Pop Solo Performance for Truth Hurts Best R&B Performance for Exactly How I Feel ft. Gucci Mane
Best Traditional R&B Performance for JeromeBest Urban Contemporary Album for Cuz I Love You
Delbert McClinton & The Self-Made Men (Lubbock)
Best Tradional Blues Album for Tall, Dark, & Handsome
Post Malone (Grapevine)
Record Of The Year for Sunflower Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Sunflower
Buck Meek from Big Thief (Driftwood)
Best Alternative Music Album for U.F.O.F. by Big Thief
Gene Moore (Houston)
Best Gospel Album for Tunnel Vision
Willie Nelson (Austin)
Best Country Solo Performance for Ride Me Back Home
Tayla Parx (Dallas)
Album Of The Year for Ariana Grande Thank U, Next
Sugaray Rayford (Smith County)
Best Contemporary Blues Album for Somebody Save Me
Liz Rose (Dallas)
Best Country Song for Miranda Lambert It All Comes Out in the Wash (with Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Miranda Lambert)
Travis Scott (Houston)
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for The London by Young Thug ft. J. Cole and Travis Scott
Robert Simpson, Ken Cowan, Houston Chamber Choir (Houston)
Best Choral Performance for Durufle: Complete Choral Works
Tanya Tucker (Seminole)
Song Of The Year for Bring My Flowers Now (with Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth)
Best Country Solo Performance for Bring My Flowers NowBest Country Song for Bring My Flowers Now (with Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth)
Best Country Album for While I’m Livin’
Chris Tomlin (Grand Saline)
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Holy Roar
Jimmie Vaughn (Austin)
Best Traditional Blues Album for Baby, Please Come Home
J. White Did It (Dallas)
Best Rap Album for I Am > I Was by 21 Savage
Additional Notes:
Austin’s SaulPaul is a featured guest on The Love by Alphabet Rockers, nominated for Best Children’s Album.
Houston born Buck Meek was raised in Wimberley and is a member of Big Thief, nominated for Best Alternative Music Album for U.F.O.F. by Big Thief.
Lubbock’s Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band’s Pedal Steel + Four Corners, nominated for Best Album Notes by Brendan Greaves.
Blanton Alspaugh is nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical for work that includes Robert Simpson & Houston Chamber Choir and Austin’s Craig Hella Johnson. Alspaugh was Music Director of KRTS in Houston from 1988-1995.
Bryan Fowler, former member of the San Antonio Christian rock band Abandon is nominated for his songwriting in Best Gospel Performance/Song for Talkin’ ‘bout Jesus (Gloria Gaynor ft. Yolanda Adams).
Black Life Texas
Carver Annual Fundraiser Dec. 2

The Carver Development Board presents the Cavalcade of the Stars on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Center.
This annual fundraiser benefits the Carver’s School for Visual & Performing Arts’ Artist Residency/Master Class Program, summer camps, Youth Matinee Series, and supports the education programs of the Carver Community Cultural Center. The title fundraiser is Valero.
The night will start with a reception and silent auction at 5:30 pm. Dinner is served at 6:30 pm, and the show begins at 8 pm featuring Kiland Kyham, also known as Mr. Houston. Kyham is a gifted and powerful author, singer, and songwriter. He has performed and produced with such music legends as Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Johnathon Butler, and Smokey Robinson. He has written over 400 song jingles and has produced numerous projects.
For over 75 years, The Carver Community Cultural Center (“The Carver”) has served as the San Antonio Eastside’s foremost gathering place of cultural exchange and performance arts. It was originally erected in 1918 as a community center for African-Americans. By the 1930s, the building was repurposed as the Colored Library and renamed the Carver Library and Auditorium in honor of Dr. George Washington Carver. From the 1940s through the Civil Rights Era, prominent African-American entertainers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong played at the Carver.
Individual tickets for the Cavalcade of the Stars are $250 or $2,500 per table. For more information, visit (TheCarver.org).
Entertainment
Kirk Brings Tour to San Antonio

Kirk Franklin’s new album “Father’s Day” just released on Oct. 6, 2023. Franklin has written and produced “Father’s Day,” marking his first new solo album since the 2019 release of his Grammy-winning solo album “Long Live Love.”
Franklin says about Father’s Day and connecting with God’s love: “I hope this album is a stripped-down, honest conversation about the difficulty of the life journey and how life can be messy, nuanced, and a matter of trial and error even for those who subscribe to faith. But it’s all wrapped in a bow of love, and that love doesn’t always make sense, but is always constant.”

Legendary artist Kirk Franklin has etched a mark on the music industry with his soul-stirring melodies and powerful lyrics. With an astonishing 2 billion career streams, his music has touched the hearts of millions around the globe.
Highly decorated with an impressive collection of accolades, including 19 Grammy Awards, 42 Stellar Awards, 23 Dove Awards, and 8 Soul Train Awards, he stands as a true icon in the gospel genre.
Kirk Franklin’s unwavering passion for gospel music continues to shine as a beacon of inspiration, leaving an indelible legacy that will resonate for future generations.
Franklin will be featuring some of his new albums in The Reunion Tour at the Frost Bank Center (formerly AT&T Center) on Nov. 16 at 7 pm. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
Joining Franklin on The Reunion Tour are Israel Houghton, David & Tamela Mann, Tye Tribbett, The Clark Sister with special guests of the New Breed, The Family, & God’s Property.
Entertainment
Jada’s Entangled Memoir – Worthy

By Ebony Huerta Wells
It must be nice! I don’t know if it’s just me, but when I heard actress Jada Pinkett Smith say she and her famous Oscar-slap husband, Will Smith, are separated but still married, I immediately thought that when I get upset with my husband, I have to sit in my car.
I don’t have another house to go to. I don’t even have another wing of the house to go to. And then I thought of the infamous Oscar slap in 2022 and the “Red Table Talk” discussion where she and Will Smith are in tears over her entanglement or affair. So, was all that necessary? Maybe to sell books, it may be necessary. Jada Pinket Smith’s new memoir, “Worthy,” has hit the shelves and she is making the talk show circuit. Like talk show host Sherri Shepherd said, the whole family should get Oscars for living a lie for seven years – supposedly the amount of time Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been separated.
Truthfully, I’m still trying to grapple with liking the couple – before her memoir. Unlike R. Kelly, Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby, Will Smith hasn’t been totally shunned yet, but he has paid a hefty price for his actions “defending” her honor. But it takes two to tangle, and I don’t think by any means we have heard of all his “entanglements,” and he has his own demons to work out.
. . . the whole family should get Oscars for living a lie for seven years . . .
In the Black community and especially in the entertainment industry, we don’t have a plethora of Black male actors. We are more accustomed to negative stories of Black men than good, so when Will Smith reprised his role as Muhammad Ali at the Oscars, we wanted so much to embrace him for his achievements. Instead, we had to defend Black men at work, hit rewind about a thousand times to make sure it wasn’t a skit, and then joke about it in our inner circles – what the hell was he thinkin’ fighting in front of white folks!
I haven’t read “Worthy,” but Jada Pinkett Smith does talk about Tupac, Chris Rock, and many more of our favorite celebrities. Maybe I will read it for that, or perhaps I will just wait for them to move back together again and stop all this actin’.
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