Wikipedia:Introduction (historical)

Savannah Music Festival

[The Savannah Music Festival (SMF)] is Georgia’s largest musical arts festival, a distinctive cross-genre event celebrating both the rich musical heritage of the South and presenting World-renowned International musicians. It is held annually over an 18 consecutive days in the springtime in Savannah, GA. The Festival is one of a kind event for a multitude of reasons that include showcasing all of the events in the beautiful and intimate venues of downtown Savannah, commissioning new musical works specifically performed for the SMF, one-time only stagings, unique musical events that bring together world-renowned artists for the first time, and its relentless pursuit not only to entertain but to educate the audience and the children in the surrounding area.

History

The Festival was founded in 1988 as an effort by community leaders to increase cultural tourism in Savannah and its surrounding area. Previously known as “Savannah Onstage International Arts Festival”, the Festival staged music, dance and film programs that attracted audiences primarily from the coastal Southeastern United States. During its fourth year, the organization launched its programmatic centerpiece, the American Traditions Vocal Competition, which still attracts talent from all over North America. The organization was renamed ["[Savannah Music Festival]"] in 2002, and began honing its artistic scope to spotlight the musical arts. Located in the heart of the region that birthed a huge percentage of American musical traditions, SMF showcases indigenous regional genres alongside tradition-based imports from the rest of America and around the globe. In the old world atmosphere of historic Savannah (which celebrates its 275 th anniversary in 2008). The financial impact of the festival on the city of Savannah is now second only to the annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.

Musical Education

[The Savannah Music Festival] provides supplemental arts education programs to nearly 20,000 students annually, an increase from 3,500 students in 2003. The SMF takes advantage of their connection to world-renowned artist by regularly engaging them to teach master classes and workshops, exposing patrons to breakout studies of different strains of music, music history and dance. Before the 2006 festival, the Georgia Music Educators Association contacted SMF to discuss connecting SMF jazz performers with regional high school jazz students. The jazz band workshop that year brought bands from Georgia and South Carolina, and established a format that contributing clinician James Ketch, Director of Jazz Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, describes as completely unique: the concerted participation of a team of world-class jazz musicians working closely with a group of students.

In 2007, bands from four different southeastern states registered for the weekend intensive, putting students together with master musicians and educators, including Marcus Roberts, Roland Guerin, Jason Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Dave Stryker, Ketch and others. Each band played on an open-air stage in Savannah’s City Market, a major tourist thoroughfare. At the end of the weekend an honors band was selected to open for John Pizzarelli and the New York All-Star Big Band at the Lucas Theatre. 2008 brings the launch of an ambitious effort: SWING CENTRAL, the SMF High School Jazz Band Competition and Workshop. The workshop and competition will take place between April 3 and 5, 2008, and is open to high school jazz bands across the country. Committed to enhancing studies of the jazz tradition in the south, this new format fuses the already established high-quality mentorship program with a high school jazz band competition of national scope. The Savannah Music Festival regularly collaborates with organizations including the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD); Telfair Museum of Art; Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Savannah Tour of Homes and Gardens; Savannah Economic Development Authority; City of Savannah; Savannah Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; Georgia Department of Economic Development; a cross-section of the city's houses of worship; shopping district merchants; and many other music and community groups.

--Rjgibson3 16:51, 31 July 2007 (UTC)== Five-Year Artistic Retrospective ==

2003

Blind Boys of Alabama, Cyrus Chesnut, Savannah Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Corund, Tamas Kocsis, Jiri Barta, Gerre Hancock, Martin Stadtfeld, Tien-Yi and Shih-Yi Chang, Robert Plano, Gilles Vonsattel, Timothy Hall and Friends, Brian J. Taylor, Edie Hockspeier, Tina Zenker Williams, James Richardson, Richard L. Myers, Gene L. Jarvis, Marcus Roberts, Cootie Stark, Essie Mae Brooks, Drink Small, Cool John Ferguson, Artie Dean, Sol Creach, Tim Duffy, Kristina Beaty and Friends, Rosie Ledet, Wycliffe Gordon

2004

Beaux Arts Trio, Frederica Von Stade, Mingo Saldivar y Los Cuatro Espadas, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Jose Guitierrez, Wayne Shorter Quartet, Toots Thielemans’ Brazilian Project, Marcus Roberts Septet, Derek Trucks Band, Pancho Sanchez, Christopher Taylor, Anton Kuerti, Lewis Nash Septet, Lorenzo Cruz and Marimba Chiapas, David Grisman Quintet, Sebastian Knauer, Daniel Hope, Francois Atlan, Little Freddie King, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas, John Dee Holeman and David Butler, Hubert Sumlin with the Nighthawks, Little Freddie King, Wycliffe Gordon, The Codetalkers with Colonel Bruce Hampton, Dick Hyman Trio, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson/Marcus Printup Quintet featuring Cyrus Chestnut, Anointed Jackson Singers, Hadra des Femmes de Taroudant, Yungchen Lhamo, The Tallis Scholars, The Benedetto Players (Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Frank Vignola, Martin Taylor, Jimmy Bruno, Roland Guerin, Jason Marsalis), Gene K. Jarvis, Mark K. Williams, James C. Richardson, Edie Hockspeier, Irene Federn, Steven Branyon, Savannah Symphony Players, Kim Polote, John Wesley Wright, Alice Tillotson, Andrew Garland

2005

Ballet Pro Musica, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Mando Madness (David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Tony Williamson, Sam Bush, Don Stiernberg, Tony Trischka, Todd Phillips, Darol Anger, David Grier) Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Septet, San Francisco Jazz Collective with Joshua Redman, James Moody’s 80th Birthday, The Heath Brothers, Carey and Lurie Bell, Cool John Ferguson, The Magic of Swing Street (Ed Polcer, Barbara Morrison, Wycliffe Gordon, Allan Vache, John Cocuzi, Frank Tate, Joe Ascione, Mark Shane), The Biscuit Burners, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters, Buddy Guy, Bob Margolin, Lee Gates, Cootie Stark, Cool John Ferguson, Cudamani, Menahem Pressler, Richard Goode, The Codetalkers with Col. Bruce Hampton, Derek Trucks Band, David Grisman Quintet, Psychograss, Perpetual Groove, Blueground Undergrass with Rev. Jeff Mosier, East Meets West (Daniel Hope, Derek Trucks, Amaan Ali Bangash, Ayaan Ali Bangash, Gaurav Mazumadar, Sandeep Das), Cyrus Chestnut, Ardie Dean, Hansel Creech, U.S. Army Ground Forces Band, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Glenn Fischbach, Annika Hope, Benny Kim, Sebastian Knauer, Josephine Knight, Gro Lovdahl, Jaime Martin, Patrick Messina, Benno Schollum, Hans-Kristian Sorenson, Philip Dukes, Ina Zdorovetchi, Adrianna Zukerman, Mark Gainer, Savannah Music Festival Chamber Orchestra

2006

Emmylou Harris, Living Legends of the Blues (Pinetop Perkins, Nappy Brown, “Steady Rollin’” Bob Margolin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Mookie Brill), Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Andre Watts, Lunasa, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Emerson String Quartet, The Codetalkers, The New York Collegium, Del McCoury Band, Katiana and Marielle Labeque, The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (with Buster Keaton’s The General), The Biscuit Burners, Les Ballet Africains, Brazilian Duets with Mike Marshall and Hamilton de Holanda, Peru Negro, Derek Tricks Band, Oteil and the Peacemakers, Timothy Hall, Rebirth Brass Band, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Piano Showdown (Bob Seeley, Mark Braun, John Cocuzzi and Bob Page), Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters, Kristin Gustafson, Gabor Boldoczki, Matthew Vaughn, Jonathan Moore, Hans-Kristian Kjos Sorensen, James Richardson, Savannah Choral Society, David Russell, Perfecting Praise Chorale, Daniel Hope, Benny Kim, Yuval Gotlibovich, Michael Tree, Annika HopePhilip Dukes, Zuill Bailey, Sebastian Knauer, Elisabeth Howard, Kathryn Van Eck and Family, Bottles.N.Cans, Sister Barbara McCoy and Members of the First Christian Community Church Choir, Metta Quintet, Brian Taylor, Tim Jones, Patrick Messina, Peter Kolkay, Armstrong Atlantic University Chorus, Ben Tucker, Marcus Roberts Trio with Wycliffe Gordon, Jeff Lewis, Terrence Simien and the Zydeco Experience, Pablo Ziegler Quartet with Dave Samuels, Jacqueline Schwab, Bill Charlap Trio with Slide Hampton and Frank Wess, The Campbell Brothers, The Sweet Singing Harmony Harmoneers, Kenny Carr and the Tigers, Savannah Music Festival Mass Choir with James Bignon

2007

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Susan Tedeschi, Borodin Quartet, Leahy, Anoushka Shankar, John Pizzarelli and the New York All Star Big Band, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Moravec, Plena Libre, William Devan, Edie Hockspeier, Parris Island Marine Band, Tamboricua, Flook, David Finckel and Wu Han, Musica Angelica, Jerry Douglas Band, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Beaux Arts Trio, Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie, Wiener Akademie Baroque Orchestra, Noche Flamenca with Soledad Barrio, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, Porter-Batiste-Stoltz, Pacifica Chorale’s John Alexander Singers, Randall Bramblett Band, Shawn Mullins, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Morris Robinson, Mark Padmore, Piano Showdown 2007 (Bob Baldori, Bob Seeley, Marcus Roberts, Terry Waldo), Anne Acker, Le Jazz Hot (John Jorgenson Quintet, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Wycliffe Gordon, Ken Peplowski, James Chirillo, Greg Cohen, Chuck Riggs), Swing Time (Wycliffe Gordon, Ken Peplowski, James Chirillo, Chuck Riggs, Howard Alden, Bucky Pizzarelli), Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. with Rick Friend, Annika Hope, Josephine Knight, Deborah Workman, Patrick Messina, Savannah Music Festival Mass Choir with James Bignon, Wesleyan Gospel Choir, The Boston Camerata, Randall Williams, Dr. Ron Byrnside, Huxsie Scott, Tina Zenker Williams, Daniel Hope, Benny Kim, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Philip Dukes, Peter Kolkay, Timothy Jones, CarlaMaria Rodrigues, Zuill Bailey, Glenn Fischbach, Uncle Earl, Savannah State University Choir, Harry O’Donoghue, Savannah Arts Academy Chorale, Philippe Entremont and Sebastian Knauer, Savannah Music Festival High School Honors Jazz Band

International Rock and Roll Music Association

1980 started in Nashville TN by Bernad Walters. 1st organization to document the history of Rock and Roll. Goals established to create a membership organization for Rockers and to establish the first Rock and roll museum/hall of fame. Honorary board members were, Chrissie Hynde(Pretenders), Carl Perkins, Gregg Allman, Ray Davies(Kinks) Rick Nielsen(Cheap Trick) etc.

Furniture Manufacturing Industry

The U.S furniture manufacturing industry seemed to be on an enormous growth pattern in the 90’s as gross output of furniture grew steadily from about $40 billion to $74 billion in the ten years between 1991 and 2001. By 2005, total furniture output had reached more than $85 billion. (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce)

This growth pattern changed recently however, as China, Vietnam and other nations have drastically increased production and exports. In the U.S. job losses in residential furniture manufacturing has been dramatic. In North Carolina, the largest furniture producing state, approximately 19,000 jobs were lost between 2000 and 2005. China has become the major import supplier of furniture products during the last decade, and more than a third of total imports from this source are wood household furniture products.

It should be noted however that most American furniture manufacturers have set up shop in China and ultimately, this actually benefits the consumer as retail prices have gone way down.

Industry Information can be found at Furnishings China

About

Chundur Massacre is an easily forgotten chapter from the recent history of Andhra Pradesh. It happened in 1993, in Chundur village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Background

Chundur was a large village. It became a Mandal headquarters following the NTR government’s restructuring of the Panchayat Raj system in the mid-1980s. Located on the Chennai-Tenali railway line, 15 km from Tenali town, Chundur’s population was estimated at 5,800.

The Reddys constituted a major community, accounting for about half of the village’s population. The next biggest community was that of the Malas, which accounted for a quarter of the village’s population. Chundur had also benefited from the century-old Krishna canal. A look at the land distribution pattern provides important clues and insights into the emerging patterns of social tensions in the village. The total land under cultivation in Chundur was 2,400 acres, half of which was owned by the Reddys. The rich peasants, needless to say, all belonging to the Reddy community, owned a maximum of 15-20 acres. The Telagas, a major BC caste in the village, possessed around 250 acres, and Brahmins and Vaisyas owned 100 and 65 acres, respectively. The dalits as a whole had just 90 acres in their ownership.

There was a relatively high level of literacy and fairly large-scale employment among the dalits. It was estimated that there were around 200 matriculates and 15 postgraduates among the dalits; literacy was much higher among the dalits than the Reddys. The railways were the major providers of employment for dalits, and around 300 men were employed as fitters and gangmen. In addition, they were employed in the telephone department and banks. Employment in the public sector gave the dalits of this village a high sense of security and confidence. The railway connection facilitated mobility for the dalits of Chundur. This seems to have played an important role in increasing the agricultural labourers’ power to bargain for higher wages, at least during the peak agricultural seasons. What was noticeable about the labour was the phenomenon of the gumpu contract labour system, i.e. a system in which labourers form a group and execute 41 agricultural operations on a piece-wise basis. Thus, labour groups could be found waiting at Chundur railway station in the morning to take trains to go to places as far as Chirala and Narasaraopet to work in both agricultural as well as non-agricultural sectors. They returned home the same evening.

The dalits also displayed a significant presence in the political arena. Although both the Reddys and dalits traditionally supported the Congress Party (I), the upper castes did not take kindly to the dalits’ political ascendancy to higher levels of the political ladder, such as the Mandal Praja Parishad (besides Chundur, four of the MPPs had dalit presidents), especially as a result of reservations to local bodies.

The socio-economic specificity of Chundur rendered the dalits relatively less dependent on the Reddys and, therefore, less vulnerable to Reddy domination and manipulation. Due to modern education, public sector employment and easy mobility due to the railway connections, the dalits of Chundur demonstrated a perceptible transformation in their lifestyle, a great sense of awareness of their rights and, accordingly, assertion. This obviously was not to the liking of the upper caste landowning Reddys not only of Chundur but also of the neighbouring Reddy-dominated villages.

As it happened

What happened on the fateful morning of 6 August 1991 has to be seen against these changes in the ground reality and the accumulated frustration of the local Reddy peasantry. What initiated a series of events in a fast succession was a fairly trivial incident that occurred in a cinema hall. It may be noted that access to public places of entertainment and refreshment in Chundur, unlike in a large number of villages in other parts of the State, was less restricted a fact symptomatic of dalit awareness in Chundur.

A dalit youth, Ravi, studying in a postgraduate college in Nagpur, who went to a cinema theatre in Chundur ‘rested his foot on a seat in front which was occupied by an upper caste boy Kurri Srinivas Reddy. A minor altercation ensued between Ravi and Srinivas Reddy when the latter abused the dalit youth in the name of his caste’. (Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, 1991).

This happened on 7 July 1991. In the following days, both the dalit boy and his father, who was a schoolteacher in a neighbouring village, were subjected to harrasssment by the Reddys as a measure of retaliation. ‘Fearing further reprisals from the upper castes, neither Ravi nor his father lodged any complaint with the police. This was resented by the dalits who imposed a fine of Rs. 25 for submitting to the upper castes.’ This is illustrative of the fairly high level of awareness and assertion among the dalits of Chundur, who were markedly different from those of other areas in terms of education and employment. This obviously attracted a severe response from the Reddys and their supporters in the village and even from those of neighbouring villages.

The following extracts from a fact-finding report give a graphic description of ensuing developments.

‘On July 9, Reddys and Telagas formed into a committee and decided to enforce a social boycott of the dalits (Malas). The committee was again headed by the village Sarpanch. Since then, the dalits were not allowed to work in the fields of upper castes nor were they permitted to enter the upper caste locality. Land tenancies of the dalits were cancelled. The social boycott of the dalits led to tension and at this stage section 144 was promulgated in the village. While the upper castes engaged outside labour to work in their fields, the dalits left to places like Tenali and Ponnur in search of work. A 50 strong police picket headed by Tenali Rural Circle Inspector was posted in the village since then.’ (Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, 1991, pp.8-9)

The report narrates a sequence of events that clearly show that, while the Reddys of Chundur and their fellow castemen in the neighbouring villages were determined to show their might, the dalits also showed a will to retaliate. The presence of the police deterred them from a head-on collision. The prohibitory orders were lifted on 29 July, and in two incidents that occurred on 4 and 5 August, two dalits were attacked and injured and ‘the same night additional forces were rushed to Chundur even as prohibitory orders were reimposed in village’.

The final assault on the dalits came on the morning of 6 August. The ghastly incident was preplanned and well-executed by the upper castes with the alleged connivance of the police officials present in the village.

‘One version is that a few dalit youth attacked and inflicted minor injuries on some Reddys. However this was blown out of proportions by the upper castes who spread the falsity that three Reddy men were hacked to death by the dalits. The upper caste men of nearby Valiveru, Manchala Munangivaripalam and Vellaturu villages were also mobilised for an assault on dalits. Around 11 a.m. Saibabu [the CI of police] and Vemuru Sub-Inspector Sheik Madarvali came to the dalit quarters and asked them to flee as CRPF men from Mangalagiri might raid the village to pick them up following a complaint lodged by the upper castes. When the dalits were hesitant to leave the village the police virtually chased them away. However all the dalit women stayed back.’ (Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, 1991)

What followed was:

‘The marauders, who came in tractors and scooters and were well armed, first caught the fleeing dalits, beat them with iron rods and killed them with daggers and axes. They then leisurely packed some of the bodies in gunny bags and dumped them in the Tungabhadra drain and irrigation canal. Though the final tally of deaths could not be clearly ascertained immediately as most of the bodies were thrown in the canal, but at least eight dalits are murdered in the heinous manner and many more injured in what could be described as an unparalled case of brutality.’ (Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, 1991)

Justice

The police have charged 212 people in 12 different cases related to this incident. 33 of the defendants died during the course of the trial. 56 of the remaining defendants have been convicted while the rest 123 have been acquitted. Among the convicted 21 got life sentences and the remaining got 1 year rigorous imprisonment.