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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May > 18
Friday, May 18, 2007
Quincy Jones values ATL pals
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Buzz swung by Morehouse College on Friday for the groundbreaking of the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Morehouse Music Education Building, a 76,000-square-foot structure scheduled to open on the campus’s edge in 14 months. The facility will cost $20 million. It’ll have practice rooms, a 600-capacity concert hall and a 200-capacity amphitheater described by RL Brown & Associates architect William A. Stanfield as a miniature Chastain.
The groundbreaking featured a performance by the Morehouse Glee Club, remarks from outgoing President Walter E. Massey and appearances by two music biz luminaries, Quincy Jones (the legendary producer, who’s still rocking an earring into his 70s) and Joe Adams (who managed the late Brother Ray, the man whose two $1 million donations kick-started the building’s capital campaign).
Adams, who wore an immaculate tan suit and matching polka-dot accessories, has an honorary degree from Morehouse. Jones is set to receive his own honorary degree Sunday, joining about 600 graduates at the college’s commencement ceremony.
He took a moment after the ceremony to discuss his pals in the ATL music and film scene.
“They’re all my real close friends, and all come to my house,” Jones said. “Usher stays at my house, and Ludacris and Jermaine [Dupri], Dallas [Austin]. Chris Tucker goes all over the world with us. We were all just in the Bahamas two days ago. They’re like my family.”
‘Luda-Crest’ inspires smiles
The aforementioned Ludacris will also make a cartoon cameo in the 400th episode of “The Simpsons” this Sunday on Fox as a tube of toothpaste that raps, of all things.
The 29-year-old rapper-actor, whose real name is Chris Bridges, portrays “Luda-Crest” in an informational video that brainy Lisa watches during the Simpsons’ annual dental checkup.
The central storyline, though, features the family taking in a dejected news anchor who was fired for using a shocking expletive while interviewing Homer on his nightly program. Lisa helps him devise a scheme to stage a comeback.
As Buzz readers well know, Luda already has many acting highlights on his résumé, including performances in the films “Crash” and “Hustle & Flow” and his guest star turns on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
An attention-getter
San Francisco Symphony conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has a secret: The Godfather of Soul was a major influence on him.
Of the first time he heard Augusta’s favorite son on the radio as a music student, the San Francisco Symphony music director says, “I was so struck by it that I actually had to pull to the side of the road, because I thought, ‘I can’t concentrate on my driving and listen to this.’ “
This weekend’s broadcast of Thomas’ “The MTT Files” radio show is appropriately titled “We Were Playing Boulez, But We Were Listening to James Brown.” The program includes an interview Thomas conducted with Brown in April 2006, eight months before Brown’s death last December.
“From the first day I heard James Brown’s music, I waited anxiously for each new song he would release. He became a hero of mine,” Thomas, 62, tells the audience.
Thomas asks Brown whether he realized what power he wielded over his audiences because of his intensity.
“Well, I think more like Moses. Moses didn’t have power, he had influence. Only God’s got power. What I tried to do was make them listen to me,” Brown replied. “That’s a hard thing, to get people’s attention.”
Uncoupling
Apparently that cozy dinner they recently shared at Bluepointe was a fleeting thing: “Extra” reported Friday that ex-Buckhead boy John Mayer and that ex-Daisy Duke, Jessica Simpson, are a pair no more. The syndicated TV show reports that Simpson is enjoying the party scene in Cannes, France, while Mayer was spotted partying this week at a club in New York.
Quote of the day
“The label was like, ‘It’s just too negative.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I’m sorry I’ve inconvenienced you with my life.’ No, it doesn’t say, ‘I’m happy, I’m with a boy and having so much fun.’ But it’s reality. We all go through situations for certain reasons, and I think we should share that.”
The first “American Idol,” Kelly Clarkson, on the initial reaction of her record company, Sony BMG, to the self-penned, personal tracks on her upcoming album, “My December,” from this week’s Entertainment Weekly interview with the singer.
Celebrity birthdays
Saturday: PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 73. TV personality David Hartman is 72. Author-director Nora Ephron is 66. Actor Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca in “Star Wars”) is 63. Musician Pete Townshend is 62. Singer-actress-model Grace Jones is 55.
Sunday: Singer Joe Cocker is 63. Singer-actress Cher is 61. Guitarist Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s is 49. Singer Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 is 46. Actress Mindy Cohn (“Facts of Life”) is 41. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 35. Actor Matt Czuchry (“Gilmore Girls”) is 30. Singer Naturi Naughton (3LW) is 23.
Contributing: Nick Marino and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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