In the mind of Melanie Charles

Melanie Charles and The Journey in Afropunk: Battle of the Bands 2013

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:26:53 -0400

Melanie Charles and The Journey in Afropunk: Battle of the Bands 2013:

Melanie Charles is a Haitian American, Brooklyn Born Songstress. This Afro beauty has toured the world many times over and has a thing or two to say about love, travel and what it means to be empowered by ones own natural beauty. Check Melanie’s raw performance of her original song “Pat Yo Afro” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu3Z1PRXqc0 Twitter:@melaniecharles Instagram:@melaniecharles http://melaniecharlesmusic.bandcamp.com Click to view and vote!

http://jazzsoul.pl/nowy-video-melanie-charles-the-journey-drifting-tomo/#.UWocaTYAOg0.facebook

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:11:00 -0400

http://jazzsoul.pl/nowy-video-melanie-charles-the-journey-drifting-tomo/#.UWocaTYAOg0.facebook:

They like to drift in Poland….

I love everything about this photoset The lack of...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 17:02:34 -0400

I love everything about this photoset

The lack of condescension in cultural sharing

The nonsexualization

The contextual foreignness of firm breasts in a society that doesn’t use bras

Musician Hazel Scott, 1940s.

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:30:07 -0400

Musician Hazel Scott, 1940s.

CAPSULOCITY Presents Melanie JB Charles (vox &flute) &...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:12:03 -0400

CAPSULOCITY Presents Melanie JB Charles (vox &flute) & Jonathan Michel (Bass) performing “Choucoune” the Haitian folk song, which was rewritten in English as “Yellow Bird” and was covered by Celia Cruz.

My first video “Drifting (Tomo)”: Inspired in Japan,...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:32:45 -0400

My first video “Drifting (Tomo)”: Inspired in Japan, Recorded in Brooklyn, and Shot in HAITI! Watch and Share!

vibes)))))))) BUD POWELL

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:27:00 -0400

vibes))))))))

BUD POWELL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUINCEY!!! (fellow Pisces) “Walking in...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:40:00 -0400

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUINCEY!!! (fellow Pisces)

“Walking in Space”

Featuring the BADDEST CATS!! Hubert Laws on Flute (WOO!!), Freddie Hubbard on Trumpet (woo!), Rahsaan Roland Kirk on Sax (WOO!) Either Grady Tate or Bernard Purdy on Drums, Ray Brown on Bass, JJ Johnson on T-Bone and many more! WOOOO!!!

Drifting in...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:50:00 -0400

Drifting in Japan….

http://melaniecharlesmusic.bandcamp.com

http://bit.ly/XXslpt

Photo By.. ©Isabelle Maiko Morin 2012

http://www.isabellemaikomorin.com/

“Nice jazz/soul/chill groove that’s perfect for...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:55:00 -0400

“Nice jazz/soul/chill groove that’s perfect for crusing down to the beach, up to the mountains or just laying in the grass, counting the clouds…” -Bob Davis of Soul Patrol

What IS drifting????

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 01:42:41 -0500

What IS drifting????

March 8th is just 2 days away! I cant wait to share this new...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:23:00 -0500

March 8th is just 2 days away! I cant wait to share this new music and vibe out with all of you! Get ready to hear Melanie Charles & The Journey new hynotic single “Drifting” (co-produced by Jesse Fischer) as well as the premier of the music video (shot on location in Haiti). Plus we will be playing a one hour set of some dope music. The Journey will be Yeissonn Villamar on Keys, Anita Baker Soils Dreadlocks on Bass, Manny Laine on Drums, Matthew Hartnett on Trombone, Rogerst Charles on sax and special guest Calvin Brown on Keys, Lenny TheOx Reece on drums, and Okai Musik on percussion! This is going to be so great! Come out support live music and help me celebrate the next step of my Journey….

When: This Friday March 8th at 9pm

Where: The Caverock 269 Stanhope Street L train to Dekalb

Addmission: 5 dollar suggestion Donation

1 hour live music, live band, and Drifting single and video premier…..

so-treu: heavensgladyoucame: Jackson, demonstrated the...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:48:19 -0500

so-treu:

heavensgladyoucame:

Jackson, demonstrated the foundation for the song in an impromptu acappella performance in his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey. The moment elicited such a strong reaction that Sony decided to issue it as the album’s next single (in place of “Give in to Me”). The Village Voice’s Greg Tate later wrote of the moment: “My official all-time-favorite Michael clip is the one of him on Oprah viciously beatboxing (his 808 kick sound could straight castrate even Rahzel’s!) and freestyling a new jam into creation – instantaneously connecting Michael in a syncopating heartbeat to those spiritual tributaries that Langston Hughes described, the one’s ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. Bottom line: Anyone whose racial-litmus-test challenge to Michael came with a rhythm-and-blues battle royal event would have gotten their ass royally waxed.”

- Man in the Music

^^^^ THIS.

I love this woman! Happy Birthday Ms. Badu aka. medulla...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:19:11 -0500

I love this woman! Happy Birthday Ms. Badu aka. medulla oblongata aka. Annie!! from one Pisces Queen to another!

Photo

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:30:48 -0500

"As I entered this world, I would leave behind the nurturing of my family and my home, but in another..."

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:19:46 -0500

“As I entered this world, I would leave behind the nurturing of my family and my home, but in another sense I would take their protection with me. The lessons I had learned, the feelings of groundedness and belonging that have been woven into my character there, would be my companions on the journey.”

- Sidney Poitier, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (via litawhistledog)

“Drifting”- New single and Music video coming soon!!

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:48:59 -0500

“Drifting”- New single and Music video coming soon!!

Ayiti is where my heart is- A Brief Memoir

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:40:00 -0500

I THINK I AM SURROUNDED BY AN INVISIBLE PROTECTIVE BUBBLE. This bubble is one of a kind because it has dual purposes. It not only protects me from negativity and danger but has a magnetic pull that attracts positive and creative people and experiences into my life. It is no secret that in my short life thus far I have traveled all over the world. Everyday I am amazed at how God has blessed me and I am constantly overwhelmed with a sense of gratefulness. Everywhere I travel I meet amazing people and I get to see and do things I never could have dreamed possible; like that secret party in the woods in Switzerland, or going Drifting up Tsukuba mountain in Japan, or shooting my first music video in Haiti.

It’s funny how this time last year I was mentally preparing myself to live in Japan for 6 months to sing for Tokyo Disney. Today I am preparing to come back home from an amazing month stay in Haiti. That trip in Japan changed me so much and now I must say my time in Haiti has been even more of a growing, learning, and eye-opening experience. Just a few weeks shy of my 25th birthday (OH MY GOD! IM GETTING OLD!!!), I feel an even greater sense of purpose in my life. A lot of things have become clearer to me on many levels. Coming to Haiti helped me really understand the cliche yet true saying”Home is where the Heart is”. Haiti is definitely home and I’m glad I know that.

I remember feeling like it was the end of the world when my purse was stolen in Brooklyn a few months ago. Five hundred dollars in cash from a wedding gig, my beloved I-phone, state ID, and the beautiful purse my mom let me borrow, ALL GONE. But being here in Haiti I got to see what real loss is. I got to see what it means to have life, food, energy, water, electricity, all taken away with no hope of recovery. I met people who literally didn’t know when their next meal would be. Flipping on a switch and knowing there will be light, or taking a nice hot shower to Americans are basics but in Haiti, those things are luxuries.

I remember after hurricane Sandy, how difficult public transportation was in NY. I remember taking the shuttle bus from Jay street Metro Tech with a huge suitcase full of equipment and clothes for a gig I had in Manhattan. That experience was no fun for New yorkers but the fact there was an organized system to get to and from “the city” despite the mass flooding and loss of electricity in hindsight was amazing. In Haiti getting around (unless you are well off and can afford a car) is a nightmare!

Most people in Haiti get around on what they call a “Tap Tap”. Just so you can get the picture, a “Tap Tap” is basically a pick -up that the owner places a metal and wood top/roof on it. (The” newer” Tap Taps are now minivans). There is no regulation on these TapTaps. The owner of the TapTap is his own boss and hires a “Beff Chenn” which is the man in charge of collecting the money and to notify the driver when to stop by tapping on the side of the vehicle. I thought its called “Tap Tap” because of the that method but my aunt told me that “Tap Tap” means “quick quick”; meaning a quick way to get around. But depending on where you are going, the trip isn’t really that quick. Tap Taps are the main source of transportation for everyone from school children to Machan (Merchants), and everyone in between….. if they can afford it. On average a Tap Tap ride cost 10 Gouds (which is about $0.50 US). These TapTaps also double as a means to transport vegetables, fish, meat etc. and so they often smell bad. There is no such thing as a “tap tap schedule”. Sometimes the Tap Tap doesn’t even make a full stop for you to get on. I’ve seen people hop on to Tap Taps while it was still in motion like they were spiderman. You just hope and pray you can get a seat in one. Even when the seats are full, people still cram in and just stand. Imagine people standing over you in a minivan with baskets of food and clothes in hand.

In Haiti, many young children have to wake up at 5am and walk 10 miles to get to school because their parents can’t afford to give them money to take a Tap-Tap. Many times those kids do this pilgramage on an empty stomach and after school they drop off their book- bags grab a bucket and make another 5 or 10 mile trip to fetch water. By the time they get home, its time to do homework with probably just a boiled potato in their stomach. Halfway through, most likely there will be a black out (which happens everyday in some neighborhoods) and the remainder of the homework must be completed by candlelight. I remember complaining about the train ride to the New School everyday and being annoyed that sometimes I only had time to grab a sandwich on the go instead of being able to make myself a tasty green smoothy. I think about all of the “inconveniences” I used to complain about during my trip to and from school, or work or gigs and I think of the children in Haiti who are so grateful to find just a mere piece of bread to eat and I start to cry. The average child who finishes even just elementary school in Haiti in my eyes are bionic, extraordinary, divine super humans.

It would not be fair for me to just talk about the poverty and misfortune in Haiti because at the same time, Haiti is rich where it really counts. Haitians have an unbelievably amazing affinity for art. In Haiti most people know how to paint, can dance, and can tell you what type of rhythm a piece of music is. Everywhere you look you see beautiful paintings and artisan work. The food is unbelievable. And because there are no msgs, chemicals and all the other garbage the US government puts in the food; all the food in Haiti is organic! Never before have I experienced a greater sense of community. Everyday someone would stop by my aunt and uncles house and bring some fresh baked bread, freshly picked vegetables/roots like patat, yam, malanga, bannan, fig all of which Haitians refer to as “Viv”. People would bring fresh corn on the cob, Kremas (haitian style egg nog mixed with ether whiskey,or rum or 90 degrees alcohol), homemade Soup Joumou (haitian style Pumpkin soup) or fresh picked Shadek (haitian grapefruit which tastes out of this world!!!). Haiti is the type of place you can go to your neighborhood merchant with no money, get what you need and pay for it another day and it is just fine. Thats what I call community. Of course I have to mention the breathtaking mountains and the awesome view you can witness as you look down from Kenscoff.

As I head back to NY, I am excited for people to see my “Drifting” music video and to see real life in Haiti. I am so grateful to Karl Telemak for connecting me with the director Pascal who immediately understood my vision made it happen with literally no time. I would like to take the time to thank some people. My amazing band: Axel Tosca Laugart, Calvin X Jones, Godwin Louis and especially Gashford Guillaume for being an amazing composer, arranger, MD, and the person who opened my heart to Haitian Roots music. I have to thank all my new friends in Haiti; Joel Pierrevil, Hans Peters, Darlene Normil, Rosny Ladouceur, Daphnie “Lovely” Petit-homme, and Lele. I have to thank Tequila Minsky (my second mom) for her support, honesty, and her courage. And last, I must thank my aunt and uncle for opening up their home to me and helping me see the real haiti.

I don’t know what the future holds for me but based on my journey thus far, I know it will be pretty darn exciting. I invite you to follow me on this journey.

AYIBOBO…..

On the set of “Drifting” music video shoot. Port-au Prince, Haiti Feb .2013

"…There was also another sensational Cuban keyboardist from New York on stage that night...."

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:20:00 -0500

““…There was also another sensational Cuban keyboardist from New York on stage that night. Sporting a platinum Afro and two-toned goatee, Axel Tosca Laugart lit up an opening set by Haitian-American pop-jazz chanteuse and flutist Melanie Charles. Alongside the fine alto saxophonist Godwin Louis, bassist Calvin X Jones and drummer Gashford Guillaume, Charles poured out her soul in a splendidly passionate set, thanking the crowd in Creole and singing as if it were the most important night of her life…””

- Nice little blurb about my HAITIAN JAZZ PROJECT performance @ Parc Historique de la Canne à Sucre, Haiti from the folks at Downbeat.com

http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=2080

All my friends and Fans in Ayiti. I will be singing this...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:00 -0500

All my friends and Fans in Ayiti. I will be singing this wednesday the 13th at Presse Cafe 7:30pm 250 Gdes. Your last chance to hear me sing before I return to NY! See you there!!!