"An Instrument of Unity"


LOS ANGELES MUSIC WEEK
Celebrating Fifteen Years of Service

To donate instruments to the fifteen council district schools
and the five county supervisory schools through Los Angeles Music
Week, which LAMW annually services, please email melamw@earthlink.net
or dial 310-670-6898.  Your contributions are greatly appreciated and recognized.




 
Young trumpeters from Hillcrest Drive Elementary School sound off in joyful harmony as directed by Carol Dodson during the 2001 Press Conference for Los Angeles Music Week, in City Hall's new Rotunda. 

       Contact:
Margie Evans, Director
Los Angeles Music Week, Inc.
Email: melamw@earthlink.net
Post Office Box 451146
Los Angeles, CA 90045-8511
Phone: (310) 670-6898
Fax: (310) 670-6908




 



   LAMW Director Margie Evans 
regales with 1997 honorees 
Charles Veal, Jr. and Daniel 
Pollack as Postmaster A. Kirby 
Faciane presents framed stamp 
enlargements to the honorees for 
their artistic contributions.

 

"Success is there for those who prepare:"
   The Biography of Margie Evans, 
     LAMW Executive Director and Founder

Internationally renowned Louisiana-bred artist, Margie Evans, the Executive Director and Founder of Los Angeles Music Week, Inc., is a legendary entertainer, businesswoman,  spokeswoman and historian.  As the only African American President of the civics-oriented 5-4 Optimist Club of Los Angeles,  she taught music history, respect for law, educational achievement, endless perseverance and integrity to local schoolchildren and citizens. These are the tools of community building that springboarded the conception of L. A. Music Week.   Executive Director Margie Evans is well established as a multi-talented lyricist, classy multi-genre entertainer, blues historian, community leader and motivational speaker.   She represents the Blues Genre with an uncategorical poise, dignity and trademark robustly effervescent, jovial sophistication, unlike the typical blues stereotypes.  She shares, "I've been around a long time and I've really paid my dues."

A woman full of love, ideas and understanding of her culture, Margie's love for music is overwhelming!  This is due to her background, for she arrived in Los Angeles in 1952 to stay which allowed Evans some breaks in the entertainment business.  She performed with the Ron Marshall Orchestra at the Tikis in Monterey Park, California.  In 1969, Margie was introduced to the famous Johnny Otis by Hector Revere and became internationally known by touring Far East Asia with the Johnny Otis Show.  With an extensive discography, Evans  has also served as both producer and co-producer of many records, including six records  for Bobby "Blue" Bland for Monk Higgins Productions.  The multi- talented artist has performed with many great entertainers: B.B. King, Joe Turner, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Albert King, Pee Wee Crayton and Willie Dixon, among countless others.

Never complacent with just one facet of her soaring career, Margie Evans' burden for musical education in our beloved city of Los Angeles, California allowed her to establish  Los Angeles Music Week.   Driven by the severe lack of parity in music education and the outcry of Los Angeles artists who work abroad yet seldom receive proper artistic recognition in their city of residence during their lifetime, Evans resolved to actively resolve these inequities.    Thus, Los Angeles Music Week,”   an annual celebration designed to educate children  while honoring musical pioneers so that all citizens will appreciate Los Angeles' unique music history,  fills a desperately needed and widely appreciated niche in L.A.'s community outreach, while redeveloping the skills pool that is so vital for the maintenance of the vast entertainment industry.  This has garnered Evans the highest regard from all citizens and elected officials in the City and County of Los Angeles, in addition to those of other cities, who admire and support Evans’ ebullient initiative, vast experience, legendary artistry, varied talents, profound insights and  trademark leadership.

Supplementary Reference: LA Times Archives : "Instrument for Unity; 
Singer's 'L.A. Music Week' Seeks to Bridge Racial Gaps"
Monday, December 11, 1995; Home Edition, Metro Section, ID 0950112849

Byline: Ed Boyer, Times Staff Writer, total 598 words:
"Blues belter Margie Evans is a big woman with a big sound and a big idea to use music to  help mend Los Angeles' tattered  social fabric. "


MARGIE EVANS' LINKS

MARGIE EVANS' DISCOGRAPHY

Women in Blues Concert -- Margie Evans
A special jazz event in Italy


JAZZ, BLUES, GOSPEL AND MORE....
MARGIE EVANS, THE CONSUMMATE ENTERTAINER

"Listening is believing."

"Mistreated Woman," that's the Blues of today, funky, groovy, that kind of Blues you want to jump up and dance to.  Yet it is full of power and intensity.  You cannot just play Margie Evans' songs and just walk by.  You are forced  to listen from the first to the last note.  This is 100% Margie Evans!  The preparations for each of these recordings was all precision, performance, impeccable quality, punctuality and perfection, which are Margie's trademarks.

This is how she gained the reputation she has today in Los Angeles. She worked with the Johnny Otis Show,  coordinated and co-produced Bobby Bland's albums, has been on television and local radio as a lecturer and DJ, clarified Naras' Tradtional Blues format, founded the Blues Society of Southern California and worked with countless landmark artists.

Evans presents her family in the LP, "We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace," which delivers the message of the Lord in serious doses.  Her passionate messages are heard in "Another Blues Day" and "Blues for the Lady," done with the Checkerboard Blues Band, as well as "Trouble People," performed with the Mighty Reapers.

A Shreveport native, transplanted to Los Angeles, Evans is always making a positive impact on all she meets, encouraging others to reach their goals. Her music and community service are cathartic and inspirational, motivating us all to use our resources to overcome.

After more than 40 years in the music business, after travelling around the world, preaching the Blues with a strong  gospel influence, she is the penultimate standard for "clean Blues"  and is the inimitably consummate Blues entertainer, businesswoman and historian.   She is truly one of a kind.


Dynamic delivery, powerful lyrics, rhythmically intense artistry!
Margie Evans' passion for life positively rocks the soul.
Unforgettable collection of Blues, Traditional Gospel and Jazz
with crossover appeal.
This rare find, "Drowning in the Sea of Love,"
is a must for every music aficionado.

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MARGIE EVANS LINKS
Artist's Tracks and Reviews
 Birdland Australian Jazz - Rufus And Reckless Records
 Live Photography - Margie Evans
  Philipp Fankhauser The Checkerboard Blues Band
Terra Nova Records
 Rufus And Reckless Records

   Sample Tracks 

1. Drowning in the
Sea of Love
2. Don't you Worry
3. Another Blues Day  
4. Trouble Trouble
5. Giving up the Streets for Love
   6. Good Thing Queen
7. In His Eyes   
8. Let the Telephone Ring
9. It's A Shame
10. I Can't Get You
Off My Mind
11.  Evil Gal Blues
12. Just a Closer Walk with Thee
  13. Women I Wonder Why
14. Mistreated Woman
                                                                  

To purchase the digitally mastered CD of LAMW
Executive Director Margie Evans,
"Drowning
in the Sea of Love," TND 9015, United States residents
may contact Terra Nova
Records at Post Office Box 455,
Sunland, California 91041-0455.

Citizens of Europe, Australia and Asia
may contact Rufus Records.



Toronto Jazz Review of the
2002 DuMaurier Festival

 


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These photos show various youth
performances by LAMW honoree, American Youth Express.




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Margie Evans, Director

 Email: melamw@earthlink.net
  Post Office Box 451146
Los Angeles, CA 90045-8511
  Phone: (310) 670-6898
  Fax: (310) 670-6908
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