Join us for the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival!!

Schedule of Events:

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Full Force

FULL FORCE is the Legendary Grammy Award Certified Production Songwriting and Performing Team of Pop, RandB and Hip Hop Music From Brooklyn New York. Members Bowlegged Lou, Paul Anthony, B-Fine, Gerry- DJ Genius, Curttt and JR-Shy Shy are one of the first to impact Hip Hop with their History making co-writing of "Basketball" by Kurtis Blow and their Production and Co-Writing of "Roxanne Roxanne" by UTFO. FULL FORCE is worldly credited with creating 'FreeStyle Dance Music', bringing Latin-Dance-Pop music to the world with the first female artist of the mid-80's, Lisa Velez, putting her in the ensemble group.

FULL FORCE has also Produced, Written or Worked with such artists as: Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Melisa Morgan, Vivica A.Fox, The Godfather of Soul-James Brown, Samantha Fox, Lil' Kim, Patti LaBelle, Omari Hardwicke("Power") MethodMan, Jasmine Guy, Nicky Minaj, The Force M.D.s, Faith Evans, the RandB all-female group Ex Girlfriend, Britney Spears, Bob Dylan, Backstreet Boys, 112, Selena, N'Sync, Latoya Jackson, Raphael Saadiq, Black Eyed Peas, Sheila E and many more.

Full Force's Hit "Ain't My Type of Hype" is the Hot Dance Classic song used in the dance battle scene with Kid 'n Play in the 1990 film "House Party". FULL FORCE also starred as the bullies in the now urban classic film.

Brick featuring Jimmy Brown

Jimmy Brown has been the lead vocalist and instrumentalist for Brick for over 50 years with hits like "Dazz" "Dusic" and "Aint gonna hurt nobody." Now he is starting a new venture, continuing the legacy with his new band "Jimmy Brown and Brick." With this new sound and music fusion he expects to enjoy his career as a musician and music legend.

Boney James

For saxophonist and composer Boney James, the phrase Slow Burn perfectly describes both his music and career. "This is my 19th record, and I feel like I'm just hitting my stride," James says.

Spanning over three decades, James' career boasts four GRAMMY nominations, three NAACP Image Award nominations, a Soul Train Award, and four RIAA Gold Record certifications. In 2009, Billboard named him one of the Top 3 Contemporary Jazz Artists of the decade, and in 2024, he became the first artist to score 20 number-one singles on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart.

James has never been one to look back. Slow Burn, which he produced, includes several firsts. The album opens with 'Arcadia,' featuring Marcus Miller's rare standup bass work. It also includes James' first interpretation of a Herbie Hancock classic, 'Butterfly,' with Miller and Cory Henry. The title track is a collaboration with Jairus Mozee, while RandB vocalist October London features on the first single, 'All I Want Is You.'

James' musical journey began in New Rochelle, New York, where he switched from clarinet to saxophone in school. By his teens, he was gigging with bands and turned pro at 19. After years of touring with artists like The Isley Brothers and Teena Marie, he released his debut album in 1992, launching a successful solo career.

Now residing in Los Angeles with wife, director Lily Mariye, James says, "I wake up each day and try to play a little better. To quote the cellist Pablo Casals 'I think I'm making progress.' I am really proud of my playing on this new record. And I absolutely love the songs and the sound I achieved."

Eric Darius

With his iconic, signature jump and crowd-captivating energy throughout his world renowned live performances, Billboard chart topping, American saxophonist, songwriter, producer, and performer, Eric Darius, is breaking the mold of modern Jazz. His latest and boldest venture to date, Unleashed, is a testament to his ever evolving artistic vision, fearlessly pushing all musical boundaries while innovatively fusing Jazz with elements of RandB, Hip-Hop, Funk, Pop, and much more.

Now, with eight highly acclaimed albums to his name, Eric continues to be a singular force on the music scene while forging new paths and bridging generational gaps. To date, he has racked up five No. 1 Hit Singles and 17 Top 10 Radio Hits on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart. He was SESAC's Top 10 Jazz Artist of the Year in 2015, Citril Starz Awards' Best Jazz, Saxophonist, Composer, Producer and Musician of the Year in 2017, and most recently was selected the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival Artist of the Year for 2022.

With his countless accolades and commitment to making a difference through music education in the schools, Eric Darius stands as a beacon of unparalleled talent and dedication in today's world of entertainment.

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Morris Day and the Time

Morris Day and the Time, is an American funk rock band founded in Minneapolis in 1981. They contributed to the development of the Minneapolis sound, an eclectic fusion of funk, RandB, new wave, synth-pop and dance. Led by singer-songwriter Morris Day the band members are known for having been close associates of musician Prince, and are arguably the most successful artists who have worked with him, achieving success with singles such as "Get It Up", "The Bird", "Cool", "777-9311", "Jungle Love" and "**** Out".

Raheem DeVaughn

The son of an accomplished avant-garde jazz cellist, Raheem DeVaughn is an urban RandB singer and songwriter who gets inspiration from the great crooners of the past such as Marvin Gaye, to more contemporary singers like D'Angelo. With two albums and a Grammy nomination, DeVaughn's musical style leans as much as it does towards neo-soul and RandB as it does towards a timeless soul sound he hopes to create through his musical legacy. Rather than having critics or record labels define his sound, DeVaughn came up with his own genre which he describes as, "RandB-hippie-neo-soul-rockstar in a hip-hop world," he affirmed to Vibe writer Shayla Byrd. A DeVaughn fan and fellow musician, Alicia Keys, told journalist Clarence Waldron of Jet, "Raheem is a gem …. He embodies the soul and raw honesty of the legendary artists we long for."

Eric Roberson

An American singer, songwriter, former rapper and music producer. He is sometimes referred to simply as Erro, the name which he later used as part of his label Blue Erro Soul. Roberson was nominated for two Grammys in the Best Urban-Alternative Performance category. He was nominated for two songs from his 2009 album Music Fan First- "A Tale of Two" in 2010 and "Still" in the same category a year later. In 2013, he was a member of the band, United Tenors together with Dave Hollister, Fred Hammond and Brian Courtney Wilson. Roberson's 2014 album, The Box, peaked at #8 on the Billboard Top RandB Albums. "I Have A Song" was chosen to be the fundraising single, produced by Jak Beula and released in February 2016, In 2024, Roberson signed with the Universal Music Group distributed label SoNo Recording Group. His first release for the label is the Jeff Lorber featured "Every Kinda People", a cover of the 1978 Robert Palmer single.

Jeff Bradshaw

A North Philadelphia-born soul-jazz and hip-hop-funk innovator and trombone virtuoso, Jeff Bradshaw spent his formative years honing his chops alongside some of the biggest names both in and out of the Philly soul movement. By the time he got around to releasing his solo debut, 2004's critically acclaimed Bone Deep, he had shared the stage with such industry luminaries as Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Patti Labelle, Erykah Badu, and countless others. Bone Deep made him a festival circuit mainstay, and he spent the next eight years refining his signature smooth and immediate sound in both a solo setting and in support of artists like Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, the Roots, and Jill Scott. In 2012 he released his sophomore long-player, Bone Appetit, which featured a host of guest artists, including Kindred the Family Soul, Raheem DeVaughn, Floacist, and Marsha Ambrosius.

Date:
April 26 - 27, 2025

Location:
Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park,
600 N Ashley Drive,
Tampa, FL33602

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