Overtown Music Project To Host A Gospel Brunch Program
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church Overtown
245 NW 8th Street
Miami, FL
www.overtownmusicproject.org.
Overtown Music Project Pays Homage to The History of Music In Overtown
The Overtown Music Project(OMP) will host a Gospel Brunch at Greater Bethel A.M.E. The program will take place at 11:30am to 12:30pm and will be followed immediately by a brunch catered by Jackson Soul Food Restaurant. Featured performers for the event include Jeanette and Philip Wright and Bobby Stringer. Overtown was once recognized as the epicenter and mecca of music in Miami . Celebrities such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker, Billy Holiday, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin and many other artists performed year round at the Sir John Hotel, Mary Elizabeth Hotel, the Lyric Theater and other Overtown establishments. A major tourist attraction, Overtown was truly a repository of Black culture and achievement.
OMP is a two year old non-profit organization that celebrates the music, history and spirit of Overtown. They are dedicated to the area’s rich history in music. OMP shines a light on the different genres of music that once made Overtown’s integrated nightclubs the rhythmic epicenter of musical Miami. Having created a series of successful events in the past that have attracted about 500 or more people, OMP is in production on a documentary and is also working on the creation of a jazz and blues residency in Overtown.create opportunities for musicians who live in the area today with a blues and jazz residency.
OMP is hoping this event will also attract the community of Overtown as well as people outside of the community and engage them bringing back the foot traffic into the Overtown area . Confirmed program speakers include: Mayor Tomas Regalado, Commissioner Dunn,Commissioner Mark Sarnoff, Dorothy Fields, Antonia Williams-Gary, Irby McKnight, Miami Dade Mayoral Candidate Luther Campbell, Dave Lawrence, DJ Le Spam, Carmel Ophir, Ali Codina and Ruth Shack. The event is expected to attract over 800 people. Admission to the event is free for Overtown residents and $25 for general.
