Cameroon is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.

French and English are the official languages of Cameroon. The country is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point at almost 4,100 metres (13,500 ft) is Mount Cameroon in the Southwest Region of the country, and the largest cities in population-terms are Douala on the Wouri river, its economic capital and main seaport, Yaoundé, its political capital, and Garoua. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossaand bikutsi, and for its successful national football team.

~ Wikipedia

Angela M. Wellman is an award-winning trombonist, scholar, music educator, and activist. She began playing trombone in elementary school and began playing professionally at age 18 and after two decades she turned her attention to her main passion-teaching. In 2005 she founded the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music (OPC) to ensure that Black children and adults have access to culturally resonant, affordable music education. OPC centers Blackness in the development of American musical culture and identity and since opening its doors 16 years ago, has become one of the Bay Area’s vanguard institutions in community music education and cultural preservation. Angela is a recipient of multiple local and national awards including the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Study Fellowship, the City of Oakland “Cultural Key to the City,” the“Jazz Hero Award” from the Jazz Journalists Association, the Arhoolie Award from the Arhoolie Foundation, the 2020 Caffie M. Greene Community Building Award from UPSurge! NY, and the County of Alameda 2021 Arts Leadership Award. Angela completed undergraduate studies at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri’s Kansas City and received a Master’s degree in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music. She is presently completing her dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where her research explores the impact of racism and white supremacy on access to music education for Black students.

https://myiwbc.org/angela-wellman/

As his debut single rests comfortably in the memory of the masses and enjoys a reboot with guest bars from Kendrick Lamar, Jidenna’s introduction now includes an infectious song and a slew of great suits. Inspired by the Jim Crow era, the 29-year-old cohort of Janelle Monae’s Wondaland Records’ fashion choices are weighed with cultural significance. To the untrained eye, the artist’s penchant for rocking a three-piece suit is simply an effort to be different, but to him, it is much more. In a sartorial effort to honor the resilience of his black elders, Jidenna’s clothing adorns a man who is very much “woke.”

“‘Sharp in mind, body and style’ is the style mantra,” he notes. “It means that I think your look should make it seem like you’re sharp in your mind, so it should have a certain level of sophistication.”

~ Vibe Magazine

SoL DeVeloPMeNT a Hip-Hop/Jazz/Soul ensemble based out of Oakland California is the soundtrack to the movement for justice, freedom and hope.

MLK Jr. said “there comes a time when silence is betrayal.” These words are cut from the same cloth that fueled individuals like Dr. King & St. Theresa to lift the weak, empower the strong and uncover the truth for all to see. Oakland’s Sol Development shares the same mission, vigor and passion to undo the centuries of ignorance & hate that precede them. Their music, their energy as a team and their brand identity illustrate a future of unlimited possibilities and a message of hope.

~ Sol Developement

Mad Noise is a five-piece ensemble from the San Francisco Bay Area that is as international as they are American. With each member being of a different ethnicity, the band is proud to be culturally diverse, multilingual, and graduates of UC Berkeley, Princeton University, and Ex’pression College for Digital Arts. While deeply rooted in the blues, what makes MAD NOISE inimitable is their ability to draw from styles around the world, from folk and jazz to punk and pop. Their live performances are characterized by their raw energy, intricate vocal harmonies, collective improvisation, and ability to connect with their audiences. eclectic ensemble received numerous awards from SF Bay Area press, including

five “Best Band in the Bay” titles.

~ American Music Abroad

Girl Swallows Nightingale hatched in 2016, when Marica Petrey accidentally wrote too much music for a fantasy film she was making and decided that it was the perfect excuse to start a band. With songwriting inspired by folklore, anime, science fiction, and epic saga, Girl Swallows Nightingale conjures a cinematic experience, painting a vivid musical canvas that shifts its colors between modern rock, jazz, theater, funk, and pop, to underwater sound scapes and dreams of outer space. Petrey delivers dramatic yet playful vocals and is supported by a multi-talented ensemble of musicians who can be found not only on stage with a number of other bands and orchestras, but also at work all over the Bay Area in the realms of theater, film, video games, and radio.

 - Girl Swallows Nightingale 

Is there any greater gift than the gift to love and receive love? What powerful force in our lives! 

Capturing this gift of ours from behind the lens is truly breathtaking. 

Love is breathtaking.

The Bay Area has had one of its most successful Grammy years in recent memory. With a total of 18 nominations for local artists and producers, the region has at least garnered the most nominations it's had in five years according to Michael Winger, the Executive Director of the Recording Academy's San Francisco Chapter.

One such Bay Area artist feeling the glow of success is Oakland's Fantastic Negrito, a blues guitarist and singer named Xavier Dphrepaulezz who first grew to fame after winning NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Contest in 2015.

Two years after he found internet fame and landed multiple music festival appearances, he won his first Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy for 2016's "The Last Days of Oakland."

~ East Bay Express

In today's hustle and bustle culture, its easy to fall victim to the "loop" where time seemingly slips faster. 

One of the best cures to 'snapping back' is a stroll through nature. A simple brisk walk outside or a light trot in your brand new sneakers is literally, 'nature's cure'.

Falling in love, everyday. In manual transmission.

There is something about black and white that ironically, brings things to life.

This music video for Bay Area performing artist Dezz was originally shot in color at Twin Peaks in San Francisco. The weather lended itself well in very minimal areas and alas, fighting Mother Nature was a lost battle. Overcasting was just too powerful to combat but we pulled through and made the best of the situation.

Glad we did :)