GREAT BAY, St. Martin (January 12, 2000) — On Saturday, January 22, 2000 Tanny & The Boys will play the stringband’s favorite tunes at Axum café on Frontstreet, at 8 PM.
Axum, nicknamed “the cozy empire,” will host the popular band of senior musicians in concert for a video-taping jam session. The public is invited to the performance and even to dance up a storm to the sweetly infectious St. Martin folk music.
“We want to do the first full-length quality video-recording of Tanny & The Boys at play for posterity,” says Fabian Badejo, who will direct the recording for House of Nehesi Publishers Foundation. “These are St. Martin’s true golden-aged musicians at this time, and they will be playing the band’s favorite tunes in a jam session style like we have seen great jazz musicians do in rare footage.”
According to Jacqueline Sample, House of Nehesi’s vp, “projects director Lasana Sekou got permission from the group after speaking with band representative George Violenus about the nature and purpose of the video-taping. Once recorded, we will meet with the band to decide what to do with the tape beyond its archival value.”
House of Nehesi produced Tanny & The Boys first musical recording, Fête, in 1992. All of the cassettes, LPs were turned over to band members and/or the Tanny & The Boys Foundation which was set up to manage sales of the cassettes. The major sponsor, OKSNA, received the project’s expenditure report, certified by an accounting firm.