Whisper Room’s closing brings Brooke Alford to Karma Bistro

Churchill Grounds’ Whisper Room is no misnomer. For 10 years, the small-capacity setting hosted some of jazz music’s biggest names — and the staff would indeed shush you for speaking too loudly as the music played. But as of July 31, the Whisper Room is no more.

While Brooke “Viosocalist” Alford was to be among the accomplished musicians such as Freddie Cole and Russell Gunn that have played at the Whisper Room, the violinist’s show will now take place at Karma Bistro (formerly Echelon 3000) on Thursday, Aug. 15, 8 p.m.

And jazz will play on at Churchill Grounds — which is a couple doors down from the Fox Theatre — but on the cafe side, just as it did with the venue first opened.

Alford’s release party and performance are in honor of her second album, The Viosocalist. Expect violin versions of soul and R&B classics such as Mary J. Blige’s “Love No Limit,” Beyonce’s “Deja Vu,” and Jill Scott’s “Golden.”

Alford has performed with plenty of adult contemporary and smooth jazz artists including Najee, Will Downing and Frank McComb, and has shared the stage with James Ingram, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Alex Bugnon.

Here’s a video to give you a taste of what Alford, her band, Refresh, and their surprise guests will have in store next week. Get your tickets in advance if you can.

Book asks African-Americans: Where Did Our Love Go? and panel helps to provide answers

If the comments from panelists at the Where Did Our Love Go book signing and open discussion are any indication, love among African-Americans can thrive. But like anything, it takes effort, honest self-reflection and proper priorities.

The book’s editor, media critic and veteran journalist Gil Robertson, said, “What I discovered was, we want love. We value it. But a lot of us have fallen off on how to find it,” Robertson said.

Where Did Our Love Go: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community aims to help anyone who believes in love find their way. The book is sectioned in three parts — Single, Married, and Divorced — with more than 40 essays from a wide range of contributors, from R&B icon Anthony Hamilton and his wife, Tarsha; to Huffington Post contributor Morris W. O’Kelly; and life coach and author Dr. Nicole LaBeach.

Where Did Our Love Go

Five panelists, including Robertson, gathered at the Hammonds House on Tuesday to celebrate the book’s release with a signing and discussion, partly courtesy of Written magazine‘s Wine and Words series.

Each of the panelists was a contributor to the book: radio personality and ordained minister Twanda Black; From Afros to Shelltoes founder and Spelman College educator Ed Garnes Jr.; publisher and architecture and construction consultant David Horton; and psychiatrist Dr. Cassandra Wanzo.