Latest news with #AfroCaribbean
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
ADVERTISEMENT Ottawa Watch Thriving not surviving A first-of-its-kind gathering - The Afro-Caribbean Thrive Conference is bringing together over 1,000 professionals for a day of connection.
Ottawa Watch A first-of-its-kind gathering - The Afro-Caribbean Thrive Conference is bringing together over 1,000 professionals for a day of connection.
New York Times
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Eddie Palmieri, Latin Music's Dynamic Innovator, Dies at 88
Eddie Palmieri, a pianist, composer and bandleader whose contributions to Afro-Caribbean music helped usher in the golden age of salsa in New York City, and whose far-reaching career established him as one of the great musical masterminds of the 20th century — not to mention one of its fieriest performers — died on Wednesday at his home in Hackensack, N.J. He was 88. His youngest daughter, Gabriela Palmieri, confirmed the death, which she said came after 'an extended illness.' From the moment he founded his first steady band, the eight-piece La Perfecta, in 1961, Mr. Palmieri drove many of the stylistic shifts and creative leaps in Latin music. That group brought new levels of economy and jazz influence to a mambo scene that was just beginning to lose steam after its postwar boom, and it set the standard for what would become known as salsa. From there, he never stopped innovating. In the 1970s, Mr. Palmieri roped salsa into conversation with jazz, rock, funk and even modern classical music on a series of highly regarded albums, including 'Vamonos Pa'l Monte' and 'The Sun of Latin Music,' as well as with the fusion band Harlem River Drive. He also teamed up with thoroughbred jazz musicians — Cal Tjader, Brian Lynch and Donald Harrison among them — making essential contributions to the subgenre of Latin jazz. Mr. Palmieri's fundamental tools, he once said in an interview, were the 'complex African rhythmic patterns that are centuries old' and that lie at the root of Afro-Cuban music. 'The intriguing thing for me is to layer jazz phrasings and harmony on top of those patterns,' he said. Explaining where he got his knack for dense and dissonant harmonies and his gleefully contrarian sense of rhythm, he cited jazz pianists like McCoy Tyner and Thelonious Monk as inspirations. But the art historian and critic Robert Farris Thompson, writing in 1975 about the emergence of salsa, noticed other influences as well. 'He blends avant-garde rock, Debussy, John Cage and Chopin without overwhelming the basic Afro-Cuban flavor,' he wrote of Mr. Palmieri. 'A new world music, it might be said, is being born.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
BBC News
24-07-2025
- BBC News
Southampton youths' anti-social behaviour terrorises businesses
"Coming to work now is really scary for me," says Nnenna Okonkwo as tears roll down her is one of the many business owners and residents swept up by the rising tide of anti-social behaviour caused by teens and young people in an area of Southampton, ranging from criminal damage and assault to vaping and smoking in shops have been regularly posted in local groups on social media since March. Though police say they are dealing with the offenders "robustly" and "proportionately" the accounts from those affected highlight that some of the youngsters lack respect for authority. Ms Okonkwo recalls the young people who targeted her business telling her "the police can't do anything, they won't help you". Her current feelings are in sharp contrast to the "excitement" she felt when opening her international food store on Shirley High Street last was her opportunity to proudly share Afro-Caribbean culture with the local community and she remembers the "sense of achievement" it gave changed in May when she stepped in to stop two teenagers from "harassing" an elderly customer just outside the store."This shouldn't be happening on my watch," she intervening the teens quickly turned their attention to Ms Okonkwo and began abusing her. "I think that's when I realised I had a real issue," she teens returned at a later date, when the store was closing, and Ms Okonkwo says a young girl kicked and smashed the window of the shop."I'm still really shaken about it," she her eyes she adds: "It's ridiculous, it's just a couple of teenagers causing this mayhem." Next door, Naani Shaik shares how he first experienced trouble at the start of asked a "gang" of about 15 children to leave the Subway store he has managed for five years, after they began "drinking and smoking inside"."They started bullying, started breaking things here, breaking the equipment and they smashed the door," he says, admitting this sort of behaviour is a daily occurrence that is "making every day hell".Mr Shaik points to the shelves of cookies that are now protected behind by glass box after an occasion when a young person ripped them from the counter and dragged them outside the says he has spent close to £1,000 repairing damage but admits he is struggling more "mentally" than young people have followed him and his staff home, berating them with racially motivated "abusive words" and "filthy language", even abusing his mother, he schools finish, he says staff ensure they lock the door in between customers to try and stop the youths getting he has threatened to call police he says the perpetrators have encouraged him and then also abused officers when they have arrived."Even though we know they are kids, their actions are not like kids," Mr Shaik says. PC Tom Byrne, from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has been the local police officer for Shirley since February and he says he tries to patrol the High Street at least once a emphasises it is mainly "two or three main repeat offenders" aged between 12 and says "arresting a child is not the first port of call we want to take".Adding that when they do arrest them the majority of their parents are supportive and they do get "a good outcome"."I've been a neighbourhoods police officer for two years and worked with many young people across the city and it tends to be this kind of group mentality, that when they're in a group they try to impress their friends and a lot of it is boredom," PC Byrne Christie Lambert, cabinet member for communities and safer city at Southampton City Council, said it is committed to tackling anti-social behaviour and was "saddened" to hear about the recent incidents in Shirley High Street. "We understand that a variety of circumstances can lead young individuals to engage in such behaviours, so we are incredibly grateful for our youth justice team and community partners who are tirelessly working with these young people, providing crucial support and guidance to help them make better choices," she says. 'It's not just Southampton' Tony Weafer has lived in the area since 2008 and regularly posts about the incidents on his Shirley and Freemantle Watch Community Forum on says: "These children were not born like this, where is this anger coming from?"How did they get to this stage to be happy to break windows, damage doors and create havoc?"He believes social services, parents and schools need to speak with children and address why this is happening."Where are we going in this country? It's not just happening in Southampton, it's all over the place this sort of attitude - 'we are in charge, we don't care about authority, we do what we want' - and that cannot be the way that we are going in this country, it's not right." Stu Garrod is a youth support worker for the local charity, Youth Options, which offers a range of services from youth clubs and social events to counselling and careers thinks having more youth services available would help reduce the rise in anti-social behaviour among young says he went to youth centres a lot when he was growing up and had a very supportive youth worker."I just wanted to be that person that I had as a kid," he from their weekly social session for seven to 12-year-olds in Millbrook, he says: "We always have a service for them to engage with if they want to."Back at the international food store Ms Okonkwo agrees that more clubs that get youths off the streets could help but believes they need to be something that the young people are genuinely interested in."I really wish that they would change their behaviour and get useful to the community that they live in - and not be a terror to the place where they live," she says. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The 'Top Chef Canada' star opened his new Afro-Caribbean restaurant in the Fairfax District last week
The 'Top Chef Canada' star opened his new Afro-Caribbean restaurant in the Fairfax District last week originally appeared on L.A. Mag. Jamaican-Canadian chef Adrian Forte was originally on the college football track. However, when injury struck, the food lover — whose maternal and paternal grandmothers ran a restaurant in his hometown of Kingston — decided to attend Toronto's Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts at George Brown College. After graduating in 2011, Forte opened some of Toronto's buzziest burger joints and served as a culinary producer for Iron Chef before becoming the first Black contestant on Food Network Canada's Top Chef. He placed as a semifinalist in Season 8, then followed it up with television appearances, brand partnerships and a cookbook, Yawd (Random House, 2022) — featuring over 100 modern Afro-Caribbean recipes. On account of his ties in the entertainment industry, Forte worked as a private chef for friends including Drake, Alicia Keys and the late Virgil Abloh (who wrote the foreword for Yawd) — and served as the Culinary Director for Turks & Caicos' Emara Estate, the luxury private resort formerly owned by Prince. Upon moving to L.A., he noticed a lack of Afro-Caribbean restaurants on the West Coast, so he teamed with founder/owner Sam Jordan (formerly of Olivetta and Issima) to open Lucia ( in the Fairfax District. Lucia (meaning 'light") made its debut on May 28, and brings the bold flavors and rich culture of the Caribbean Island to L.A. through dishes like plantains, coconut fried chicken and jerked ribeye steak — paired with cocktails employing similar island-grown ingredients and spices and Caribbean rums. Here are the spots where Forte's found big flavors in Los Angeles. Curry PuffsCobi's [Ordering] the curry puffs here is nonnegotiable! Light, flaky, buttery wrappers encase a potato filling that's rich with umami. There's a beautiful depth of flavor lifted by the tamarind ketchup, which adds just the right touch of sweetness and tang to balance it all out. It's the kind of bite that makes you pause mid-conversation.$14, 2104 Main St., Santa Monica, Fish CongeeLittle Fish Everyone talks about the fried fish sandwich, and it's great, but the breakfast menu? That's the real gem. I go for the whitefish congee — it's silky, savory and perfectly seasoned, topped with pickled mushrooms and a marinated soy egg with the dreamiest jammy center. Their crispy nori potatoes ($9) don't get enough love, but they're the sleeper hit, especially alongside the grilled shrimp sausage breakfast sandwich ($12). Honestly, the whole menu slaps. Zero misses.$16, 1606 Sunset Blvd., Echo Park, Catalana RisottoMuse My wife booked this spot for us recently, and it blew me away. It's got that perfect low-key, intimate energy that makes it ideal for date night. The chef-owner makes the rounds, chatting with every table, which brings a personal touch that's rare. We ordered the full menu but the prawn risotto was the standout. Luxurious, packed with flavor, and topped with a delicate prawn tartare. They even brought out the fresh prawn heads and offered to fry them up with a vibrant herb pistou — two knockout dishes from one pristine ingredient. It's thoughtful cooking, through and through.$90, 108 W. Channel Road, Santa Monica, This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Bad Bunny sends fans into meltdown with X-rated mirror selfie
Bad Bunny left very little to the imagination in a new selfie that quickly exploded on social media. The 31-year-old pop star snapped a mirror selfie on Friday while wearing only a pair of white briefs. He included the racy snap in a carousel of photos shared to his page with the simple caption, 'Fotos.' In the picture, Bad Bunny can be seen standing almost naked in front of a full-length mirror, showing off his numerous tattoos and gym-toned physique in a pair of white Calvin Klein briefs. Other images Bad Bunny included in his photo dump included him prepping for the 2025 Met Gala earlier this month. 'You just broke the internet,' remarked one fan, while a viral tweet sharing the picture had more than 100,000 likes on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Insane,' commented a fan, with another adding: 'I've never been more grateful for the zoom feature on my iPhone'. His recent campaign for the iconic underwear brand was released two months ago and received a ton of buzz, with numerous shots from the photo-shoot also going viral. 'We started planning the look since at least January,' he told Vogue. 'When we found out that it was about Black fashion we got really excited because we felt like we could really connect it to Puerto Rican Afro-Caribbean culture.' Meanwhile, Bad Bunny recently revealed that he had included two Australian dates in the announcement of his Debí Tirar Más Fotos world tour. It will mark the first time the Puerto Rican pop star has ever performed Down Under. He will take to Sydney's ENGIE Stadium in Olympic Park on Saturday, February 26 and March 1 next year, in-between dates in Sao Paulo and Barcelona. The three-time Grammy and 11-time Latin Grammy award winner is one of the biggest names in the music industry. He was the most streamed artist on Spotify for three years running between 2020 and 2023 and hasn't left the top five since 2018. Even more impressively, his 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti, is the most streamed release ever on Spotify.
