Header Post 3 - Valerie Ghent

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By ChrisPowell

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A great light has gone out in Paris. My beloved, r

A great light has gone out in Paris. My beloved, remarkable cousin, Dimitri Vicheney has passed away at age 96. I am heartbroken. We spoke last week on the phone & he sang a blues melody, promising next time we spoke I would play piano and he would sing. As memories flood I weep, and at the same time feel immense joy & gratitude for the gift of his presence on earth and in my life. Here we are together when I went to Paris to see him, he came to our concert full of life & joy!

For me Dimitri is, was, a miracle, a living breathing connection to my long-lost family in France, a brilliant, elegant & refined gentleman who remembered my grandmother & my great uncle when everyone else was gone, a passionate musicologist & historian of American blues music. Until 2010 I didn’t even know he existed! Yet once we met, my heart exploded. I had the inexplicable feeling something larger than both of us had brought us together so many years after our families were separated.

Dimitri is the reason I traveled to Paris so often in recent years, to spend time with this miraculous person, literally a walking encyclopedia both of the blues and of our family history. Name any blues song & he would tell you who wrote and recorded it, who was in the band & in what year. Kindred spirits in music, Dimitri introduced me to blues singers and gave me dozens of CDs, pointing me towards women pianist/singers/songwriters he thought would fit my voice. Always asking me when was I going to make a blues album? I took notes as he spoke, trying to keep up with his vast knowledge that spilled out of him so naturally. He couldn’t believe his lifelong love of blues & gospel echoed my own path in music, and each time we were together he mentioned what a remarkable turn of events that we would meet in this lifetime, asking how was it possible we hadn't met sooner?

Dimitri will live on in my heart & in my music for the rest of my life. I love him too much to say goodbye, instead will say au revoir Dimitri, until we see one another again & you can sing while I play the piano. Je t’aime. Toujours. Full tribute: valghent.com #dimitryvicheney #jacquesdemetre #blueshistory #family #life

“Say Their Names” - next week’s New Yorker c

“Say Their Names” - next week’s New Yorker cover by @kadirnelson #blacklivesmatter #saytheirnames #talkingaboutrace #blm #powerful #georgefloyd #justiceforgeorgefloyd @newyorkermag

Honored to sing for NYC Health HEROES!❤️🎶🎤⚕️Join me at Monday June 8 at 12pm EST / 18h EU at Facebook.com/ValerieGhentMusic for a livestream concert 🙏❤️🙏 #MusicForTheSoul @nychealthsystem @musicians_of_ny @MadeinNY @FeeltheMusic #musicheals Spread the word!

Thousands strong in Washington Square Park yesterd

Thousands strong in Washington Square Park yesterday! The energy was incredible, chanting, singing, amazing, citywide and across the globe. So positive peaceful & exuberant. As a lifelong New Yorker (grew up in this neighborhood!) it brings tears to my eyes to see people coming together in love and unity to end racial injustice. Solidarity! Change is here ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏿❤️ #justiceforgeorgefloyd #blacklivesmatter #nycprotest #washingtonsquarepark #nyc #nycprotests

UNITY * SOLIDARITY * LOVE Joining brothers, sister

UNITY * SOLIDARITY * LOVE Joining brothers, sister & family worldwide on June 2, Black Out Tuesday, to listen, reflect & take action. We stand for LOVE! and finding real solutions to bring an end to racial inequality. Change is now, change is here, change is us #theshowmustbepaused #blackouttuesday #solidarity #unity #love

Happy Birthday in heaven Dad! ❤️ Just found th

Happy Birthday in heaven Dad! ❤️ Just found this photo & an interview I did with my father, Emmanuel Ghent, back in 1987. He talks about Bell Labs, the GROOVE system, and using computers to compose in the 1960's and 70's. In honor of what would be his 95th birthday - today, May 15 2020 - I posted a little slice of electronic music history for you on my website: https://valghent.com/bell-labs-groove-electronic-music-composition-interview-with-emmanuel-ghent/ (copy & paste the link to read 😊) - an amazing conversation we had together. Re-reading his words brings his voice right to my heart, as if time dissolves and we are still in his studio surrounded by tape machines and talking and laughing together. I miss you Dad, love you so much. I am grateful to always find you here in my heart when I need you most. Happy Birthday in heaven Pops! ❤️❤️#emmanuelghent #composer #electronicmusic #computermusic #belllabs #groove #inventor #pioneer #musichistory #familyhistory #happybirthdayinheaven #loveyoudad #missingyou #family #grateful

Art connecting the world & supporting healthcare h

Art connecting the world & supporting healthcare heroes! After seeing my rainbow photo a few weeks ago an artist in the UK named Paul Stafford, a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, contacted me to ask if I would donate my photo to an art auction, Artists for the NHS, to help support UK healthcare workers. Of course I said yes!

The auction is open now until May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday. Art created by over 50 artists during the month of April 2020 is included: "Funds raised will be channelled directly through mealsforthenhs.com and will go straight to the frontline to feed our wonderful NHS heroes, so do please bid generously!" I am honored to help & hope you will too! So I added my signature to the photo, and it is included in the auction as a high res jpg which can be printed at any size by the bidder. There are lots of beautiful pieces of artwork - check them out & if you feel so moved, place your bids at https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/artistsforthenhs Serendipity? The rainbow appeared in the sky less than 2 minutes after the 7pm cheer, a sign of hope over NYC. Now that same rainbow can bring meals to a few exhausted nurses and doctors. How beautiful is that? ❤️🙏🏼🌈 #rainbow #photography #givingback #nyc #nycstaystrong #healthcareheroes #raisingfundsforcharity #signofhope #nofilter @jumblebeenews @gallery_different @paulstaffordartist @mealsforthenhs

My dear friends THANK YOU for your beautiful birth

My dear friends THANK YOU for your beautiful birthday love! after 2 months of NYC apartment lockdown, and yearning to walk in the countryside, your messages this weekend (yes my birthday was Saturday!) are the best gift ever!! I was supposed to be in France this month, and missing friends & family there terribly - you know when my 96 years young cousin Dimitri called to wish me Bon Anniversaire I totally teared up - so I put on a dress, and earrings and a necklace for the first time since February, and played a little piano for him. I am so grateful for you all, wonderful, passionate, creative, unstoppable people, you are the best. Thank you for bringing this lady joy and love when she needed it most! ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️ #birthday #grateful #greendress #nyc #hudsonriver #nycstaystrong #nofilter #birthdaylockdown #celebrate #lifeisbeautiful

April memories! Nina Simone, Nicholas Ashford, Val

April memories! Nina Simone, Nicholas Ashford, Valerie Simpson & me ❤️🙏🏼🎶🙏🏼❤️recording in France 🇫🇷 Nick insisted we "document the moment". This was taken April 29, 2001 - just before my birthday and Nick’s- when we spent a week together preparing for recording sessions near Marseille. Love & miss you Nick & Nina. Forever blessed by this time we spent together. Keep singing together in heaven ❤️ #ninasimone #nickashford #valeriesimpson #ashfordandsimpson #legends #blessings #gratitude #musicislove #musicislife

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August 24th 2020 Hyères at Camion BLUES’UP
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