MLK Tribute Concert

When:
January 18, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm America/Los Angeles Timezone
2025-01-18T19:00:00-08:00
2025-01-18T20:30:00-08:00
Where:
Paramount Theatre
Oakland
CA

Living Jazz’s MLK tribute concert will feature the music of Aretha Franklin

Now in its 21st year, the ‘In the Name of Love’ concert includes a star-studded lineup including the Awesöme Orchestra Collective, Dee Dee Simon, and others with music director Kev Choice.
Last year’s Living Jazz’s “In the Name of Love” featured artists. Credit: courtesy of Living Jazz

Black women singers are taking center stage at this year’s Living Jazz‘ In the Name of Lovea tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., featuring the music of legendary Grammy-award-winning artist Aretha Franklin.

Lyz Luke, the executive director of Living Jazz, wanted Black women to be prominent participants in this year’s show that takes place a few days before the presidential inauguration. When planning the programming, there was uncertainty as to who would be next to occupy the White House, but Luke knew that regardless of the outcome, the tribute artist had to be a Black woman.

“The world needs that right now, especially the United States, and the Bay Area. I did know that it was going to be inauguration weekend. I knew it would be poignant, no matter which way we went, that we were picking a Black woman to be the artist we were paying tribute to,” Luke said. “I thought that was so beautiful given everything Aretha went through, and her subtle and not-so-subtle ways of carving the path for female artists was something I want to have. And so on this lineup, we kept that spirit in mind.”

TRIBUTE TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. FEATURING THE MUSIC OF ARETHA FRANKLIN

When: Saturday, Jan. 18
Where: Paramount Theatre
Time: 7 p.m.
Tickets

Franklin was active in the Civil Rights Movement and community organizing from a young age, helping to fund civil rights organizations and performing at benefits and protests. In 2017, Franklin and other musicians declined to perform at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration as a form of protest.

On Saturday, Jan. 18, 16 local musicians, including Emmy-winning artist SōLauren, Grammy-nominated pianist Sundra Manning, Adji Cissoko, Chika Di, Howard Wiley, and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir Ensemble, are among the lineup in this tribute show under the musical direction of Kev Choice and hosted by award-winning artist RyanNicole who will pay tribute to Dr. King’s work and legacy.

Artists part of this year’s tribute show (from left to right), top row: Kev Choice, Howard Wiley, Dee Dee Simon, SōLauren, Chika Di, and recipient of the Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award, Andrew Park, executive director of Trybe. Bottom row: Bryan Dyer, Destiny Muhammad, Adji Cissoko, Terrence Brewer, Sundra Manning, and host RyanNicole. Credit: courtesy of Living Jazz

One of the Black women artists performing is Dee Dee Simon, an Oakland singer who gained national notoriety after landing in America’s Got Talent’s top 10 finalists last year. Simon is also a nurse who has been working at San Quentin for the past two decades and is also the caregiver for her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s.

“Dee Dee has a gift,” Luke said. “It’s been inspiring to see her career take off, especially being a woman in the industry that is typically focused on people in their teens and 20s. To see someone at her level of maturity take off is huge. And I just want to give her her big moment on stage.”

Simon was familiar with the show and was ecstatic when she got the call asking to participate because she grew up listening to Aretha Franklin.

“I thought being part of the show was out of my reach,” Simon said. “Aretha was about her business, and that’s why her career had so much longevity. So, to be asked to be a part of it. I felt like this is going to be my legacy. I was at the Paramount singing Aretha Franklin on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”

Simon was excited to get the opportunity to work with Kev Choice, someone she had wanted to meet, as their artistic paths had never crossed until now. She also looks forward to sharing the stage with all the other artists on the lineup.

“To be able to sing at the Paramount, with my mom in the audience, it’s so major for me,” Simon said. “There’s so many talented women on the show, and I’ve never met them. It is so crazy to have so much talent in the Bay, and not know everybody who sings. So now I get to sit back and enjoy the women in front of me who will be putting it down.”

The program for the show also includes former congresswoman and current Oakland mayoral candidate Barbara Lee presenting the 2025 Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award to Andrew Park, the executive director of Trybe. Park has been doing community work with San Antonio, Clinton, and Little Saigon neighborhood residents for over two decades.

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