By the time the lights go on inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the 55th annual Grammy Awards airs on CBS this Sunday, hundreds of music executives will have been exposed to the work of a wide range of Pennsylvania artists.
You could say it’s in the bag.
Thanks to a Philadelphia-based public relations professional and a local music producer, swag bags at a major fundraiser during the weeklong party that is Grammys week will be full of artwork of some of the most creative
Pennsylvanians.
Chi-Chi Enigwe, a publicist and founder of The Phoenix Public Relations in Center City Philadelphia, is working on a wine dinner fundraiser for the T.J. Martell Foundation, a major national organization raising monies for cancer research. She saw it as a great opportunity to showcase artists from Philadelphia, so she started spreading the word among the artistic community and also tabbed Manny Aden of Tuchpoint Music Productions to put together a compilation CD of up-and-coming Philly performers.
The result is a swag bag overflowing with Pennsylvania talent.
“This opportunity is rare,” says Enigwe. “I’m Philly based and I know there’s a lot of talent here so I got a lot of people involved locally. I definitely wanted to take the opportunity to show up-and-coming talent in a tasteful way that can go in the swag bag.”
That includes highly regarded Philadelphia mixed media artist Eva J. Preston-Fulton, whose work has been on display at the Smithsonian, and now the Grammys. Her contribution are journals she made called the “Blackest White,” which includes intricate artwork of hers meant to inspire individuals with special interests and distinct personalities. Preston’s work is already in the collection of many celebrities, including Jackie Brown star Pam Grier. Also, West Philadephia’s Jamie Campbell is making custom keychains from repurposed vinyl 45s. Then there’s regular Keystone Edge contributor Bonnie MacAllister, who created a limited edition of her print “Addis Girl,” which included the logo for the Girls Gotta Run Foundation, which raises money to support Ethiopian girls training to be professional runners.
As for music, Aden did most of the work. He runs studios in Center City and in suburban Darby as part of his music production company, which is also does video work. He has been involved with music since he was a boy singing in his church choir and playing with his church’s drum corps.
Now he’s trying to put Philly musicians on the national stage — and for a good cause, too. The Martell foundation was started by veteran music industry executive Tony Martell. Martell fulfilled a promise to his son, who died at age 19 after a battle with leukemia, to raise money for cancer research, and he started by gathering up musician friends like Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald for a fundraiser and raising $50,000 in 1975. The foundation is a leader when it comes to funding innovative research for leukemia, cancer and AIDS, having raised some $225 million.
“This is a big opportunity because I get to create a project that’s going to be in the possession of about 150 music big-wigs,” he says. “Philly has so much talent and all eyes are kind of on us right now to see how is going to make the next big splash.
Having worked with a number of talented performers in recent years, Aden had plenty of experience to draw from. He aimed to create a compilation that was multi-dimensional and could be appeal to anyone. He also wanted to keep the CD fluff-free, so kept it to nine tracks that feature R&B, Pop, Reggae , hip-hop and more.
Aden included a song he produced on the CD. Track No. 4 is “Tell Dem” by Philly’s TeFF, and Tuchpoint also shot the music video for the song in Kingston, Jamaica. It will be released later this year.
Says Aden: “Philadelphia will definitely be present at this year’s Grammys.”
JOE PETRUCCI is managing editor of Keystone Edge. Send feedback here.