Elaina's Corner

Artist. Singer-Songwriter. Student of the Universe. Dancer. Poet. Lightworker. Former CEO of Blue Marble Body Care. Was traveling on the path that was not my own, have turned around...

[elainascorner]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcCdNgOOpJo)

[elainascorner]

My song “Kismet”

[elainascorner]

https://soundcloud.com/user-878387959/kismet

[elainascorner]

The kind of pictures the Young Kings take when Daddy chaperones their school field trip to the beach. If only I could get a picture half as cool when I chaperone. #daddy #father #youngkings #fieldtrip #blackfamily (at Pelham Bay Park)

[elainascorner]

Can't put words to the thoughts, the emotions after opening up my RSVP email for Demari's Black Psyche youth summit with @schomburg_jsp and seeing this glorious rendering of him staring back at me. This Saturday, I will feast on some hearty bread as Demari and his peers give life force and power to their history and their culture - and thus, themselves - through their chosen lens of media, visual art, theater, or the spoken word. #BlackPsyche #schomburgjsp #youngkingsandqueens #TheGospelAccordingToTheBlackYouth (at Harlem)

[elainascorner]

Last night was the first time in quite a while that our children was able to come out with Andre and watch me perform. Apparently, my mustard-colored dress was the highlight of the show because the only comment our 8 year-old-young-king, Nasir would offer was: "Mom, you look like a banana." Can't wait to find out what I will look like when I wear my red dress. #singersongwriter #blackhistory #mommyof5plus1angel #jazz #blues #soul #YoungKing #youngqueen

[elainascorner]

Tonight! I'll be performing with the Joel Fass Band at Smalls Jazz Club, 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm. Join us in body and in spirit. (at Smalls Jazz Club)

[elainascorner]

Before his artwork he stands in his King's pose like today is his 8th birthday. #HappyBirthday #YoungKing #8yearsold #middlechild #4of6 #swag

[elainascorner]

Nylah has turned a decade today and as a birthday gift, Sanaa offered to style her big sister's hair. Unfortunately, Sanaa's attempt to comb through Nylah's locs felt more like birthday punches and less like a birthday present. #HappyBirthday #10yearsold #locs #sisters #sistas #naturalhair #decade #beautyishername #birthdaypresent #youngqueen

[elainascorner]

Today is the first day back to school for us - I mean our kids. We were sad, lonely, and just didn't know what to do with ourselves. #backtoschool #MommyAndDaddyTime #biking #CentralPark #NYC #blacklove (at Central Park West,New York City, NY.)

[elainascorner]

It was supposed to be a brief project, a make over of our walls that avoided a time-leeching overhaul. It turned out to be a charge to curate the artwork of Demari, Nylah, Nasir, and Adisa. ‎ There was the framing, the unframing, the arranging, the rearranging.  There was the sitting, the gazing, the rendering certain frames unfit to host such colors, shapes, and lines.  There was the measuring and the spacing on the wall of frames, ensuring each had room to breathe, room to be.  ‎ There was the frustration in starting over, concluding some frames upstaged its star of the show. There was the grouping and the separating - the abstract with the representational, the colors from the black-and-white. There would also be the - unbridled joy and fascination at the project's completion - basking in the constellation of framed majesty, mystery, and divinity that is the offspring of @Iconic_Dre and me. Elaina's Corner ‎ #kidsart ‎#art #artist ‎#drawings ‎#sketching #painting #paintings #fingerpaint #selfportrait #representational‎ #‎abstract #realism #expressionism #museum #majesty #mystery #divinity #exhibit #WatkinsMuseumofArt #ElainasCorner ‎#youngkingsandqueens #WatkinsMuseum (at Central Park North)

[elainascorner]

The Clear One has turned 6 today and is officially all grown up. After a full day of school and an evening at his sister's violin concert, he returns home, takes a seat on the floor, and does this... ‪#‎HappyBirthday‬ ‪#‎TheClearOne‬ ‪#‎Om‬ #Aum ‪#‎Meditation‬ ‪#‎dyhyana‬

[elainascorner]

I seldom sing without a mic-stand in front of me. I like to believe that I do this because the mic-stand is my companion - a partner in conveying a message, a feeling, a sensation through song.  But most of the time, the mic stand is my crutch, a prop used to steady my jitters, deny my vulnerabilities, mask my fears. Legendary jazz pianist-composer Barry Harris (the white hair peering out from behind the piano) knows the latter to be the vice of many singers and therefore, requires all singers to refrain from holding the mic or mic stand in his workshop.  True to form, I begin Lorenz Hart’s My Romance grabbing the mic-‎stand, holding dearly what I think will support me, what will shield me. But soon, I let go, I surrender to the moment. And beauty happens.  Towards the song’s end, I grab again, but this time, I was no longer holding my crutch….I was now embracing my companion.   #singer #songwriter #BarryHarris #pianist #composer #jazz #MyRomance #LorenzHart #crutch #companion

[elainascorner]

Well the liquid sunshine we often call rain was gracious enough to delay its arrival, permitting us to have a cool, dry and spectacular @sunrisedaycamp walk and post-walk festival. Our deepest thanks to the supporters of our team: Team Delton Brown. There is still time to support the children of Sunrise Day Camp by sponsoring our team: https://www.sunrise-walks.org/li/deltonourhero #sunrisewalks16 #sunrisewalks2016 (at Sunrise Day Camp)

[elainascorner]

Today is the day of your birth 20 years ago. We honor you and we celebrate you today by walking for children whose lives have been touched by the remarkable place that is @sunrisedaycamp. A place you loved so... We love you. #sunrisewalks16 #sunrisewalks2016 (at Sunrise Day Camp)

[elainascorner]

Oftentimes, the Holy Spirit gives it to me in parts: the song title; one line; the chorus only ; one verse; the melody with no lyrics; the lyrics with no melody.   Just before dawn though, I would receive it in full as a ripened masterpiece. It is a song that, in spite of the late hour and a slumberous state, beckoned me to crawl to the piano, lift my voice, and craft the opus that came with both effortless ease and impossible difficulty.   By giving me songs in parts, I see now the Holy Spirit was only taking it easy on me.   #singersongwriter #musician #opus   #jazz #blues #soul #rock #singer #songwriter

[elainascorner]

We are celebrating the legendary woman of jazz tomorrow and I will have the honor of covering the unforgettable Shirley Horn. #jazz #womenofjazz #HerestoLife #ShirleyHorn #ElainasCorner