On January 18, Charlie Wilson will return to his home away from home at the Fox Theatre.

C1 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JANUARY 2 - 8, 2014

St. Louisans looking forward to the Christmas holidays started with a brilliant performance by brother and sister Keith Fiddmont on sax and songbird Lynn Fiddmont on December 4. The sold out 3rd annual holiday-themed concert was a delight to all in the acoustically pleasant Sheldon Concert Hall. The after-party was held at Herbie’s in the CWE. The entire evening was coordinated by longtime family friend Dr. Pam Jackson. Lynn and Keith performed a repertoire of holiday favorites. When she left town Lynn, was looking forward to her Washington, D.C. performance on the 21st at Blues Alley. D.C. correspondents say that show was

also sold out. Impressive, Lynne! Many well-heeled St. Louisans and

out of towners look forward to Nelly’s 8th Annual Black and White Ball, a local black tie affair. The gala, held December 22 in the Four Seasons Hotel Ballroom, was (as usual) a grand and festive affair. Amit Dhawan’s Synergy Productions coordinated the mainline event that showcases Nelly’s Lindenwood College Scholarship program. New this year, donations were accepted for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Our very own Mike Claiborne and Darius Bradford kept the crowd laughing in between fantastic

See POTPOURRI, C4

SSM Health Care – St. Louis is teaming up with Curves, YMCA, the American Heart Association, and Charter to offer a 12-week, incentive based weight-loss challenge designed to help participants shed pounds,

www.stlamerican.com

•Only Online • Lose to win in 2014

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Check out this week’s

PARTYLINE

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Dr. Pam Jackson, Denise Casey, Kevin Smoot, Lydia Johnson and Lynne Fiddmont had fun after the Fiddmonts’ holiday show at the Sheldon.

By Kenya VaughnOf The St. Louis American

“I have to claim St. Louis – y’all’s city is one of the reasons why I’m where I am right now,” said Charlie Wilson. “I wanted to live in St. Louis back in the day.”

If it seems like Wilson is in St. Louis every year, that’s about right. But according

to him, there is some serious intention behind his repeated returns.

“We used to play there all the time back in the day when Dr. Jockenstein was the jock of the whole city, and we had such a good time,” Wilson said.

“I love St. Louis – it was the funk city.

STL love from

Uncle Charlie

See CHARLIE, C4

The anti-resolution revolutionBy Kenya VaughnOf The St. Louis American

For the past several years I’ve presented some variation of a “New Year, New You” feature for the first or second week in January.

The intention was to touch upon the most popular of the New Year’s resolutions with practical advice and simple steps for sticking to one’s goals.

The last couple of years, the column has become me speaking with life coach Rebeccah Bennett (mainly because she’s so awesome). She would share nuggets of wisdom and life lessons and encourage people to take the baby steps that lead to leaps and bounds towards achieving personal goals.

For the 2014 edition, I decided to go big for “New Year, New You.” But where would the focus lie?

Everybody wants to lose weight, so maybe it should focus on practical “no-excuse” solutions for carving out time to get

fit. Natural hair is the new black, so perhaps a naturalista stylist/guru should walk interested parties into transitioning. Perhaps a financial advisor should help readers get a grip on their savings for 2014. Or maybe a life coach (probably Rebeccah) should impart a word to nudge someone in the direction of a new career or starting their own business.

I researched. I reached out to experts. I pondered. I labored.

After all of the preparation came the frustration. I couldn’t decide what would be the best route. After agonizing over what to do, I threw my hands up and said, “Maybe next

POTPOURRI WITH DANA G. RANDOLPH

R&B icon gives city praise as

career stepping stone and mainstay

New Year, New You – NOT!

Fiddmonts for Christmas

n “Don’t

make

perfection

the enemy of

progress.”

Doesn’t that

quietly make

you want to

shout?

From Kinloch to continents

Keyon Harrold Photo by Lawrence

Bryant

Keyon Harrold’s

horn becomes

passport

to the world

By Kenya VaughnOf The St. Louis American

“I grew up on Carson Road, so you could look and see the sign that said, ‘Welcome to Kinloch,’” said Keyon Harrold. “Thinking about where I’m from and where I’ve been blessed to be over the years, it has been so amazing”

The trumpeter, songwriter, arranger and producer had just landed from Thailand following the Asian leg of Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour show by Cirque du Soleil and was gearing up to take the stage with Maxwell at ESSENCE Music

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R&B Diva Faith Evans finally made her way back to St. Louis on Saturday for ‘The Holiday Jam’ at Chaifetz Arena. While Kem was the designated headliner, Evans and her breathtaking tone managed to leave a lasting impression on the audience as she covered her catalogue of hits that now span nearly twenty years. Photo by Lawrence Bryant