SECTION D

April 28 - May 4, 2010

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE SHOW BUSINESS

Reflections

By Steve Holsey

New adventures for Eubanks

The talented and personable Kevin Eu-

banks is so firmly established as bandleader/ music director on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno that people forget, if they ever knew, that the guitarist is also an estab- lished perform- ing and recording artist.

Eubanks, in

fact, has a dozen albums to his credit, several of which have titles that could relate to his well-publicized decision to leave the Leno show, including “Turning Point,” “The Searcher,” “Promise of Tomorrow” and “Opening Night.”

Kevin Eubanks

“After 18 years, I just need a change of

pace and to see what else is going on,” said Eubanks, who is a very youthful look- ing 52. “But it was a really difficult decision because this has become my second home.”

Eubanks’

Rickey Minor

replacement is composer/producer Rickey Minor, long- time music director on “American Idol.” Minor starts on June 7.

SPEAKING OF new ventures, contem-

porary gospel superstar Kirk Franklin says he has been asked so many if he had a book that he decided to write one, about life based on things he has experienced. There will, of course, be a strong spiritual dimension. The book, titled “The Blueprint,” will be in stores in May.

Anita Baker’s many fans have been waiting

for news regarding a new album. After all, it’s been over five years since the last one. Anita has been in Nashville working on the album. George Duke is one of the producers, and Baker says we can expect some surprises.

“I went to

Nashville to mix it up, shake it and see what comes out,” said Anita with a smile, adding, “I’m turning it up in a lot of ways.”

Phil Collins’

next album will be titled “Going Back,” featur- ing his rendi- tions of Motown and other R&B/pop songs. Can’t wait to hear Phil’s version of the Temptations’ “Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue).” In 1982, Collins had a Top 10 hit with a remake of Supremes’ classic “You Can’t Hurry Love.”

Anita Baker

THERE WAS a time, especially in the

1960s and 1970s, when the late, gifted James Cleveland was the undisputed king of gospel music. That being the case, it’s strange that his name and music are not heard more often today.

The singer/choir

James Cleveland

director/songwriter made enormous con- tributions to gospel, but a certain aspect of his personal life has stymied full apprecia- tion. But nothing can take away from the greatness of classics

such as “Peace Be Still,” “Lord Help Me to Hold Out,” “I Don’t Feel Noways Tired” and “Lord Do It.”

After her long stint as Wilhelmina Slater,

the tough-as-nails fashion magazine execu- tive, on the TV show “Ugly Betty,” Vanessa Williams has returned to the Broadway stage in “Sondheim on Sondheim.” It is a tribute to the famed composer, known for “Send in the Clowns” and so many others, mostly for musical theater.

Anyone who is hired to work for Oprah

Winfrey has to sign a confidentiality agree- ment. That’s fine, but people can still supply information to the tabloids, etc., as an anony- mous source.

Erykah Badu’s “Out of My Mind, Just in

Time” concert tour begins May 22 in Balti- more and concludes June 24 in Las Vegas. The Detroit stop is May 30 at Chene Park.

Eminem fans can expect a new album, “Re-

covery,” in late June.

BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW….that Chaka

Khan and Rick James once recorded as a duo. The song is “Slow Dancin’,” featured on songstress’ 1982 album “Chaka Khan,” the

See Reflections Page D-2

EDDIE MURPHY

“Brash” is a word that perfectly describes Eddie Murphy and

others like him, particularly when Murphy, now 49, was younger. It means being self-assertive, sometimes to the point of being overbearing.

Not a good quality for most people, but one that is useful for

those pursuing a career in show business, where the odds of making it are so low.

Eddie Murphy (birth name: Edward Regan Murphy) had to be

brash to have the nerve to audition for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” while he was still in his teens.

That audition was suc-

cessful, making Murphy part of one of the best, most creative and funni- est casts in the history of the show, which is now an institution. His castmates included Julia Louis-Drey- fus and Joe Piscopo.

“I’ve always had confi-

dence,” said Murphy who, like so many others, cites Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby as early influences and sources of inspira- tion. “It came because I have lots of initiative. I wanted to make some- thing of myself.”

Murphy was at his

creative best during his tenure on the show, intro- ducing unforgettable char- acters and doing hilarious

takeoffs on everyone from James Brown and Mr. Rogers to Buck- wheat and Michael Jackson.

There was something almost surreal about Murphy as the

Godfather of Soul performing “Hot Tub” and even more so, wear- ing a dress and red curly wig doing a funky, James Brown-esque rendition of “Tomorrow” from the Broadway musical “Annie.”

BROOKLYN-BORN Murphy is ranked No. 10 on the list of

the 100 Greatest Stand-up Comedians of All Time as compiled by Comedy Central, the cable television and satellite television channel.

Among his most recent triumphs are an amazing, Academy

Award-nominated performance as James “Thunder” Early in the “Dreamgirls” film and being the voice of “Donkey” in the “Shrek” movies.

Murphy honed his craft by working comedy clubs around

the country, certain that his big break would come. (He has apologized for sometimes having gone too far in his rou- tines, thus hurting certain groups of people, including gays.)

Once established as a stand-

up comedian and television laugh-getter, movies were the next logical step.

He made his big screen

debut in “48 Hours,” co-star- ring with Nick Nolte. That 1982 film was a major success at the box office, as were so many subsequent films, including “Trad- ing Places,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Coming to America,” “Harlem Nights,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Dr. Dolittle,” “Daddy Day Care” and “Boomerang.”

Murphy is, in fact, closing in on the 50 mark with regard to

films made, but without a doubt there are some failures among them, both at the box office and in reviews.

ONE OF HIS least successful films, “The Adventures of Pluto

Nash,” was not only lambasted by critics, but by one of his sons as well, who described it as “corny,” much to Dad’s chagrin and bemusement. (Murphy, who has eight children, has joked about being “fertile.”)

But since the successes outnumber the failures, all is well in

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