Congratulations to Michael Pringle, whose DJ educational program will be held in two new venues this summer and into the fall school year! Visionary Media has been working with Pringle to develop this program’s business plan, curriculum, graphic design materials, and sales plan. Visionary Media Group has also set Pringle up with original Public Enemy DJ JohnnyJuice as a mentor. The program is going to be open to the public at the YMCA building in Albany, as well as a special afterschool activity at Hacker Middle School. Pringle will be teaching children and adolescents how to become DJs and how to work the equipment properly. The program is going to be held at the YMCA building in Albany, where many of these students will go after school. “They will learn how to mix, blend, scratch, and record audio,” said Pringle. “They will even make their own mixed CD!” This program will be a great extracurricular activity for students to not only have fun, but also to learn important life lessons through music. In fact, that is one of the reasons why this program was started. Pringle noticed that many of the kids were on the street, some developing bad habits. “This would be a good way to help the kids to stay off the streets.”

Pringle told us his story during the interview, giving us the reason why he started the program and became a DJ himself. “While I was growing up, becoming a DJ saved me; it kept me off the streets,” Pringle valiantly expressed. Becoming a DJ gave him something to do in his free time and allowed him to express himself through the music of other artists, as well as his own music. “I have now been a DJ for 20 years. It has kept me busy and active. Now its time to share this talent with others.” When Pringle moved to Albany, he saw some of the adolescents were dealing with some of the same problems. This emotionally connected Pringle with these students, leading him to come up with the idea of this program for the students during the after school hours.

The program will begin at Hacker Middle School in the fall. Students can sign up through the school or the YMCA to take this course, giving them another option instead of hanging out on the streets. The students will be using programs such as Scratch, by Serato. This will teach them about virtual scratching and newer DJ turntables. Pringle will also be using JAWs, a screen reading program, and he will be learning how to use Sonar, a program “like Pro Tools” for the visually impaired. Pringle’s mentor, DJ Johnny Juice, the DJ from Public Enemy, will be teaching him how to use Sonar in the upcoming months. In addition to learning these programs, the students will learn how to scratch, blend, and make great mixes. Pringle’s students will walk away from the course with experience, knowledge, and their very own mix CD. “The students will know what it’s like to be aDJ and will possibly pursue the path of one. They will now be open to a career choice, one that I myself had chosen.” This new program is going to be both beneficial and exciting. Michael Pringle cannot wait to begin this new course to try to help and reach out to students in the schools. He hopes to be able to better the lives of his students, while at the same time demonstrating what being a DJ is really like. “The information the students will be learning is invaluable and pertinent if they choose a career in the music technology or DJ industry. It will be a great opening to a new school year.”

June 15, 2011 marked five years from the exact date that Visionary Media officially opened its doors as a full service media production company with the mission of providing opportunities to talented, creative people who are visually impaired. In celebration of the occasion, New Orleans jazz and blues legend Henry Butler performed in front of a packed house in the theater of Visionary Media’s new state of the art facility in Chelsea, New York City. Henry and trio first engaged the audience with a set of Jazz including a lively version of Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” Henry second set got the crowd off their feet, clapping, and dancing to more up-tempo bluesy New Orleans classics, ending with a rhythmic encore as he thanked the fabulous band members.

During intermission, Henry Butler was interviewed by Visionary Media Founder and CEO, Doug Maxwell. Henry shared the powerful story of Hurricane Katrina taking his home and piano of nearly 25 years. “I initially thought I could just weather this storm as I had through so many before that. It wasn’t until a group of my friends came back a second time to say this storm is not like others that we decided it was time to evacuate.” Thankfully, Henry made it out and was able to relate the harrowing experience of surviving Katrina with a disability. “There was little to no help for people with any kind of disabilities that were trying to evacuate or receive help after the storm.”

In addition to celebrating the successes of the past five years, tonight also marked a new beginning for Visionary Media. Maxwell spoke of three new programs, for which Visionary Media are currently raising funds. A silent auction was also held at this event to increase funds for these new programs. The auction was very successful and has benefitted the company greatly. These new programs are to be implemented in the coming years, to help the organization’s beneficiaries develop as music, media, and advertising professionals. The new programs are as follows: “Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age” which is a program that builds confidence through workshops and training, “What’s Your Brand?” which are marketing workshops and visual media packages, and “In the Mix” which are industry networking events and special guest panels. All of this information can be found on Visionary Media’s website. It will be another exciting five years for Visionary Media and all of their artists.

Henry Butler is the newest addition to the Visionary Media family and is this month’s Spotlight Artist. Henry came by our studio last week to record a voice over, check out the latest tactile recording gear, and crank out some blues on the keyboard. Henry hails from New Orleans and moved to New York after Hurricane Katrina hit and he lost his home.

But nothing stops Henry. In addition to being a renowned blues musician (an eight-time W.C. Handy “Best Blues Instrumentalist – Piano” award nominee), Henry is also a photographer and has had his work displayed in galleries across the country. HBO also featured Henry and his photography in the documentary The Dark Light. Henry, who has been blind since birth from glaucoma, studied the baritone horn, valve trombone, drums, and piano at the Louisiana State School for the Blind in Baton Rouge. He later took vocal lessons and developed his love and sound of jazz, and later, blues.

Visionary Media is excited to have Henry become a part of our organization. Although humble, Henry is the kind of person whose accomplishments inspire us all.

For more information, visit Henry’s website at HenryButler.com. Henry’s music can be heard here.

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Meet Vanderlei Pereira: a blind, Brazilian jazz drummer with a heart-warming, sincere, and outgoing personality. When you meet him, you feel as if you have known him for years. People like this come few and far between and Visionary Media is thrilled to work with Vanderlei to help him further advance his career as an in-demand drummer on the New York Brazilian music and jazz scenes. Vanderlei’s main instrument is the drumset, but he is also an accomplished percussionist (both classical and pop), as well as playing guitar, bass, and piano. He has performed at jazz clubs, concert halls, and festivals throughout the world and leads the New York-based Brazilian jazz sextet BLINDFOLD TEST, which performs his original compositions. (BLINDFOLD TEST’s sighted members wear blindfolds for several of the band’s more challenging tunes.) After dozens of recordings as a sideman, Vanderlei is currently planning a BLINDFOLD TEST CD, which will mark his first recording as a leader. Vanderlei has a teaching certificate in music and an Associate’s Degree in jazz performance. He wishes to expand his knowledge of recording software and to further develop his college teaching career. For more information, please visit Vanderlei’s website at vanderleipereira.com.

Vanderlei recently came by our offices for a photoshoot.

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Below is a video clip of Vanderlei playing drums.

SHOW ALERT! Catch Vanderlei with his band Blindfold Test performing at Fat Cat NYC on the following dates: Saturday, February 19th; Saturday, April 16th; and Saturday, June 2nd. To hear the music of Blindfold Test, click here.

On Wednesday, December 8th at 7pm, guests started pouring into the brand new facility of Visionary Media, located at West 18th Street in NYC and housed in the new home of the Collective School of Music. This is a huge step forward for Visionary Media, as it was only months ago that we were sharing cubicles at a website design company and counter space at Starbucks to accommodate  an expanding staff and a growing roster of blind talent.

The new facility was an extremely generous gift made by fashion industry entrepreneur Evan Mittman, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 19. Visionary Media’s new space includes a recording studio with enough high caliber and vintage audio equipment, tactile buttons, knobs, and gadgets to make today’s digital producer want to go back in time and forget  all about a computer screen.  In the studio is a huge window that looks into the Evan Mittman Music Center, where blind artists can record, practice, and perform. Across the hall are the offices of Visionary Media and a production room where artists can work on projects using computers with screen reader technology. The entire facility is designed to enhance the ability for artists to make art, collaborate on projects, or just come together and become a part of a community.

As people walked in that night they immediately experienced what Visionary Media is all about – the artists. Performing in multiple rooms, guests heard a variety of jazz, rock, and salsa music from these incredible, blind musicians. There were also artists who usually performed solo, playing together, and the synergy was unquestionable.

Not long after the doors opened, the hallways and rooms were packed. Among the crowd, were fashion industry executives and designer John Varvatos.

Attendees from the music industry included Bruce Seckendorf (manager of 50 Cent), Kirk Yano (producer for RUN DMC, Patti Labelle, Mariah Carey) legendary artist manager, Mary Ann Topper (Pres. Of The Jazz Tree), Keith Shocklee (of Bomb Squad) and Suzanne Hilleary (President of WACBIZ). Also in attendance, wearing a fabulous purple and gold suit was Henry Butler, the legendary New Orleans blind pianist.

As the night unraveled into something that was bigger than us, it came time to honor Evan Mittman for making all this happen. Visionary Media CEO Doug Maxwell brought  John Varvatos on stage to present Evan with a gold record plaque. Evan ended the ceremony by singing “The Way You Look Tonight” with blind Latin/salsa group Los Ciegos Del Barrio, “The Blind Boys of the Neighborhood”. It was total improv – Evan inserted words and phrases that didn’t exist and Los Ciegos infused their salsa flavor into the song. But it felt authentic. People were clapping, waving their drinks in the air, cheering, and just having a great time.

After the party, our staff met in the office, exhausted, but completely captivated with what just happened. A few of us ran around, jumped up and down, and were dropping high fives left and right. It was an amazing sense of accomplishment and feeling of validation that what we were doing was something special. And after sleepless nights of tediously prepping for this event, we were happy it was all worth it.

Thank you to everyone who came our that night and shared this experience with us. Happy holidays and see you again in 2011!

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