Open Mic Jam at the Velvet Note – Sept 9, 2016
Posted by The Velvet Note on Thursday, September 8, 2016
By Socrotiff Michael
We are all busy, with work, with meetings, with schedules, with children, with life! However, in the hustle and bustle of life, are you connecting with you partner? Do you find yourself so exhausted by the end of the day that you have no energy to connect with your spouse? It is important to have a meaningful and intentional connection with your spouse. Intentionally connecting with your spouse each day is an essential part of keeping your marriage healthy and fulfilling. As wonderful as that sounds, and as much as you love your spouse, you may ask, how do I do this?
Three Tips to Help Your Intentionally Connect with Your Spouse today
em to give you three options to choose from.Words of Wisdom: Healthy marriages are two people who are always thinking about the other person!
Socrotiff Carruth Michael, is a Velvet Note customer and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist & Licensed Professional Counselor. She provides therapy to couples and co-owns Michael & Michael Counseling & Consulting, LLC, with her husband Original. please visit their site at: www.counselingwiththemichaels.com
By Socrotiff Michael
This post is dedicated to Prince, the music icon who left this earth earlier this week and who will be missed by millions of people around the globe. As we explore his life and his music, there is much a married couple can learn. Prince had a style that was timeless, he stayed true to who he was, and he left a legacy that will be remembered for many years to come. This model is one that can also be exemplified in marriages.
Timeless
Prince was a timeless artist; a musician that was, many have said, before his time. He sang about 1999 in the 80’s during a time when it seemed so far away and made us excited to see the year 1999. We can create 
timelessness in our marriage by continuing to give our best to our spouses, to dedicate ourselves to being the best version of ourselves in your marriage. In your marriage be timeless, keep your spouse excited by continuing to challenge yourself, whether this is earning a new degree, taking up a cooking class, or learning a new language, keep them guessing and giving them the best of you. Never allow yourself to be so routine in your marriage that it becomes boring and predictable, allow yourself to step outside of the box once in a while and shock both yourself and your spouse!
What works for you? – Now do that! “To thine own self be true”
Prince lived his life based upon what worked for him, not what worked for anyone else, he stayed true to himself. How are you and your spouse in your marriage? If you take an inventory of your marriage, can you honestly say you are staying true to the spirit of your marriage? Are you looking at your neighbor’s marriage and trying to compare your marriage to theirs? Or feel compelled to match what their marriage is doing? If you are – don’t! Embrace the ability and the beauty of your marriage and create a relationship based upon where you are, not where someone else is. Understanding that, your marriage is completely unique to you both is the beginning of freedom to accept your relationship for what it is. There is no perfect blueprint to fit all marriages, but you can create your own specific relationship that fits you. I challenge you and your spouse today, to make your marriage your own. Give yourself permission to be different and fully celebrate all that makes you different.
Legacy
Prince leaves a rich legacy. He will be remembered as an accomplished musical genius who achieved countless awards for his music. Have you 
thought about the legacy you will leave when your life is over? What type of spouse do you want to be known for? A loving spouse, a moody spouse, a spouse who took good care of his or her family? A spouse who worked to provide and gave all he had to all he knew? A spouse who was angry, selfish, or a spouse who never made time for their partner? The great thing about life, is even if you are living a life today that you are not proud of, you have an opportunity to change. If you are not the spouse you want to be in your marriage, you have another opportunity to change, starting today. Your legacy will not just be one thing; it can be many. You can change and become more intentional with creating a legacy that will make you and your family proud.
Words of Wisdom: Hey! look around, there is always something we can learn about marriages in this life!
Socrotiff Carruth Michael, is a Velvet Note customer and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist & Licensed Professional Counselor. She provides therapy to couples and co-owns Michael & Michael Counseling & Consulting, LLC, with her husband Original. please visit their site at: www.counselingwiththemichaels.com
WEDNESDAY, April 13th @ The Velvet Note: We must confess, We LOVE Louis Heriveaux! And I mean, LOVE. And we’d be willing to bet that you do too!
The quiet humility…the self-effacing giggle…the moment when he stops laughing and gets down to business…his endless generosity in support of others, elevating their music beyond their wildest dreams. Louis Heriveaux is a fixture of the Atlanta scene, but until now, the pianist has mostly stayed in the shadows. Heriveaux has been content to lend his bubbling, inspiring voice to some of the best bands throughout the region, but with Triadic Episode, he’s stepping out on his own. The album’s music is a mix of originals and covers that have played a part in Heriveaux’s development as a musician. Triadic Episode is Heriveaux’s first recording as a leader. It’s been a long time coming. Are you coming? With the Curtis Lundy and Dave Potter. Tickets are selling like Wednesday night hot cakes—get them at The Velvet Note at http://thevelvetnote.com/louis-heriveaux or 855.5.VELVET.
From one end of my iTunes library to the other, there is generally a different type of music for every occasion, so to speak.
For example, rainy days, full of storm clouds and grey skies, I make sure to play James Blake’s Overgrown – in full – to at least set the proper score, for the mood.
When I’m driving around Long Island in the summer, with my windows down, you can rest assured Billy Joel is blazing through my stereo.
In the fall months, when I’m lonely, I typically fancy Drake (or Nick Drake, when I’m extra lonely).
In the spring, I tend to be more Grateful Dead heavy. And regardless of the mood – or the weather, for that matter – I’ve got my Travi$ Scott sh*t on deck, for whenever I need a boost.
As you can probably see – wherever I go – it’s a pretty safe assumption that I have music playing. Even during those times when music, or any type of sound, is typically frowned upon – like in the library, while studying, for instance.
As counterintuitive as it may sound – listening to jazz music, while studying for an exam or writing a thesis paper, usually helps block out any wandering thoughts that might be floating around my head.
There’s something about that mid-20th century bebop jazz, whether it be Charlie “The Bird” Parker or Thelonious Monk, that just puts any apprehension I might be harboring to bed. For me, no other music could duplicate this effect.
I mean, put it this way. If I’m listening to Young Thug while driving, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that I’ll soon hit double the speed limit, without even being conscious of it – I doubt bumping “Thugger,” while face down in a textbook, would improve my final grade.
Yet, with jazz music, there’s something about the lack of words (even though Miles Davis’ trumpet, Harmon mute and all, does all the speaking necessary), which has always enabled me to focus better on my studies – despite the “background noise.”
As it appears, science supports my impression of the improv-based music form.
According to Dr. William Klemm, of Psychology Today, there are a multitude of different cognitive benefits that enrich your mind while listening to jazz music.
It’s always been somewhat of a cliché that jazz music is for “cool” people – you know, sitting carefree on a barstool off in the corner, wearing sunglasses and a Kangol beret. As Dr. Klemm writes, however, there’s also a great deal of truth behind that understanding.
According to the University of Nevada, Reno’s counseling services, music and stress levels go hand in hand. While faster tempos can get you up and going, slower ones – such as the standard tempo of jazz music – will soothe both the mind and body.
Klemm makes a powerful connection between stress level and one’s ability to study, too, noting how stress is the “arch-enemy of memory ability.”
Following this logic, by listening to jazz music while studying – and lowering your stress levels in the process – you’ll also find yourself much more likely to retain the information that you’re attempting to learn.
There’s almost like a “monkey see, monkey do,” relationship that your brain will follow under the influence of jazz. Because of jazz’s, at times, herky jerky, pulsating, rhythmic patterns – your brain tends to mimic this improvisation, and we’ll see that through increased neural stimulation.
In a separate study, conducted by Dr. Charles Limb of Johns Hopkins University, brain scans of jazz players show the impact of this style of music on the brain.
As Lauran Neergaard of the Associated Press writes, new research now shows that the back-and-forth playing style of music affects the brain, much in the way that spoken language does.
This characteristic of jazz music activated the regions of the brain correlated with the syntax of language, which acted almost as exercise for this feature of cognition.
According to Beth Belle Cooper, on the blog buffer social, ambient noise improves creativity. As explained further by Cooper, not only the type of music you listen to – but also the volume at which you listen to it – is critical.
Cooper states that moderate volume levels are the most optimal for mental function, saying “moderate noise levels increase processing difficulty, which promotes abstract processing, leading to higher creativity.”
In short, by forcing our brain to do extra “work,” but not too much work, we will ultimately find our brains working at maximum efficiency – and think further outside of the box, while doing so. This is where the creativity portion of the relationship comes into play.
Another report, done by Katrina Schwartz of Mind/Shift, provides additional ways to boost creativity through jazz music. According to Schwartz, creativity is not a black or white, rigid, character trait – in fact, it can be developed over time.
She uses a practice-based analogy to describe the attribute, crediting how “the more you do it, the better you’ll become at it,” school of thought.
Schwartz also makes mention of the JHU study conducted by Dr. Limb, citing his suggestion that jazz music – and art in general – is the best way to train our brains to think creatively.
If you guys have a test coming up, or just want to be more creative – and more inspired – I recommend all of you download Coltrane’s entire discography, and start there. I have a feeling you’ll enjoy studying a lot more.
WEDNESDAY, April 13th @ The Velvet Note: We must confess, We LOVE Louis Heriveaux! And I mean, LOVE. And I’d be willing to bet that you do too!
The quiet humility…the self-effacing giggle…the moment when he stops laughing and gets down to business…his endless generosity in support of others, elevating their music beyond their wildest dreams. Louis Heriveaux is a fixture of the Atlanta scene, but until now, the pianist has mostly stayed in the shadows. Heriveaux has been content to lend his bubbling, inspiring voice to some of the best bands throughout the region, but with Triadic Episode, he’s stepping out on his own. The album’s music is a mix of originals and covers that have played a part in Heriveaux’s development as a musician. Triadic Episode is Heriveaux’s first recording as a leader. It’s been a long time coming. Are you coming? With the Curtis Lundy and Dave Potter. Tickets are selling like Wednesday night hot cakes—get them at The Velvet Note at http://thevelvetnote.com/louis-heriveaux or 855.5.VELVET.
Tamara,
I want to thank you for seating Joe and I in such a great place on our date night. We had an amazing time and completely enjoyed the show. Like I told you, the Velvet Note is our favorite place to go for date night and we tell so many friends about it. I absolutely love the intimacy that I have not only with the music but with my hot date as well. ? We look forward to seeing you again soon. God bless you!
– Stacy C.
Valentine’s Day often leaves singles behind, but not at The Velvet Note! On Friday, February 12th, you can mingle with others who are flying solo, enjoy a world-class performance, treat yourself to dinner and enjoy the festivities of one of the year’s best holidays.
YOUR ENTERTAINMENT
“Tucker and her cello blur the lines in our heads that divide classical, jazz, folk, R&B and soul.”
—INDYWEEK.COM
“Most importantly, the songs tell a story; that’s what a work of art should do…”
—JAZZTIMES
“You rarely see Joni Mitchell invoked as a reference point… because her music is so unique that few can follow her. But in Shana Tucker, we have a worthy successor.”
—NEWS AND OBSERVER
YOUR HOST AND SPOKEN WORD ARTIST
Harlem-born actor Lewis Saunders has over twenty years of stage, TV, film and 
voiceover experience. While Lewis is most remembered for his regular role as Fritz on the “CHiPs” Series, his additional credits include a regular role on “240 Robert”, “Murder, She Wrote”, “3rd Rock from the Sun, “The Bold and the Beautiful”, and “Silk Stalkings”.
Stepping away from the camera, this former pro football and model has turned his attention to writing. spoken word and voiceovers. Saunders’ collection of poetry about love from a man’s point of view is called “Wattya’ Mean, Men Don’t Care?”. It was published after interviewing over 500 men fro m all walks of life, and translating the thoughts, ideas, feelings and common themes into poetry form. Lewis will offer a segment or two from his book during this evening of music, laughter and magic.
YOUR PACKAGE
Your evening’s entertainment package includes a champagne arrival, concert ticket, dinner entree, raffle ticket and server gratuity.
Showtime: Doors open at 7:00pm and the fun continues until 11:00pm.
The interview we’ve been waiting for! After 4 years of chasing Joey Sommerville, he’s finally coming THIS WEEKEND to The Velvet Note. What took him so long? How is his music changing? What advice would he have for his younger self? Get the answers and insights in 20 mins by clicking here: https://soundcloud.com/elusivebe…/joey-summerfield-interview.
Listen HERE. On a picture-perfect, mid-October evening, jazz singer Whitney James made her way up from Tampa, FL to perform in our Acoustic Living Room. And she brought an extra-special treat: her band consisted of the 
members La Lucha, one of our favorite acts of all time. Last year, Mark Feinman (drums), Alejandro Arenas (bass) and John C. O’Leary, III (piano) were awarded several performance accolades as their CD entitled Standards, Non-Standards climbed the charts to critical acclaim. Whitney James–a former theater arts major– laid down clear, straightforward vocals with a lyrical command and stage presence that blew our audience away.
But the true breakout star of the night was pianist O’Leary (pictured far left), whose solos throughout the night convinced you that this might be the last day of his visit to Planet 
Earth before venturing out to other parts of the solar system. Dr. O’Leary– a PhD neuroscientist and a leading Alzheimer’s researcher by day– was celebrating his 30th (gasp) birthday, and his hands were on fire! When he got off the stage, a dear couple intercepted him to inquire about his interest in meeting their daughter, who they would love to see married off to a great talent such as his. But, alas, Dr. O’Leary had to deliver the heartbreaking news that he’s already married. Ahhh…such is show business. Thunder only happens when it’s raining….Players only love you when they’re playin’…… Enjoy O’Leary’s solo on this beautifully-re-imagined arrangement of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” HERE. And catch more recordings of live performances at The Velvet Note at http://thevelvetnote.com/radio.
The Velvet Note®
(855) 583-5838
4075 OLD MILTON PARKWAY
ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA
