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2:20 am November 18, 2011, by Melissa Ruggieri

The 2011 Soul Train Awards chugged into the Fox Theatre Thursday night, and while it wasn’t a marathon production like last year’s seven-hour ordeal (or the nearly 10 hour one in Los Angeles before that), there was plenty of star power and nostalgia crammed into what will air as a two-hour show.

There were indeed awards presented during the three-and-a-half-hour taping, but out of courtesy to those who prefer to be surprised by such things, I’m not mentioning the winners here. Surely they’re floating around online if you’re that desperate to know who picked up the train trophy for Best new Artist.

The awards will premiere at 9 p.m. Nov. 27 on BET and Centric.

Set the TiVo from now because here are the top five “don’t miss” moments. But first, kudos to host Cedric the Entertainer, who burst onto the stage doing the body rock and the Dougie to Herbie Hancock’s “Rocket” and Montell Jordan’s “This is how We Do It” and was seamless and amusing all night.

“It’s good to be in the South. they sweet tea everything around here. I had a sweet tea martini last night,” he joked. he later took a gentle swipe at Herman Cain’s now-infamous Libya pause and later in the show headed to the balcony for a change of scenery.

But back to that top five…

1. Hearing Morris Day bleat the opening of “Jungle Love” was cool enough. But watching him and the crew formerly known as The Time break into those sliding dance moves and charge through a medley that included “Cool” and “The Bird” was an early reminder of how fun and funky R&B can be when done right.

Now known as The Original 7ven, the group of Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Jesse Johnson, Jerome Benton, Jellybean Johnson and Monte Moir were far more interesting to watch than the troupe of energetic female dancers in tiny sequined shorts bopping around the stage.

On the red carpet before the show, Jam said the band hopes to tour next year and the difference between The Time’s heyday and now is, “We’re older and wiser.”

2. Gladys Knight, one of two recipients of the 2011 Legend Award, first received a tribute of video clips featuring Elton John, Smokey Robinson and Marie Osmond. But the live accolades make the memories.

A new version of the Pips – among them Freddie Jackson and Kenny Lattimore – backed a parade of singers including Marsha Ambrosius nailing “If I Were your Woman,” Mary Mary storming through “Midnight Train to Georgia,” their booming gospel voices a perfect match to the song, and an extremely thin Natalie Cole crooning “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.”

Cole introduced Knight as well, noting that, “She makes the best chicken and waffles in the South!”

The incandescent Knight, meanwhile, delivered a meaningful speech touching on race, Dr. Martin Luther King, James Brown and her gratitude to Soul Train king Don Cornelius.

“I have received awards over the years…but this one here is closest to my heart because it comes from my people. Only you know what roads we have to travel to get anywhere,” she said.

Knight, beaming her beautiful smile, summoned BeBe Winans on stage to duet with him on a soaring new song.

3. The recent death of Heavy D obviously meant a last-minute tribute for the awards show, and the show producers deserve credit for pulling off something simple and meaningful.

After a clip of Heavy D and the Boyz winning their 1990 Soul Train Award for Best Rap Album played, a cluster of red lights scanned the crowd and Naughty By Nature and Kurtis Blow sprung on stage to perform some of the group’s songs.

Before the tribute began, the audience was told during a set change break to find the small glow sticks taped under each seat. Those orange glow sticks were cracked for use and waved in unison as Blow led the crowd in a chant of “Nothing but love for you, Heavy” for several minutes, the theater alight in a spirited radiance.

The memorial ended with one of the rappers quoting Heavy D: “Be inspired.”

4. Another commemoration came for super-songwriter Nick Ashford, who died in August.

His lovely wife, Valerie Simpson, appeared at the top of a staircase and was escorted down by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

“My honey would have loved this tonight,” Simpson said in an unscripted moment that prompted some audible sighs of sadness. She continued with an inspirational speech about the power of songwriting, noting, “Your God-given talents are inspiring others.”

But the purpose of Simpson’s appearance was to announce that Soul Train has established a songwriting award in Ashford’s name. The first winner was awarded during the ceremony.

5. The other recipient of the Legend Award was Earth, Wind & Fire, who received a personal, heartfelt introduction by Malcom-Jamal Warner.

The actor and sometimes-musician shared the story that the first two albums he “borrowed” from his mother were Graham Central Station and Earth, Wind & Fire.

“’Shining Star’ burned such a groove in my psyche that I believed I could be whatever I wanted to be,” Jamal-Warner said.

A series of musical tributes followed, including a searing rendition of “Reasons” performed by Robin Thicke, Joe and Eric Benet, who impressively handled Philip Bailey’s glass-shattering vocal escalations.

Atlanta’s Cee-Lo Green, who earlier performed “Fool for You” with Melanie Fiona on a snow-themed set, returned for an invigorating “Shining Star.”

The EWF trio of Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson gave a shout-out to Maurice White, the “one who started all this thing,” before engaging the crowd – and many of the performers from throughout the show – to share the spice of life with a sing-along of “Let’s Groove.”

5 ½.  We can’t forget Wolf Blitzer, who, after last year’s hoot-worthy appearance with Doug E. Fresh, came back for a second round of ribbing with the master beat-boxer.

In a skit featuring the Soul Train scramble board, Blitzer did a few Dougie moves – which he learned last year – and then showed Fresh his newly acquired “beat box” skills.

Melissa Ruggieri, Atlanta Music Scene blog

Follow me on Twitter: @ajclifestyle

Sharon Jones has just finished up a long lunch at J’s Oyster in Portland, Maine. she orders another glass of wine and settles into an enticing, detailed description of the lobster soup, corn, shrimp with marinara and baked oysters that made up her meal.

“I feel bad telling you about all this, because it’s so good,” Jones tells me on the phone, with a laugh. Born in Augusta, Ga.—the same hometown of James Brown, whose fevered dance theatrics have most certainly influenced Jones’ own stage show—the singer’s passion for the good things in life runs deep, from food and a study of the Spanish language to her infectious live performances.

“We don’t have all the smoke and dancers coming out to keep people occupied,” says Jones. “so I get on that stage with the Dap-Kings and we groove off the audience, and I just feel.”

Listening to the Dap-Kings, Jones’ backing band, is like being privy to a rare soul back catalogue; known for an authentic old-school R&B sound, they rock original songs that could’ve come straight out of the Stax Records vault. Jones describes performing this music that lies so close to her heart as “a gift.”

“When I walk on that stage, people don’t understand you don’t have to be high on drugs or drunk, it’s just that natural high,” she says.

It’s been a long road for a singer who didn’t experience success until she hit her early 40s. Jones worked both as a wedding singer and a corrections officer at Rikers Island before meeting Gabriel Roth (aka Bosco Mann), founder of the Dap-Kings, in 1996. Roth asked Jones to sing on a series of 45s, and soon, she was permanently fronting the band.

“The Dap-Kings are no joke,” Jones says with admiration. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings released their first album, Dap-Dippin‘ in 2002, going on to release four more records since. They’ve performed at festivals across the States, played a sold-out stand at the Apollo Theater, and seen their horn-laden cover of “This Land Is Your Land” featured in the opening credits of the George Clooney vehicle Up in the Air. last January, Prince asked them to open one of his Madison Square Garden shows, an experience that Jones, who’s been called the “Queen of Funk,” describes as surreal.

“He said that he saw me on Austin City Limits and that I ‘took him to church,’” says Jones, “and that’s how we got the gig.”

Jones has moved from the stage to the camera in recent years. she tells me that she spent the previous day filming scenes for a film called Queen City, starring Vivica A. Fox, and in 2007, she landed a small role as a juke-singer in The Great Debaters, alongside Denzel Washington. but while growing recognition has opened up opportunities for the Brooklyn-raised singer, her heart still lies in the rich, soulful funk music that the Dap Kings have mastered.

At 55, is Sharon Jones ready to slow down? No way, she says.

“A lot of people still don’t know about me,” Jones says. “So I still have a few more years to go.”

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings perform Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Uptown Theatre. 1350 third St., Napa. $35. 8pm. 707.259.0123.

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George C. Scott, gone twelve years now, would have turned 84 today.what an actor.I was just old enough to go see Patton when it opened in 1970. in that indelible opening scene in front of the American flag where the general addresses his troops, I recall my jaw dropped open. Viewed on that enormous screen, never before had an actor seemed so big, imposing and powerful.He made that part so much his own, it’s hard to conceive of anyone else doing it (though Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger and Burt Lancaster all turned it down before Scott was tapped.)I saw him on Broadway as well, first in Larry Gelbart’s Sly Fox (1976) next in Inherit the Wind (1996) when his health was failing and he looked a full decade older than his seventy years. no surprise — he was spellbinding both times. you could not take your eyes off him whenever he was on stage, to the point where you actually pitied the other players.I don’t think there was ever a more intense actor, someone so adept at channeling inner rage and torment into his performances.And that rage was very real — it had to be. others may weigh in more authoritatively on its source, but certainly part of it was his reaction to fame. Though it would be hard to name a finer, more dedicated practitioner of his craft, he was extremely uncomfortable with all the adulation and hype that came with it.put another way, he hated that part of himself that unconsciously craved the attention and adoration of the public.perhaps his most revealing quote: “There is no question you get pumped up by recognition. then a self-loathing sets in when you realize you’re enjoying it.”This attitude led him to eschew the Oscars in particular: Scott became the first actor ever to refuse an Oscar, calling the ceremony a glorified “meat market.” On the night he won the statuette for Patton he was reportedly at home, watching a hockey game.Tall and powerfully built, with an intimidating countenance and powerful voice that could growl or roar like a lion, co-workers mostly kept their distance from this brooding, mercurial figure. Cast opposite Scott in the stage version of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, actress Maureen Stapleton confided to director Mike Nichols that her co-star petrified her. He replied: ” My dear, the whole world is frightened of George.”Born in Virginia in 1927, the young Scott originally wanted to become a writer. after four years in the Marine Corps (where his duty fostered an ongoing pattern of heavy drinking) he enrolled at the University of Missouri, intending to major in journalism. there, he got the acting bug, and quit after a year to pursue his newfound passion full-time. He trained and paid his dues in the theater during the fifties, going through the first two of five marriages and siring four children. 1958 proved a pivotal year, as Scott won an Obie Award and started getting TV parts. the following year, feature films beckoned, and the actor would be Oscar-nominated for only his second outing in Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder.the turbulent sixties were a busy time for Scott, as he balanced film, theater and TV work. He also married actress Colleen Dewhurst, and they would have two sons together (including actor Campbell Scott). the combustible couple would divorce in 1965, re-marry in 1967 and split for good in 1972. (Later that year, he wed actress Trish Van Devere, and this union held until his death.)It’s regrettable that Scott’s best movies were concentrated between the late fifties and early seventies. Really no film he made after that period was fully worthy of his talents, though his presence automatically elevated virtually anything he appeared in. (Like all the best actors, he was always fascinating to watch, even when the material was indifferent, or worse.)It was as if Hollywood didn’t know what to do with him, or decided he was too difficult. Or — just perhaps, the industry was punishing him for his rejection of their all-important ceremony of self-congratulation. who knows?Actually, most aspects of George C. Scott’s character, life and career contain an air of mystery, of something unrevealed. perhaps that’s the way he intended it.Whether or not you were fortunate enough to see him in the theater, his best film work remains. Revisiting these six features — and watching this enigmatic, brilliant actor perform — is still a revelation. Anatomy of a Murder (1959) — Paul Biegler (James Stewart) is a former prosecutor who’s at a professional turning point. Now out of the district attorney’s office, he’s a defense lawyer, and needs a high-profile assignment to establish himself. He finds it in the case of Lieutenant Fred Mannion (Ben Gazzara) an army officer accused of killing the man who raped Bannion’s sexy wife Laura (Lee Remick). the case grows more complex the deeper Biegler probes, and he’s also up against a ruthless young prosecutor (Scott) intent on winning a conviction at all costs. Otto Preminger’s crackling courtroom drama makes for a twisty, racy, irresistible film. Stewart is in his element as the dogged Biegler, but junior players Gazzara, Remick and Scott are every bit as good. Gritty atmosphere and a smoky Ellington score (with Duke himself in a rare on-screen appearance) help make this daring, distinctive picture hum. The Hustler (1961) — “Fast Eddie” Felson (Paul Newman) is a charismatic California pool shark with a wide streak of arrogance to match his considerable skill. after he loses big to the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) Eddie hits the skids and falls for fellow lost soul Sarah (Piper Laurie). trying to hustle his way back to the top of his game, he entrusts his future to oily promoter Bert Gordon (George C. Scott) who promises him riches and fame. but will Gordon deliver if Eddie does? a gritty, atmospheric picture about the tense world of high-stakes pool, Robert Rossen’s Hustler features some of Newman’s best work to-date. “Fast Eddie” may be a young virtuoso with a pool cue, but his maturity hasn’t caught up with his moves, and he learns some hard lessons in pool and life from Minnesota Fats, played to cool perfection by the late, great Gleason. Scott also stands out as a callous backer, and Laurie does a sad, sensitive turn as a lonely woman on the fringes who falls under Eddie’s spell. Dr. Strangelove, or how I Learned to Stop Worrying and love the Bomb (1964) — in this satirical doomsday thriller, a U.S. bomber piloted by Major Kong (Slim Pickens) receives a signal to release its nuclear payload on Russia. When the unfortunate Captain Mandrake (Peter Sellers) seeks out Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) to learn why he ordered the drop, and why he’s placed his Air Force base on lockdown, it’s quickly evident the general has lost his marbles. meanwhile, President Muffley (Sellers again) meets with senior advisers, including a hawkish general (Scott) and the oddly sinister nuclear scientist Dr. Strangelove (Sellers) to review their limited options to save the planet. the most inspired piece of Cold War satire ever and one of the screen’s supreme black comedies, Stanley Kubrick’s Strangelove confronted jittery audiences in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and not long after the advent of the H bomb. with Kubrick’s twisted genius as director and screenwriter in full bloom, and peerless performances by Sellers (in three roles) Scott, and the unhinged Hayden, the film is unbearably funny and extremely disturbing all at once. the blackest of pitch black comedies, this “Dr.” really hasn’t aged one bit. Petulia (1968) — Archie Bollen (Scott) is a middle-aged San Francisco physician in the midst of a divorce. after meeting Archie at a gala event, sexy, troubled socialite Petulia (Julie Christie) pursues him avidly, hoping to embark on a torrid affair, even though she is married to David (Richard Chamberlain) a handsome swinger with an abusive streak. but Petulia has another connection to Archie, too, a secret bond she never divulges, even as their lives become increasingly tangled. Set in San Francisco at the height of the Summer of love, Richard Lester’s stylish, offbeat melodrama pays homage to the swinging sixties in more ways than one. through jarring jump cuts, flashbacks and “flash forwards,” and glimpses of the Grateful Dead performing for a crowd of gyrating hipsters, the director evokes the psychedelic ethos of the era as a way in to the turbulent lives of Archie and Petulia, each of whom is suffering a private torment: she is a victim of abuse, while he just wants to “feel something.” Scott and Christie are exemplary in their roles, while Chamberlain gets to look pretty, sulk and act like a cad. Lensed by Nicholas Roeg, Petulia is a trippy tale of love and confusion that explores the humid underside of flower power. Patton (1970) — Director Franklin J. Schaffner’s rich portrayal of the controversial, larger-than-life World War II general recreates all the excitement and drama of the European front, while exploring one career officer’s outsize ambition to expand his own role in this historic conflict. We see how Patton’s unusually aggressive style most always yielded the desired results on the battlefield, yet so rankled both superiors and subordinates that the top leadership position he craved — and the adulation that went with it — would inevitably elude him. Scott delivers a towering rendition of the profane, colorful general, by turns making us admire, revile, and pity this man, who was driven by a profound sense of pre-destination. Karl Malden provides stellar support as Patton’s more measured but equally brilliant colleague General Omar Bradley, but this is Scott’s show all the way, as evidenced by his winning the best Actor Oscar, an award he turned down. the film garnered an additional six statuettes, including best Picture, Director and Screenplay (for Francis Ford Coppola). Patton endures today as an epic war film that tells a very human story.The Hospital (1971) — Herbert Bock (Scott) the harried chief of medicine at a big city hospital, is divorced, impotent, estranged from his children and thinking seriously about ending it all. When patients start dying mysteriously on his watch, he suspects foul play. Indeed, the whole hospital seems to be on life support. Complicating matters, the alluring but eccentric free spirit Barbara Drummond (Diana Rigg) confronts Block, demanding to collect her ill father (Barnard Hughes) and take him away to heal in healthier environs. As the world around them careens out of control, this unlikely pair fall fast in love (or is it lust?) and the good doctor considers leaving medicine behind forever. the Hospital recalls that long-ago time in Hollywood when screenwriters could be clever, funny literates like Paddy Chayefsky, and actors gruff, imperfect specimens of complicated manhood like George C. Scott. Chayefsky deservedly won the Screenplay Oscar for his biting, satirical script and Scott also got nominated for his expert handling of an extremely demanding role. in particular, his character’s mid-film monologue on the state of his life sears the screen. Don’t miss this outstanding, jet-black satire on the malaise afflicting our modern, supposedly civilized society. looking for top movie recommendations? For over 2,300 of the best movies on DVD, visit bestmoviesbyfarr.comTo see John’s videos for WNET/Channel 13, go to reel13.orgFollow John on Facebook at facebook.com/BMBFarr.

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