Tue 3/28 @ 7:30PM
Damon Jamal Taylor’s career has been red-hot since he moved from Cleveland to Oakland, California in 2012.
His 2022 film Black Daddy: The Movie, on which he served as executive producer, director, co-editor and music composer, explores the reality of Black fatherhood in America, counteracting the casual smears passed around about absent Black fathers, and honoring the engagement they have with their children. It’s earned almost 30 dozen awards at 25 film festivals.
In addition, he contributed production work to the album The Movement by Alphabet Rockers, described as “a soundtrack for a reimagined world of belonging and justice” and featuring children in the collective, so he shared in their 2023 Grammy award for Best Children’s album.
Taylor, who’s known professionally as Dame Drummer, was known in Cleveland as the house bandleader of the Lyrical Rhythms open mic evenings at the B-Side Lounge under the Grog Shop in Coventry Village. So it feels right that he’ll be coming to the Grog Shop for a special screening of Black Daddy: The Movie, which will be followed by a performance of the Lyrical Rhythms House Band.
“Drumming provided me the best seat in the house, behind the music,” Drummer says in the press release for the vent. “The B Side really helped me see that, because there were some amazing acts that came through that place. Tuesday after Tuesday, there was always somebody down there that was inspiring me, whether it was through their poetry, comedy, singing or other musicians just playing. The people in general were coming for a unique experience — to be mentally, emotionally, and physically stimulated in that place. I had the best seat in town and it allowed me to go into a bigger world and really put my flag down.”
Get tickets to the screening here.