For MLK Day, Living Jazz Celebrates Sly Stone and 'Everyday People' | KQED

"In the late '60s, as the Black Power movement gained steam, funk became its soundtrack. Young people organized free breakfast programs, defended their communities from police violence and stood up for their rights as songs like Sly & the Family Stone's "Stand!" echoed from their radios. Now, more than 50 years later, Allen will take the stage at Oakland's Paramount Theatre with an intergenerational crew of musicians for a tribute to Sly Stone, who died in 2025 at 82 years old."

"On stage, a wide array of powerhouse vocalists and top-tier instrumentalists, including Adrian Marcel, Black London, Martin Luther McCoy, August Lee Stevens and B DeVeaux, will perform reimagined versions of Sly Stone classics like "Everyday People" and "Dance to the Music." And because Living Jazz is, first and foremost, a music education organization, the concert will also spotlight young musicians from Oaktown Jazz Workshops and Living Jazz RootED Choir, which features 150 singers from elementary to high school."

""The big theme is everyday people, everyday joy," says Living Jazz Executive Director Lyz Luke. "And you'll see it in the programming. You'll see in the stage design, every big speech for each concert." "If you could just get your outfit on, put on your earrings, your lipstick, get your purse, and just get to the show, you'll be so grateful," Luke wants audiences to remember. "You'll be in community. You will see people different than you."

Funk served as the soundtrack to the late 1960s Black Power movement, accompanying community organizing, free breakfast programs and resistance to police violence. More than fifty years later, Allen and an intergenerational crew of musicians will perform a tribute to Sly Stone at Oakland's Paramount Theatre as part of an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration called In the Name of Love. Living Jazz, a long-running music education nonprofit, will present powerhouse vocalists and instrumentalists performing reimagined Sly Stone classics and will spotlight young musicians from Oaktown Jazz Workshops and the Living Jazz RootED Choir, which features 150 singers. Programming centers on everyday people and everyday joy, and audiences are invited to attend in community spirit.

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