PRESS
By KWAME BRATHAWAITE
Special to the AmNews
 
Veteran singer, songwriter, actress and broadcaster Camille Yarbrough brought her thought-provoking, soul-stirring, culturally uplifting, African-centered concert to her beloved place of residence, Harlem. The Chicago-born Yarbrough came to New York in 1975 and has been on the cutting edge of the Black cultural scene ever since. She played in the Broadway shows "Kwamina," "Trumpets of the Lord," "Cities in Bezique," and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (she also toured with the show and appeared on the cast album). Yarbrough has also appeared in film and on TV, in the CBS television special "Caught in the Middle," and the soap operas "Search for Tomorrow," "Where the Heart Is" and the film "Shaft."

Yarbrough's '70s album release, "The Iron Pot Cooker," has been reissued and her self-penned "Take Yo' Praise" is looped with Yarbrough, as mystery vocalist, on the international hit by Fat Boy Slim, "Praise You," on his "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" smash hit.
 
The concert, at Harlem's Oberia Dempsey Multicultural Center, produced by The African-American Traditions Workshop and the production crew from Akila Worksongs Productions, drew an audience that ranged from school age to senior citizens, along with the noted community activists, entertainers and culturally aware fans. Besides being a top-notch entertainer, Yarbrough has been professor of African Dance at New York's City College and an author of the critically acclaimed children's books "Cornrows" and "The Little Tree Born in the Shade".

This show was well worth the evening, as all were blessed with this superior talent, accompanied by her band, led by Musical Director Michael Mustafa Ulmer, and announcer and head of the production crew, April Silver.