Black American Women Songwriters 1920-1970 Concert

Greetings & Blessings! I’m Nat Needle, an independent piano teacher, jazz pianist/vocalist, & songwriter in Worcester, MA, the 2nd-largest city in New England. I’m organizing a concert by 4 well-known Black Worcester vocalists and myself of 24 great popular songs composed by Black American women from 1920 to 1970, to take place on Saturday, February 21st, 2026 at The Village Worcester, “Worcester’s Afrocentric Cultural, Learning, & Healing Center”. The concert will be one of a series of events at The Village marking the 100th anniversary of Black History Month . Please help me fund this concert!!!

The program features blues, jazz, R&B, rock ‘n roll, Motown, gospel, & folk music composed by Edna Belle Alexander, Elizabeth Cotton, Lil Hardin (Armstrong), Irene Higginbotham, Billie Holiday, Alberta Hunter, Irene Kitchings, Abbey Lincoln, Rose Marie McCoy, Sylvia Moy, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Connie Rushing, Nina Simone, Bessie Smith, & Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This list includes some household names as well as some that may be less familiar to you. Here’s the PROGRAM of their songs!

Your gift will allow me to honor the talents and community contributions of participating artists by Paying Them Properly. I will use your gift to pay myself for performing & organizing only after adequately compensating my friends, including our concert technicians. I’d love to enlist a bassist & percussionist, but not until I’m sure I can pay them as well! So I hope to receive your gift by 12/31/25 so I can make this decision in time to engage the local instrumentalists of my choice for this project.

All proceeds from the event itself will go to support The Village; they are not charging me for use of their venue. Please see my event budget below, as well as information about the vocalists: Sunta Africa, Lydia Fortune, Charles Ketter, Nat Needle, & Fanta Vibez!

As artists, we’re performing these terrific songs for the reasons we always perform: to share our musical joy & Have One Good Time. But this project takes on added significance at a moment when our government and forces in our culture seem bent on reversing progress towards illuminating Black women’s historic roles and upholding their present right to shine forth from the center of every aspect of our society. This is heartbreaking – we can’t have this, can we?

In the 1920-1970 era, all women had enormous difficulty in achieving success at and receiving due credit for their popular music. As you might imagine, Black women had it even worse. Edna Belle Alexander resorted to publishing as “Alex Belledna”; Irene Higgenbotham (born in Worcester!) as “Glenn Gibson”. Yet thanks to these songwriters’ pioneering genius, we have not only the tunes they left us, but those of many celebrated Black women songwriters who have stood on their shoulders, such as Tracy Chapman, Alicia Keys, Janelle Monáe, Erykah Badu, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Beyoncé, Sade, Solange, and on and on.

Having this event professionally video-recorded and livestreamed will allow many more people, including YOU, to see it. I’ll be sure to send all donors livestreaming details and a link to the video upon request!

Budget

4 Vocalists 2000

Pianist/vocalist (me) 500

Bassist & percussionist 700

Videographer 300

Livestreaming Technician 300

Sound Technician 250

Planner-Organizer (me) 500

Other Expenses 450

(program design/printing, promotion,

sheet music, supplies, services, etc.)

TOTAL $5,000

Vocalists (+ see other Team Members below!)

Sunta Africa

"Sunta "Africa" Jones, is a singer/songwriter native to Worcester. Her style combines R&B, Soul, Funk, Blues & Reggae. When performing with her band it is always a good time & her music carries positive messages of inspiration & empowerment."

Watch Sunta perform her original song Respect Me For Who I Am

Lydia Fortune

"It’s hard to pin Lydia Fortune down to one musical category. An eclectic singer/songwriter with over 40 years of experience, her calling card is a blend of jazz, blues, folk and Americana genres. With a willingness to collaborate with a variety of Worcester community musicians, She remains active and involved the Worcester music scene."

Watch Lydia perform her original song There Goes Love

Charles Ketter

“Charles Ketter sings, plays bass and guitar, and has performed in venues all over New England” – from the Charles Ketter Music Facebook page. Over the course of my 25 years in Worcester, Charles has been a primary source of knowledge and inspiration. I have heard him play & sing blues, soul, reggae, R&B, and songs from every jazz decade in venues ranging from grand auditoriums to neighborhood bars to his “pop-ups” in Worcester parks. I have sweet memories of 20 years ago when he would perform solo at an intimate wine boutique in my neighborhood. A fellow music educator, Charles also gives guitar, bass, & voice lessons!

Nat Needle

My first steady professional piano gig, 50 years ago, was accompanying a female vocalist who sang tunes made popular by Bessie Smith like "A Good Man is Hard to Find". This concert is made up of the music that has seen me through; maybe you know what I'm talking about. Getting to honor & celebrate these songwriters with my dear Worcester musician friends is a dream come true! And now, watch me at a local café with a song from the program by Worcester-born Irene Higginbotham: This Will Make You Laugh

Fanta Vibez

"Fanta Vibez is an independent singer-songwriter, performer, and creative curator known for her magnetic presence and ever-expanding artistic universe. A powerhouse vocalist with a genre-blending identity, Fanta moves fluidly through neo-soul, hip-hop, R&B, Afro-fusion, and jazz, creating a sound that feels both timeless and fiercely contemporary.

In addition to her work as a recording artist, she teaches West African music and dance with Worcester’s Crocodile River Music, sharing cultural traditions with schools, communities, and festivals across New England." Find Fanta on Instagram

Watch Fanta perform her original song Lies

Other Key Team Members

Bil is a highly respected local photographer who I engaged repeatedly for photo shoots to promote my own performances before hiring him also to video-record performances not only by me and my bandmates, but also by my piano students. Over the past 4 years, his videography has generated a trove of lasting memories and effective educational resources for my students and myself. I’ve relied upon him to record solo and small-group recitals with audiences of a few dozen people as well as our Annual Recitals with audiences of 150 people. I’m so glad he’ll be recording this concert! Find Bil on Instagram

"Manny Alvarado, 41, is the founder of Manny Jae Media. Manny saw a need for a positive media platform that focused on amplifying the voices of inspiring individuals, groups, small businesses and organizations in our most vulnerable and marginalized communities, voices that uplift and inspire. Manny Jae Media also aims to produce a window of access to information, education, and resources available in the community, through their programming. Manny Jae Media is available to watch on Facebook Live and YouTube - @mannyjaemedia

Manny started his career volunteering at a community radio station where he found he had a natural talent for production and love for entertainment and broadcasting. He loves using what he learned and merging it with his love of community to create a space we can all learn from each other, while being entertained."

...well, as they used to say in the 1940's & 50's (& maybe still do): "That's all she wrote!" Except that, thanks to all these great women composers, it isn't all she wrote, or will write! Please Donate to this celebration of Black American women songwriters 1920-70!