I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge Black History Month. Since the themes surrounding Black History Month have all but been exhausted I thought I would share a few names of those who have greatly inspired me as an artist and the words that immediately come to mind. There are so many who have influenced me that it almost seems unfair to name just a few but here goes. Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Zora Neale Hurston, Cab Calloway, Toni Morrison, Josephine Baker and Duke Ellington. All icons in their own right have done so much to shape their respective generations and through their past contributions have given exponentially to the future. They each represent unrelenting courage, innovation, creativity, wisdom, originality, artistry, vision and imagination. It is thanks to them and those like them that we progress and that true artistry can be built upon and shared by all.