Table of contents for Winter 2019 in Chic Compass

The Las Vegas Suite composed by Nathan Tanouye with lyrics by Clint Holmes has been mastered and is awaiting the finishing artwork. Jerry Blank has created a great cover for the CD which will only add to the excitement that this work has created. The Las Vegas Connection (31 musicians) and Clint on vocals are our best yet. We Las Vegans who deal with summer will appreciate Clint and his interpretation of “Heat.” The CD release will be early February with a concert to celebrate. How fortunate I am to be involved with all the collaborators, musicians and artists in this stunning new album. The question arises, how did a dancer with a musical comedy background become a jazz enthusiast? I would have to say that my husband, Russ…

Self-worth is an interesting phenomenon. Without it, we are susceptible to bad relationships, depression, and poor habits that lead to bad health and a painfully unhappy life. But where does it come from? Some people have intrinsic self-worth. They know that their life has value and they see themselves as worthy of both self-love and love from others. Some people have self-worth from outside sources like a caring family and partner. But increasing your self-worth and having a more positive self-image isn’t something we’re taught to do. In most cases, we’re not even taught that self-worth is something we should care about. I think a lot of the world’s problems could be solved with some direction and counsel, teaching people how to use introspection to understand themselves and others. On…

Mark Gunter can honestly say that the seed of a career as a Fashion Photographer was planted in the 70’s with a photograph that he snapped of his Mother dressed with style on her way out for the evening. Gunter went on to enlist in the Military Services and served in The Gulf War. He used every opportunity to get behind the lens of a camera which allowed him to perfect his talents as a photographer. Fast forward to the year 2013, Mark Gunter got his first opportunity to shoot for Sacramento Fashion Week. Mark’s goal was to get the best shot, which has become his motto ever since. From that point, Gunter set his sights on the bigger picture, New York City’s Fashion Week. Shooting the runways of…

I love Las Vegas for it has so many facets to it and it is fast growing to become one of the most international cultural cities in the world. It is a place that entices artists of any genre to come and participate in all the various avenues open to them to learn more and to display their talents. Las Vegas is centrally located so that within a few hours, it’s possible to go beyond it and experience desert, high-desert, mountains, lakes and the Pacific Ocean. It is a hub for artists, especially for the lovers of the camera, whether a professional or a tourist. Although there are many fine photographers here in Las Vegas, I was drawn to two of them who stood out to me because one wanted…

What happens when Grammy-nominated recording artist Louise Goffin and Sin City’s “First Lady of Jazz” Michelle Johnson decide to collaborate? A match made in masterclass heaven, of course. Budding Las Vegas songwriters recently got a front row seat to Goffin’s “Songwriting Masterclass” at The Space in Las Vegas, made possible by the legendary local songstress. “What I’m known for is doing the things that people say can’t be done,” says Johnson. Fortunately, the prolific singer-songwriter’s reputation remains firmly intact. Born in New York City and raised in Cairo, Egypt, Johnson credits Carole King’s Tapestry album for inspiring her musical journey to versatile Las Vegas headliner. She began writing songs on her piano as a six-year-old. “I would get in trouble secretly playing at 2 a.m.,” she jokes. She carried that…

Las Vegas designer, David Tupaz presented his 2019 collection at the West Sahara Library, The Studio “Art Galleries” (formerly the Fine Art Museum) during the exhibition of “Shimmering Zen” by James Stanford. David’s collection was inspired by the Artist’s work and it showed in his choice of colors and shapes and the overall look of the collection. “I am overwhelmed by James Stanford’s work”, David said. Being a Las Vegas designer, and James who is a native, was a perfect collaboration to bring the essence of Las Vegas’ culture and aesthetics. “There is certain vision that artists see and share” David adds. The runway show was produced by The Industry Fashion Show and David Tupaz in cooperation with TNG models who sponsored most of the runway models in support of…

It took some time in the making, but it was worth it. Forgotten Song Music and The Mob Museum have been chatting for about a year or so about doing an event at The Speakeasy. The only catch was, it wasn’t quite built yet! After much anticipation, the night of the big reveal for the Midnight Muse story arrived with big fanfare from the audience on December 14. Midnight Muse is a story about the last 50 years of live music of Las Vegas told by the musicians and vocalist of those eras. Most had some fun stories about the mob influence in those days and shared them on the film by the same name that has been airing occasionally on Las Vegas PBS for the last few years. There…

Books, books, books—we love them. We cry over them; we laugh with them; we adore how they feel in our hands, and as we turn each page, we are stirred by the emotions the words and their artwork create within us. Indeed, we must love books because today there are more than 1 million new books offered for sale each year. Yet, I guess that number shouldn’t be so surprising, because humans have always had a propensity for storytelling, even as far back as 30,000 B.C. as evidenced in the famous cave drawings in Chauvet Cave in France, and the Egyptian hieroglyphs in 4000 B.C. With the Chinese invention of paper in 105 A.D., new ways to express ourselves came about, and today the field of writing and publishing a…