The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem New York that opened during prohibition. The club featured some of the greatest African American entertainers yet it generally denied admission to African Americans. Boxer Jack Johnson first opened the club in 1920. Full Sail students helped convert Full Sail Live into the Cotton Club for the night. Robin Nicole, dressed in a sleek white dress, announced that she was the president of the Full Sail Black Student Union. Cliff, the VP, had a natural gift in keeping the audience charged. When he got on stage he asked everyone to come up front and fill up all the round tables that had been set up in front of the stage. Robin asked for a moment of silence while they showed a video of African American performers who had recently died. Images of Bo Diddly, Don Cornelius, Ertha Kit, James Brown, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston flickered on the screen.
Then it was time to sing! “Adonis” was the house band that had formed just 2 months prior, consisting of Full Sail students. The music paid tribute to Black History Month. The performances were passable but I wasn’t blown away. After the jazz-themed portion of the evening ended, the Producer’s Guild would transition things into 2012 with a Beat Battle Competition, in which producers went head-to-head with their tracks, allowing the audience to choose the grand prize winner. I didn’t stick around for the battle. I preferred to linger in the nostalgia as I packed up my antiquated art supplies and walked out to the parking lot to head home.