LEO
CASINO
THE STAR OF SOUTH FLORIDA!
BIO'S AND ACTIVITIES
“I’ll
tell you, I really got into his character, I really became him. I tried to
channel him and strip away any opinions I had about him.”
To
say the least, Leo Casino doesn’t like Art Teele, the indicted former Miami
city commissioner who shot himself in the Miami Herald building on July
27, 2005.
But
strangely enough — and despite their rancorous relationship — hard feelings
aren’t stopping Casino from playing the role of Teele in an upcoming docudrama
about the late politician, tentatively titled The Arthur E. Teele, Jr.
Documentary and produced by University of Miami students Josh Miller and Sam
Rega.
A
few years ago, Casino filed a $20 million class-action federal lawsuit against
the city and Commissioner Teele for the alleged “theft” of the Church of the
Divine Mission in Overtown. The court has since asked Casino to refile the suit,
given its lack of legalese (such as references to statutes and pertinent
language) — no surprise since he and the church members named in the class
action couldn’t find a lawyer to represent them.
Sitting
in the outdoor patio at Books & Books in Coral Gables and wearing a dapper
yellow suit, Casino, a jazz musician and outspoken
community activist, claims he had contacted “some of the most prominent black
attorneys,” but no one would take the case.
Now
Casino wants to reinstate the suit to repossess the church (which is, in
reality, a shabby three-story apartment building) and convert it into a youth
community center. The only obstacle: still no attorney in sight. Currently the
building is owned by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which has
closed up the structure with concrete blocks to deter any prostitution or
drug-related activities, according to Frank Rollason, who recently stepped down
as the CRA’s executive director to run for a City Commission seat.
DR.
LEO CASINO GIVES BACK TO PITTSBURGH
Dr.
Leo Casino, saxophonist, composer, writer and political activist, whose
documentary film "Return to the Hill" is a glimpse back at his native
Pittsburgh from a man who evolved beyond his own roots of struggle
-- was the guest speaker at the Allegheny County Jail's Government
Equivalency Diploma (G.E.D.) graduation ceremony honoring the jail's prisoners
on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 and he also presented "A Coming Home Gospel
Concert" For Black History Month, Saturday, February 25, 2006 @ 6pm @
Covenant Who So Ever Will Church, which featured Hostess Vicki Hill, Rev. Clyde
Davis, Rev. Dr. Bobbie Fulton, The Sons of Thunder, Min. Eugene Gamble from
"Blessed Music Work" with Recording Artist "Servant Nova",
Elder David Holmes, Rev. Keesha Sheffey, Elder Brenda Collins, Muhammad Abdul
Aziz, Debra Germany-Morris, Lewis Colyar, and yours truly Brotha
Ash. It
was an honor to finally meet the musical legend, Dr. Leo Casino.
He is a very giving and caring individual. During his time here, he was
filming for his upcoming documentary
"Return to the Hill" which will air on HBO in the near future.
NOW
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS CLICK
HERE!!!
Title Brotha
Ash Productions pics of "Coming Home Gospel Concert" For Black History
Month, Saturday, February 25, 2006
Hill
District native hopes film will stop the violence By Ervin Dyer, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
"Mr.
Casino" has been in show business for over 30 years. He began studying
music at the age of 9 in Pittsburgh, and had the good fortune of playing with
such hometown heroes as Stanley Turrentine, Sy Morocco and George Benson. After
overcoming a very tough childhood, he was awarded a full scholarship to Howard
University, where he completed the first Jazz Major in the U.S. studying with
legends Donald Byrd and Quincy Jones. During his 30-year career, "Mr.
Casino" has played with a who*s who of the world*s great jazz, blues and
pop musicians *including everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire, Neil Diamond and
James Brown to Jimmie Hendrix, Jaco Pastorius and Bob Marley. "Mr.
Casino" has written and acted in numerous plays and musicals, including the
plays I am Innocent and Odyssey, and the musicals Land My Father Died and Funk
Opera. Among his film credits are Forsythe County (1989), "Soweto"
(1988), East of Overtown (in progress.) He can also be seen in the 1987 German
film, Otto, and in a 1986 episode of Miami Vice. He has played at numerous
events including the White House annual party, the American Cancer Society,
President Nixon*s Inauguration and has lectured on race relations at
universities around the country including U.C.L.A, Harvard Law School, the
University of Chicago and Moorehouse College. He holds an honorary Doctorate
Degree from Mallory College. "Mr. Casino*s latest CD, Better Days, is
dedicated to the victims and families of 9/11.
To
contact Dr. Leo Casino either visit www.leocasino.us
or email him @ Casinoleo3@aol.com
LEO
CASINO
AND
LENNY KRAVITZ |
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Pittsburgh*s
epidemic of black-on-black violence
A 9-year old boy is
gunned down while playing ball in front of his home*
A 16-year old is murdered while watching his mother*s booth at a local flea
market*
North Side club is the scene of 3rd homicide in just 7 months*
On their own, these headlines are depressing enough. Sadly, the number of
murders in
Pittsburgh is rising. And the most outrageous part is that the vast majority of
these
murders are committed against blacks, by blacks.
Consider
the following:
· There were 114 murders in Allegheny County in 2004, tying the all-time high,
set a decade earlier.
· Of the 74 murders in Pittsburgh in 2004, 63 of these were committed against
blacks.
· Of the 63 murders against blacks, almost all were committed by blacks, and in
particular, by young black men.
According
to law enforcement officials, this rise in violence highlights two disturbing
trends:
the growth of dangerous street gangs in Pittsburgh, and the ease with which
young people can get guns. In fact, in 2004, 47 children under the age of 16
were arrested for gun-related crimes in the city: up from 29 such arrests in
2003. With the recent lift of the assault weapons ban and continued budget cuts
to the city*s police department, the situation will most likely get worse,
before it gets better.
RETURN
TO THE HILL by Dr. Leo Casino
It's
another sultry night along Washington Avenue and the music from the nightclubs
wafts out into the street. At Mint the strip's most popular club saxophonist Leo
Casino and his band play to a packed house of young, sexy hipsters. South Beach,
Miami has been good to Leo: he*s made a great living getting these kids (most
less than half his age) dancing to his R & B beat.
But
tonight Leo isn't focusing on the music or the beautiful people swaying to his
sounds. A phone call earlier in the day from a childhood friend in his native
Pittsburgh has brought troubling news. The man's son has been gunned down.
Despite violence being down throughout the city, an alarming number of young
black men are killing each other. By the end of the set, Leo's promised himself
that he'll return to the Hill District, the downtrodden neighborhood where he
grew up and try to find a way to keep these young black men from killing each
other.
Leo
could have ended up like one of these kids. When he returns to Pittsburgh, the
memories rush back: his mother, a prostitute, would shoot him up with heroin as
a baby, to quiet him. The nurse who found him at 6 months, rolling around on the
floor, eating his own excrement. The father he never met; and his sister - kept
in captivity by a pimp, forced into prostitution, and eventually killed. Just
think Leo would one day be voted into TownTalk Magazine's "50 Best-Dressed
Men in the World".
In
Pittsburgh, Leo organizes a town hall meeting and invites the media, community
leaders and young black teens, both at-risk kids and gang members.
World-renowned coroner Cyril Wecht speaks, talking about death in
matter-of-fact, unglamorous terms these kids don't hear in rap tunes. A woman
whose 23-year old son was killed by gang violence speaks about the death of her
only child, how she*s forgiven her son's killers - but more than anything, wants
the killings to stop.
Leo
continues, explaining how he turned his life around. Leo recalls being adopted
by a loving family (who often had guests like Lena Horne), finishing school and
going onto college, where he became one of the world's first Jazz Studies Majors
at Howard University and studied under Quincy Jones. Leo describes how he's
moved to Miami and had a successful music and 20-year film career, including
being inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame at the Kodak Theater, Los
Angeles, in 1998. And how he became something of a real-life Forrest Gump
meeting three U.S. 3 Presidents, corresponding with a jailed South American
Dictator, produced TV for Geraldo Rivera, played for Paris Hilton.
The
town hall concludes, and Leo hopes he's reached some of these kids. He urges
them to find a family outside of the gang, and latch onto someone who will
encourage them in any way whether it's a friend, teacher, coach, etc. He
finishes by playing a tune with a local rap group: the song's message is
uplifting, without being corny; authentic, but hopeful
BIO
ADDITION IN HIS WEB SITE
The
Biography of "Leo Casino" |
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Producer,
Composer, Songwriter, Film Maker, Musician, Vocalist, Actor |
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"Mr.
Casino"
has been in show business for the past thirty years. His musical
training at the early age of nine included work with such musical giants
as Stanley Turrentine, Sy Morocco and George Benson in his hometown of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received a full scholarship to the
prestigious Howard University in Washington, D. C. The first Jazz Major
in the United States, he studied under Donald Byrd and the great Quincy
Jones. |
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During
his thirty-year career, "Mr. Casino |
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"Mr.
Casino" has written and acted in numerous plays and musicals. Among
the plays are "I am Innocent" performed in February 1990 and
"Odyssey" performed in September 1991. His musical credits
include "Land My Father Died" produced in December 1985 and
"Funk Opera" in November 1995. Among his film credits are
"Forsythe County" May 1989, "Soweto" June 1988,
"East Of Overtown" in progress. He can also be seen in the
1987 German Film "Otto" and in a 1986 episode of "Miami
Vice" as Slick. |
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He
has played at numerous benefits and public events such as the White
House Party, American Cancer Society, President Nixon's Inauguration in
1968, Orthopedic March and Soul Explosion a benefit for the homeless.
"Mr. Casino" has lectured on race relations in Miami at
Colleges and Universities around the country including UCLA, Harvard Law
School, University of Chicago and Moorehouse College. He is the holder
of an honorary Doctorate Degree from Mallory College. "Mr.
Casino" continues to perform as a jazz musician with the
"Florida Players. He is also working on his latest documentary film
project "Brothers" the story of his chance reunification in
May of 1996 with his younger brother Reginald Harris, whom he had not
seen or heard from in over thirty years. "Mr. Casino" latest
CD "Better Days" is dedicated to those that lost their lives
on 9-11-01 and their Families and Love Ones. |
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"Leo
Casino" is under the management of Roy Harris from |
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