Mellow Out Mondays

Mullyman and Denine Wilson are the hosts of Mellow Out Mondays. (Credit: Robert Jacobs)

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Eden's makes Mondays cool
Lady D, Mullyman share the mike at Eden's Lounge

By Robert Jacobs
Special to Metromix

Billie Holiday's ghost haunts Eden's Lounge.

Actually, that's not fair. We were going to compare Billie Holiday with Mellow Out Mondays star and co-creator Denine Wilson, but as accurate and flattering as that comparison might be, it is also inadequate. Denine Wilson is out there burning her own path—and that burning happens every Monday at Eden's Lounge from 7 p.m. to midnight.

Take note: If you attend this event, you stand a very good chance of being pulled on stage to sing/dance/rap along with Lady D. It's called sharing the mike, and it's what Mellow Out Mondays is all about. The night is also about breaking down barriers and bringing people from disparate backgrounds together. It's an ambitious idea, but then hip-hop artist and Mellow Out Mondays co-creator Mullyman is nothing if not ambitious. He and Wilson have created a night where old time jazz meets 21st century hip-hop. As Wilson said, "We want to bridge history with the present." That's a pretty good description of the night and how it proceeds: Lady D starts with a string of classic jazz or blues songs and gradually opens the night up until the entire room is filled with a feeling of possibility and spontaneity—and that's when the real fun starts. Freestyle rap merges with "The Look of Love," one of the Softones (a Baltimore-based soul group from the '70s) appears on stage to croon some sweet soul song, a random member of the audience belts out "Summertime" and you think, man, am I the only person here who can't sing? It's all weird and wonderful and, above all, fresh—finally a reason to go out on a Monday night!

So dig it: Mellow Out Mondays at Eden's Lounge is the best kept secret in Baltimore... or was the best kept secret...until now. But, hey, that's OK, that's why we're here—and frankly, a secret like this is just too good to keep. Besides, this event is all about sharing and being inclusive. It's about transcending all of those so-called boundaries that keep us down and divided. Sounds like a pipe dream, eh? So be it. The future belongs to dreamers like Lady D and Mullyman.

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