Location: BB Kings (http://www.bbkingblues.com/bio.php?id=2742) (Google Maps)

Time: 11:30 pm to 1:30 am

Lead singer Vaughn Benjamin's electrifying voice seems an amalgamation of many great voices in reggae-soulful, chanting, edgy. Vaughn's potent lyrical style and his brother Ron Benjamin's exquisite production, vocals, dub, arrangements, keyboard & bass musical arragements form the nucleus of this musical - rootsy heavy sound, which includes: Christian Molina (drums), Edmund Fieulleteau (guitar), Edwin Byron (guitar) and Ras L (keyboards).

Midnite weaves the cultural lyrics of "old school" roots music with modern day experiences to create a unique listening encounter. Roots Reggae - naked and raw is an apt description for Midnite's musical style, in which they forgo the frills of extensive remixes, overdubbing and other musical refinements.

Location: 16 Beaver Street (between Broad and Broadway), 4th floor, New York, NY 10004 (646) 732-3261 (Google Maps)

Time: 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Malika Zarra is an inspiring new international voice, both influenced by jazz and bringing her own culture and creativity to the melting pot of the New York jazz scene.
Born in Morocco and raised in France, this gifted composer, producer and singer has invented a new Moroccan world-jazz by using traditional North African chaâbi, as well as Berber and Gnaouan polyrhythms to underpin her distinctly contemporary urban compositions, all the while maintaining a sophisticated improvisational modern jazz approach. Already considered a rising star in Africa, Zarra and her multi-national band recently appeared at Dakar’s prestigious International Black Arts Festival, where heads of state mingled with major African musicians like Youssou N’Dour and Angelique Kidjo. The New York-based artist's latest release Berber Taxi was an NPR World Jazz Pick and has garnered praise from musicians and critics alike.

Location: BAMcafé Peter Jay Sharp Building (Google Maps)

Time: 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm

A key developer of the mbalax style of Senegalese dance music, multi-instrumentalist Abdou Mboup is a longtime ambassador of Senegal’s musical tradition. Having collaborated with the likes of Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Afrika Bambaataa, Mboup, who performs with his new band Waakaw, marries jazz with a virtuosic mastery of the West African kora.

Location: Barbes (Google Maps)

Time: 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm

THE MANDINGO AMBASSADORS. Every Wednesday
In the 1960's and 1970's, the government of Guinea engaged in a campaign known as Authenticité. It was a drive to create a new musical movement that would be specifically Guinean, but would include the modern wonders that were the electric guitar, the electric bass and the drumset. Musicians were given instruments and orchestras were formed. Surprisingly, the results proved mesmerizing and a myriad new bands were born. Many of them would go on to have a profound and lasting impact on African music. Mamady Kouyate was one of those pioneers. He played in various bands - his own band, Les Ambassadeurs du Mandingue, being one of them - but is probably best known as the guitarist in the the classic Bembeya Jazz National. Kouyate, who now lives in NY, has reformed the Mandingo Ambassadors, updating the sound of his youth, but keeping it very close to the standard of Authenticité. The new All-Star band includ es Ismael Kouyate - vocals; Mamady Kourouma - guitar; Oran Etkin - tenor sax & clarinets; Sylvain Leroux - flute, tambin and alto sax; Andy Algire - drums; Nick Cudahy - bass and Mamady Kouyate - guitar. “dazzling vocal and guitar patterns over a rhythm section that is like a perfect system” Ben Ratliff, NY Times.

Location: Alwan for the Arts 16 Beaver Street (between Broad and Broadway), 4th floor, New York, NY 10004 (646) 732-3261 (Google Maps)

Time: 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm

About Javier Ruibal

Born in Cadiz, Andalusia, the heterodox and self-trained Javier Ruibal began his career in 1987 and since then has given numerous concerts in and outside Spain, both solo and with such music greats as Pablo Milanes, Joaquin Sabina, Carmen París and Carlos Cano.

His songs reference Spanish poetry, especially the poets of the Generation of 27, such as Rafael Alberti and Federico Garcia Lorca. He has also composed for other artists, including Ana Belén, Martirio, Javier Krahe, Pasión Vega and Mónica Molina, and has created music for film and for different audiovisual productions. His contribution to the arts earned him the prestigious Medal of Arts from the Andalusian Regional Government.

"Ruibal sings, above all, to carnal love, but like a modern King Midas, everything he touches turns to beauty."- El Païs

"Singing songwriting's best-kept secret. Genuine, popular, intelligent and seductive."- La Razón

"To call his songs love songs is to deny their originality."- The Independent

"Javier Ruibal possesses an exquisite and rigorous desire to integrate with the social history alongside which he lives. His songs are at once beautiful and responsible, intimate and participatory, personal and universal. I believe that his enduring power of conviction depends, above all, on this dual sensibility, human and artistic, which is, in the end, an unforgettable lesson." - José Manuel Caballero Bonald, Spanish novelist, lecturer and poet