- Thu Jun 20
Location: BAM R&B Festival (Google Maps)
Time: 12:00 am to 12:00 am
Zozo Afrobeat Orchestra at BAM R&B Festival at the Metrotech Commons. Free!
- Thu Jun 20
Location: Lincoln Center Atrium (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Based in NYC, Matuto plays Brazilian forro-rock that includes happily shredding accordion, alert jazz guitar, and daring fiddle. They just wrapped up a tour through West Africa as a part of a US State Dept diplomacy project.
- Fri Jun 21
Location: Celebrate Brooklyn! Prospect Park Band Shell (Google Maps)
Time: 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm
AMADOU & MARIAM’s 2012 album, Folila, which featured guest spots by Santigold and TV On The Radio among others, was hailed by NME as “a great chuffing masterstroke of genre-less genre mixing,” but it also sparkled with of the Afro-blues sound that has made this blind husband and wife duo one of West Africa’s finest exports. The powerhouse young Taureg guitarist BOMBINO’s playing unfurls with “fast, stuttery, rhythmic hammering, coiling lines inside lines;” (NY Times) he’s been called the Hendrix of the Sahara. Rolling Stone also recently called Bombino's Nomad "The most exciting blues album of the year."
- Sun Jun 23
Location: Central Park Summerstage (Google Maps)
Time: 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Femi Kuti & The Positive Force have blended Funk, Jazz, and African Folk throughout their 27 year career to create a colorful and distinctive sound in the music world. The records tell their story: After a short spell at Motown, Femi Kuti took on the Afrobeat sound with his first international album in 1998 Shoki Shoki, before rubbing shoulders with the modern urban style of his American peers such as Mos Def and Common on the album, Fight To Win. In 2004 he opened The Shrine, the club where he recorded the live album Africa Shrine. He re-emerged in 2008 with Day by Day and Africa for Africa in 2010, for which he received two GRAMMY nominations. In 2012 he was both inducted into the Headies Hall of Fame (the most prestigious music awards in Nigeria) and was the opening act on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ European Tour.
Ahmed Gallab, the Sudanese-born multi-instrumentalist and founder of Sinkane, came to the US with his family at age five and then continued to move around until he was 18, when he settled in Columbus, OH. There, he became part of the city’s hardcore Punk scene. Before making a record of his own, Gallab was best known for lending his musical talents to the likes of Yeasayer, Caribou, and Of Montreal. His music reflects the geographic span of his travels. Mars, his debut was released in 2012. NPR said of the record and its use of collaborations: “Each appearance, like each instrument, is deftly placed by Gallab and used by the artist to help realize his vision rather than merely round out his credits sheet. The result is a body of work that sings on many levels, yet remains tethered to one confident voice.”
King Britt is a producer, composer, performer and curator of electronic music. As a producer/composer, Britt fuses his knowledge of music history from many cultures and genres with electronic compositions, which redefine and re-contextualizes the past into the present. Britt has remixed and produced many diverse artists including Miles Davis, Femi Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, King Sunny Ade as well as scoring commercials for Rolex and L’oreal Paris. From cutting his craft as the wax poetic for the GRAMMY Award winning Digable Planets to traveling solo in different cities and countries, Britt is bringing cultures together through his eclectic taste and live improvised dance/experimental sets.
http://www.uplanme.com/event/NYC-SummerStage-Femi-Kuti-And-The-Positive-Force-Si - Tue Jun 25
Location: St Mary's Park, 146th Street and St. Ann's Avenue (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm
As a successful tropical music vocalist, Ramon "Moncho" Rivera has spent a lifetime singing praises to his famed uncle, Ismael Rivera. After all, Ismael Rivera was the reigning king of soneros of his generation, and since his passing, he's been one of the most revered figures in the history of Salsa in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America. In Moncho's latest album, Mi Regalo En Navidad, he follows in his uncle's footsteps as he celebrates the 'tis to be merry season just like the oldest Rivera did over 40 years ago. One of the highlights of Moncho Rivera's music is that he remains faithful to his uncle's unique and hugely popular singing style.
- Tue Jun 25
Location: River to River Festival: Rockefeller Park (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm
Angelique Kidjo has been deemed “Africa’s premier diva” by Time Magazine, and the moniker speaks accurately to the singular career and life she has forged. Like Miriam Makeba was before her, Kidjo is the continent’s most internationally celebrated female musical exponent. And yet, the Grammy-winning artist has lived outside Africa for more than two decades. She currently resides in New York City, where she is an exceptionally active member of the music scene, and she reaches people around the world with her recordings, tours, and philanthropic work.
ANGELIQUE KIDJO
Grammy award-winning African music recording artist Angelique Kidjo is known for her dynamic and uplifting music and her thrilling live performances. Kidjo has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies in 1996, 2002, and 2011, and at the World Cup opening ceremonies in 2010 for an audience of over 100,000 people. She has collaborated with Dave Matthews, Alicia Keys, Branford Marsalis, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Carlos Santana, John Legend, Herbie Hancock and Cassandra Wilson, and has been a co-star of the world touring show Sing The Truth along with Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright. Kidjo is a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, where through her music, life, and exuberant commitment to advocacy, she exemplifies unity, peace, and diversity throughout the world. Kidjo currently resides in New York City.
For more information about this artist: kidjo.com
http://www.rivertorivernyc.com/artists/angelique-kidjo/ - Wed Jun 26
Location: St Mary's Park, 146th Street and St. Ann's Avenue (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
SummerStage is proud to celebrate the talent of the one and only Hector Lavoe, the influential Puerto Rican Salsa singer who has had a profound impact on Salsa and is still influencing the way songs are produced today. Lavoe was truly a legend of his time, and has been a great inspiration to many of today's Salsa singers.
- Wed Jun 26
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. - Thu Jun 27
Location: Saint Mary's Park, 146th Street and St. Ann's Avenue (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Master Latin percussionist Sammy Garcia is counted as one of the very best amongst such legendary performers as: Conjunto Cl'sico, Willie Col'n, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves, Puerto Rican Power, just to name a few. His professional experience has served as a strong center for his artistic foundation, entertaining diverse audiences around the world. His artistic path has been split between being a musician and a director and has led him to be an innovator in the world of modern Salsa music. This innovative vision is truly realized in his latest project "El Sabor De Puerto Rico", where under the direction of Garcia the "swing" and "cadence" of traditional Salsa music is best exemplified.
http://www.uplanme.com/event/NYC-SummerStage-Sammy-Garcia-y-Sabor-de-Puerto-Rico - Fri Jun 28
Location: Lincoln Center, Damrosch Park (Google Maps)
Time: 6:30 pm to 11:00 pm
Dance Lesson at 6:30
Live Music at 7:30
Dance Instructor: Carlos König teaches Salsa
DJ: Ron McGugins
Salsa dura—the hard-hitting, horn-rich sound of Latin New York in the ’70s—has its masters, and they are returning to Lincoln Center for a rare New York show. Led by founder Oscar Hernandez, who leaped into the scene as a hot-shot arranger for the likes of Rubén Blades and Tito Puente, the Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra will fire up it’s irresistible salsa, thanks to an all-star lineup of some of New York’s hottest players. - Fri Jun 28
Location: Celebrate Brooklyn! Prospect Park Band Shell (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
The legendary South African choral group, still led by its indomitable founder Joseph Shabalala, first won international fame through its work on Paul Simon’s 1986 album, Graceland, but the group has been active for more than half a century. Today they are the living embodiment of Zulu song, and a mobile academy of South African culture. “It isn’t merely the grace and power of their dancing or the beauty of their singing that rivets the attention, but the sheer joy and love that emanates from their being.” (Paul Simon) With the soulful singer and guitarist AURELIO MARTÍNEZ, the standard bearer of Garifuna music and the first black member of Honduras’ National Congress.
http://bricartsmedia.org/events/celebrate-brooklyn/ladysmith-black-mambazo-aurelio-martinez - Sat Jun 29
Location: Celebrate Brooklyn! Prospect Park Band Shell (Google Maps)
Time: 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Brazilian Tropicália trailblazers OS MUTANTES, whose psychedelic collision of The Beatles, John Cage, and Bossa Nova is “pop at its very best and most innovative,” (SPIN) headline a proper airing of the storied label Luaka Bop, founded by David Byrne and devoted to dance music of any denomination from across the globe. JAVELIN brings a sound collage “like an otherworldly radio station based in some crate-digger bunker where genre distinctions are a distant memory” (Pitchfork) to the party, and the Sierra Leonean JANKA NABAY, the undisputed king of Bubu music, starts things off on a festive, frenetic note.
http://bricartsmedia.org/events/celebrate-brooklyn/os-mutantes-javelin-janka-nabay-the-bubu-gang - Wed Jul 10
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. - Thu Jul 18
Location: BAM at The Metrotech Commons (Google Maps)
Time: 12:00 am to 12:00 am
Malian musician Fatuomata Diawara perform at BAM's R&B Festival at the Metrotech Commons. Free!
- Wed Jul 24
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.
