Summer Concert Previews 2011
Aired June 8, 2011

Time to crank it up for what is shaping up to be a fantastic summer season of touring Afropop artists! You'll hear Baloji from Congo/Belgium, Freshly Ground from South Africa, Novalima from Peru, Choc Quib Town from Colombia, Yemen Blues from Israel, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Aurelio Martinez from Honduras, Sierra Maestra from Cuba, Seun Kuti from Nigeria, Hakim from Egypt and many others. These concerts are a great excuse for making a trek to New York City for Central Park SummerStage, Celebrate Brooklyn and Midsummer Night's Swing, upstate New York for the GrassRoots Festival, Chicago for World Without Borders, Grand Performances in Los Angeles, and San Francisco for Stern Grove. Check links on afropop.org for these and other festivals.

CONCERTS

* SummerStage (NYC) 

* Celebrate Brooklyn! (NYC)

* Midsummer Night's Swing (NYC)

* Grassroots Festival (NY)

* Music Without Borders (CHI)

*Grand Performances (LA)

* Sterns Grove (SF)

* Concert of Colors (DET)

ARTISTS FEATURED

Aurelio Martinez

Aurelio (Martinez) has been a stalwart of Central American Garifuna tradition and language for decades.  The Garifuna descend from African and Caribbean native peoples, and have a distinct and marginalized culture in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.  Aurelio spent 4 years advocating for his people as an elected representative to the Honduran congress.  But now he has returned to music full time.  He launched his new album, Laru Beya (Next Ambiance), at the 2011 globalFEST extravaganza in New York.  The album includes elements of Senegalese music, introduced through Aurelio's Rolex-funded mentorship with Youssou N'Dour in 2009.

* Afropop Interview

Baloji

Originally born in the Congo but now resides in Belgium, Baloji has really got something special going on with his inventive mix of rap and Congolese soukous, and he is poised to explode this year! Rather than the samples and electronics we've come to expect from rap these days, Baloji's French rhymes danced over the fresh sounds of a killing soukous trio (electric guitar, bass, and drumset). The trio's playing was very dynamic over the course of the show, ranging from standard-issue party-time soukous, to more relaxed numbers like "Independence Cha-Cha" and full-on rockers.

Blitz the Ambassador

A New York MC with roots in Ghana where he grew up. After graduating in Ghana, Blitz moved his life to New York to pursue his dream of being an MC. Good choice, because now he's blowing up. Drawing on his diverse musical background, Blitz is a key player in a new hip hop sound coming out of Africa and the diaspora. He talks all about it in our interview with him for this show. His new album, Native Sun, has just been released.

*Afropop Interview 2011

Bombino

Agadez is a town in the north of Niger. When the off-and-on Tuareg rebellion in that region of North Africa surged again in 2007, the town became a conflict zone. The young guitarist/singer/songwriter Bombino had his first band up and running at the time, but when two members were killed, he fled to Burkina Faso. These experiences—rebellious guitar music, sudden outbursts of violence, flight, nomadism and separation from home and loved ones—are all part and parcel of the Tuareg rock experience. This music forged by the iconic Tuareg band Tinariwen has become a genre, and with this release, Bombino becomes its most exciting new practitioner.

Review of Agadez

Choc Quib Town

This hip-hop trio from Colombia's Pacific coast mixes traditional marimba sounds from the region with modern beats and incendiary flows. Since forming the group's popualrity has sky-rocketed resulting in world tours and numerous music awards.

Debo Band

Hailing from Boston,  the musical inspiration behind Debo Band is an unlikely confluence of Ethiopian pentatonic scales and vocal styles, American soul and funk, and the instrumentation of Eastern European brass bands, including accordion, violins, horns, and drums. Founded by Ethiopian American Danny Mekonnen, a Harvard University educated ethnomusicologist, Debo's performances bring together the best of the last forty years of Ethiopian funk, jazz, and pop, with a reverence for the vintage sounds of the 1970s and a commitment to discovering contemporary gems, as well as developing new compositions.

Group Doueh

Group Doueh is part of a family entertainment business run by Salmou Baamar (aka Doueh), a native of Dakhla, Western Sahara. The rest of the group includes vocalists Halima Jakani (Baamar’s wife) and Bashiri Touballi and keyboardist Jamaal Baamar (his son). Rhythm duties are shared between collective hand claps, Halima’s tbal (a hand drum), and the keyboard’s drum programs.
 
Novalima

Novalima is a Peruvian band. Novalima's style blends Afro-Peruvian music with Electronica, Latin American beats and other contemporary genres. Novalima was created in 2001 as a musical collective by four Peruvian musicians based in several cities around the World: Ramón Perez Prieto (Lima), Grimaldo Del Solar (Barcelona), Rafael Morales (London) and Carlos Li Carrillo (Hong Kong). The four of them became friends while in high school in Lima, and shared a fascination for many types of music, such as rock, pop, salsa, reggae, dance and electronic music.

Oumou Sangare

Mali’s diva Oumou Sangare origins trace back to the Wassoulou region of southern Mali, famous for bluesy rhythms and melodies. Known as the “songbird of Wassoulou”, Oumou  has enjoyed a long career, touring internationally and becoming recognised as the greatest female African star of her generation. Oumou is also recognized as a pionneer advocate for women’s rights. In her lyrics, she sings against practices of arranged marriaged, polygamy, female circumcision. In October 2003 she was appointed as global Ambassadress of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Tinariwen

A band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali, formed in 1979. In the early 2000s Tinariwen started to gain a following outside Africa, first in the world music community, and then among general international audiences, thanks to frequent tours and appearances at major festivals in Europe and the USA. Their compelling biography exhibits passionate invidivuals overcoming oppressive odds.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

Following in the footsteps of his famed father, Fela, Seun began performing at age of 14. After honing his singing voice and musical skills, Seun dropped his first full-length LP to solid reviews. Recently, he just released "From Africa with Fury: Rise" with famed English producer Brian Eno behind the boards for production duties.  

Thomas Mapfumo & Blacks Unlimited

Thomas Mapfumo is a Zimbabwean musician known as "The Lion of Zimbabwe" and "Mukanya" for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music, including his sharp criticism of the government of President Robert Mugabe. He both created and made popular Chimurenga music along with The Blacks Unlimited (a group that came into being after Mapfumo merged his band with singer/guitarist Jonah Sithole's band) and his slow-moving style and distinctive voice is instantly recognizable to Zimbabweans. Currently living in exile within the United States, Mapfumo recently released a new album titled, Exile, to excellent reviews.
 
Tiken Jah Fakoly

A reggae star from the Ivory Coast, Fakoly's lyrics often focus on social and political issues in the Ivory Coast caused by the political environment there. Fakoly has been living in exile quite some time now due to increased political instability in the region.

Yemen Blues

An original and a fascinating meeting between the traditional Yemenite melodies & the world of blues, jazz and funk. the flavors of the West African music roots and the enhanced modern compositions are bringing together a breathtaking experience mixture of beautiful complex grooves.