We were lucky enough to attend globalFEST's Webster Hall showcase this past January where we were treated to one of the year’s most loaded lineups of quality music: Yasmine Hamdan, Brushy One String and Noura Mint Seymali were just a few of the many great performers present. To hear highlights from that show, check out our program, Afropop Live! NYC, Musical Metropolis.
The good people at globalFEST are not done showering us with great live music. As part of this summer’s Lincoln Center Out of Doors, globalFEST is presenting a full day of concerts and film screenings at multiple locations this Sunday, July 27. Here are a few highlights of what promises to be an excellent outdoor experience.
Sun., July 27, 1 p.m. & 8:15 p.m. at Hearst Plaza
M.A.K.U. Soundsystem
This New York-based group plays around with many different styles, but their roots are in the Afro-Colombian traditions of most of the members' home country. Liliana Conde brings the group’s diverse sound together with intense, expressive singing. Above is the video for last year’s “El Jugo,” a song that tells the difficult story of immigrant life in New York, while the music holds an irresistible horn-filled energy. We wrote more about that video back when it dropped last August.
Sun., July 27, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. at Hearst Plaza
Banda de los Muertos
Banda de los Muertos play a monthly gig at one of Brooklyn’s premiere music venues, Barbès. If you haven’t made it out to one of those shows, this is a great chance to see the brass ensemble, who play in the banda style of Mexico’s Sinaloa state. To hear about the African heritage present in banda, among other Mexican genres, check out our show, La Bamba: The Afro-Mexican Story.
Sun., July 27, 3 p.m. at Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater
The Last Song Before the War
We have long been supporters of Festival in the Desert, the terrific annual festival in northern Mali that has sadly been on hold in the past couple of years due to war and ongoing danger in that area. The Last Song Before the War tells the story of Festival in the Desert, guided by the festival’s director, Manny Ansar. Other participants include Afropop’s own Banning Eyre and many of our favorite artists from northern Mali--Tinariwen, Vieux Farka Touré and Khaïra Arby among them. We produced our own program on Festival in the Desert in 2012, the last year that the festival took place.
Sun., July 27, 5:00 p.m. at Damrosch Park Bandshell
Emile Zrihan
Moroccan-born Israeli singer Emile Zrihan is keeping the Judeo-Andalusian traditions of North Africa alive. Zrihan, who is also a cantor, sings both mawals, Arabic improvisational songs, and Sephardic songs that date back to the Andalus period of musical exchange between Jews, Muslims and Christians in North Africa and Spain. For more on that musical history, check out our Hip Deep show, The Musical Legacy of Al Andalus, Part 2: Africa and Beyond.
Sun., July 27, 6:15 p.m. at Damrosch Park Bandshell
Emeline Michel
Talented Haitian chanteuse Emeline Michel has a captivating voice, which she uses to combine pop with Haitian traditions like twoubadou, compas and rara. Also, as demonstrated by the vintage video above, she can break out some understated, yet enchanting dance moves. Check out our Hip Deep show After the Quake: Music, Politics and Spirituality in Haiti to hear more about the popularization of traditional Haitian styles.
Sun., July 27, 8:15 p.m. at Damrosch Park Bandshell
BaianaSystem
Transmitters of Bahian traditions for a new generation, BaianaSystem combines an electronic take on the guitarra baiana style with reggae and hip-hop. The band is led by singer and rapper Russo Passapusso, who we featured in our recent program, Party and Dissent: World Cup Brazil 2014.
