African music will light up Harlem on June 1 as the MAFRIKA Music Festival comes to town for the third year. The festival will be held in Marcus Garvey Park at the bandshell near the 122nd Street and Mt. Morris Park West entrance of Marcus Garvey Park from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Ten bands will be featured, as well as a display of traditional art and dance. Last year’s gathering drew more than 2,000 people.
This year’s acts will include:
-
The Superpowers. Praised as a “polyrhythmic juggernaut” by music critics, this vibrant band from Boston combines an African soul with a jazzy base. They have played more than 100 venues in the past year, helping raise awareness of social causes like peace in Darfur, Zambian refugees and fair trade in South America.
- Pink Noise. This art-rock act from Tel Aviv mixes the unexpected within the mundane. “They are precise almost to a fault, like four musicians playing with a shared brain,” said The Deli magazine. “The result is tight, complex, and fascinating.”
- Mai Lingani. One of the most acclaimed vocalists to hail from her native Burkina Faso, Lingani was a 1990s staple of Zaka, that nation’s premier music club. She has since performed at venues as diverse as the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria; the World Music Meeting in Nijmegen, The Netherlands; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Strasbourg, France; and New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
- Brown Rice Family. Combining roots music with a healthy dose of fun and playfulness, this world music ensemble from New York uses harmonicas, ukuleles and chekers in addition to guitars, trumpets and drums.
- Devirock. “It’s apt that the band name is the Hindi word for goddess,” wrote Trifectagram. “The petite, pantheonic powerhouse is one of the few guitarists alive who can actually pull off a long, expressive solo without sounding ridiculously self-indulgent. A master of touch, tone and shading, she’s also a supersonic fret-burner with a deep feel for the blues and writes hauntingly memorable songs.”
- Konny. A native of Burkina Faso, this vibrant artist plays reggae with an African twist, in the tradition of Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly. His music calls for peace and reconciliation.
- Sugar Report. This Lower East Side band is known as much for their crisp suits as their midnight lyrical style. The music is smoky and alluring.
- Apollo Heights. The core of this rock act was formed from The Veldt, and the new lineup “flips hip hop programming on its head to make use of the guitar driven feed-back, adding a down south flavor all its own.” Their debut CD “White Music for Black People” was released last year by Manimal Vinyl.
- Terry Blaine. Jamaica-born with New York style, Blaine came to reggae music through the Rastafarians and their interest in human rights and the dignity of man. He has toured throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
- Zoza Afrobeat. Their name means “something hot” in the indigenous languages of Goun and Fon and this 13-piece band from Nigeria and Benin is true to their label. Producing music that “could move a corpse’s toe,” Zozo mixes a political message with fire and grace. They have played at the Lincoln Center “Out of Doors” Festival, the Brooklyn Museum, and various clubs in New York.
For information about the festival and its mission, visit: Mafrika.com
Advertisement
Posted in: Uncategorized
On2
May 1, 2008
African drummers please go away, enough already! None of them live their and have to tolerate their audio pollution, they will not let me take my bagpipes in front of their house and play all day and into the night.
Oh, I forgot, people have the right to take loud instruments and create great noise, isn’t that the argument? None of this would be tolerated if they did this in Central Park or numerous other parks. It’s only Harlem where noise ordinances are not upheld. Lovely.