On Tour with Quantic this Fall across US & Canada
A few weeks back I got a call from my friend Will Holland aka Quantic asking me to join his four-piece band for a bunch of dates all across North America in October. The group will include vocalist Nidia Góngora and drummer/percussionist/vocalist Wilson Viveros!
Here is Nidia with a Quantic's Ondatrópica group:
How could I say no? I'll be playing flute, tenor saxophone, percussion, and some keyboards. Come and hear us play.
Ocote Soul Sounds with Brownout / Brown Sabbath
A few weeks back we got the boys together for a beautiful night of music. Our first live Ocote Soul Sounds show since 2012.
Here's a REVIEW of the show from Joy of Violent Movement
and more PHOTOS by William Ruben Helms
Fall 2016 Performances with Antibalas
After a brief respite in August, we are back out on the road, debuting unreleased songs from our upcoming album and some old surprises
Summer 2016 Performances
- July 12: Lowdown Hudson Music Festival (Brookfield Place, NYC) with Antibalas and the Roots (FREE)
- July 15: SESC Pompeia Choperia (São Paulo, Brazil) with Antibalas
- July 17: Instrumenta Brasilia Festival (Parque da Cidade, Brasilia, BR) with Antibalas
- July 22: Amsterdam Bar and Grill (St. Paul, MN) with Antibalas (Info/Tickets)
- July 29: Lincoln Center Out of Doors (Lincoln Ctr, NYC) with Antibalas, in collaboration with Davido. (FREE)
- August 10: Brooklyn Bowl (Brooklyn) with Ocote Soul Sounds, opening for Brownout.
Daptone Horn Explosion at Prospect Park, Brooklyn
On June 8, we staged a live debut of Bosco Mann's "Fugue In Soul," which we recorded at the Daptone House of Soul a few months back for Daptone's 100th 45 rpm release. Present here are the horn sections from the Dap Kings, Antibalas, Lee Fields and our extended family of musicians.
Here's a fan video of the performance from June 8, 2016 for the inauguration of Celebrate Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Stay tuned for the 45.
New Ocote Soul Sounds 45 out TODAY!
New 45 single release by Ocote Soul Sounds feat. Quantic and Chico Mann. Out 6/17/2016 on Wonderwheel Recordings.
I made some new music with Ocote Soul Sounds! This 45 single with the songs "A Pesar La Vida" and "Not Yet" with Chico Mann and Quantic.
"A Pesar La Vida" featuring Chico Mann on vocals, is dedicated to immigrants, past and present, looking for something better amidst all obstacles.
Thanks to Nicodemus and the Wonderwheel Recordings family for putting this out.
Click on the pic above to buy, or below to listen:
Benin
Members of the band including myself recently collaborated with students and teachers from CIAMO (International Center for Art and Music in Ouidah) and filmmaker Jon Fine and Sarah Dupont on a music + video project (still in progress) to promote methods of malaria prevention. Last year, malaria killed over 400,000 people on the African continent, so it remains a serious problem which destabilizes families and ruins lives and communities on a mass scale. The song and video outline the most effective steps that families can take to protect themselves: protect all members of your family, particularly children under 5, with a mosquito net from dusk until dawn, go to a community health clinic to get checked if you show symptoms.
I received a demo of a song recorded by Sim de Souza and his students at CIAMO last year. The melody and the lyrics - in French and Fon - were beautiful, the bridge, the verses, everything made sense. What we did was speed up the tempo, and suggest that they change the chorus from "We're afraid of you, malaria" to "We'll beat you, malaria". We wrote some horn lines, and tracked drums, bass, guitars, and horns in New York. Then, we sent the track to Angelique Kidjo, who recorded the verses on the song.
In late March, I as part of a four-person US-based crew, flew to Cotonou, Benin, to begin filming and recording the project. We spent our first night in Cotonou and a meeting at the US Embassy, where we met several partners from UNICEF, USAID and ISMA, the audiovisual college in Cotonou.
Arts Collaboration to prevent Malaria
In the upcoming months, I'll be in collaboration with musician/cinematographer Jon Fine of Freed Pictures, members of Antibalas, Angélique Kidjo, UNICEF, and youth from CIAMO (International Center for Art and Music) in Ouidah, Benin, West Africa.
We'll be putting together a song and video that educates the public about the benefits of using mosquito nets and basic health practices to prevent the spread of malaria via the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. While malaria can be found in tropical areas across the world, according to the World Health Organization, "Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 89% of malaria cases and 91% of malaria deaths."
We are tracking rhythm and vocals in New York and will be doing additional vocal and percussion recordings in Benin, hopefully in late March of this year. Video production will be happening simultaneously.
Stay tuned.