SpokFrevo Orquestra Makes U.S. Debut This Thursday at Lincoln Center

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is located at Broadway between 62nd and 63^rd Streets. For more information, including an updated calendar of performances and programs at the Atrium, visit LincolnCenter.org/Atrium.

Thursday, March 15 at 8:30 p.m.

SPOKFREVO ORQUESTRA (U.S. Debut)

Imagine Duke Ellington’s big band blasting through Carnival in Brazil’s Northeast. The thrilling SpokFrevo Orquestra draws inspiration from frevo, an infectious century-old music of elaborate arrangements and indisputable deep roots, taking it from the alleys of Pernambuco and bringing it into the concert hall with blistering, jazz-influenced arrangements, virtuoso playing, and all the fire and frenzy of a street party. Fronted by musical director/saxophonist Maestro Spok, this 17-musician outfit—saxophone, trumpet, trombone, rhythm sections, bass, and guitar—reinvents tradition without subverting it.

For more information about the artists visit: www.vo-music.com/artiste.php?id=47&lang=en and http://www.myspace.com/spokfrevo.

 

Thursday, March 22 at 8:30 p.m.

Lincoln Center Celebrates Women’s History Month

VLADA TOMOVA’S “BALKAN TALES”

Bulgarian-born, Brooklyn-based vocalist, arranger and composer, Vlada Tomova weaves Balkan and world sensibilities into her own rich, contemporary sound.  She leads her innovative world music group in its current project “Balkan Tales,” a musical journey that reaches far and wide stretching from Tomova’s native Bulgaria to the rest of the Balkans to the Middle East, with flavors of India and Andalusia, recalling Bulgaria’s cultural origins shaped by ancient migrations. For this concert the “Bulgarian vocal sorceress” (NYMosaico.com) is joined by some of New York’s finest musicians: innovative sitarist Chris Rael and singers Valentina Kvasova and Shelley Thomas. Tomova has performed at Symphony Space, Joe’s Pub, The Public Theatre, Irving Plaza, BAM Café, Satalla, S.O.B.’s and Galapagos Art Space and has toured extensively. She is a sought after guest vocalist and recently performed to great acclaim with Balkan Beat Box. She also leads New York’s Bulgarian Women’s Choir, Yasna Voices, which she founded in March 2003.www.vladatomova.com

Thursday, April 5 at 8:30 p.m.

KAMILYA JUBRAN

MAKAN

Kamilya Jubran is a Palestinian musician, composer, singer, and performer. From 1982 to 2002, while part of the Jerusalem based artists’ organization Sabreen, she helped to shape a powerful new style of a modern Arabic song. In 2002 Jubran moved to Europe and found herself constantly traveling between different cities and countries. Makan consists of nine songs by Jubran set to contemporary Arabic texts, including four poems she commissioned from their authors. Preoccupied by the idea of “place,” Jubran examines the different physical and emotional spaces each poet occupied while observing his world. Makan traces Jubran’s own journey of ancient roots and sounds as they collide with modern life and the recent places that continue to shape her experience.

This performance has been curated in collaboration with Zeyba Rahman. Kamilya Jubran is presented in partnership with ArteEast to expand cultural exchanges and deepen understanding of cultures from the Middle East and North Africa regions. Ms. Jubran's appearance is supported by grant from the Ford Foundation administered by ArteEast.

 

Thursday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m.

LINDIGO (New York debut)

From  Réunion Island, the boisterous Lindigo reinvents its roots in Maloya, an ecstatic and propulsive voice and percussion-based music that was banned as recently as the 1960s because of its association with Creole culture. Lindigo was recently featured in the documentary, Creole Cousins, which traced the band’s first visit to Brazil, and the meeting of Réunion’s black identity with the African-rooted culture in Recife.

 

Thursday, May 17 at 8:30 p.m.

ORQUESTA SARABIA (Project Debut)

Featuring

Zafer Taweel – Oud, Canun, Darbuka, Voice
Igor Arias – Congas, Bongos, Voice
Amir El Saffar – Santoor, Trumpet, Voice
Lefteris Bournias – Clarinet
Megan Weeder Gould – Violin
Hadar Noiberg – Ney, Flute
Jennifer Vincent – Bass
Tareq Abboushi – Bouzuk, Percussion, Voice
Uri Sharlin – Accordion, Piano
Roberto Rodriguez – Percussion, Composer

Just think of cooking up a spicy gumbo of Buena Vista Social Club doing the music of Nino Rota, and Farid al-Atrash adding beautiful Cuban, Andalusian and Arabic melodies. It’s what percussionist/composer Roberto Rodriguez calls "All World Music,” “And that's me!” says Rodriguez. That’s Orquesta Sarabia. Known for his mashup of Cuban-Jewish music, Rodriguez continues to evolve as bandleader composer with the debut of Orquesta Sarabia. For his dream project, Rodriguez pushes for a fresh dynamic sound with new arrangements from Baila! Gitano Baila! (his 2004 CD on the downtown Tzadik label), as well as new compositions. With a cosmopolitan cast of talented New York musicians, the band does a tribute a la Rodriguez, to the music of Maurice El Medioni and John Zorn, as well as for two of the musical giants of Algeria, El Medioni and Dahmane El Harrachi, the composer of “Ya Rayah.” Medioni and Rodriguez won BBC Radio 3’s Best CD Of The Year for the “Crossing Cultures" category in 2007 for the CD Descarga Oriental.

 

Go to LincolnCenter.org/Atrium for an updated schedule of Atrium concerts and events.