The World Music Institute Launches 30th Anniversary Season with LUSOPHONE FESTIVAL, 9/15-18

World Music Institute opens its spectacular 30th Anniversary Season with a four-night cross-cultural Lusophone Festival, featuring music from the Portuguese-speaking world with artists from Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, and Mozambique. FromSeptember 15-18, back-to-back concerts take place at venues around town including Le Poisson Rouge, Drom NYC, and The Town Hall.

Under new leadership and with new staff, World Music Institute celebrates this milestone season with an expansion of concert offerings that reflects a contemporary and avant-garde spirit, and the launch of new partnerships with BAM, 92nd Street Y, Storm King Art Center, Le Poisson Rouge, and Drom.

Os Mutantes are the pioneers of Brazilian avant-garde, and this show at LPR marks their World Music Institute debut. WMI Artistic Director Par Neiburger compares them to "the earlier, experimental Pink Floyd."

The late '60s in Brazil produced an explosion of new sounds and ideas that still reverberate throughout the world. During that time, Os Mutantes created a unique psychedelic sound that brought them international attention, earning them a lasting legacy. Their music weaves together musical influences from the English speaking world-inspirations include John Cage, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix-with bossa nova, samba, and other styles from their native Brazil.

Os Mutantes' ethereal absurdist pop music, sonic collage approach and tendency for cultural irony has influenced many prominent musicians, from the Flaming Lips to David Byrne. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was tipped to the band by members of the band Red Kross. When Nirvana toured Brazil in 1993, Cobain tried to arrange a meeting with Mutante bassist/singer Arnaldo Baptista. Unable to locate the musician he sent him the following note: "Arnaldo, best wishes to you, and be careful with the system. They swallow you up and spit you out like a maraschino cherry pit."

A truly exquisite Fado singer, the elusive and esoteric Lula Pena-one of the greatest singers born in Portugal-makes her WMI debut. Her works draws on international influences to add new textures to Portugal's ancient musical genre, as she blends traditional fado with Portuguese folk, French chanson, Cape Verdean morna, and Brazilian bossa nova. With a commanding yet sensitive voice, Pena performs solo guitar and sings of passion and pain, mirroring her personal journey as both musician and poet.

Ana Carolina's musical talent brought her immediate success: she began performing in local venues in 1998, and her first album earned her a Latin Grammy nomination only a year later. Today, she is one of the most important and popular voices in Brazil. World Music Institute is thrilled to present her for the first time. A skilled songwriter, Carolina draws on the wide range of music that she loves, from Chico Buarque, Maria Bethânia, and João Bosco to Björk and Nina Simone. Carolina is a talented multi-instrumentalist, performing on both guitar and percussion and especially lauded for her skillful playing of the pandeiro, a Brazilian tambourine-like instrument.

The evening also features the Cape Verde-born vocalist Fantcha, protégé of Cesaria Evora. Her music offers a unique blend of African, Cuban, and Portuguese inflections, embracing a wide range of emotions. Her sensuous voice is as compelling when evoking the longing in soulful mornas, as when she turns to energetic renditions of coladeras. Fantcha has toured throughout Cape Verde, Europe, and the U.S., with performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Chicago World Music Festival, New York's Summerstage, and Joe's Pub.

Raised in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (known as Zaire at the time) with Angolan family roots, Ricardo Lemvo moved to the U.S. at age 15 to continue his education. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in political science. In 1990 he formed the band Makina Loca. The group's "seamless, organic and infectious" (Los Angeles Times) blend of Cuban and African rumba and soukous, Angolan kizomba and samba, and Cuban son and salsa has garnered them critical acclaim in the decades since. "Ricardo Lemvo blends Cuba, Congo into one soulful package," wrote The Chicago Tribune, calling him "one of the few artists in tropical music today who is moving the genre forward."

Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca's latest album is La Rumba SoYo, a multinational undertaking that was recorded on three continents and in four countries (US, Canada, France and Angola). It took Lemvo three years to complete and saw him dive even deeper into his Angolan roots for inspiration.

Isabel Novella, a stunning new Afropolitan voice from Mozambique, will open the program. Unique in style and performance, Novella has carved her own niche as an artist who straddles soul-bossa jazz, marrabenta-bossa, and up beat Afro-soul to create a sound that Novella calls "pop-world soul."

WORLD MUSIC INSTITUTE

launches its 30th Anniversary Season with a unique

LUSOPHONE FESTIVAL

September 15-18 at LPR, Drom, and The Town Hall
A four-night cross-cultural festival of music from the Portuguese-speaking
world with artists from Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique

featuring

Os Mutantes

The kings of Brazilian psychedelia
Tuesday, September 15, 8:00 p.m.
Le Poisson Rouge
$30 in Advance, $35 Day of Show
TICKETS

Lula Pena

The reclusive and spectacular Fado singer from Lisbon
Wednesday, September 16, 8:00 p.m.
Drom NYC
$25 in Advance, $30 At the Door
TICKETS

Ana Carolina

with Fantcha

One of the grand stars of Brazil's new guard,
along with the multi-dimensional Cape Verde vocalist
Thursday, September 17, 8:00 p.m.
The Town Hall
$55-$75
TICKETS

Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca

with Isabel Novella

The African Salsa ambassador from Angola
along with a stunning new Afropolitan voice from Mozambique
Friday, September 18, 10:00 p.m.
Drom NYC
$30
TICKETS

Tickets for all World Music Institute events are available for purchase online atwww.worldmusicinstitute.org, or by calling 1-888-596-1027

Photo Courtesy of the World Music Institute

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