Mos Def News

Virtuoso vocalist Zeshan B is widely being recognized as one of the most unique singers to come out of Chicago. He will be at the Marcus Center's Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall for one night only on Saturday, September 15 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available in person at the Marcus Center Box Office at 929 North Water Street, Downtown Milwaukee, online at MarcusCenter.org or Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 414-273-7206. Groups 10 or more should call 414-273-7121 x210 or x213. This performance is a collaboration between the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition.

Brooklyn Music School (BMS) announces a Reunify - A Benefit Concert for Displaced Children on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 6pm. Tickets are $15 - $25 and are available at https://reunify.eventbrite.com.

Brooklyn Music School (BMS) announces a Reunify - A Benefit Concert for Displaced Children on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 6pm. Tickets are $15 - $25 and are available at https://reunify.eventbrite.com.

Brooklyn Music School (BMS) announces a Reunify - A Benefit Concert for Displaced Children on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 6pm. Tickets are $15 - $25 and are available at https://reunify.eventbrite.com.  

The National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) will host an award-winning lineup of spoken word artists at its Drop the Mic Poetry Slam and Poetry Symposium on August 17 - 18. Both events are free and open to the public and are designed to stimulate youth participation in modern community dialogue and grassroots activism centered on the social justice legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Saturday 8th September sees jazz, hip-hop and r&b marry rap, poetry and grime, promising food for thought at O2 Academy Brixton.

The 3rd annual Hip Hop Film Festival was held, fittingly, at the historic National Black Theatre founded by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer who moved to Harlem in 1968 and saw that the once vibrant neighborhood was suffering from a sense of hopelessness after the losses of African American leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and desperately needed a community space and cultural arts institution that would 'be reflective of the power, grace and excellence of a people' (according to her daughter and current CEO Sade Lythcott).

The National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) will host an award-winning lineup of spoken word artists at its Drop the Mic Poetry Slam and Poetry Symposium on August 17 - 18. Both events are free and open to the public and are designed to stimulate youth participation in modern community dialogue and grassroots activism centered on the social justice legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Virtuoso vocalist Zeshan B is widely being recognized as one of the most unique singers to come out of Chicago. Blending the hard-driving rhythms and horn heavy sounds of 60s and 70s soul with the angsty scats and vocal stylings of early Indo-Pakistani film/folk music, he has created an entirely new genre that is his very own--Brown Skinned Soul. 

City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, announces composer and multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal, guitar virtuosoCharlie Hunter and more. The following shows go on sale to the public on Thursday, July 5 at noon. All tickets will be available at citywinery.com/chicago.

An excited Flying Lotus shared news of Georgia Anne Muldrow's signing to Brainfeeder earlier this year, prompting knowing smiles and ripples of anticipation amongst fans and commentators who recognised the perfect symbiosis of their musical pathways, heritage and spirituality.

Just in time to add some heat, industry acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter/composer, Nabaté Isles is releasing his debut album, Eclectic Excursions this Summer. Building up to this 2018 release, Nabaté has performed, toured and/or recorded with almost every top musician in the industry such as Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), Christian McBride, Kenny Lattimore, Philip Bailey, Fantasia, Jeffrey Osborne, Jill Scott, and Dianne Reeves, to list a few. In releasing new music this year, he is bringing his artistic journey full circle.

Dream team band R+R=NOW—featuring Robert Glasper on keyboards, Terrace Martin on synthesizer and vocoder, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass, Taylor McFerrin on synth and beatbox, and Justin Tysonon drums—will release their debut album Collagically Speaking (Blue Note) on June 15. The album is available for pre-order today on vinyl, CD or download, along with the new single “Colors In The Dark” which can be streamed or downloaded now. The band's DNA is evident in the song's woozy soul with Martin's robo-coo floating like a hallucination over a lush scene rooted by Hodge's warm bass and featuring a breezy Glasper piano solo that crests in a sudden burst from Tyson.

Dream team band R+R=NOW has released 'Change Of Tone,' the enticing lead track from their forthcoming debut album Collagically Speaking, which will be released June 15 on Blue Note Records. 'Change Of Tone,' which is available today to stream or download, moves with ease between its various sections and styles, highlighting each of this remarkable collective's members along with vocal contributions by Goapele.

Who decides what art is and where it belongs, and what is the role of race, class, and pedigree? THIS IS MODERN ART, the acclaimed and controversial 2014 play by Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval, based on the 2010 "bombing" of the Art Institute of Chicago by an underground graffiti crew, is making its New York debut. The production by Blessed Unrest is directed by Jessica Burr and performing as part of the inaugural season of Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop (79 East 4th Street between Bowery & 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003.)

Nu Civilisation Orchestra and special guest, Soweto Kinch will come together for a spectacular concert on Sunday 29 April at 6pm. This special event is part of the Concrete Dreams Weekend.

Greenway Arts Alliance (Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz, Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors), in association with Da Poetry Lounge, presents the 2ND ANNUAL LA GET DOWN FESTIVAL, celebrating hip-hop and spoken word. The festival takes place from April 7 - 28, 2018. Events will be held at the Greenway Court Theatre (544 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles) and Melrose Trading Post (7850 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles). Da Poetry Lounge Co-Founder Shihan Van Clief serves as Festival Artistic Director.

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) continues its 2017-2018 season, under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel, Music Director George Manahan, and President Edward Yim, with Dreamscapes, on Friday, April 6, 2018 at 7:30pm at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (57th St. and 7th Ave.).

The biographical musical Soul Doctor tells the incredible story of real-life 'singing rabbi' Shlomo Carlebach and his unlikely friendship with Nina Simone, the high priestess of soul. Together their music became an important voice of social change.   A smash hit off Broadway, this spirited San Diego production begins Tuesday, April 3 and will run for three weeks only at the Lyceum Theatre in downtown San Diego, the first stop on a major tour which heads to the Saban Theatre in Los Angeles, May 3- 13 and then to the Hirsch Theater in Jerusalem.