651 ARTS ANNOUNCES THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA HERITAGE PROJECT
651 ARTS ANNOUNCES
THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA HERITAGE PROJECT
A multi-evening series of music, theater and dance
celebrating the Mississippi Delta
Featuring:
Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba
Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band
Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely
Olu Dara and Dianne McIntyre
T-Model Ford
Terry “Harmonica” Bean
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Marie Knight
Robert Belfour
Lobi Traoré | Corey Harris
Michael Hill
Cassandra Wilson
(Brooklyn, New York – April 16, 2008) This spring, Brooklyn-based presenting organization, 651 ARTS dedicates its entire annual season to the culture, artists and influence of the Mississippi Delta in The Mississippi Delta Heritage Project. While the history and impact of the Delta Blues tradition is undisputed, few are aware of the contemporary artistry that continues to thrive in the region. The Mississippi Delta Heritage Project provides a glimpse of this flourishing artistic culture to New York audiences. Connections to Delta natives throughout history as well as to cutting-edge artists inspired by the Delta tradition are also showcased. 651’s Delta Heritage Project is born out of the desire to preserve and illuminate a very particular but profound part of contemporary culture.
MORE…
Acclaimed musicians Cassandra Wilson, Corey Harris, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Marie Knight, Mali’s Lobi Traoré, the late Otha Turner’s grandaughter, Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, T-Model Ford, Terry “Harmonica” Bean, Michael Hill and Robert “Wolfman” Belfour will participate in a series of live concerts, master classes and educational activities over a week-long period from June 1st – 7th. Venues include the BAM Harvey Theater, the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, BRICstudio and The Brooklyn Masonic Temple. In homage to what is often considered a notorious source of Delta music and blues, 651 ARTS will convert Ft. Greene hotspot, Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, into a late night juke joint offering a firsthand look at some of the Delta’s best and most fascinating bluesmen up close and personal. Catfish and blues will abound on Saturday, June 7 in Central Park, where 651 ARTS will be presenting Brooklyn blues musician Michael Hill at the 28th annual Way Up North in Mississippi Picnic. This event is free and open to the public.
In addition to the musical performances listed above, 651 remains committed to developing new work and has commissioned three performance works related to or by artists from the Delta. A work-in-progress by collaborating master choreographers – Reggie Wilson and Congolese Andréya Ouamba takes place on May 9th and 10th (a co-presentation with French Institue Alliance Française). Wilson and Ouamba show excerpts of their new work The Good Dance which compares the cultural and artisitc dynamics of their upbringings adjacent to the Mississippi and Congo rivers. New theater work Delta Rising by acclaimed directors and writers, Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks will premiere on May 28th and 29th. Delta Rising is part of Ping Chong and Co.’s Undesireable Elements Series and uses the real stories and performances of a diverse group of Delta ex-patriots. Finally, legendary choreographer Dianne McIntyre teams up with with lifelong -collaborator master jazzman, Olu Dara in a work-in-progress of Peaches, Plums and Pontifications on June 3rd and 4th. Peaches, Plums and Pontifications adds storytelling and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, as well as tales gathered from individual storytellers, friends and family to the choreography and music for which Dara and McIntyre are known.
To round out a continued mission of outreach in the Brooklyn community, humanities events and educational programming (workshops and public lectures) will take place at community-based organizations and public schools throughout the year.
Tickets are on sale now, and prices range from $10- $100.
For more information about tickets, call 718-636-4181 x2229, or go to www.651ARTS.org.
DANCE/MUSIC
Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group and
Andréya Ouamba/Compagnie 1er TEMPS
KWENDA VUTUKA (Come Go Return)
Fri & Sat, May 9 & 10 8pm
FIAF, Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th, Manhattan
$25, Students w/ID, FIAF Members $20
A co-presentation with French Institute Alliance Française as part of World Nomads: Africa
“Rooted in the vibrancy of rhythm, the works Reggie Wilson makes for his Fist and Heel Performance Group are elegantly structured; the man knows how to build a dance.”
—Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice
Choreographers Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba have both focused on the genealogy of culture in their work. In this special presentation, both artists will show works from their diverse repertoires, including the seminal Fist & Heel work, Untitled; Wilson’s critically-acclaimed, INTRODUCTION; Andréya Ouamba’s award-winning, Impro-visé 2; and a work-in-progress excerpt of, The Good Dance – a piece that is, in part, an investigation of the metaphoric, historic and real world parallels of the Mississippi and Congo rivers and the cultures that surround them. Using movement and music drawn from blues and worship traditions, this piece considers the influences - both real and metaphorical - of Central African culture on world performance forms.
Reggie Wilson founded his company, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, in 1989. Wilson draws from the movement languages of the blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas and combines them with post-modern elements and his own personal movement style to create what he sometimes calls “post-African/Neo-HooDoo Modern dances.” His work has been presented internationally at Linkfest and Festival e’Nkindleni (Zimbabwe), Queen’s Hall (Trinidad and Tobago), Israel Museum (Israel), Dance Factory (South Africa), Danças na Cidade (Portugal), as well as venues throughout the U.S. including Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Jacob’s Pillow, and Joe’s Pub.
Andréya Ouamba was born in Pointe-Noire in Congo Brazzaville. He began his artistic career in 1993 after meeting Chrysogone Diangouaya (Artistic Director of the ballet theatre, Monana, and founder of the Mabina-Danse Festival in Brazzaville). Ouamba then joined her ballet company as Assistant Choreographer. Living in Dakar since 2000, Ouamba has collaborated with Marianne Niox, Michelle Rioux (Canada) and PIer Ndoumbé (Cameroon). That same year, he created the Compagnie 1er Temps. Since then, his company has toured throughout the world.
THEATER
Ping Chong & Talvin Wilks
DELTA RISING
Wed & Thur, May 28 & 29 8pm
BRICstudio, 57 Rockwell Place, Brooklyn
$12
651 ARTS has commissioned and will present a theater work by acclaimed directors Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks that uses the life stories of people who come from the Mississippi Delta or whose families come from the Delta. Delta Rising follows the format of Chong’s Undesirable Elements projects and provides an artistically beautiful and historical testament to the diversity, vibrancy and complex history of the region. Delta Rising has an ethnically diverse cast that dispels misunderstanding about the region and testifies to its unique culture.
Undesirable Elements productions explore issues of race, culture, identity, and “otherness.” Each production is made in a specific community, with local participants’ stories interwoven into a script, which is performed by the participants themselves, not actors. Since 1992, Ping Chong & Company has made over 30 works in this series, in communities around the United States and abroad. The series is designed to encourage dialogue and gives voice to individuals whose stories frequently go unheard. Ping Chong is a world-renowned theater director, choreographer, and visual installation artist. He founded Ping Chong & Company in 1975, which has since created over 50 productions that have been presented at major venues around the world. Talvin Wilks is an award-winning director and dramaturg. He has collaborated with Ping Chong on seven Undesirable Elements productions. For more background, please visit www.undesirableelements.org.
MUSIC
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band
Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely
Sunday, June 1 7pm
Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 317 Clermont Ave, Brooklyn
$20
Presented in association with boomBOOM Presents
Otha Turner’s legacy lives on! Considered the godfather of hill country blues, Turner was the first to bring fife and drum music – which evolved when Civil War marching band music coincided with the syncopated rhythms of West Africa - to listeners outside of Mississippi. Otha Turner played this music for over 60 years. After his death in 2003, Turner’s granddaughter, fourteen year-old Sharde Thomas became the appointed heir and leader of her grandfather’s group – The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. Like her grandfather, Sharde sings with surprising bravado. Incanting hymnals and blues enumerations, she crowns the march with her grandfather’s fife -- a crudely fashioned cane flute which marks the air with high, bright melodies. In this rare performance at the Masonic Temple in Ft. Greene, the now 18 year-old Sharde makes her first New York City appearance since the passing of her grandfather.
Toshi Reagon is an artist who credits her musical chops to her parents’ activist and musician roles in the Civil Rights movement. While defying categorization, Reagon’s musical style has clear roots in the American south and Delta Blues traditions. Her music is powerfully soulful and clearly rooted in folk, gospel and the blues. The energy of Reagon’s live shows – with her band, BIGLovely is infectious, and has captured the interest of musicians from Lenny Kravitz to Elvis Costello to Ani DiFranco. Reagon has followed in her mother’s footsteps (internationally revered founder of Sweet Honey In the Rock, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon) as a woman who uses her artistry to raise political consciousness as well as to blend diverse American musical forms into a distinct contemporary genre all her own. Her music is a tribute to the brilliance of previous generations of musicians and her talent, creativity and originality demonstrate the expansive and dynamic ways that Reagon is moving history forward.
DANCE/MUSIC
Olu Dara & Dianne McIntyre
PEACHES, PLUMS AND PONTIFICATIONS a work-in-progress
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 3 & 4 8pm
BRICstudio, 57 Rockwell Place, Brooklyn
$12
When celebrated artists musician Olu Dara and choreographer Dianne McIntyre get together, magic happens. As longtime collaborators, Dara and McIntyre have created a number of dance theater pieces whose narrative elements take shape through music and dance. In this work-in-progress, acclaimed dancer/choreographer McIntyre explores stories from the Mississippi Delta, the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, as well as tales gathered from individual storytellers, friends and family. Joining McIntyre onstage will be celebrated music master, storyteller, trumpeter, bluesman, folk singer, jazz artist, avant-garde innovator, comedian and storehouse of African American music history, Mississippi native, Olu Dara. A multi-dimensional company of artists including Camille A. Brown, Tessa Reese, Kyle Primous, and Shireen Dickson make up the cast.
Olu Dara is a multi-talented entertainer who has been performing since he was 8 years old. Born (1941) in Natchez, Miss, Olu landed in New York in 1963 after a stint in the US Navy, which took him all over the world. Back in Brooklyn, Olu turned to music to survive. During the 1970s and '80s, he gained a reputation as a trumpet/cornet player who could handle all aspects of jazz. On the one hand he could perform with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1973-74), but he could also handle the demands of the free-flowing avant-garde style, which formed the basis of the New York loft scene of that period. But jazz was not the only musical style he was involved with, and gradually he turned away from it as increasingly he began to lead his own ensembles. In the 1980s Olu put together 2 ensembles: Okra Orchestra, a 7-plus-member band, and the Natchezsippi Dance Band, a 5-piece unit. Since then this has been Olu's preferred musical environment for creating the roots-based musical style that the audience now hears.
Dianne McIntyre is known primarily for her themes reflecting Black culture and for collaborations with master musicians like Lester Bowie, Max Roach, Don Pullen, Cecil Taylor, Olu Dara and Butch Morris. As a child, McIntyre studied with Elaine Redmond and Virginia Dryansky. After receiving a BFA in Dance from Ohio State University, she ventured to New York City, studying with Viola Farber and performing with Gus Solomons, Jr. Her company, Sounds in Motion, toured internationally in the 1970’s and 80’s while she also ran a popular studio in Harlem where many dance artists were mentored. Her dance works have been performed at Joyce Theater, City Center, BAM, Kennedy Center, Walker Arts Center, Dance Theatre Workshop, Summerstage at Central Park, Lincoln Center and countless performing arts and university centers nationally. In 2006, McIntyre was awarded a Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement.
MUSIC
T-Model Ford
Tuesday, June 3 10pm
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
$10
T-Model Ford is the reigning dictator of bad-man Mississippi electric blues. Born in Forrest, Mississippi, he didn’t learn the guitar until he was in his 70s, but T-Model has been a bluesman all his life. From the cotton field to the lumberyard to the local jail, he has done his share of hard-living. Rick Bragg of The New York Times once joked, "He did not sell his soul, as legend says Robert Johnson did, to master the blues. The Devil, people say, would run from Mr. Ford." T-Model’s unforgiving guitar technique has kinship with Muddy Waters, but his persona is unlike anyone in the world - when T-Model’s in the room, you’re guaranteed a show. Records by T-Model include, Pee Wee Get My Gun; You Better Keep Still; She Ain't None of Your'n; and Bad Man. Part of 651 ARTS’ Late Night Juke Joint Series.
MUSIC
Terry “Harmonica” Bean
Wednesday, June 4 10pm
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
$10
Terry Bean’s blues harmonica is a time-machine that teaches you how to listen: “What’s stimulating me,” he says, “is people hearing the blues played like they used to hear it.” Terry takes the world of Mississippi – his years of picking cotton and growing up around his father’s house parties – and shapes it into something fresh. Like Little Walter before him, Terry blows the blues and gets people dancing. He hangs tough in duets with Mississippi bad-man, T-Model Ford, but Terry “Harmonica” Bean is also an incredible solo act. When he’s not playing original material, Terry’s resonator guitar brings new vigor to blues classics such as “Back Door Man” and “Big Boss Man.” Part of 651 ARTS’ Late Night Juke Joint Series.
MUSIC
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Marie Knight
Kumble Theater at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus
Thursday, June 5 8pm
$20 | $15 students and seniors (in person only)
Presented in partnership with the New York Blues & Jazz Society
This evening’s line up examines the connections between Delta Blues and gospel traditions. Two powerful vocalists share a program where each is linked but they maintain distinct styles.
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes is a practitioner and conscious advocate of a distinctive blues style called Bentonia blues - from his hometown, Bentonia, Mississippi - whose most famous proponent was blues pioneer Skip James. Like James before him, Holmes’ style is characterized by distinctive open tunings, the use of falsetto, dark lyrical themes, and an overall eerie quality – it is music that opens the door to an older Mississippi. He is also proprietor of one of the longest - standing juke joints in Mississippi, The Blue Front, in Bentonia. Recorded initially by Alan Lomax in the 1970s, Holmes has only recently found critical and popular acclaim outside of his home-state.
A fine gospel singer, with a ringing, signifying voice, Marie Knight attracted attention while singing in the choir at the Oakwood Avenue Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She made some 78s for Brunswick Records in 1953 and later some EPs and an album for Mercury Records that found her well and truly in the gospel fold. Her fame spread further than many of her kindred spirits owing to some excellent duets she performed with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, notably ecstatic versions of "Up Above My Head" and "Didn't It Rain", the latter recorded for Brunswick. In 2003 Marie Knight was recruited to sing a track for the highly successful CD, Shout Sister Shout, A Tribute to Sister Rosetta on M.C. Records. Since its release in August 2003 Marie Knight has performed on syndicated radio programs Mountain Stage and Wood Songs Radio Hour. She has been interviewed for NPR's Weekend Edition. Marie Knight was also part of two successful Tribute shows in New York City with The Holmes Brothers and Odetta.
MUSIC
Robert Belfour
Thursday, June 5 10pm
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton Street (Fort Greene)
$10
The everyday problems of Mississippi are fodder for Robert “Wolfman” Belfour’s hard-willed examinations of love and loneliness. With a kind heart and a blood-thirsty rhythm, Belfour’s acoustic blues build upon the great strides made by his fellow Mississippians, including Junior Kimborough and Otha Turner. His solo recordings include, What’s Wrong With You; and Pushin’ My Luck. At sixty, Belfour's guitar playing is mature and highly accomplished; his voice, biting and powerful, and the sound is pure country blues. Belfour left the hills of North Mississippi forty years ago but his music never did. Part of 651 ARTS’ Late Night Juke Joint Series.
MUSIC
Lobi Traoré
Corey Harris and the 5x5 Band
Friday, June 6 8pm
Kumble Theater at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus
$25
This double-bill is a great example of the deep connections between West African and Delta musical traditions.
From Bamako to Brooklyn, Malian guitarist and vocalist Lobi Traoré embodies the full power of the African diaspora. Called the inventor of Bambara blues -- a sound which is associated with the Bambara people of Mali, his music resembles the progression of a twelve-bar blues, and his guitar style has been compared to something between John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Page. Traoré’s breakthrough album, Bamako, produced by Ali Farka Touré, was released in 1994. It was voted one of the best rock albums of the year by Libération and one of the best world music albums by Le Monde. For one night only, 651 ARTS will present Traoré on electric guitar with his bass player, Brehima Kouyate, both of whom will travel from Mali for this singular Brooklyn event. They will be joined at the Kumble by an all-star cast of NYC musicians, and are co-billed with bluesman extraordinaire, Corey Harris.
In a career that spans more than a decade, critically acclaimed Corey Harris is more than just a bluesman; he is a pilgrim in search of his music’s earliest origins, from beyond the Mississippi to the continent of Africa. Not only a master of the blues, Harris is an explorer of many styles, with sounds ranging from blues to reggae, hip-hop, Latin, funk, and R&B. His critically acclaimed albums include Mississippi to Mali; Daily Bread; and Zion Crossroads. Over the years he has worked with some of the most respected musicians playing today – both within and outside of the blues tradition, including Wilco and Ali Farka Touré. In addition to his prolific work in the recording studio, Harris also starred in the Martin Scorsese documentary, Feel Like Going Home, an installment that took him to Mali for the blues series that aired on PBS in 2003. In 2007, Harris was awarded a MacArthur Award for excellence.
MUSIC
Michael Hill Blues Mob
Saturday, June 7 afternoon
The Way Up North in Mississippi Picnic
Central Park (5th Avenue, at 97th Street)
Free
Raised in the South Bronx, Michael Hill began playing guitar at age 18 and started the band Wild Honey (briefly Brown Sugar) with his siblings Wynette, Kathy and Kevin, some childhood friends and two cousins. In 1985 he was invited to join the band of poet/performer Sekou Sundiata and keyboardist Doug Booth; Sekou was to become a major influence and inspiration. The band also included Vernon Reid, who introduced Michael to the Black Rock Coalition. Over the years Michael has been privileged to perform or record with Little Richard, Carla Thomas, Harry Belafonte, Archie Bell and B.B. King, and has jammed with numerous blues heroes, friends and colleagues, including Buddy Guy and Luther Allison. Recognized as one of modern blues' "most talented songwriters and guitarists" (Living Blues) and known for "uncompromising musical and lyrical integrity" (Goldmine), Michael has clearly learned much from his heroes, especially the importance of originality.
Begun in 1979, The New York Mississippi Picnic reunites native Mississippians living in New York and current residents of the Magnolia State. The event also educates people about the many wonderful assets of both areas. The gathering brings the down-home southern style of Mississippi to the heart of Manhattan.
MUSIC
Cassandra Wilson
BAM Harvey Theater
Saturday, June 7 8pm
$100/$85/$70/$55/$40
“Wilson’s smoky voice is a treasure” USA Today
Grammy-winning vocalist, songwriter, producer, Cassandra Wilson never fails to surprise and inspire. Sexy, honey-velvet vocals wrapped around her own jazzy blue compositions or inventive interpretations of others’ material led TIME magazine to name her “America’s Best Singer”. As a proud Mississippian, Wilson has also committed much of her career to preserving Mississippi’s cultural heritage and supporting the advancement of contemporary Mississippi musicians. On
June 7, Wilson will perform for a one night only concert at the beautiful BAM Harvey Theater to celebrate the release of her new album, Loverly. She will be joined onstage by Jonathan Batiste on piano, Marvin Sewell on guitar, Lekan Babalola on percussion, EJ Strickland on drums, and Reginald Veal on bass.
Cassandra Wilson was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and 70s by musician and educator parents. Wilson studied piano for 13 years and played clarinet in the concert and marching bands of junior high school. During the 70s, she could be found performing Joni Mitchell songs behind an acoustic guitar, or in front of a large funk band, or in the company of long-time friends in an all-girls band. After a stint as the main vocalist with Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, Cassandra began recording on her own. Her development can be tracked through her discography. From the standards on Blue Skies to the Grammy-winning New Moon Daughter, to the combination of originals and interpretations played by a collection of Mississippi and New York musicians on both the 2001 release, Belly of the Sun, and 2003’s Glamoured, Cassandra continues to evolve as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer. In 2000, Wilson returned to Mississippi to establish Ojah Media Group. Ojah, a Yoruba word meaning, “the marketplace,” is an independent multi-media entity dedicated to documenting and marketing the unique sounds emanating from Mississippi’s fertile soil, and its multi-cultural influences. Cassandra Wilson is a world renowned vocalist, songwriter and producer, with an extraordinary following, but at heart she is still a Mississippi girl whose art reflects her deep musical and cultural roots, anchored in the fertile Mississippi soil. Cassandra's newest album, Loverly, her first album of standards since 1988’s Blue Skies, is scheduled for release on June 10, 2008 on Blue Note.
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ABOUT 651 ARTS
Founded in 1988, 651 ARTS is Brooklyn's premier performing arts presenter of contemporary dance, theater, music, and humanities programming celebrating the breadth of the African Diaspora. 651 ARTS has brought culturally resonant arts programming and artists to its home at the BAM Harvey Theater and surrounding geographic area for the past 19 years, with over 600 artists and artistic ensembles—from Cuba to Trinidad, Senegal to South Africa, Brooklyn to Brazil. 651 ARTS continues to expand programming to encompass a panoramic view of the arts of the African Diaspora, solidifying a vital connection to its community and its changing demographics, while maintaining its high standards of artistic excellence.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
boomBOOM Presents is a New York based live music booking and production company. Showcasing an eclectic mix of artists and an all-inclusive aesthetic palette, boomBOOM Presents is dedicated to providing ideal concert experiences for both performers and audiences.
FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française) is a not-for-profit organization created in 1898 by American Francophiles to promote and enhance knowledge of French and Francophone culture. FIAF has become one of the largest and most respected centers of French-American activities in the United States, widely known as the home of New York’s foremost French language school, the leading all-French library in the country, and New York’s only performing arts center dedicated to French and Francophone culture. FIAF's mission is to encourage interaction and better understanding between French-speaking and American communities by creating programs in the arts and education that provide appealing, accessible, and innovative experiences.
The New York Blues and Jazz Society The New York Blues & Jazz Society is a not-for-profit, all-volunteer organization that exists through membership and donations. We are dedicated to educating the public about blues and jazz music, and supporting area musicians who perform these important cultural genres.
651 ARTS SPONSORS
651 ARTS’ 2008 Season is sponsored in part by the following:
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, The New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Independence Community Foundation, Tides Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Con Edison, Altria, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Council Member Letitia James, National Performance Network, and NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA HERITAGE PROJECT
A multi-evening series of music, theater and dance
celebrating the Mississippi Delta
Featuring:
Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba
Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band
Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely
Olu Dara and Dianne McIntyre
T-Model Ford
Terry “Harmonica” Bean
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Marie Knight
Robert Belfour
Lobi Traoré | Corey Harris
Michael Hill
Cassandra Wilson
(Brooklyn, New York – April 16, 2008) This spring, Brooklyn-based presenting organization, 651 ARTS dedicates its entire annual season to the culture, artists and influence of the Mississippi Delta in The Mississippi Delta Heritage Project. While the history and impact of the Delta Blues tradition is undisputed, few are aware of the contemporary artistry that continues to thrive in the region. The Mississippi Delta Heritage Project provides a glimpse of this flourishing artistic culture to New York audiences. Connections to Delta natives throughout history as well as to cutting-edge artists inspired by the Delta tradition are also showcased. 651’s Delta Heritage Project is born out of the desire to preserve and illuminate a very particular but profound part of contemporary culture.
MORE…
Acclaimed musicians Cassandra Wilson, Corey Harris, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Marie Knight, Mali’s Lobi Traoré, the late Otha Turner’s grandaughter, Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, T-Model Ford, Terry “Harmonica” Bean, Michael Hill and Robert “Wolfman” Belfour will participate in a series of live concerts, master classes and educational activities over a week-long period from June 1st – 7th. Venues include the BAM Harvey Theater, the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, BRICstudio and The Brooklyn Masonic Temple. In homage to what is often considered a notorious source of Delta music and blues, 651 ARTS will convert Ft. Greene hotspot, Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, into a late night juke joint offering a firsthand look at some of the Delta’s best and most fascinating bluesmen up close and personal. Catfish and blues will abound on Saturday, June 7 in Central Park, where 651 ARTS will be presenting Brooklyn blues musician Michael Hill at the 28th annual Way Up North in Mississippi Picnic. This event is free and open to the public.
In addition to the musical performances listed above, 651 remains committed to developing new work and has commissioned three performance works related to or by artists from the Delta. A work-in-progress by collaborating master choreographers – Reggie Wilson and Congolese Andréya Ouamba takes place on May 9th and 10th (a co-presentation with French Institue Alliance Française). Wilson and Ouamba show excerpts of their new work The Good Dance which compares the cultural and artisitc dynamics of their upbringings adjacent to the Mississippi and Congo rivers. New theater work Delta Rising by acclaimed directors and writers, Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks will premiere on May 28th and 29th. Delta Rising is part of Ping Chong and Co.’s Undesireable Elements Series and uses the real stories and performances of a diverse group of Delta ex-patriots. Finally, legendary choreographer Dianne McIntyre teams up with with lifelong -collaborator master jazzman, Olu Dara in a work-in-progress of Peaches, Plums and Pontifications on June 3rd and 4th. Peaches, Plums and Pontifications adds storytelling and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, as well as tales gathered from individual storytellers, friends and family to the choreography and music for which Dara and McIntyre are known.
To round out a continued mission of outreach in the Brooklyn community, humanities events and educational programming (workshops and public lectures) will take place at community-based organizations and public schools throughout the year.
Tickets are on sale now, and prices range from $10- $100.
For more information about tickets, call 718-636-4181 x2229, or go to www.651ARTS.org.
DANCE/MUSIC
Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group and
Andréya Ouamba/Compagnie 1er TEMPS
KWENDA VUTUKA (Come Go Return)
Fri & Sat, May 9 & 10 8pm
FIAF, Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th, Manhattan
$25, Students w/ID, FIAF Members $20
A co-presentation with French Institute Alliance Française as part of World Nomads: Africa
“Rooted in the vibrancy of rhythm, the works Reggie Wilson makes for his Fist and Heel Performance Group are elegantly structured; the man knows how to build a dance.”
—Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice
Choreographers Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba have both focused on the genealogy of culture in their work. In this special presentation, both artists will show works from their diverse repertoires, including the seminal Fist & Heel work, Untitled; Wilson’s critically-acclaimed, INTRODUCTION; Andréya Ouamba’s award-winning, Impro-visé 2; and a work-in-progress excerpt of, The Good Dance – a piece that is, in part, an investigation of the metaphoric, historic and real world parallels of the Mississippi and Congo rivers and the cultures that surround them. Using movement and music drawn from blues and worship traditions, this piece considers the influences - both real and metaphorical - of Central African culture on world performance forms.
Reggie Wilson founded his company, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, in 1989. Wilson draws from the movement languages of the blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas and combines them with post-modern elements and his own personal movement style to create what he sometimes calls “post-African/Neo-HooDoo Modern dances.” His work has been presented internationally at Linkfest and Festival e’Nkindleni (Zimbabwe), Queen’s Hall (Trinidad and Tobago), Israel Museum (Israel), Dance Factory (South Africa), Danças na Cidade (Portugal), as well as venues throughout the U.S. including Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Jacob’s Pillow, and Joe’s Pub.
Andréya Ouamba was born in Pointe-Noire in Congo Brazzaville. He began his artistic career in 1993 after meeting Chrysogone Diangouaya (Artistic Director of the ballet theatre, Monana, and founder of the Mabina-Danse Festival in Brazzaville). Ouamba then joined her ballet company as Assistant Choreographer. Living in Dakar since 2000, Ouamba has collaborated with Marianne Niox, Michelle Rioux (Canada) and PIer Ndoumbé (Cameroon). That same year, he created the Compagnie 1er Temps. Since then, his company has toured throughout the world.
THEATER
Ping Chong & Talvin Wilks
DELTA RISING
Wed & Thur, May 28 & 29 8pm
BRICstudio, 57 Rockwell Place, Brooklyn
$12
651 ARTS has commissioned and will present a theater work by acclaimed directors Ping Chong and Talvin Wilks that uses the life stories of people who come from the Mississippi Delta or whose families come from the Delta. Delta Rising follows the format of Chong’s Undesirable Elements projects and provides an artistically beautiful and historical testament to the diversity, vibrancy and complex history of the region. Delta Rising has an ethnically diverse cast that dispels misunderstanding about the region and testifies to its unique culture.
Undesirable Elements productions explore issues of race, culture, identity, and “otherness.” Each production is made in a specific community, with local participants’ stories interwoven into a script, which is performed by the participants themselves, not actors. Since 1992, Ping Chong & Company has made over 30 works in this series, in communities around the United States and abroad. The series is designed to encourage dialogue and gives voice to individuals whose stories frequently go unheard. Ping Chong is a world-renowned theater director, choreographer, and visual installation artist. He founded Ping Chong & Company in 1975, which has since created over 50 productions that have been presented at major venues around the world. Talvin Wilks is an award-winning director and dramaturg. He has collaborated with Ping Chong on seven Undesirable Elements productions. For more background, please visit www.undesirableelements.org.
MUSIC
Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band
Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely
Sunday, June 1 7pm
Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 317 Clermont Ave, Brooklyn
$20
Presented in association with boomBOOM Presents
Otha Turner’s legacy lives on! Considered the godfather of hill country blues, Turner was the first to bring fife and drum music – which evolved when Civil War marching band music coincided with the syncopated rhythms of West Africa - to listeners outside of Mississippi. Otha Turner played this music for over 60 years. After his death in 2003, Turner’s granddaughter, fourteen year-old Sharde Thomas became the appointed heir and leader of her grandfather’s group – The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. Like her grandfather, Sharde sings with surprising bravado. Incanting hymnals and blues enumerations, she crowns the march with her grandfather’s fife -- a crudely fashioned cane flute which marks the air with high, bright melodies. In this rare performance at the Masonic Temple in Ft. Greene, the now 18 year-old Sharde makes her first New York City appearance since the passing of her grandfather.
Toshi Reagon is an artist who credits her musical chops to her parents’ activist and musician roles in the Civil Rights movement. While defying categorization, Reagon’s musical style has clear roots in the American south and Delta Blues traditions. Her music is powerfully soulful and clearly rooted in folk, gospel and the blues. The energy of Reagon’s live shows – with her band, BIGLovely is infectious, and has captured the interest of musicians from Lenny Kravitz to Elvis Costello to Ani DiFranco. Reagon has followed in her mother’s footsteps (internationally revered founder of Sweet Honey In the Rock, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon) as a woman who uses her artistry to raise political consciousness as well as to blend diverse American musical forms into a distinct contemporary genre all her own. Her music is a tribute to the brilliance of previous generations of musicians and her talent, creativity and originality demonstrate the expansive and dynamic ways that Reagon is moving history forward.
DANCE/MUSIC
Olu Dara & Dianne McIntyre
PEACHES, PLUMS AND PONTIFICATIONS a work-in-progress
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 3 & 4 8pm
BRICstudio, 57 Rockwell Place, Brooklyn
$12
When celebrated artists musician Olu Dara and choreographer Dianne McIntyre get together, magic happens. As longtime collaborators, Dara and McIntyre have created a number of dance theater pieces whose narrative elements take shape through music and dance. In this work-in-progress, acclaimed dancer/choreographer McIntyre explores stories from the Mississippi Delta, the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, as well as tales gathered from individual storytellers, friends and family. Joining McIntyre onstage will be celebrated music master, storyteller, trumpeter, bluesman, folk singer, jazz artist, avant-garde innovator, comedian and storehouse of African American music history, Mississippi native, Olu Dara. A multi-dimensional company of artists including Camille A. Brown, Tessa Reese, Kyle Primous, and Shireen Dickson make up the cast.
Olu Dara is a multi-talented entertainer who has been performing since he was 8 years old. Born (1941) in Natchez, Miss, Olu landed in New York in 1963 after a stint in the US Navy, which took him all over the world. Back in Brooklyn, Olu turned to music to survive. During the 1970s and '80s, he gained a reputation as a trumpet/cornet player who could handle all aspects of jazz. On the one hand he could perform with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1973-74), but he could also handle the demands of the free-flowing avant-garde style, which formed the basis of the New York loft scene of that period. But jazz was not the only musical style he was involved with, and gradually he turned away from it as increasingly he began to lead his own ensembles. In the 1980s Olu put together 2 ensembles: Okra Orchestra, a 7-plus-member band, and the Natchezsippi Dance Band, a 5-piece unit. Since then this has been Olu's preferred musical environment for creating the roots-based musical style that the audience now hears.
Dianne McIntyre is known primarily for her themes reflecting Black culture and for collaborations with master musicians like Lester Bowie, Max Roach, Don Pullen, Cecil Taylor, Olu Dara and Butch Morris. As a child, McIntyre studied with Elaine Redmond and Virginia Dryansky. After receiving a BFA in Dance from Ohio State University, she ventured to New York City, studying with Viola Farber and performing with Gus Solomons, Jr. Her company, Sounds in Motion, toured internationally in the 1970’s and 80’s while she also ran a popular studio in Harlem where many dance artists were mentored. Her dance works have been performed at Joyce Theater, City Center, BAM, Kennedy Center, Walker Arts Center, Dance Theatre Workshop, Summerstage at Central Park, Lincoln Center and countless performing arts and university centers nationally. In 2006, McIntyre was awarded a Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement.
MUSIC
T-Model Ford
Tuesday, June 3 10pm
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
$10
T-Model Ford is the reigning dictator of bad-man Mississippi electric blues. Born in Forrest, Mississippi, he didn’t learn the guitar until he was in his 70s, but T-Model has been a bluesman all his life. From the cotton field to the lumberyard to the local jail, he has done his share of hard-living. Rick Bragg of The New York Times once joked, "He did not sell his soul, as legend says Robert Johnson did, to master the blues. The Devil, people say, would run from Mr. Ford." T-Model’s unforgiving guitar technique has kinship with Muddy Waters, but his persona is unlike anyone in the world - when T-Model’s in the room, you’re guaranteed a show. Records by T-Model include, Pee Wee Get My Gun; You Better Keep Still; She Ain't None of Your'n; and Bad Man. Part of 651 ARTS’ Late Night Juke Joint Series.
MUSIC
Terry “Harmonica” Bean
Wednesday, June 4 10pm
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
$10
Terry Bean’s blues harmonica is a time-machine that teaches you how to listen: “What’s stimulating me,” he says, “is people hearing the blues played like they used to hear it.” Terry takes the world of Mississippi – his years of picking cotton and growing up around his father’s house parties – and shapes it into something fresh. Like Little Walter before him, Terry blows the blues and gets people dancing. He hangs tough in duets with Mississippi bad-man, T-Model Ford, but Terry “Harmonica” Bean is also an incredible solo act. When he’s not playing original material, Terry’s resonator guitar brings new vigor to blues classics such as “Back Door Man” and “Big Boss Man.” Part of 651 ARTS’ Late Night Juke Joint Series.
MUSIC
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Marie Knight
Kumble Theater at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus
Thursday, June 5 8pm
$20 | $15 students and seniors (in person only)
Presented in partnership with the New York Blues & Jazz Society
This evening’s line up examines the connections between Delta Blues and gospel traditions. Two powerful vocalists share a program where each is linked but they maintain distinct styles.
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes is a practitioner and conscious advocate of a distinctive blues style called Bentonia blues - from his hometown, Bentonia, Mississippi - whose most famous proponent was blues pioneer Skip James. Like James before him, Holmes’ style is characterized by distinctive open tunings, the use of falsetto, dark lyrical themes, and an overall eerie quality – it is music that opens the door to an older Mississippi. He is also proprietor of one of the longest - standing juke joints in Mississippi, The Blue Front, in Bentonia. Recorded initially by Alan Lomax in the 1970s, Holmes has only recently found critical and popular acclaim outside of his home-state.
A fine gospel singer, with a ringing, signifying voice, Marie Knight attracted attention while singing in the choir at the Oakwood Avenue Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She made some 78s for Brunswick Records in 1953 and later some EPs and an album for Mercury Records that found her well and truly in the gospel fold. Her fame spread further than many of her kindred spirits owing to some excellent duets she performed with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, notably ecstatic versions of "Up Above My Head" and "Didn't It Rain", the latter recorded for Brunswick. In 2003 Marie Knight was recruited to sing a track for the highly successful CD, Shout Sister Shout, A Tribute to Sister Rosetta on M.C. Records. Since its release in August 2003 Marie Knight has performed on syndicated radio programs Mountain Stage and Wood Songs Radio Hour. She has been interviewed for NPR's Weekend Edition. Marie Knight was also part of two successful Tribute shows in New York City with The Holmes Brothers and Odetta.
MUSIC
Robert Belfour
Thursday, June 5 10pm
Frank’s Cocktail Lounge, 660 Fulton Street (Fort Greene)
$10
The everyday problems of Mississippi are fodder for Robert “Wolfman” Belfour’s hard-willed examinations of love and loneliness. With a kind heart and a blood-thirsty rhythm, Belfour’s acoustic blues build upon the great strides made by his fellow Mississippians, including Junior Kimborough and Otha Turner. His solo recordings include, What’s Wrong With You; and Pushin’ My Luck. At sixty, Belfour's guitar playing is mature and highly accomplished; his voice, biting and powerful, and the sound is pure country blues. Belfour left the hills of North Mississippi forty years ago but his music never did. Part of 651 ARTS’ Late Night Juke Joint Series.
MUSIC
Lobi Traoré
Corey Harris and the 5x5 Band
Friday, June 6 8pm
Kumble Theater at Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus
$25
This double-bill is a great example of the deep connections between West African and Delta musical traditions.
From Bamako to Brooklyn, Malian guitarist and vocalist Lobi Traoré embodies the full power of the African diaspora. Called the inventor of Bambara blues -- a sound which is associated with the Bambara people of Mali, his music resembles the progression of a twelve-bar blues, and his guitar style has been compared to something between John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Page. Traoré’s breakthrough album, Bamako, produced by Ali Farka Touré, was released in 1994. It was voted one of the best rock albums of the year by Libération and one of the best world music albums by Le Monde. For one night only, 651 ARTS will present Traoré on electric guitar with his bass player, Brehima Kouyate, both of whom will travel from Mali for this singular Brooklyn event. They will be joined at the Kumble by an all-star cast of NYC musicians, and are co-billed with bluesman extraordinaire, Corey Harris.
In a career that spans more than a decade, critically acclaimed Corey Harris is more than just a bluesman; he is a pilgrim in search of his music’s earliest origins, from beyond the Mississippi to the continent of Africa. Not only a master of the blues, Harris is an explorer of many styles, with sounds ranging from blues to reggae, hip-hop, Latin, funk, and R&B. His critically acclaimed albums include Mississippi to Mali; Daily Bread; and Zion Crossroads. Over the years he has worked with some of the most respected musicians playing today – both within and outside of the blues tradition, including Wilco and Ali Farka Touré. In addition to his prolific work in the recording studio, Harris also starred in the Martin Scorsese documentary, Feel Like Going Home, an installment that took him to Mali for the blues series that aired on PBS in 2003. In 2007, Harris was awarded a MacArthur Award for excellence.
MUSIC
Michael Hill Blues Mob
Saturday, June 7 afternoon
The Way Up North in Mississippi Picnic
Central Park (5th Avenue, at 97th Street)
Free
Raised in the South Bronx, Michael Hill began playing guitar at age 18 and started the band Wild Honey (briefly Brown Sugar) with his siblings Wynette, Kathy and Kevin, some childhood friends and two cousins. In 1985 he was invited to join the band of poet/performer Sekou Sundiata and keyboardist Doug Booth; Sekou was to become a major influence and inspiration. The band also included Vernon Reid, who introduced Michael to the Black Rock Coalition. Over the years Michael has been privileged to perform or record with Little Richard, Carla Thomas, Harry Belafonte, Archie Bell and B.B. King, and has jammed with numerous blues heroes, friends and colleagues, including Buddy Guy and Luther Allison. Recognized as one of modern blues' "most talented songwriters and guitarists" (Living Blues) and known for "uncompromising musical and lyrical integrity" (Goldmine), Michael has clearly learned much from his heroes, especially the importance of originality.
Begun in 1979, The New York Mississippi Picnic reunites native Mississippians living in New York and current residents of the Magnolia State. The event also educates people about the many wonderful assets of both areas. The gathering brings the down-home southern style of Mississippi to the heart of Manhattan.
MUSIC
Cassandra Wilson
BAM Harvey Theater
Saturday, June 7 8pm
$100/$85/$70/$55/$40
“Wilson’s smoky voice is a treasure” USA Today
Grammy-winning vocalist, songwriter, producer, Cassandra Wilson never fails to surprise and inspire. Sexy, honey-velvet vocals wrapped around her own jazzy blue compositions or inventive interpretations of others’ material led TIME magazine to name her “America’s Best Singer”. As a proud Mississippian, Wilson has also committed much of her career to preserving Mississippi’s cultural heritage and supporting the advancement of contemporary Mississippi musicians. On
June 7, Wilson will perform for a one night only concert at the beautiful BAM Harvey Theater to celebrate the release of her new album, Loverly. She will be joined onstage by Jonathan Batiste on piano, Marvin Sewell on guitar, Lekan Babalola on percussion, EJ Strickland on drums, and Reginald Veal on bass.
Cassandra Wilson was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and 70s by musician and educator parents. Wilson studied piano for 13 years and played clarinet in the concert and marching bands of junior high school. During the 70s, she could be found performing Joni Mitchell songs behind an acoustic guitar, or in front of a large funk band, or in the company of long-time friends in an all-girls band. After a stint as the main vocalist with Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, Cassandra began recording on her own. Her development can be tracked through her discography. From the standards on Blue Skies to the Grammy-winning New Moon Daughter, to the combination of originals and interpretations played by a collection of Mississippi and New York musicians on both the 2001 release, Belly of the Sun, and 2003’s Glamoured, Cassandra continues to evolve as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer. In 2000, Wilson returned to Mississippi to establish Ojah Media Group. Ojah, a Yoruba word meaning, “the marketplace,” is an independent multi-media entity dedicated to documenting and marketing the unique sounds emanating from Mississippi’s fertile soil, and its multi-cultural influences. Cassandra Wilson is a world renowned vocalist, songwriter and producer, with an extraordinary following, but at heart she is still a Mississippi girl whose art reflects her deep musical and cultural roots, anchored in the fertile Mississippi soil. Cassandra's newest album, Loverly, her first album of standards since 1988’s Blue Skies, is scheduled for release on June 10, 2008 on Blue Note.
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ABOUT 651 ARTS
Founded in 1988, 651 ARTS is Brooklyn's premier performing arts presenter of contemporary dance, theater, music, and humanities programming celebrating the breadth of the African Diaspora. 651 ARTS has brought culturally resonant arts programming and artists to its home at the BAM Harvey Theater and surrounding geographic area for the past 19 years, with over 600 artists and artistic ensembles—from Cuba to Trinidad, Senegal to South Africa, Brooklyn to Brazil. 651 ARTS continues to expand programming to encompass a panoramic view of the arts of the African Diaspora, solidifying a vital connection to its community and its changing demographics, while maintaining its high standards of artistic excellence.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
boomBOOM Presents is a New York based live music booking and production company. Showcasing an eclectic mix of artists and an all-inclusive aesthetic palette, boomBOOM Presents is dedicated to providing ideal concert experiences for both performers and audiences.
FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française) is a not-for-profit organization created in 1898 by American Francophiles to promote and enhance knowledge of French and Francophone culture. FIAF has become one of the largest and most respected centers of French-American activities in the United States, widely known as the home of New York’s foremost French language school, the leading all-French library in the country, and New York’s only performing arts center dedicated to French and Francophone culture. FIAF's mission is to encourage interaction and better understanding between French-speaking and American communities by creating programs in the arts and education that provide appealing, accessible, and innovative experiences.
The New York Blues and Jazz Society The New York Blues & Jazz Society is a not-for-profit, all-volunteer organization that exists through membership and donations. We are dedicated to educating the public about blues and jazz music, and supporting area musicians who perform these important cultural genres.
651 ARTS SPONSORS
651 ARTS’ 2008 Season is sponsored in part by the following:
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, The New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Independence Community Foundation, Tides Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Con Edison, Altria, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Council Member Letitia James, National Performance Network, and NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
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