Afromondo Productions Presents
Portfolio of Artists Barranquijazz Festival www.afromondo.com
Who we are Afromondo Productions delights the city of New York and the world with the most exquisite music coming from Africa and the Caribbean Islands. This company, created by the well-known musical promoter Alex Boicel in 1992, represents internationally renowned artists. In addition, Afromondo Productions offers a series of comprehensive production services with unique expertise at any budget stratum. For more information about AFROMONDO PRODUCTIONS and services, please contact: Alex Boicel afromondo@aol.com 347-691-4738 Carmen Sanjuan Melendez artemisa5@msn.com 347-845-2355
Artists
Lorraine Klaasen Lorraine Klaasen, the daughter of legendary South African Jazz singer Thandie Klaasen, is one of the few South African artists who have preserved the classic sound of Township Music, which continues to be the most distinctive sound to come out of South Africa. Born and raised in Soweto, Lorraine has electrified audiences worldwide with her dynamic stage presence and showmanship. Lorraine was influenced by South Africa's musical giants of the 1950's and 1960's, such as Miriam Makeba (who was a close friend of Lorraine and Thandie) as well as Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuka, Sophie Mgcina and Busi Mhlongo who frequented her mother's home. In February 2008, Lorraine released the highly charged album Africa Calling on the Justin Time label. Through working with South African record producer Mongezi Chris Ntaka, and featuring bassist Bakhiti Khumalo (who also memorably performed on Paul Simon's landmark album, Graceland), Lorraine accomplished her childhood dreams of taking Township music to the rest of the globe and making a truly African record that touches every heart & soul that beats the world over. Her latest CD, released in September 2012, A Tribute To Miriam Makeba is a fitting acknowledgment to the legendary songstress, who remains the most important female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa.
Videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LVAm89 wvcp8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jRI1060iP 3E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqO6DqhL5UI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSK48BqUi_A
Donald Harrison Donald Harrison is a Jazz saxophonist, bandleader, composer, cultural participant, singer, actor, master costume maker, custom furniture designer & builder, inventor, and educator. Born in New Orleans, Donald grew up in a home environment saturated with the city’s traditional music of brass bands, parades, modern jazz, r&b, funk, classical, world ethnic, and dance music. Donald Harrison recorded, “Quantum Leap” in 2012 which musicians and critics agree is a next step for jazz. With quantum jazz Harrison has opened up new areas for time, harmony, and melody. The record also melds cutting edge jazz with New Orleans funk - connecting the past with the present with jazz music that transcends boundaries. Creator of the “Nouveau Swing” - a style of jazz that merges modern dance music like r&b, hip-hop, soul, rock, and combined jazz with Afro-New Orleans traditional music on the critically-acclaimed album “Indian Blues” (1991). Harrison co-founded and became the artistic director for the Tipitina’s Intern Program, and The New Jazz School where he along with a staff of his hand pick of seasoned veterans teach jazz theory, music and history to students 13 to 21. Harrison’s awards include France’s “Grand Prix du Disque”, Switzerland’s “The Ascona Award”, Japan’s Swing Journal “Alto Saxophonist of the Year”, The Jazz Journalist Association’s “A List Award”, 2012 New Orleans Civic Award, 2007 Jazziz Magazine’s “Person of the Year”, the Big Easy Music Awards “Ambassador of Music,” the Big Easy Awards "Saxophonist of The Year," Down Beat Magazine Alto Saxophone Poll Winner, 2006 Resident at William and Mary College, 1995 “Meet The Composer” recipient.
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7gQOOuiU_Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0pZcyDbf9k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S98lA2xYPbQ
Omar Sosa Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, and Satie), Monk, Coltrane, Parker, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Chucho Valdés, and the pioneering Cuban jazz group Irakere. Omar has appeared in venues as diverse as the Blue Note (New York, Milan, and Tokyo), Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, the Getty Center, London's Barbican and Queen Elizabeth Hall, Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall, and Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt; festivals including Monterey Jazz, JVC Jazz, Montreal Jazz, Marciac Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Helsinki, Grenoble Jazz, Montreux Jazz, Naples Jazz, Ravenna Jazz, Roma Jazz, Spoletto, WOMAD, and Cape Town International Jazz; and universities on several continents, including a visiting artist fellowship at Princeton University in March 2008, and a visiting artist residency at Dartmouth College in April 2008. Mr. Sosa received a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, DC in 2003 for his contribution to the development of Latin jazz in the United States. He has received two nominations from the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards, in 2004 and 2006, both in the 'Americas' category. In 2003 Omar Sosa received the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the Year Award from the Jazz Journalists Association in NYC for his recording Sentir; and a nomination from the Jazz Journalists Association for Latin Jazz Album of the Year in 2005 for his recording Mulatos.
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quMOeL84CUo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4g5vNsYRBw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVX5VUvhmH4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPI0FT2Hmvo
Hugh Masekela Hugh Masekela is a world-renowned flugelhornist, trumpeter, bandleader, composer, singer and defiant political voice who remains deeply connected at home, while his international career sparkles. He was born in the town of Witbank, South Africa in 1939. Masekela began to hone his, now signature, Afro-Jazz sound in the late 1950s during a period of intense creative collaboration, most notably performing in the 1959 musical King Kong, written by Todd Matshikiza, and, soon thereafter, as a member of the now legendary South African group, the Jazz Epistles (featuring the classic line up of Kippie Moeketsi, Abdullah Ibrahim and Jonas Gwangwa). In 1960, at the age of 21 he left South Africa to begin what would be 30 years in exile from the land of his birth. Under the tutelage of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong, Hugh was encouraged to develop his own unique style, feeding off African rather than American influences – his debut album, released in 1963, was entitled Trumpet Africaine. His subsequent solo career has spanned 5 decades, during which time he has released over 40 albums (and been featured on countless more) and has worked with such diverse artists as Harry Belafonte, Dizzy Gillespie, The Byrds, Fela Kuti, Marvin Gaye, Herb Alpert, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and the late Miriam Makeba. 2012 has already been a busy year with Hugh just returning to South Africa from touring Europe with Paul Simon on the Graceland 25th Anniversary Tour. He has opened his own studio and record label, House of Masekela which has already put out its first release: Friends – a 4 CD collection of jazz standards featuring his dear friend, pianist Larry Willis.
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FeSEaT_ ArSA http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=saPPnO nAuZk#! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xIoZL9J8 sao
Maria de Barros Maria de Barros' music transcends taste, preference and even language. It travels through countries dense with culture, picking up pieces of each along the way, combining distinct inflections of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, France and Spain, while allowing the tradition and culture of Cape Verde to permeate. Her new album, Morabeza: "A simple and sublime expression that characterizes the soul of a people; it is solidarity in times of misfortune; it is kindness, tenderness, hospitality, sympathy and friendship", is an eclectic blend of sounds with songs alternating in tempo, beat and style, making for an exciting tantalisation of the ear drums.. Maria attributes her eclectic sound to her creative team who embody the spirit of their multicultural backgrounds. Her original style is evident in her 3 CDs: Nha Mundo, Danca Ma Mi and her latest album, Morabeza. She describes her music as "a potpourri of African, Latin and European styles. It is truly a musical geography - but still very much rooted in the musical tradition of Cabo Verde." Her achievements include the Cape Verdean Artist of the Year, awarded by Cape Verdean Radio/TV/Newspapers in US in 2005, the Miriam Makeba Award for Excellence in Music, given by Radio DJs in the United States in 2006, and the Cultural Certificate of Merit awarded by the Ministry of Culture in Cape Verde in 2008. She has also hosted the "Soul of Africa" programme on BET Jazz television since 2006 while a song from her latest album was placed in the international hit HBO series "Entourage". The recognition of this songstress's talent is a testament to her global appeal and drive, which she hopes will help her in her strife for a better world.
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuuD8g3UKn0&feature=player_embe dded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNXxzLDJHDc&feature=player_emb edded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7z8q3LYDow&feature=player_embe dded