SAT MAR 2 2019 / 8PM
Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Habib Koité and Bassekou Kouyate
CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT UBC
“People come to us after our concerts
and tell us how filled they are with love from our songs. They leave feeling a close bond with others and it seems they will use that force in their day-to-day lives. If this does happen, then our mission is working.”
– Albert Mazibuko, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Habib Koité and Bassekou Kouyate
PRESENTED BY THE CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Pre-show Talk 7:15pm, Royal Bank Cinema With Dr. Phanuel Antwi Concert 8:00pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall
Habib Koité and Bassekou Kouyat Habib Koité Lead Guitar/Vocals Bassekou Kouyate Lead Ngoni Amy Sacko Lead Vocals Mama Kone Percussion Madou Kouyate Ngoni 20 minute intermission Ladysmith Black Mambazo Thulani Shabalala Sibongiseni Shabalala Thamsanqa Shabalala Msizi Shabalala Albert Mazibuko Abednego Mazibuko Mfanafuthi Dlamini Pius Shezi Sabelo Mthembu Set list to be announced from the stage. Please remember to turn off your phones, and note that photography and recording are not permitted. Thank you! ƛ̓a tə n̓a Chan Centre for the Performing Arts ʔam̓ət ʔi ʔə tə n̓a šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaʔɬ təməxʷ
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is situated within the heart of Musqueam traditional territory
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Habib Koité Malian guitarist Habib Koité is one of Africa’s most popular and recognized musicians. Habib comes from a noble line of Khassonké griots—traditional troubadours who provide wit, wisdom, and musical entertainment at social gatherings as well as special events. He grew up surrounded by seventeen brothers and sisters, and developed his unique guitar style accompanying his griot mother. Initially headed for a career as an engineer, Habib enrolled at the National Institute of Arts in Bamako, Mali at the insistence of his uncle. There he played with a series of recognized Malian artists including Kélétigui Diabaté who later became a member of Habib’s band. Habib takes a unique approach to playing the guitar, tuning his instrument to the pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a kamale n'goni. At other times, Habib’s playing is closer to the blues style he studied under Khalilou Traoré, a veteran of the legendary Afro-Cuban band Maravillas du Mali. Unlike the griots, Habib’s singing style is restrained and intimate with varying cadenced rhythms and melodies. He brings together styles from Mali’s rich and diverse musical traditions, creating a new pan-Malian approach. Habib has participated in a number of memorable tours alongside other artists. He toured Europe as an invited guest of the legendary avant-garde jazz group, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, took part in the Desert Blues project with fellow Malians Tartit and Afel Boucoum, and has played on multiple Acoustic Africa tours with South African troubadour Vusi Mahlasela. In 2012, Habib recorded Brothers in Bamako in collaboration with the bluesman Eric Bibb. His latest work, Soô, was recorded in Bamako and Brussels in 2013. Amid this busy career, Habib is also Ambassador of UNICEF in Mali.
Bassekou Kouyate Bassekou Kouyate was born in 1966 in Garana, a small village 60 kilometers from Segu at the banks of the Niger River. Garana is located at the nexus of several villages with deep griot traditions and long histories. Only a few kilometers away is the grave of legendary buffalo woman, Do Kamissa, who precipitated the founding of the Mali Empire. Several centuries later, these same villages would produce many of the celebrated griots of the Bamana Empire and their songs would eventually become the inspiration behind Bassekou’s music. One of the true masters of the ngoni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa, Bassekou has collaborated with many musicians in and outside of Mali. He played in the Symmetric Trio alongside Toumani Diabaté and Kélétigui Diabaté, was part of Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabaté’s ‘Kulanjan’ project, and toured with Ali Farka Touré, leaving a lasting impression on the audience as the band’s solo ngoni player. In addition to his celebrated debut album Segu Blue and the Grammy-nominated follow up I Speak Fula, Bassekou has given hundreds of concerts all over the globe, performed as headliner in the AfroCubism project, and appeared on stage together with Sir Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones, and Damon Albarn. Bassekou Kouyate’s 2013 album Jama Ko is his statement on the ongoing crisis in Mali and features, among others, Taj Mahal, Khaira Arby, Mocky Salole. Jama Ko was named Album of the Year in the World Music Charts Europe 2013 and Best World Music Album by Les Inrockuptible, Mojo, and Uncut. Bassekou has played many important jazz, world music, and rock festivals including North Sea Jazz Festival, Roskilde Festival, Glastonbury Festival, as well as Europe’s most prominent African festivals. 5
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Ladysmith Black Mambazo For over 50 years, South Africa’s five-time Grammy Award winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo has warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide with its uplifting vocal harmonies, signature dance moves, and charming onstage banter. With a deep respect for the artists’ cultural and personal history, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is ever-evolving with an eye toward its long musical legacy. Since the world discovered its powerful a cappella vocals featured on Paul Simon’s 1986 Graceland album, the original members have welcomed a younger generation in their mission, passing along the tradition of storytelling and spreading a message of peace, love, and harmony to millions of people the world over. Ladysmith Black Mambazo was founded in the early 1960s by a teenaged Joseph Shabalala. He used the name of his hometown to honour his family’s history and added the word “Black” in reference to the black oxen, the strongest of all farm animals. Mambazo is the Zulu word for “chopping axe,” a symbol of the group’s vocal ability to clear the path to success. In 1969, Joseph finally had the voices he long dreamed of for his group, with four brothers and three cousins. At that point Ladysmith Black Mambazo began its musical journey. The group sings from a traditional music called isicathamiya, which developed in the mines of South Africa. Black workers who had been taken by rail to work far away from their homes and families would entertain themselves after a six-day week by singing songs into the wee hours on Sunday morning. When the miners returned to their homelands, this musical tradition returned with them. Apartheid, the South African social system forced upon the country’s black majority to keep the white minority government in power, was a dividing force in many ways. The musicians and artists of South Africa took two paths of resistance. Some sang songs with powerful messages of revolution against the horrors of apartheid. Others, like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, followed a path of peaceful protest with songs of hope and peace. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he stated that Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s music was a powerful message of peace that he listened to while in jail. He also named the group “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors to the world,” a designation the members carry with them with the highest honour. Now led by Joseph’s four sons, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has a new infusion of youthful energy and the firm promise of a bright future. In 2017, the group released two albums that both were nominated for Grammy Awards, a first for a world music group. On Songs of Peace & Love for Kids & Parents Around the World, Ladysmith Black Mambazo shares an uplifting message with audiences of all ages through its music and the stories behind the songs. The group’s second album of 2017, Shaka Zulu Revisited, celebrated the 30th anniversary of Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s first Grammy Award winning album and fittingly won Best World Music Album that year. Ladysmith Black Mambazo carries messages of peace, love and harmony as they travel the world year after year. The artists are dedicated to bringing this message—through song and dance—to every performance.
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Exploring the role of the arts and artists in society. chancentre.com/connects
Pre-show Talk with Dr. Phanuel Antwi 7:15pm: Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre
Dr. Phanuel Antwi looks at how musical styles such as isicathamiya, gospel, and hip-hop have influenced one another and been introduced to different cultures via colonization. Dr. Phanuel Antwi is assistant professor of English at the University of British Columbia. He writes, researches, and teaches critical black studies; settler colonial studies; black Atlantic and diaspora studies; Canadian literature and culture since 1830; critical race, gender, and sexuality studies; and material cultures. He has published articles in Interventions, Affinities, and Studies in Canadian Literature, and he is completing a book-length project titled Currencies of Blackness: Faithfulness, Cheerfulness and Politeness in Settler Writing.
Pre-concert Dinners at Sage Restaurant Enjoy dinner before your next Chan Centre Presents performance in a location just steps from our stage. The Chan Centre has partnered again with UBC’s Sage Restaurant, located across flagpole plaza in the Leon and Thea Koerner University Centre, for the 2018/19 Chan Centre Presents series. For only $39.50 per person, indulge in a delicious three-course menu of fresh, West Coast cuisine. Details at chancentre.com/sage. Bon appÊtit!
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UBC School of Music Fanfares A brass fanfare will be performed in the lobby at 7:30pm and 7:45pm. This new piece has been commissioned by the Chan Centre from UBC composition student Leslie Opatril as part of an ongoing partnership with the UBC School of Music. Thunderbird Brass Silas Friesen Trumpet; Matheus Moraes Trumpet; Kristin Ranshaw Horn; Kevin Jackson Trombone; Takami Hayashi Tuba An alumni of the Victoria Conservatory of Music and Camosun College, Leslie Opatril holds a BMus from the University of Ottawa and is currently completing a MMus in composition at UBC studying with Stephen Chatman. She has had works performed by the Sidney Classical Orchestra, the North/ South Chamber Orchestra (New York, NY), and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Fanfare for brass quintet is an upbeat and celebratory work which employs both imitation (listen for it first in the trumpets) and alternating time signatures (3 and 4 beats per bar.) A few members of the quintet are also featured with solos.
Film Screenings at The Cinematheque On February 7, the Chan Centre partnered with The Cinematheque for a sold out screening of Under African Skies—a 2012 documentary film about Paul Simon’s landmark album Graceland featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It is one of four music-inspired films that have been curated to accompany Chan Centre Presents performances this season. Next up on March 21, 2019 is a screening of The Music of Strangers, featuring an extraordinarily diverse collective of musicians from around the world including Cristina Pato, Yo-Yo Ma, Wu Man, Kayhan Kalhor, and others. For more information on these films, visit chancentre.com/connects.
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Upcoming Events at the Chan Centre Full details at chancentre.com Mar 3 at 6:30pm: Songfest 2019: The 2000s Presented by Order of Omega UBC Mar 8 at 8pm: Formosa Quartet with Vivian Chen Presented by RBC Wealth Management Mar 9 at 7pm: UBC Medicine 25th Annual Spring Gala Presented by the UBC Faculty of Medicine
Mar 10 at 6:30pm: PRM Gala Concert – A Night with Steinway Presented by the Pacific Rim International Music & Education Society
Mar 12 at 6pm: America and the Climate Crisis Telus Studio Theatre Presented by the Phil Lind Initiative- SOLD OUT
Mar 13 at 6:30pm: UBC Connects with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Presented by UBC President Santa J. Ono and alumni UBC - SOLD OUT
Mar 15 at 7:30pm: UBC Symphony Orchestra UBC School of Music Mar 19 at 8pm: Piaf! The Show starring Anne Carrere Presented by Gil Marsalla & Directo Productions
Mar 21 at 8pm: The Swingles Presented by the BC Choral Federation Mar 22 at 7:30pm: StringFest! Telus Studio Theatre Presented by the UBC School of Music Mar 22 + 23 at 8pm: VSO with Otto Tausk Presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Mar 24 at 3pm: Yevgeny Sudbin, piano Presented by the Vancouver Recital Society Mar 29 at 7:30pm: UBC Bands Presented by the UBC School of Music Apr 5 at 7:30pm: UBC Choirs Presented by the UBC School of Music Apr 6 at 7:30pm: UBC Symphony Orchestra: 2019 Concerto Competition Winner Presented by the UBC School of Music
Apr 11 at 8pm: Cristina Pato Quartet Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Cristina Pato Quartet
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The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC Joyce Hinton Co-Managing Director Cameron McGill Co-Managing Director Carl Armstrong Events & Customer Service Manager Wendy Atkinson Programming & Rentals Manager Lloyd Balser Head Audio Technician Kara Gibbs Marketing & Communications Manager David Humphrey Production Manager Rebecca Isaac Production Clerk Flora Lew Finance Manager Janice Lew Rentals & Programming Assistant Glenda Makela Financial & Programming Clerk Trevor Mangion Ticket Operations Manager Chloe Martin-Cabanne Operations Clerk Veronica Maynard Administration & Finance Clerk Caitlin McKee Presenting Manager Derek Meehan Head Stage Technician Claire Mohun Marketing & Communications Coordinator Kirsty Munro Associate Presenting Manager James Perrella Assistant Head Audio/Stage Technician Andrew Riter Assistant Technical Director & Head Lighting Technician Nadia Roberts Events & Front of House Coordinator Lyndsey Roberts Ticket Office Supervisor Members of Cupe 2950 Front of House, Stage, and Ticketing Staff Luisa Henz Taryn Plater
Presenting Assistant, Work Learn Student Marketing & Communications Assistant, Work Learn Student
Administration Office
T: 604.822.9197
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Graphic Design by Copilot Design Media Relations by Murray Paterson Marketing Group The Chan Centre would like to thank our 2018/2019 series sponsors: The Chan Endowment Fund and the UBC Faculty of Arts
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CHAN CENTRE PRESENTS SERIES APR 11 Cristina Pato Quartet APR 17 Mariza APR 27 Anoushka Shankar
Cristina Pato Mariza
Anoushka Shankar
chancentre.com