CARNEGIE HALL CITYWIDE
MUMU FRESH
Saturday, March 19, 2022, 7:30PM Harlem Stage Gatehouse Address: 150 Convent Avenue at West 135 Street, New York, NY 10031 Phone: 212.281.9240 ext. 19 | Website: www.harlemstage.org
@harlemstage
@myharlemstage
Photo by Robert Adam Mayer
ABOUT THE EVENT Tonight’s performance featuring Maimouna Youssef, aka Mumu Fresh, is presented by Harlem Stage and Carnegie Hall Citywide. Mumu returns to Harlem Stage to perform works from her latest album, Queen of Culture. Joining her on stage is Amber “A.D.” Gillispie on background vocals, Chris “Biscuit” Bynum on drums, Frank Javois on bass, Nile Hargrove on keyboard, and music director, Darnell “Showcase” Taylor on guitar. This will be an evening of transformation and celebration! Thank you for joining us.
PERFORMERS Mumu Fresh Vocals, MC, Band Leader Chris “Biscuit” Bynum Drums Nile Hargrove Keyboard Amber “A.D.” Gillispie Background Vocals Frank Javois Bass Darnell “Showcase” Taylor Guitar / Music Director
EDUCATION RESIDENCY From Monday, March 14 through Friday, March 18, Mumu Fresh led a weeklong educational residency with Harlem Stage’s partner schools, including A. Philip Randolph Campus High School/Sound Business, Inc. and Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS). Mumu Fresh and the students collaborated in songwriting workshops exploring themes of empowerment and identity. Lead support for Carnegie Hall Citywide is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation. Mumu Fresh’s educational residency, Sacred Sonic Power, is supported in part by grants from The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. and the Davis/Dauray Family Fund.
BIOGRAPHIES
MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF AKA MUMU FRESH SINGER, MC, SONGWRITER, ACTIVIST
Mumu Fresh (also known as Maimouna Youssef ) is a GRAMMY-Nominated, Indigenous Music award-winning, Musical Ambassador for the US State Department, elected governor of The DC Chapter of The Recording Academy & an Ambassador of The Black Music Collective. Mumu Fresh has toured internationally as a critically acclaimed Afro-Indigenous singer, Emcee, songwriter, activist, workshop facilitator and audio engineer who’s been called a “quadruple threat” by The Roots’ Black Thought and “groundbreaking” by Oscar-winning artist, Common. In 2021, Maimouna partnered with AFROPUNK x Netflix to illuminate and celebrate Black women muses and was the voice behind the ACLU Systematic Equality campaign. In 2020, she was asked to lend her soulful voice to the ESPYs tribute to Black Lives because WE Matter. Some of her other standout moments
in 2020 include her contribution to Salaam Remi’s album Black On Purpose, along with their single EMOGs which surpassed 2 million streams on Spotify alone upon release in 2020. She hit the ground running in 2021 with her viral feature on Tobe Nwigwe’s song Tundah Fiyah from their album Cincoriginals which immediately surpassed one (1) million views on Instagram on release day. Maimouna recently landed a lead role in Black Thought’s upcoming Broadway musical Black No More, which will premiere in 2022. In 2019, Maimouna performed alongside thespian legends Lynn Whitfield and Joe Morton at the Apollo Theater for a dramatic reading of Ta Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, produced by Kamilah Forbes. In addition to her musical appearances in the films Dave Chappelle’s Block Party and Girls Trip, her music has been featured in the TV shows Queen Sugar and Being Mary Jane. She is the voice of Ford Motor Company’s Roll On commercial, which celebrates women of color. She has received worldwide praise for her viral NPR Tiny Desk performance addressing gender inequities and women’s rights amongst other pertinent social issues. She has shared her story of Afro-Native artistic and philanthropic excellence appearing on MSNBC, FOX 45, NPR, CNN, Cooking with Chef JJ on Cleo TV, Sway In The Morning and Al Jazeera. Maimouna has served as a mentor for several GRAMMY U affiliated young aspiring artists. In 2020, she founded her own online music education platform called “Muniversity Studies” to teach aspiring artists how to reimagine the music business and thrive independently with purpose. Mumu Fresh is quickly becoming known as an independent music mogul for her generation. Maimouna is committed to ‘Art Activism’ and has performed within the US prison system, Congressional Black Caucus, I.M.A.N. Central in Chicago, The W. K. Kellogg Foundation and more, bringing awareness to important social issues. Mumu Fresh is a global citizen, musical healer, cultural philanthropist and community pillar.
BAND GALLERY
CHRIS “BISCUIT”BYNUM DRUMS
NILE HARGROVE KEYBOARD
AMBER “A.D.” GILLISPIE BACKGROUND VOCALS
FRANK JAVOIS BASS
DARNELL “SHOWCASE” TAYLOR GUITAR / MUSIC DIRECTOR
OUR SUPPORTERS
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council. Harlem Stage’s Programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT HARLEM STAGE Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. For nearly 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts. We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.
Board of Directors Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President Jamie Cannon, Vice President Michael Young, Secretary Mark Thomas, Treasurer Stefany Bergson Angela Glover Blackwell Jamila Ponton Bragg
JoAnn K. Chase Patricia Cruz Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes Trevor Gale Jenette Kahn LaChanze Sapp-Gooding Tamara Tunie
Administration Staff Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO MANAGEMENT Eric Oberstein, Managing Director DEVELOPMENT Shamar Hill, Director of Development Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development Julia Marrero, Development Associate PROGRAMMING Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence Yunie Mojica, Programming Manager MARKETING Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer BOX OFFICE Daniel Im, Box Office Manager PRODUCTION Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production Jeff Davolt, Stage Coordinator Clarence Taylor, Lighting Operator Chris Homenick, House Audio Engineer Orlando Alvarado, David Barrett, Julio Collado, Lighting & Audio Deck Crew OPERATIONS Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations Lamont Askins, Operations Assistant Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance
ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE Ncheng LLC, Accountants/Advisors Michelle Blankenship, Principal Aaron Lam, Supervising Senior Accountant CONSULTANTS Aon/Albert G. Ruben Company (NY) Claudia Kaufman, Insurance Digital Video Services—BriGuel Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, P.C. —Lisa Davis Itelagen, IT Consultant Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants Madison Consulting Group, —Matt Laurence Manchester Benefits—Greg Martin Marc Millman Photography Digital Video Services —Jess Medenbach PR Canvas Public Relations & Marketing RL Stein Group—Robyn L. Stein Development Consultant The Whelan Group Incorporated —Charles Whelan USHERS Miriam Hernandez, Chloe Wilson, Brenda Hernandez, Nobar Deleon, Toma Carthens, Robert Gibbons