ADVANCE: $20
DAY OF SHOW: $22
DAY OF SHOW: $22
Audio / Video
Gallery
About This Event
Minimum Age:
18+Doors Open:
6:00 PMShow Time:
7:00 PMDescription:
New Africa Live is a non-profit organization founded and produced by acclaimed East African singer/songwriter Somi and is dedicated to celebrating the very best of contemporary African artists through multidisciplinary live arts events. New Africa Live is sponsored by the New York Foundation of the Arts, a 501(c)3 organization.
VIP Table reservations are available by calling New Africa Live at 212.561.0988 or info@newafricalive.org General admission tickets are first come seating and seating is not guaranteed.
For more information on New Africa Live, visit www.newafricalive.org
VIP Table reservations are available by calling New Africa Live at 212.561.0988 or info@newafricalive.org General admission tickets are first come seating and seating is not guaranteed.
For more information on New Africa Live, visit www.newafricalive.org
Artists
Meklit Hadero
If Joni Mitchell were East African and met Nina Simone for tea in San Francisco’s Mission District, she might end up sounding like Meklit Hadero. Meklit is a true modern global artist: born in Ethiopia, raised in US and nurtured for the last several years in San Francisco’s richly diverse arts scene. Add in a warm and luminous singing voice and lyrical songwriting that moves from the starkly personal to the poetically metaphoric, and you have her entrancing debut full-length recording, “On a Day Like This…”, to be released by Porto Franco Records on April 20th, 2010.
While Meklit’s music is like a sponge soaking up influences from all over the world, in some ways she’s the perfect embodiment of the City by the Bay – cosmopolitan, striking and worldly, with an outlook that seems to change every few blocks or so. In fact, it’s tempting to tag Meklit and “On a Day Like This…” – with its jazzy but expansive vibe, moods that veer from the hushed to the impassioned, and a female voice so lushly spellbinding it draws you into its world – as San Francisco’s answer to Norah Jones.
Meklit is a TED Global Fellow, the founder of the Arba Minch Collective, and a resident artist at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco. She has played at venues such as Cafe Du Nord, the Independent, the Great American Music Hall, the Bottom of the Hill, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
"Hadero's sound is a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry; it paints pictures in your head as you listen."
-NPR’s Tell Me More
"This album has been on constant rotation, with every spin revealing something fresh and addictive."
-Derek Beres, The Huffingon Post
"[Meklit] is an artistic giant in the early stages. She sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment, and exudes all three. What's irresistible, above all, is her cradling, sensuous, gentle sound. She is stunning."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"The perfect triangle of influences comes together on this unforgettable debut. Born in Ethiopia, Meklit Hadero has the lilting grace of African music in everything she sings, and there is the timelessness of that ancient land in the way Hadero puts deep beauty in these songs."
-Bently’s Bandstand
"Meklit Hadero’s debut album is one of those rare gems you hope to find every once in a while. Each song is breathtakingly perfect, and each one presents a new musical twist on what singer-songwriter Hadero—who was born in Ethiopia, raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and lives in San Francisco—is capable of."
-Newsreview.com "Hadero's voice and songwriting are irresistible..."
-Dave Weigand, San Francisco Chronicle
While Meklit’s music is like a sponge soaking up influences from all over the world, in some ways she’s the perfect embodiment of the City by the Bay – cosmopolitan, striking and worldly, with an outlook that seems to change every few blocks or so. In fact, it’s tempting to tag Meklit and “On a Day Like This…” – with its jazzy but expansive vibe, moods that veer from the hushed to the impassioned, and a female voice so lushly spellbinding it draws you into its world – as San Francisco’s answer to Norah Jones.
Meklit is a TED Global Fellow, the founder of the Arba Minch Collective, and a resident artist at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco. She has played at venues such as Cafe Du Nord, the Independent, the Great American Music Hall, the Bottom of the Hill, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
"Hadero's sound is a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry; it paints pictures in your head as you listen."
-NPR’s Tell Me More
"This album has been on constant rotation, with every spin revealing something fresh and addictive."
-Derek Beres, The Huffingon Post
"[Meklit] is an artistic giant in the early stages. She sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment, and exudes all three. What's irresistible, above all, is her cradling, sensuous, gentle sound. She is stunning."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"The perfect triangle of influences comes together on this unforgettable debut. Born in Ethiopia, Meklit Hadero has the lilting grace of African music in everything she sings, and there is the timelessness of that ancient land in the way Hadero puts deep beauty in these songs."
-Bently’s Bandstand
"Meklit Hadero’s debut album is one of those rare gems you hope to find every once in a while. Each song is breathtakingly perfect, and each one presents a new musical twist on what singer-songwriter Hadero—who was born in Ethiopia, raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., and lives in San Francisco—is capable of."
-Newsreview.com "Hadero's voice and songwriting are irresistible..."
-Dave Weigand, San Francisco Chronicle
Olatuja Project
Speak, the title of bassist Michael Olatuja’s debut album, holds deep personal meaning for its creator, exemplifying in a single word the album’s underlying themes of hope, encouragement, inspiration and positivity. The album, which will be released on July 28 on Backdrop, ObliqSound’s imprint focusing on modern electronic and groove-based music, tells the story of the British/Nigerian artist’s musical and personal journey. “The language of music is one that we all speak,” Olatuja explains. “It unites diverse cultures.”
The ten songs on Speak find Olatuja stepping out of his role as sideman and finally presenting his personal vision as producer and composer. With musical influences and guests from around the world, the album touches on each spot Olatuja has hit around the globe, including his childhood in London and Lagos, Nigeria, and his professional years in London and New York. Speak is clearly the album Olatuja has been working toward his entire career and points to a strong future.
Chances are you’ve already heard Olatuja’s extraordinarily creative musicianship. His work has enlivened the performances of Terence Blanchard, Patti Austin, Lisa Stansfield, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Gretchen Parlato and many others.
Olatuja, 28, began crafting the music that would become Speak as long ago as 2003. From the genesis of the project he knew what he wanted to accomplish. From there, the music took shape organically as the pieces fell into place, Olatuja calling upon a large cast of musicians to assist him in realizing the self-produced project, including several singers who alternate on lead vocals: Eska Mtungwazi, Andrew Roachford, Terri Walker, Onaje Jefferson, Michael’s wife Alicia Olatuja and the late neo-soul artist Lynden David Hall.
On Speak, Olatuja finds commonalities among the various genres that have shaped his artistry, beginning with the indigenous, traditional sounds that formed his roots during his youth in Nigeria. “I grew up in a church that sang Yoruba Christian songs and played Yoruba style music,” he recalls. “I honed my skills playing in many Yoruba music bands. So when it came to songwriting this influence came out naturally.”
The ten songs on Speak find Olatuja stepping out of his role as sideman and finally presenting his personal vision as producer and composer. With musical influences and guests from around the world, the album touches on each spot Olatuja has hit around the globe, including his childhood in London and Lagos, Nigeria, and his professional years in London and New York. Speak is clearly the album Olatuja has been working toward his entire career and points to a strong future.
Chances are you’ve already heard Olatuja’s extraordinarily creative musicianship. His work has enlivened the performances of Terence Blanchard, Patti Austin, Lisa Stansfield, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Gretchen Parlato and many others.
Olatuja, 28, began crafting the music that would become Speak as long ago as 2003. From the genesis of the project he knew what he wanted to accomplish. From there, the music took shape organically as the pieces fell into place, Olatuja calling upon a large cast of musicians to assist him in realizing the self-produced project, including several singers who alternate on lead vocals: Eska Mtungwazi, Andrew Roachford, Terri Walker, Onaje Jefferson, Michael’s wife Alicia Olatuja and the late neo-soul artist Lynden David Hall.
On Speak, Olatuja finds commonalities among the various genres that have shaped his artistry, beginning with the indigenous, traditional sounds that formed his roots during his youth in Nigeria. “I grew up in a church that sang Yoruba Christian songs and played Yoruba style music,” he recalls. “I honed my skills playing in many Yoruba music bands. So when it came to songwriting this influence came out naturally.”