(le) poisson rouge

Described by Vibe magazine as “one helluva rock’n’roller-coaster ride” and by Pop Matters as “a treasure waiting to be found,” Toshi Reagon is a one-woman celebration of all that’s dynamic, progressive and uplifting in American music. Since first taking to the stage at age 17, this versatile singer-songwriter-guitarist has moved audiences of all kinds with her big?hearted, hold-nothing-back approach to rock, blues, R&B, country, folk, spirituals and funk. The New York Times described her blend as “...a love of mixing things up...[her] vocal style ranges from a dirty blues moan to a gospel shout to an ethereal croon.” Her live performances, in particular, aren’t just accessible; they’re irresistible. And Toshi Reagon loves her audiences. Leading her renowned band--BIGLovely, launched in 1996--she instantly connects, inspires and empowers.

Photo Credits:JOMOTO/Molly Rubin and Tony DiPietro/Bernie DeChant/Erica Beckman

The dramatic intensity of Tamar-kali's music defies any traditional genre. Borne from her seemingly endless well of ingenuity it enchants you with its melody, while delivering a swift kick to the gut with its incisive emotional core.
As a composer and vocalist she has defied boundaries and blended styles to craft her own unique sound. Her eclectic influences allow her to lead a raucous 5 piece rock band, an all female experimental string and voice group - Psychochamber Ensemble or take the torch song tradition to a new level with her Pseudoacoustic project.
The uninitiated may have discovered Tamar-kali when she appeared in James Spooner's award-winning Afro-Punk documentary, with clips of her incendiary performances putting the world on notice to her unsung talent.
Tamar-kali’s voice and vision has been enjoyed by international audiences at Festivals such as the Peiferias Festival - Spain, Sons D'hiver - Paris and Omiala: A Festival of New Black Culture at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre as well as NYC venues Joe's Pub, HarlemStage, Lincoln Center Out of Doors and Central Park Summerstage. Her eclectic sound and versatility has allowed her to share stages with a diverse list of artists from Paramore, John Legend, and Cassandra Wilson to Me'shell Ndegeocello and Roy Ayers.

The ‘Deep Field’ is an image captured by the Hubble space telescope of a region inside the constellation Ursa Major, of the youngest and most distant known galaxies. Deep Field is also a relaxation technique to enable profound physiological and psychological change, a novel about a young woman's emotional awakening against the backdrop of global conflict and a band from Charleston, Georgia. But while change, growth and music all figure on Joan ‘As Police Woman’ Wasser’s astounding new album, it’s the Hubble image that gave birth to its title. “I found a photo of a slice of space that is just a tiny spot to the bare eye. But because space is infinite as we understand it so far, the spot spans a massive area, the distance so far, the length so wide, the depth so vast. We know so little about our surroundings. And as is the macrocosm, so is the microcosm, how deep can you delve into your own life… it’s endless too.” Digging in deeper than ever before, The Deep Field begins with the words “I want you to fall in love with me,” and continues to unfurl an unashamed lust for life. It’s unquestionably her best, most significant album yet – in Joan’s own words, “my most open, joyous record,” but it’s her most soulful record, and also her most rocking; her most personal, yet her most universal too. “I went through the process of writing by wanting to speak from a more universal point of view, like, say, Stevie Wonder does, about the human experience. I have to hand it to Stevie, by the way, who single-handedly made being positive cool. There are enough lows in life in general and I am not interested in hanging out in them when I could be dancing. So I’ve tried to write songs about hope and being open and free. I knew it would be more challenging because of the cliché of positivity. I endlessly rewrote the lyrics till they rang true for me. It is not easy being green! Fact is, it's not easy being human sometimes. I'm not living some delusional existence, I have just learned that my thinking dictates my reality. I am aiming for total freedom. What else is worth living for- especially when it's so obviously there for the taking? I get bigger bites and more of a taste for it the more I take chances and step out of what I imagine to be my comfort zone. I get closer the more I laugh, the more I use kindness rather than reverting to fear and frustration, the more I learn to soak in the bath of ecstasy. Sound crazy? Good. "

Canonized, marginalized or just scrutinized, Meshell Ndegeocello has given up trying to explain herself. After 20 years in an industry that has called her everything from avant garde to a dying breed, what unquestionably remains is the fearsome bassist, prolific songwriter and the creativity and curiosity of an authentic musical force. With that, she has earned critical acclaim, the unfailing respect of fellow players, songwriters and composers, and the dedication of her diverse, unclassifiable fans. 



Devil’s Halo, Meshell's 8th album and her first for Mercer Street, harkens back to the way records used to be made: no click track or electronic synthetics, with a focus on musicianship and live band energy. Meshell feels that Devil’s Halo represents a return to a place that she truly appreciates, music that is created and performed by people's hands. Produced by Meshell and guitarist Chris Bruce, and influenced by a wide breadth of sounds - from The Human League to Wu Tang to Yes – Devil’s Halo displays Meshell's vocals and diversity throughout.



Meshell says of Devil’s Halo, "I guess I've ended up believing in the gray area, the dichotomies and the unknowable. This record is all about contrast - then and now, raw and polished, beats and harmonies, Devil's Halo, good in evil in all things. I know some people want more of what they've heard and I know other people want the envelope pushed every time and I feel like this record makes peace with all of them”. She adds, “I love heavy bass and dub and beats, but I also sit and play the piano and write a song inspired by a pub in Dublin. I'm not representing anymore - I'm a musician, that's all I can offer. Each record is just meant to say: here's where that's led me today."



Meshell Ndegeocello was born Michelle Johnson in Berlin, Germany and raised in Washington DC. By the early 90's, she had landed in New York armed with a demo recorded in her bedroom, joined the Black Rock Coalition, and was soon signed to Madonna's label. Her records, 8 to date, have offered lyrical ruminations on race, love, sex, betrayal, God, and power, and she has simultaneously embraced and challenged listeners with her refusal to be pigeon-holed musically or personally. Meshell has been both celebrated and berated for her politically charged lyrics, sexual boundary crossing, and for choosing the road less traveled - a winding adventure through her own musical ambitions rather than the industry formulas.



A vast array of influences have informed all of her albums, including Devil’s Halo, and there are traces of her native go-go, hip hop, rock, R&B, new wave and punk in each. Each album has been a step away from the last, each used as a chance to investigate and integrate new sounds and ideas, and fans have been treated to everything from the deep-funk of Plantation Lullabies to the raw and confessional Bitter to the hip-hop loving Cookie. Possessed with instrumental gifts as diverse as her interests, Meshell composed, arranged and produced a jazz record in 2005.



A bass player above all else, Meshell brings her signature warm, fat, and melodic groove to everything she does and has appeared alongside the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, James Blood Ulmer, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tony Allen, John Medeski, Billy Preston, and Chaka Khan. As for her own bass-playing influences, she credits Sting, Jaco Pastorius, Family Man Barrington, and Stevie Wonder. Meshell was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine and remains one of few women who lead the band and write the music.


Composer and singer MORLEY from New York City breathes sensuality into activism with her worldly lyrical stance. Her warm and soulful voice is often compared to India Arie, Annie Lennox, Roberta Flack and Joni Mitchell. Her music shares their political and social relevance with a vocal sound that is all her own.

Morley has had the distinct honor to present at TEDWomen and TEDxEast. She has performed for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, Ela Gandhi, Sonia Sanchez, Ravi Shankar as well as numerous events at the United Nations, and The Auburn Theological Seminary. Morley has written, collaborated, and toured nationally and internationally with renowned artists such as Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Toshi Reagon, Joan Wasser, Dave Matthews, Raul Midon, Amadou et Mariam, Sheryl Crow, Queen Latifah, Angelique Kidjo, Sarah McLachlan, Larry Campbell, Yuri Buenaventura, Leni Stern and Richard Bona. She has released CDs independently as well as through Sony and Universal Records. Her new CD, “Undivided” will be available September 3rd, 2011.

Morley considers social and global activism an integral element of her music and uses its medicine as a tool for dialogue facilitation when she works with teenagers from domestic and international conflict zones.

Photo Credit: Pascal Perich

Recently featured in the New York Times, vocalist/composer Imani Uzuri is an eclectic artist who creates, performs and collaborates across various genres including concerts, experimental theater, recordings, visual/performance art and sound installations. She has performed at numerous international venues/festivals from Morocco to Moscow; from Lincoln Center to The United Nations including a recent special solo performance at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Her diverse collaborators include Herbie Hancock, Wangechi Mutu, Vijay Iyer, Sanford Biggers, Talib Kweli and John Legend. Television appearances include David Letterman and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots. Uzuri's nomadic world travels, and her interest in sacred music and experimentation is reflected in her various projects including her critically aclaimed debut album Her Holy Water: A Black Girl's Rock Opera. New York Magazine has called her work "stunning". Her forthcoming new album The Gypsy Diaries, which features vocals, violin, cello, acoustic guitar, sitar and daf, is a lyrical and spiritual soundscape.

www.imaniuzuri.com

Black & White photo credit: Yossi Michaeli

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Marcelle Davies-Lashley is a classic hard working NY singer. One of those women that you have seen all over town making everyone else sound great, Marcelle has been seen with Carl Hancock Rux, Lizz Wright, and Toshi Reagon and BigLovely among others. Drawing from her roots of gospel, jazz and r&b, Marcelle fianlly claims her place on center stage.

Alsarah & The Nubatones came together out of a collective love for Nubian music and a genuine belief that Soul transcends all cultural and linguistic barriers. Inspired by the pentatonic scale they blend a selection of Nubian 'songs of return' from the 1970s-today with original material and traditional music of central Sudan. Their set is a musical journey through diaspora and migration from an urban lense.

Stephanie Battle, a Brooklyn resident began songwriting while performing in the Broadway production of The Lion King, sharing journal writings and stories with a small group of performers in the theater's hallways and stairwells.

Inspired by the records her parents played while she was growing up, vocalists such as Shirley Horn, Roberta Flack, Patti Austin, Sarah Vaughn, Irene Kral, Deniece Williams and Donna Summer were some of the women who helped shape her sound.

Her soft angelic voice has often been compared to Corinne Bailey Rae, Minnie Riperton and Martina Topley Bird, bringing a freshness to her brand of jazz-infused pop/r+b.

She's had the pleasure of performing with such great artists as Morley, Imani Uzuri, Carl Hancock Rux, Vasi, Michael "Shyndigg" Henney and the wonderful Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon at the 2011 Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Other recent collaborations and performances with Toshi Reagon include the 2010 Women in Jazz series at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and 'Toshi Reagon and Friends' at Southpaw as part of BAC's Black Brooklyn Renaissance Program.

Arooj Aftab innovates off classical Pakistani, Sufi & pre-partition South Asian music, creating original compositions honoring ancestral roots, for a sound that is fresh, graceful, and musically complex.

Originally from Lahore, Pakistan, Arooj moved to the U.S. in 2005 to study Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. She had already cultivated a tremendous fan base in Pakistan. Through exposure to diverse musical genres and incredibly talented artists in Boston and in New York City, Arooj is inspired to continuously develop her art and deepen her understanding of the possibilities of music. Layering subtle, intricate, dynamic vocals over acoustic instrumentation, Arooj skillfully re-imagines indigenous soul with signature ‘cool.’

Arooj will soon be releasing her debut album as part of Rebuild Pakistan, an initiative she created to promote a vision of peace and healing for Pakistan, inspiring a global community to rebuild perspective on Pakistan, and urging the people of Pakistan to actively engage in rebuilding their homeland. The album and the initiative harness collective creativity to express solidarity with politically stigmatized, economically marginalized, culturally and spiritually powerful people across the earth.

Aftab’s ethereal voice swirls and dives in the delicate, complicated motions of her country’s long musical heritage. ~ The Boston Globe

Arooj filled the space with her gentle yet surprisingly forceful vocal style. ~ MTV Desi

Arooj has the unique ability to combine her training in traditional vocals with western instrumentation in a way that is both accessible to Western audiences and still very culturally unique. ~ Anoushka Shankar

A girl like this, with drive and ability and goals, she’s going to inspire a lot of people. That’s how you get evolution. ~ Steve Vai

Grey Mcmurray is a co-leader of the triumphant soul band Knights On Earth and is half of the expansive hope seeking duo itsnotyouitsme along with Caleb Burhans. He has performed and/or recorded with diverse group of musicians including Tyondai Braxton, Shara Worden, Gil-Scott Heron, Chromeo, So Percussion, Nicole Atkins, The BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Gabriel Kahane among many others. He hopes everyday to provoke joyful tears in strangers' eyes with the power of music. www.aroojaftabmusic.com
http://www.itsnotyouitsme.net
www.knightsonearth.com

Judith Casselberry (vocalist and guitarist) joined BigLovely as an original member in 1994 after fifteen years with the internationally acclaimed duo, Casselberry-DuPreé (1979-1994). From 1994-2003, she also led the reggae band/trio JUCA. Her music has allowed her to share stages with Odetta, Richie Havens, Thao, Sweet Honey in the Rock and many other brilliant artists. Judith is blessed with a life that combines her passion for music and teaching; in addition to a musical career she is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

It is truly rare to find an artist like Invincible. Her spitfire wordplay has gotten her acclaim from Hip Hop fans all across the world, while her active involvement in progressive social change has taken her music beyond entertainment, and towards actualizing the change she wishes to see. The Detroit based Hip-Hop artist and activist began penning lyrics at the age of nine, shortly after learning English by memorizing her favorite songs. She founded her own label and media company EMERGENCE, through which she released her critically acclaimed debut album ShapeShifters in 2008.

Slanty Eyed Mama have been on the forefront of Asian American counterculture since early 2003. Experimenting with hip hop, spoken word, electro, and pop, they have developed a funky urban asian vibe. Combining the electric violin riffs, samples, bowing and pizzicato of former Julliard virtuoso turned rocker Lyris Hung with Lady K's rhymes that flow along an asian slant, they have a style described as nuyorasian audio. Lyris performs with a set of pedals and hookups to sample herself lie in performance while alternating between playing her violin with a bow, picking it like a banjo and slamming it like an electric guitar. Joining creative forces with Lady K (Kate Rigg) a poet/comedian/actor and colleague from Julliard, Slanty Eyed Mama was formed to fine a voice for the generasian-next.

Stephanie McKay is a singer, songwriter and master performer & is one of the most in-demand voices on the scene today. Hailing from the Bronx NYC, her list of credits is long and impressive and reads like a "who's who" of the hip-hop/soul scene. Formerly a guitarist for Kelis, she has recorded two albums with the Brooklyn Funk Essentials, collaborated with Talib Kweli and Mos Def, featured on the standout hit Forget Regret from Roy Hargrove’s Grammy-nominated RH Factor (alongside such luminaries as D’Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu, Karl Denson, Pino Palladino, and Common) and completed a world tour with Amp Fiddler from the legendary Parliament Funkadelic.

Stephanie Mckay loves to sing and is honored to be in the company of such talented and strong women at the first annual Words*Rock* & Sword Festival.

NYC-based drummer Allison Miller defies all boundaries bringing her individual sound to diverse types of music while preserving their stylistic authenticity. Allison goes from playing with legendary songwriting vocalists Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile and Natalie Merchant, to touring with avant-garde saxophonist Marty Ehrlich and legendary organist Doctor Lonnie Smith. She approaches each of these musical situations with her own stylistic identity and a creative, fresh and energetic approach. Allison was chosen as “Rising Star Drummer” in Downbeat’s 53rd Annual Critics Poll.

Raised in the Washington D.C. area, Miller began playing the drums at the age of ten, studying with Walter Salb, and was soon thereafter featured in Downbeat magazine's "Up and Coming" section in 1991. Five years later, after graduating from West Virginia University she moved to New York City to study with Michael Carvin and Lenny White and pursue what has became a fruitful career as a freelance drummer, composer, producer, and teacher. Miller’s talents have landed her gigs in the mainstream music world, with artists like Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and most recently, singer Brandi Carlile; and her jazz skills have been embraced by everyone from avant-garde saxophonist Marty Ehrlich to organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith, with a wide range of leaders in between, including Steven Bernstein, Kenny Barron, Erik Friedlander, Mark Helias, Ray Drummond, Peter Bernstein, Sheila Jordan, George Garzone, Mike Stern, Rachel Z, Kevin Mahogany, Bruce Barth, Mark Soskin, and Harvie S.

Allison is currently celebrating the release of her second solo leader album, BOOM TIC BOOM (Foxhaven Records, March 2010). This album pays homage to and is inspired by all of the important women in Millers life. The album features pianist Myra Melford, violinist Jenny Scheinman, and bassist Todd Sickafoose. Together, they musically collaborate, creatively expounding on compositions written primarily by Miller and Melford.

Allison Miller’s BOOM TIC BOOM features Jamie Saft on piano, Jenny Scheinman on violin, Todd Sickafoose on bass, and Allison Miller on drums. They will be performing 2010,” follow

Together, these four longtime collaborators will intertwine and fuse their unique musical to take the audience right along with them, communicating and exploring through the emotional jazz Americana.
Photo Credit: Smith Banfield

http://www.mazzmuzik.com/

Photo by Caryn B. Davis

As a drummer LaFrae is known for her hard hitting style, sensativity and groove. Since ditching law school in 95' to become a drummer LaFrae has player toured and recorded with a wide variety of artists including Kelis, Rachel Z, Bumblefoot and Irene Cara. LaFrae also was the Musical Director for Sandra Bernhards' off Broadway show Everything Bad & Beautiful. As a teacher/clinician LaFrae is committed to sharing the message of music to young players and lends her support to a variety of educational music programs including the Lincoln Center Institute, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, and the Brooklyn International School. When not drumming LaFrae writes, lifts weights, and is working on a drum film. Check out her blog at fraefrae.wordpress.com!