Sep

21

Word*Rock*& Sword: A Musical Celebration of Women’s Lives V Word*Rock*& Sword: A Musical Celebration of Women’s Lives V

with Be Steadwell, Martha Redbone, Nona Hendryx, Toshi Reagon, Joan As Police Woman, Allison Miller, Jessica Care Moore, Abena Koomson, Arooj Aftab, Morley, KimberlyNichole, Invincible, Christelle Durandy, Imani Uzuri & many more

Sat September 21st, 2013

7:00PM

Main Space

Minimum Age: 18+

Doors Open: 6:00PM

Show Time: 7:00PM

Event Ticket: $20

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event description event description

Word*Rock*& Sword is about women taking and holding space, sharing experiences and skills, teaching and celebrating—spirit, body and mind, all in the name of justice and rights for women. Open To All.
 
featuring…
NONA HENDRYX
BE STEADWELL
CHRISTELLE DURANDY
IMANI UZURI
INVININCIBLE
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN
JUDITH CASSELBERRY
MARTHA REDBONE
MORLEY
TOSHI REAGON
TAMAR-kALI
WORD*ROCK*&SWORD Band of Angels
ALLISON MILLER
ALEX NOLAN
GANESSA JAMES
SUE HADJOPOLOUS
ABENA KOOMSON
MORLEY
KIMBERLYNICHOLE
KOKUMO
SUE HADJOPULOS
+ DJ TIKKA MASALA
 
More to come keep checking back
 
This is a general admission, standing event. Happy hour from 6-7pm including $3 beer and $5 well drinks.

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Word*Rock*& Sword: A Musical Celebration of Women’s Lives V

Be Steadwell

Be Steadwell: With roots in jazz vocals, acapella and folk-Be composes a soulful blend of genres in what she calls queerpop. In her live performances, she utilizes loop pedal vocal layering and beat boxing to compose her songs on stage.Be Steadwell is a songwriter from Washington DC. Redefining the love song in a modern context-Be’s lyrics focus on love and resistance between women.

 
Be Steadwell official site
Be Steadwell on Facebook
Be Steadwell on Soundcloud
Be Steadwell on Bandcamp

Martha Redbone

Miss Redbone’s music flows equally from her own unique, award-winning blend of Native American elements with funk and her deep roots in Appalachian folk and Piedmont blues favored by the matriarchy that raised her on a rich sojourn from Clinch Mountain, Virginia to Harlan County, Kentucky and beyond to Brooklyn’s Dodge City-esque mean streets. Indeed, Garden Of Love seamlessly evokes the mid-20th century old timey gold rush when such artists as her fellow Kentuckians Jim Ford and Jackie DeShannon fearlessly infused their downhome blues between canyon air ballets and retronuevo cabinessence – before their followers developed newgrass and Redbone’s twangy forebears Buffy Sainte-Marie and Rita Coolidge brought Indigenous concerns to the rock & roll arena in the 1970s. Yet don’t call this project bluegrass or the purists might have a fit.

Nona Hendryx

If Labelle fans grieved the end of an era, Nona Hendryx fans would welcome a new one as the revolutionary art-rock, new-wave goddess embarked upon her own impressive solo career, which spanned eight studio albums and engaged her with an impressive line up of collaborators (from Prince, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Vernon Reid of Living Color, AfrikaBambata, Bono and the soul influenced funk band Cameo), resulting in several top ten hits and a Grammy nomination (“Rock This House,” from her album The Heat, 1985, with Keith Richards on guitar).
(read full bio here_
 
Nona Hendryx official site

Toshi Reagon

Toshi Reagon official site | Toshi Reagon on Twitter | Toshi Reagon on Facebook | Toshi Reagon on Instagram
 
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 credit: JOMOTO/Molly Rubin and Tony DiPietro

Joan As Police Woman

Joan As Police Woman official site | Joan As Police Woman on Facebook | Joan As Police Woman on Twitter | Joan As Police Woman on Instagram | Joan As Police Woman on YouTube

Joan as Police Woman (Joan Wasser) is a world-renowned recording artist, songwriter, performer, producer and multi-talented instrumentalist. First trained as a classical violinist, Wasser was influenced by the music of Jimi Hendrix, Siouxie and the Banshees, Nina Simone, and Black Flag. She went on to perform in a number of alternative rock bands including The Dambuilders, Those Bastard Souls, and Helium. Throughout the early 2000s, Wasser went on to collaborate with artists including John Cale, Lou Reed, David Sylvian, Antony & The Johnsons, and Rufus Wainwright, several of whom went on to be featured on her own records. In 2002, Wasser formed Joan as Police Woman, and her debut album Real Life was released in 2006 to great acclaim. Pitchfork celebrates her songs that “remind us of a time when pop tunes wound up in jazz clubs without losing anything in translation.” She recently returned from an extensive European tour for her 6th studio album, Let it Be You, a collaboration with Benjamin Lazar Davis. Tonight Wasser will play songs from her upcoming unreleased album and is joined by Parker Kindred, Ben Perowsky, Oren Bloedow, Jared Samuel and Thomas Bartlett.

“Soulful adventurism – a voice so wondrous and moving it makes everyone else’s seem ordinary and mundane” THE GUARDIAN

“Ravishing and lovelorn” MOJO

“The coolest woman in pop” THE TIMES

Allison Miller

Jessica Care Moore

Abena Koomson

Arooj Aftab

Arooj Aftab on Facebook |Arooj Aftab on Twitter | Arooj Aftab on Instagram | Arooj Aftab on Bandcamp

Arooj Aftab processes the Sufi tradition through an open-minded approach to sonic matter, reminiscent of jazz improvisation, and a contemporary production that does not shy away from incorporating subtle electronic undertones.

With this method, the Lahore-born, Brooklyn-based artist completely reworks classical Pakistani and North Indian forms, like thumri, khayal, and kafi. With those broad inspirations, she creates a fascinating mix of sounds and cultures.

Aftab’s debut album, “Bird Under Water“, dazzles with detailed arrangements and mesmerizing ambience. The music floats through the air with a particular kind of lightness and poise. Feel its elegant movement and let yourself sink in.

Morley

Morley official site | Morley on Facebook | Morley on Twitter
 
From Carnegie Hall, Nice Jazz Festival to the Nomad Women’s Festival in the Sahara Desert, Morley has brought her unique blend of jazz, folk and soul to the world’s stage. Be it solo with her acoustic guitar or with full electric band, her message is consistent and clear; love, justice and inspiration. Morley performs all over the world, and had the distinct honor of presenting at TEDWomen. Her song “Women of Hope” (video by Damani Baker “Still Bill”) has been featured in Nobel Women’s Initiative documentaries and has brought her before many world leaders and policy makers. She has performed for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Ban Ki-moon, Mary Robinson, and Ela Gandhi. She has written, collaborated, and shared the stage with such distinguished artists as Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Toshi Reagon, Richie Havens, Robert Wilson, Raul Midón, Amadou et Mariam, Joan Wasser, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, Queen Latifah, Angélique Kidjo, Sarah McLachlan, Max Roach, Wynton Marsalis,Joan Wasser, Manu Katche and Cassandra Wilson.   Morley’s previous recording, Seen, came out on Universal/Polydor. Prior to that, the Days Like These CD was released independently, before being picked up by Universal. Morley’s debut, Sun Machine, was released on Sony/WORK, songs from her albums have been featured on several television programs, both nationally and internationally. Morley’s voice was also featured as the soundtrack for the Ralph Lauren fragrance, “My Romance”.

Invincible

It is truly rare to find an artist like Invincible. Their spitfire wordplay has received acclaim from fans all across the world, while their active involvement in progressive social change has taken their music beyond entertainment toward actualizing the change they wish to see. As a co-founder of EMERGENCE Media, they released their debut album ShapeShifters (2008) and produced award winning videos like The Revival (2009) about women in hip-hop, and Locusts (2008) exploring displacement and gentrification in Detroit. They have performed on stages and in clubs, community centers, campuses, pride celebrations, and festivals around the world for over a decade, both as a solo artist, and featured as part of the anti-misogyny Hip-Hop collective ANOMOLIES. They teamed up with longtime producer Waajeed in 2010 to release a limited edition 7″ single “Detroit Summer/Emergence.” Invincible is a fellow of Kresge Arts in Detroit, and the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for Women and Gender in the Arts and Media.

Imani Uzuri

Innovative vocalist and composer Imani Uzuri is an eclectic artist who travels internationally from Morocco to Moscow creating and performing in world class venues across various genres including concerts, recordings, experimental theater, performance art and sound installations. Uzuri’s work has been called “stunning” by New York Magazine and incorporates her interests in world culture, experimentation and sacred music. She has earned critical acclaim for her debut album, Her Holy Water: A Black Girl’s Rock Opera as well as for her collaborations with diverse artists such as Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Wangechi Mutu, Sandford Biggers and Vijay Iyer. The Village Voices says, “With a voice that would sound equally at home on an opera stage or a disco 12-inch, Imani Uzuri is a constant surprise…seamlessly combining jazz, classical, country and blues motifs into highly personalized compositions.” Uzuri’s new album, The Gypsy Diaries, draws on her rural Southern roots as well as influences ranging from Sufi devotionals to Romany laments and features sitar, acoustic guitar, cello, violin, Japanese shinobue flute and world percussion. It is a vibrant lyrical and spiritual soundscape that was named #2 on Rhapsody’s World Top 10 List Summer 2012. Uzuri is currently composing a new musical GIRL Shakes Lose Her Skin that she is developing with playwright Zakiyyah Alexander inspired by the works of Philadelphia Poet Laureate Sonia Sanchez. “Uzuri never fails to mesmerize audiences with her narcotic blend of…ethereal sounds” (Time Out New York)
 
Imani Uzuri official site

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