It’s that time again. First Fridays at the Bronx Museum with Asho, celebrating Women’s History Month. Check out the details below…
First Fridays! At The Bronx Museum Presents:
KALALU Femme Edition: A lyrical stew for wordsmiths of all walks
Celebrating Women’s History Month
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010, 6:00pm to 10:00pm
South Building – Lower Gallery
Admission: Free!!! No Cover!!!
Back by popular demand and following the success of last year’s all
female line-up performances, First Fridays! will celebrate Women’s
History Month with a program fully composed of words and sounds by and
for women.
KALALU is a signature event of The Zol Lab, a creative laboratory
where arts and media meet social justice.
Curated and Hosted by The Zol Lab.
Performances by Aracelis Girmay, Atiyya, Lah Tere, Lorelei Williams & Alkebulan Aya.
Beats By DJ Laylo
Live Painting by Crystal Chaparro.
The Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street • Bronx, NY 10456
Or visit www.bronxmuseum.org.
Subway Directions: Take the “D” or “B” to the 167 Street/Grand Concourse station. Exit at rear of station, walk south along Grand Concourse two blocks. Or take the “4” to the 161 Street/Yankee Stadium station. Walk east three blocks to the Grand Concourse, then walk north four blocks along Grand Concourse to 165th Street. Via Bus: Take the Bx1, Bx2, or BxM4 Express to 165th St. and Grand Concourse
SHOW TIMELINE
6:00 pm Doors Open/ DJ Laylo Spins on the 1’s & 2’s
7:30PM Opening Remarks by Marinieves Alba/The Zol Lab
7:35 PM Performance by Lorelei Williams
7:55 PM Mari Intro/Aracelis Girmay
8:20 PM Marinieves Alba announces Crystal’s Work in Progress/Atiyya Intro
8:25 PM Performance by Atiyya
8:50 PM Performance by Lah Tere
9:15 PM Performance by Alkebulan Aya
9:40 PM Closing Remarks by Marinieves Alba/The Zol Lab
For more info on everything, check out The Bronx Museum’s official site.
This coming weekend at The Bronx Museum will host a special tribute to the late, legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla as part of their monthly First Fridays series. As usual, everything is curated by out peoples, Asho. Check out the info below…
First Fridays! @ The Bronx Museum presents:
Looking for the Perfect Beat: A Tribute to J Dilla
Celebrating Black History Month.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010, 6:00pm to 10:00pm
Free!!! (No Cover)
Hosted by Black45 from MTP Jersey
Music by DJ Meltplus
& Sucio Smash.
Performances by
John Robinson,
El Da Sensei, Illmind,
Daniel Joseph
Yahzeed + DJ Preservation ( Mos Def’s DJ)
+ Many More Special Guests.
Co-presented by:
MTP Jersey: myspace.com/mtpjersey
Brooklyn Bodega : www.brooklynbodega.com
Fat Beats: www.fatbeats.com
High Water Music: www.highwaterismusic.com
J Dilla Portrait Courtesy of Vanessa Chakour www.vanessachakour.com
About J Dilla:
James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American Grammy Nominated record producer who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. According to his obituary at NPR.org, he “was one of the music industry’s most influential hip-hop artists, working for big-name acts like De La Soul, Busta Rhymes and Common.” Yancey’s career began slowly. He has now become highly regarded, most notably for the production of critically acclaimed albums by Common, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Pharcyde. He was a member of Slum Village for their acclaimed debut album Fantastic, Vol. 2. In the early 2000s, Yancey’s career as a solo artist began to improve; A solo album Welcome 2 Detroit was followed by a collaborative album with California producer Madlib, Champion Sound, which catalyzed the careers of both artists. Just as his music was becoming increasingly popular, Yancey died in 2006 of the blood disease TTP.
About MTP (Meet The Producers)
MTP (Meet The Producers) is a monthly beat battle held in Newark, New Jersey. It was established in March 2005. MTP (Meet The Producers) was created for the sole purpose to showcase men and women creative ability’s behind the art of music productions and beat making. MTP (Meet The Producers) was created by Black45, DJ Max Jerome, and DJ Priority, with the departure of Max Jerome in 2006, Black45 and DJ Priority have strength their business chemistry and push the movement of the MTP (Meet The Producers) to the next level.
Also, if you’re in the mood for more Dilla, be sure to make it out to the 4th-Annual Donuts Are Forever party in BK on Saturday. Click the image below for more info on everything….
Tonight, the Caribbean Cultural Center in conjunction with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation present a screening of When The Spirits Dance Mambo, the critically acclaimed film co-directed and produced by Bobby Shephard and Dr. Marta Moreno Vega. Check out the details below…
Tracing the role of sacred African thought and practices in the formation of Cuban society, culture and music, the documentary is a tribute to the spiritual energy that traveled form West Africa to Cuba and New York. The film was shot over a three month period in Cuba and New York. “When the Spirits Dance Mambo” documents the roots of the sacred African religion, La Regla de Ocha (known as Santeria). There will be a question and answer with Dr. Marta Moreno Vega directly following the film.
Hansborough Recreation Center
35 W 134th St
New York, NY 10037-2503
(212) 234-9603
El Súper is the quintessential Cuban film. A dramatic comedy, it focuses on the domestic experiences of a Cuban family that left Cuba after the outbreak of the revolution. It tells the story of Roberto Amador González, his wife, Aurelia, and their daughter, Aurelita, in New York City. Roberto, a middle-aged man of humble origins and underprivileged background, works as a building superintendent in Manhattan. The film concentrates on his family’s experiences as marginal people in a country with a language and traditions different from their own. The fact that they live in the basement of the building where Roberto works underscores the sense of imprisonment and marginalization that the characters suffer. Cold weather and snow enhance the sense of desolation in the film….
As usual, there’s no cover for the event. Following the screening is a Q&A with original play writer Iván Acosta and a performance by Cuban Jazz and Salsa outfit UNity. For more info hit up the BX Museums’s site.
Gilles Peterson’s been one of my favorite DJs for a minute mostly due to the fact you’ll always hear something new and different in his sets.
He’s keeping that tradition going, and then some, with his latest release Havana Cultura, which dropped last week. It includes one CD of classic Cuban music mixed by Gilles and another of all new material recorded in Havana with contemporary Cuban musicians such as Mayra Caridad Valdes, Danay, Obsesion and Doble Filo, produced by Gilles Peterson jointly with Roberto Fonseca and Vince Vella.
For a preview of the music, check the podcast below…
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Oftentimes on this blog I mention my friend, Asho, and the events he helps organize in and around NYC. He’s linked up with FriendsWeLove for a qiuck, two-minute interview. Check the video below…
An internationally acclaimed journalist and cultural activist, Fernández Díaz is known as “The Cuban Hip-Hop Ambassador” for his pivotal role in shaping and documenting Cuba’s national Hip-Hop movement. Celebrated for his dynamic perspective and searing analysis of Cuban race relations, Fernández Díaz is a compelling, intellectual voice who enriches any event or forum he partakes in.
As new horizons on the U.S- Cuba relations front emerge under the Obama administration, new directions in the discourse around the future of the isolated island are becoming increasingly prominent in media and academic circuits. Fernández Díaz fills the void in these debates through his critical examination of race, Hip-Hop and popular culture, and contemporary politics in Cuba. Fernández Díaz’s pragmatic view of Cuban socialism and its intersections with the aforementioned topics demystifies the reality of present-day life in Cuba. His constructive critique of his homeland offers a new lens through which to evaluate Cuban society.
Fernández Díaz has been featured as a lecturer/panelist at: New York University, Brown University, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Lehigh University, Medgar Evers College (CUNY), and other notable institutions.
Fore more info on Asho, check out the full feature on FriendsWeLove.com here, or check out his official site by clicking here.
Tonight in Harlem, Asho is bringing Cuban music and dance uptown. Check out the details below…
The Uptown Nights party continues with Yosvany Terry and his band joined by DJ ASHO, special guest emcee KOKAI, Cuban dancers, and visual artists for a night of grooving to a Latin beat. Come early for the first hour’s open bar mixer, followed by the performance and a closing DJ set.
7:30-8:30 pm DJ Asho Set (Afrobeat, AfroCuban & Latin)
8:30-10:00 pm Yosvany Terry’s Band Performs:
Special Guest DC emcee Kokai
10:00-12:00am DJ Asho Set (Afrobeat, AfroCuban & Latin)
Tickets: $15
Harlem residents received an 20% discount off the ticket.
The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, Raices Latin Music Museum & Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts are combining forces this coming weekend for a great event that traces the History of Mambo and New York City back to Cuba, Haiti, Africa and beyond. Check out the details below…
The history of Mambo and New York City: In the World Famous Palladium – Home of the Mambo and in the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, Machito and His Afro Cubans, Tito Rodriguez, Tito Puente, and others established a style, a music, a movement celebrating the beauty of our color, our bodies, our movement, our regality. Mambo, a Bantu word, traveled from Central Africa to Cuba, Haiti, and other locations. Learn the history and dance to the music of fire with Machito’s Chango Ta Veni, Babaluaye of Miguelito Valdes and much more…The Orisha and Mambo Connection!
Just spotted this through the Caribbean Cultural Center. Joe Quesada, Editor-in-Chief of Marvel has created the first all Latino team of superheroes, The Santerians, based around Santería, the Cuban/Yoruba religion. As a fan of all things comic-related growing up, and someone who is, obviously, committed to Caribbean culture, I can definitely dig this. Check out some info on the team below…
The son of Latino rights activist and New York City Councilman Hector Rodriguez, young Nestor Rodriguez was an overachieving student in New York’s public school system who wanted to be just like his politically-active father. Dedicated to his neighborhood’s welfare, Nestor began working in soup kitchens and building housing for the homeless by age 13. When the crime rate skyrocketed within New York’s Latino community during the Cross Bronx Drug War, Nestor spearheaded the formation of the Street Angels, a controversial but effective watch group comprised of inner city youths whose popularity soared as the crime rate plummeted. But, unknown to Nestor, his father owed his political and financial success to Wilson Fisk, New York City’s Kingpin of Crime. Acting on a hot tip, Nestor infiltrated a shipyard building one night and witnessed his father meeting with the Kingpin. When Hector disobeyed the Kingpin’s command to kill his son, the Kingpin killed Hector instead and left Nestor with his father’s body.Shortly after, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), who had recently begun operating as a costumed vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen, arrived on the scene — but a grieving Nestor informed him he was too late.
Over the next few months, Nestor answered police questions, avoided the media and secretly destroyed any evidence of his father’s involvement with the Kingpin. He then disappeared for several years and was introduced to Santeria, a religious system that fuses Catholicism with traditional Yoruba beliefs from the African continent, by a Santerian priest (Santero) he met at his father’s funeral. The priest conducts a religious ceremony that allows Nestor to become possessed by Eleggua (the Yoruba deity of the crossroads and communication), granting him the ability to see and understand multiple directions and thoughts, similar to Eleggua, Nestor also has the ability to cause acute confusion and alter the communication abilities of others. Nestor resurfaced as “NeRo” 5 years later, using the vast fortune inherited from his late father to begin his well-chronicled rise as a media mogul.
Today, at age 21, NeRo is one of New York’s most eligible bachelors and one of America’s top entertainment entrepreneurs, with an independent hip-hop music label, a line of trendy restaurants, a signature clothing line, and even his own cologne. Believing there were not enough vigilantes like Daredevil patrolling the streets to protect innocents, NeRo founded his own vigilante team, the Santerians, who had all served with NeRo’s Street Angels as teenagers. Each team member obtained powers through rituals honoring the forces of nature where they were similarly possessed by and named after one of the Orishas, the deities of the Santerian religion. As the team’s leader, NeRo took the name of his patron god, Eleggua,. The mischievous Chango, named after the Orisha of fire and passion, can generate electricity from his fingertips and is the most hot-headed member of the team. The giant but level-headed Ogun, named after the Orisha of war, exhibits phenomenal superhuman strength. Named after the Orisha of rivers and streams, Oshun can manipulate almost any form of liquid, even the blood within an organism’s body. Finally, Oya, named after the Orisha of the storms, can fly and and control the weather within small, localized areas. Secretly bankrolled by NeRo’s finances, the Santerians set out to rid New York’s streets of crime in the name of Ol dumarè, the skyfather of the Santerian belief system. An inexperienced, street-level team, the Santerians began learning the ropes and patrolling the city via a car and motorbike….
Check out an interview at the CCCADI gallery, from his first solo art show with Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, below…
