Artist Bios
Karikatura is a globe trotting Brooklyn band, combining styles and stories to form a sound they dub World-Indie. With influences from South America, Eastern-Europe and the Caribbean, Karikatura forges a traveler’s soundtrack filled with soulful vocals, infectious horns and evolving grooves.
The Cimarron Project is an ensemble dedicated to showcasing the diversity of Afro-Cuban music and dance in its most traditional form. Under the direction of Cuban master drummer Roman Díaz, the project’s repertoire includes rumba, son, pilón, changüí and other deeper forms representing the three pillars of Afro-Cuban music: Yoruba, Kongo and Carabali by way of the Cuban Tres Guitar, the Bongó de Changüí, Violin, Saxophone, Flute and varied pop and folkloric percussion instruments like the Batá drums. The knowledge of this music and its traditions in the capable hands of these musicians make for a captivating experience on the dance floor as well as insightful workshops and lecture demonstrations.
Banda Magda boasts an intricate, tropical and eclectic sound, drawing from world chansons, South American grooves and a twist of jazz. On stage, Banda Magda brings a compilation of vibraphone, guitar, bass, vocals, accordion, piano and a cataclysmic overload of percussion to surround the charismatic Magda Giannikou, founder, leader and singer.
Formed in New York in 2010, Banda Magda appear regularly in venues all over New York City, blending French repertoire, original music and songs from all over the world, arranged in the Banda Magda way and sung in English, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, Greek and Japanese. However their fame has gone way beyond New York City and through youtube videos and their already existing EP Banda Magda, they have drawn fan members from around the globe.
Banda Magda completed their first European tour in Spring 2012, US + Canada Tour in Summer 2012 with internationally acclaimed instrumental group Snarky Puppy led by Michael League.
Spanglish Fly is New York City’s only band dedicated to reviving and renewing the music known as Latin bugalú or boogaloo, the sound that sprang from the street corners, the transistor radios, the pool halls and the clubs of 1960s Spanish Harlem. Featuring 11 members with origins in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, the UK, Canada, “Loisaida” and Upper Manhattan, Spanglish Fly comes together to play the mixture of soul, R&B and Latin rhythms that was born in El Barrio. The band’s live shows are explosive Latin Soul parties with packed dance floors. Fans shake their thing to Spanglish Fly's original tunes, which pay homage to the boogaloo genre while refreshing it for a new generation, and to the band's arrangements of boogaloo classics and vintage soul hits. A Spanglish Fly show is a night of stirring melodies, danceable grooves and instant crowd engagement, including the popular Bugalú Dance Lesson. Audiences go wild dancing the boogaloo or simply freestlying it, feverishly responding to the instantly accessible sounds.
The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra is an 11-piece band playing dynamic, dura arrangements of our favorite indie tunes, by Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Japanther, TV On The Radio, and many more... taking salsa in new directions with love and respect for the tradition. Find us on Facebook and Twitter @theWSO, and join our email list for updates about all of our shows and recordings. Already garnering international press and attention based on a few demos, the WSO will release our first album in June, 2011. Come to a show to hear what's up as we reset the boundaries of the art form and bring this great music to a whole new audience.
Cheick Hamala Diabate is a West African historian in the Griot tradition, and a world-recognized master of the ngoni, a Malian traditional instrument. A sought after performer, lecturer, storyteller and choreographer throughout Africa, Europe, Asia and Canada, Cheick Hamala began touring in the U.S. in 1995. His performances have been featured at such notable venues as The Smithsonian Institute, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest and many of the top festivals across the US. Whether playing solo, in a traditional trio, or rocking with his full 10-piece orchestra, Cheick Hamala always reflects the historical integrity of an important art form with a rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years to the formation of the Great Malian Empire.
DJ Sound Culture
Born and raised in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, DJ Sound Culture has always had a great affinity for world cultures and deep music. His passion for both has to a large extent laid the path in front of him for most of his life. In the dj booth DJ Sound Culture is somewhat of an ethno-musicologist or rhythmic cultural chemist of sorts, exploring the world’s sounds and finding the threads that tie us all together globally. From Bhangra to Balkan Beat, African Soukous to Latin House, he knows how to navigate your auditory senses. His live mixes are both dynamic and seamlessly cohesive, whether you’re a world music enthusiast or dance floor regular, he keeps things interesting.