[display_podcast] With: J.D. Allen (tenor saxophone); Carlton Holmes (piano/fender rhodes); George Mitchell (bass); Cindy Blackman (drums) WHERE/ WHEN: Slave Church on Long Street (Wed Oct 1) Cindy Blackman is widely regarded as one of the top drummers in the world. She’s upheld the backbeat and created texture for a veritable Who’s Who in jazz: Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Don Pullen, Hugh Masekela, Pharaoh Sanders, Sam Rivers, Cassandra Wilson, Angela Bofill, Bill Laswell, Buckethead. However, she’s better known as keeper of …  ( continue reading

[display_podcast] With: Bebson De La Rue (voice); Dicoco Boketshu (bass, video); Djanga (drums, percussion); guests DJs and musicians WHERE/ WHEN: the Assembly (Wed Oct 1) Bebson de la Rue is a singer/rapper and the leader of Tryonix, an Afrofuturist project based in Kinshasa (DRC). As poet laureate of Kinshasa’s streets (hence his nickname “De La Rue” meaning “Of the streets”), Bebson is an influential figure in Ngbaka, one of the city’s most notorious ghettos, where he also teaches music and …  ( continue reading

[display_podcast] With: Bibi Tanga (voice, bass); Le Professeur Inlassable (turntables, programming); Rico Kerridge (guitars); Arnaud Biscay (drums, percussions); Arthur Simonini (violin, keys) WHERE/ WHEN: the Assembly (Wed Oct 1) Bangui-born, Paris based Bibi Tanga is a singer and bass player whose music combines Curtis Mayfield’s truth-speaking falsetto, James Brown’s funk epics and Sly Stone’s lysergic experimentation with Africa’s big band traditions, including Miriam Makeba’s Bembeya Jazz National, Franco’s TPOK Jazz and Fela Kuti’s Africa 70. His current project is a …  ( continue reading