OMARA PORTUONDO'S GRACIAS WINS LATIN GRAMMY FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY TROPICAL ALBUM
Illustrious Cuban singer Omara Portuondo has made history twice this year. In October, the remarkable vocalist, and only female star of the Buena Vista Social Club™, became one of the first Cuban artists in six years to obtain a visa to perform in the U.S., marking a cultural breakthrough in the strained relations between her homeland and the U.S.
On November 5, she also became the first Cuban resident to present at the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, where she delivered the prestigious Song of The Year award. She was honored again as the winner for Best Contemporary Tropical Album or “Mejor Álbum Tropical Contemporáneo” with her latest release Gracias produced by Montuno Productions and released on World Village.
Although Portuondo is a four-time Latin GRAMMY nominee, and won a "Prémio Música Brasileira" Brazilian Music Award last year for her duets album with Maria Bethania, as well as a Billboard Latin Music Award in 2005, this is her first GRAMMY award.
"I would like to thank the Latin Recording Academy for a dream come true. Tonight I want to say Gracias for the wonderful support given to me over my long career. I was honored to be the first Cuban to present an award this evening and to be given this award for Gracias is a career highlight. Gracias to my fans all over the world." - Omara
Portuondo performed two U.S. shows in October, for the first time since 2003, at UCLA’s Royce Hall and at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Of her San Francisco show the Oakland Tribune wrote, “It's impossible to say whether she handles the fast or slow numbers better. Whatever kind of song she's singing at the time is the one that best suits her." Portuondo returns in February of 2010 with concerts in Washington DC, Boston and New York City, among other major cities. Further tour details coming soon.
OMARA PORTUONDO "DAZZLES IN SF JAZZ OPENING NIGHT," AND THANKSGIVING COMES EARLY AT UCLA
Omara Portuondo, the world renowned vocalist who began her career in Cuba in the 1940s, has been granted a travel visa to perform in the U.S. in October. A member of the celebrated Buena Vista Social Club®, Omara is one of the first Cuban artists in six years to obtain a visa to perform in the U.S., which is a result of the Obama Administration’s efforts to improve political and cultural relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The permission to perform coincides with a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Tropical Album for Gracias. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on Univision November 5.
"Portuondo looked regal as she took the stage, dressed in a lovely light-colored dress with her hair meticulously styled atop her head, and she moved with undeniable grace... She sang and spoke in Spanish, but it didn't matter if you don't speak the language; Portuondo conveys emotion and sentiment with her warm contralto as well as anyone in the business... It's impossible to say whether she handles the fast or slow numbers better. Whatever kind of song she's singing at the time is the one that best suits her."
"Portuondo's contralto still registers as a formidably potent and emotionally limber instrument, telegraphing ruefulness or ecstasy, parental tenderness or swooning romantic fatalism. Her persistent potency is evident on her 2008 release 'Gracias'..."
NOVEMBER AT WORLD VILLAGE: THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE'S OFF THE MAP
The distinguished Silk Road Ensemble debuts Off The Map, its first album independent of founder Yo-Yo Ma, on World Village this month. The Silk Road Ensemble features the artistry of Kayhan Kalhor, Wu Man, Cristina Pato, Wu Tong and many others. It embodies a collective spirit that has evolved since 1998, and new release Off The Map celebrates the 10th Anniversary of that evolution. The album transports us to the Andes through Gabriela Frank, explores childhood memories in Hong Kong with Angel Lam, celebrates the earth's creation via Evan Ziporyn, and much more.
TINARIWEN'S OUTSTANDING FOURTH ALBUM IMIDIWAN: COMPANIONS DEBUTS AT NO. 11 ON BILLBOARD'S TOP WORLD ALBUMS CHART
Tinariwen continues to rock across genres with their latest album, Imidiwan: Companions. The album has received accolades across the board, with 4 Star reviews in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Independent and The Scotsman, as well The Eye Weekly, Metro Canada and Alternative Media. Recorded in their native Tessalit, and produced by Jean-Paul Romann, Imidiwan: Companions reveals "more depth, more emotion, many more peaks and valleys than anything they've previously released" (Huffington Post). Tinariwen will tour North America in February and March 2010, with dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver, among others.
"Imidiwan is classic Tinariwen—punishing grooves, buzzing, snaking guitars, handclaps, and lived-in voices." - PopMatters
"alternatively fiery and poignant...Imidiwan is its own force of nature." - World Music Central
WORLD VILLAGE IN AUGUST: SUSAN MCKEOWN & LORIN SKLAMBERG'S "SAINTS & TZADIKS" AND MAMADOU BARRY'S "NIYO"
This August, accomplished Irish artist Susan McKeown joins Klezmatics' vocalist Lorin Sklamberg in the absorbing new project Saints & Tzadiks. This extremely talented duo examine Irish and Jewish folk traditions with amicable interest and propensity, finding strong connections on the subjects of human and divine passion. Through elements of Jewish mysticism, the ancient Gaelic vocal style sean nós, and early 20th century Yiddish vaudeville, McKeown and Sklamberg deliver dances, laments, romances, discourses, and comedies.
“McKeown left the stage to the loudest applause heard all evening.” – Rolling Stone
“the Klezmatics [are] sensitive interpreters...shapeshifting their sound around Lorin Sklamberg's lithe and heartfelt lead.”- Billboard
This month World Village is also proud to debut Niyo, the first release by Guinea-born artist Mamadou Barry, in his own name. The founder of Guinean orchestra Kaloum Star and musical director of Les Amazones de Guinée, Barry has toured acts such as Bembeya Jazz and Keletigul. He currently performs with Gombo Jazz weekly in Conakry. Barry was trained as a multi-instrumentalist by his father, Momo Wandel Soumah, a saxophonist in the acclaimed Le Pavillon Bleu orchestra in Kindia. Self-produced by Barry, Niyo incorporates funk, Afrobeat, Latin jazz and Mandingo rhythms. The albums' guest artists include the finest vocalists in Guinea, including Sia Tolna and Missia Saran.
JULY 2009 AT WORLD VILLAGE: NAJMA AKHTAR & GARY LUCAS'S RISHTE
World Village is thrilled to present a new collaboration between British/South Asian singer Najma Akhtar and GRAMMY® nominated American guitarist Gary Lucas. An intoxicating blend of Indian music, the blues and psychedelia, Rishte includes lush, modern arrangements of Indian ghazals, a haunting version of Skip James' "Special Rider Blues" and even songs originally written for Lucas's former collaborator, Jeff Buckley.
“their collaboration here works brilliantly…As for Akhtar, her voice is a heaven-sent gift. If she had made this album with that other noted blues aficionado, Robert Plant, it would surely sell a million and win a Grammy.” – Songlines, Top of the World
KAYHAN KALHOR AND OREKA TX AT WOMEX 2009
WOMEX 2009's first showcase announcement features World Village artists Kayhan Kalhor w/ Brooklyn Rider & Oreka Tx! The prestigious festival is held in Copenhagen this year Oct 28 through Nov 1. For more info, go here
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PRINCE ATTENDS ANA MOURA'S CONCERT AT LA CIGALE IN PARIS
Pop star Prince made an appearance at fado singer Ana Moura's concert at La Cigale in Paris! He reportedly applauded enthusiastically and declared that he'd like her to record with him on his album "Stones World". He is quoted in Le Parisien as saying "I just came here to touch the train of her dress."
Click image to see article on Expresso (in Portuguese):
BIOGRAPHY
The driving force behind the World Village label is that the music we release usually finds us, just as it would in any village. If we feel strongly about the music, then we’ll release the CD. It’s as simple as that - there won’t be any ‘market research’ beforehand. Therefore, the music we choose can be any new music, as long as it has soul. World Village will favor artists that are original and have a great story to tell. They may be well known and already have a buzz going, or they may be a totally new discovery. World Village may even release traditional music, as long as it is amazing and avoids cultural clichés. We’ll approach each project with the classic question: Will this sound great ten years from now?
--"The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil" by Chris McGowan and Ricardo Pessanha (Temple University Press, 3rd ed., 2009)
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