Ivorian Dobet Gnahore at The Dakota Jazz Club this Thursday

Grammy Award winner Dobet Gnahore will be back in Minnesota to deliver an amazing performance this Thursday at The Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant. FYI: The promotional code ‘MinneAfrica‘ gets you a discounted ticket read below.

Here’s a great description on The Dakota Jazz Club’swebsite.

Dobet Gnahore picture credit: Wikipedia

Dobet Gnahoré, a singer, dancer and percussionist from the Ivory Coast, inherited the force of the “Bété“ tradition from her father, Boni Gnahoré, a master percussionist. Dobet met French guitarist Colin Laroche de Féline, who went there to immerse himself in African melodies and rhythms, after being introduced to them by Toroma Sika in France. Having spent some time in the well-known Tché Tché dance company, Dobet decided with Colin (in 1999) to form a duo, Ano Neko, which means “Let’s create together“ in the Bété language. The duo toured widely in France (1999-2000) where they settled temporarily following the instability that unfortunately struck the Ivory Coast. In 2003, their artistic project refocused on Dobet Gnahoré and expanded when a backup vocalist and a percussionist joined them. This was when the Contre Jour label produced her first album entitled Ano Neko, making the link with Dobet and Colin’s evolving musical history. Ano Neko contains songs recorded in Abidjan and others recorded in Belgium during the summer of 2003. From Mandingue melodies to Congolese rumba, from Ivory Coast Ziglibiti to Cameroon Bikoutsi, from Ghanian High-Life to Zulu choirs, their compositions, carried along with jazz-like sounds, are varied and colorful. The sanza, the balafon, the calebasse and bongos are brought in to support the guitar, the vocal backup and Dobet’s warm and powerful voice. Dobet, who won the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2006 “Best Newcomer”, made her North American debut in the fall of 2006 in Putumayo Presents: Acoustic Africa, alongside Habib Koite and Vusi Mahlasela. In 2010 Dobet Gnahoré won the Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the song “Pearls” in collaboration with India.Arie.

Tickets are $30.00 – The promotional code ‘MinneAfrica’ gets you a discounted ticket.

Vusi Mahlasela ‘The Voice’ is coming back to Minnesota

Update: Feb 10th

Congratulations to our lucky, lottery winners; Doris, Peter and Gabi! For everyone else you will get a $5.00 discount at the door if you use the codeword: MinneAfrica. See you Sunday with your dancing shoes .  Psst: We will have more ticket giveaways and discounts for other African concerts in the very near future so keep checking back at MinneAfrica.

Guess what? Vusi Mahlasela will be coming back to Minnesota and we’ve got tickets for you! If you missed him before, here’s another chance to catch him in action – read this article from his last concert here.   For those of you who aren’t well acquainted with Vusi, here’s a clip from his performance during the world cup;

‘The Voice’ as he is affectionately known in native South Africa, will be performing at Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant Sunday February 13th. How timely – Valentine’s Day (hint hint)

MinneAfrica will be giving away 3 pairs of tickets. To be entered into the lottery send an email to minneafrica[at]gmail[dot]com . Winners will be announced by Thursday February 10th. There may be something for the non-winners too so keep your eyes and ears open

Event Details;

Where: Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant

When: February 13th 2011

Time: 7:00pm

Price: $25

For more information click here

Twin Cities Black Film Festival to show ‘Ni Wakati’

The Twin Cities Black Film Festival is upon us again! From Friday Oct 15th to Sunday Oct 17th attendees can expect to be moved by powerful films and documentaries, engage in meaningful discussion and thereafter party like a rock star.  For the film schedule up go to http://tcbff.com/schedule.html

Be sure to watch the revolutionary, reintroduction of Africa to the rest of the world in ‘Ni Wakati‘ (It’s Time). The film was produced by Michael Wanguhu who brought us the award-winning ‘Hip Hop Colony’.

Synopsis;

From the ashes of the Mau Mau in East Africa to the Black Panthers in America, arises a movement to awaken people globally especially in Africa, to the opportunities that now exist. Hip-hop’s dead prez and Africa’s Kalamashaka, reconnects Africans as we witness the handing over the torch to the next generation.

 

 

K’naan concert in Minneapolis this Saturday

Hey happy people, I bring you good tidings!  K’naan will be in the twin cities this Saturday night at First Ave and Minnesota’s very own Deejay Xpect will be on the ones and twos. As you probably know K’naan has a HUGE fan base here so if you plan on seeing the show, you better get your tickets early.

For more details click here.

For those of you who don’t know him, here’s a video;

Hollywood’s casting of the Mandelas. What’s your take?

 Members of South Africa’s Creative Workers Union (as well as some of my facebook friends) are seething with anger over the casting of Jennifer Hudson to play Winnie Mandela in an upcoming biopic of the South Africa’s former first lady. According this article  production for the film is to begin in May, but the union has threatened to delay shooting in South Africa.

 Oupa Lebogo, general secretary of the CWU, said of Hudson’s casting, announced last month: “This decision must be reversed, it must be stopped now. If the matter doesn’t come up for discussion, we will push for a moratorium to be placed on the film being cast in South Africa. We are being undermined, there is no respect at all.”

International Movie Star in Minneapolis Aug 16th

Ghanain heartthrob and much adored African actor, Van Vicker, will be back in Minnesota promoting ‘Raj, The Dancer’ which is his second movie as a producer and director.

Van Vicker gained global attention as Raj in the hit movie ‘Beyonce’, but this new Raj is not a continuation of the former one. According to Van’s official website, in Raj, The Dancer, Van plays a guy who goes on a holiday trip with a friend and gets hosted by a retired military officer, Telio. Kofi Arjololo who plays Telio maltreats his wife, Susan, and enjoys flirting. He has an alcoholic problem. Raj steps in against his friend’s will and love takes over.

No need to hear anymore from me when you can hear it from Van Vicker a.k.a ‘Raj’ himself in person at his movie premiere at the Earle Brown Center. Tickets are already selling fast so get yours before the event is sold out – and it will sell out.

Twin Cities World (Africa) Refugee Day Celebrations

What is today known as International or World Refugee Day was first declared as African Refugee Day by the African Union. Africa hosts the most refugees in the world and in 2001 the African Union and UN agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with the June 20th Africa Refugee Day.

Minnesota is home to many large refugee populations and has the highest proportion of refugees compared to immigrants in the US. Minnesota has the largest Somali population, 2nd largest Hmong population, one of the largest Liberian populations and pretty decent sized East African populations. In fact, the fastest growing group of immigrants in MN are from Africa. If you’d like to read more stats check out the state demographer’s center or the office of refugee resettlement website.

You can celebrate the Twin Cities diversity by at the 3rd annual Twin Cities World Refugee event at Minnehaha Park.  Here’s a snap shot of the schedule.

Saturday, June 20, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

11 a.m.-2 p.m. – Immigrant resource fair and global cultural displays

12-3 p.m. – Diverse music and dance performances

3 p.m. – Main program, featuring speakers from six prominent refugee communities, spoken word and break dancing

4:30 p.m. – Live music by Marimba Africa

For more information click here

What are YOU doing this weekend?

by Nelima

Another weekend is fast approaching. If you haven’t got any plans, perhaps we can help out with that. We’ve got a coupla suggestions;

Arts:

• There will be a tour of the African gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on Saturday at 2pm.

Causes:

• One Twin Cities will be hosting a ‘Kick It to Malaria’ soccer game fundraiser on Saturday at 7201 West 83rd Street, Bloomington. Games go from 11am – 2pm and each player pays $10 which is the cost of a bed net. For more info click here.
• Join the rally for the Invisible Children of Uganda titled ‘The Rescue’ on Saturday at 3pm and stay the night until 10am. Everyone will meet at Rice Park then walk to the Capitol Building in St. Paul. For more info email Lindsey at lmluczkowiak@gmail.com.

Somali hip-hop: “It’s a culture. It’s a people’s life.”

 

 

Photos, from a recent Minneapolis performance by Somali MC K’Naan, by B Fresh

 

BY JUSTIN SCHELL , TC DAILY PLANET

On New Year’s Eve, hundreds of Somali youth packed one of the ballrooms at the Minneapolis Convention Center. There were performers from Minneapolis, Rochester, Seattle, and even as far away as London—places that have all developed substantial Somali populations both before and since the Somali Civil War, which began in the early 1990s and continues today. Some women had their heads covered, others had their heads uncovered and were dressed to suit any downtown nightclub. Snippets of both Somali and English conversation could be heard over the sounds of T.I. and Lil Wayne. Though it was a peaceful event, there was a substantial security presence—a sign of the fear and suspicion that unfortunately often surrounds Somali youth.

Afro-Cuban All Stars at the Ordway this Sunday

by Nelima

Anyone who’s listened to Afro-Cuban All Star Music knows this is going to be a great show. ‘A Toda La Cuba’ was their big album, though I think ‘Distinto Diferente’ was just a good. Local talent Nachito Herrera will be performing too. 

Afro-Cuban All Stars founder Juan de Marcos Gonzáles had a dream—to build an ensemble melding the experience of the masters of Havana’s musical heyday with the energy of Cuba’s new musical generation—and he did just that. This 14-member ensemble spans four generations and includes living masters of Cuba’s golden age (think Buena Vista Social Club circa 1950) as well as some of today’s top names. Joining forces to perform Cuban music in all its diversity, from the cha-cha-chá and the rumba to the salsa and the bolero, Afro-Cuban All Stars will take you to new, soul-stirring heights.

For more info click here