Saturday, August 14, 2010 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell
New York, NY

Conducted by Larry Harlow, starring Rubén Blades,
with guest vocalist Adonis Puentes
Bobby Sanabria Big Band

Composed to convey the history of Latin music in song, La Raza Latina remains a testament to keyboard genius Larry Harlow’s commitment to salsa as well as his creative vision. In the long-awaited New York premiere of this landmark 1977 suite, the legendary Jewish salsero pilots a sprawling 40-piece orchestra and chorus playing music by Harlow, Johnny Ortiz, Rudy Calzado, and Tito Puente. Panamanian superstar Rubén Blades, a veteran of the original Fania recording, recreates his role as lead vocalist, joined by Cuban singer Adonis Puentes and The Masacote Dance Company.

Multi-Grammy-nominated virtuoso drummer Bobby Sanabria’s fierce Big Band serves as the orchestra’s nerve center, as well as opening the night with a hard-swinging set of Afro-Cuban jazz that marries sophisticated harmonies with explosive rhythms.

La Raza Latina presented with support from Fania Records.

FREE

Friday, August 13, 2010 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell
New York, NY

Visionary precision, fearless exploration, and unlimited scope have placed the Kronos Quartet at the forefront of contemporary music for nearly 40 years. Tonight’s far-reaching repertoire features works by Steve Reich, Café Tacuba, and the world premiere of Christine Southworth’s Super Collider. Performed by Kronos with the 14 musicians of Gamelan Galak Tika (Evan Ziporyn, artistic director) using the virtual Gamelan Elektrika, designed and developed by Harmonix’s Alex Rigopulos (of Guitar Hero and Rock Band), Super Collider juxtaposes two sound worlds and traditions, the string quartet and the ancient gamelan, through the unlimited sonic universe of electronics.

Kenge Kenge breath new life into Kenya’s Luo musical roots, using an indigenous onestring fiddle called the orutu, flutes, and drums to explore the traditional acoustic origins of the exhilarating dance rhythms of benga.

Super Collider & Gamelan Elektrika made possible by Alex Rigopulos & Sachi Sato, MIT and the MIT Media Lab. Gamelan Galak Tika is a part of the MIT Music & Theater Arts Program.

FREE

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 6:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell
New York, NY

Afro-Peruvian vocalist Susana Baca’s riveting voice is one of the marvels of contemporary music, lithe, knowing, and sensual. Rootsy singer-guitarist Aurelio Martinez of Honduras is ambassador of the Garifuna people’s effortlessly lilting and bittersweet ballad style known as paranda. Songwriter Carlos Varela has been one of the leading lights of Cuba’s nueva trova song tradition for three decades.

Susana Baca presented in association with Queens Theatre in the Park’s Chase Latino Cultural Festival.

Aurelio Martinez presented with support from the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. For more information visit rolexmentorprotege.com

FREE!

Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell
New York, NY

Featuring: Soul Rebels Brass Band, Wild Magnolias, Glen David Andrews

Music is the lifeblood of culture in New Orleans, as this commemoration of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina demonstrates, while underlining the genuine variety of the Crescent City’s street bands. The upstart Soul Rebels Brass Band reinvents second-line with robust funk-till-you-drop rhythms combined with blazing hot horns and party-all-night vocals. The internationally renowned veterans in Bo Dollis’ Wild Magnolias carry a torch for the pageantry and toe-tapping properties that have long distinguished the music of Mardi Gras Indians. Trombonist Glen David Andrews prides himself on infusing traditional charts with the moxie of jazz and the healing power of gospel.

Presented in collaboration with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute. For more information visit cccadi.org

6:00 Join the musicians for a Second Line from the Caribbean Cultural Center (408 West 58th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) to Lincoln Center.

FREE!

Friday, August 6, 2010 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell

Formed with the late Klaus Dinger after their stint in Kraftwerk, Krautrock pioneer Michael Rother’s influential 1970s art band NEU!’s moody instrumentals unleashed dark tunings and off-kilter motorik rhythms that later surfaced in the music of David Bowie and Sonic Youth—whose drummer Steve Shelley joins him and Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) in the first live presentation of this music in more than 35 years, along with material from Rother’s Harmonia and solo work.

A visionary musical sorcerer, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal continues to be a force of nature, pursuing jazz-based experimentalism heightened by the grace he brings to the whimsical.

Hermeto Pascoal presented with support from the Consulate General of Brazil in New York and in cooperation with Americas Society. For more information visit http://en.brazilny.org

FREE!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell

Brilliant keyboardist Robert Glasper is on a mission to bring jazz to the masses by infusing it with chordal dynamism and beat consciousness. His band, the Experiment, is as comfortable swinging hot bebop riffs as it is laying down the funk for this evening’s superstar guests, hip-hop philosopher MC Q-Tip and neo-soul singer Bilal.

Vocal powerhouse José James’ rich baritone retains the sparkle of jazz traditionalism even as it charms revelers on the dance-club circuit. His torch songs are safe havens for pointillist grooves as well as post-Coltrane electronica.

Presented in partnership with Brooklyn Arts Council’s Black Brooklyn Renaissance, Black Arts + Culture, 1960–2010, in cooperation with Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and sponsored by MetLife Foundation. For more infomation visit brooklynartscouncil.org

FREE!

Thursday, July 29, 2010 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell

Featuring: Emeline Michel, Beethova Obas, BélO, Zili Misik, and Peniel Guerrier in collaboration with the Mikerline Dance Company

The music of Haiti has served multiple life-affirming tasks for its people: revelry, resilience, and resistance. Emeline Michel, known on the island as the First Lady of Haitian Song, gathers several star performers for a celebration that’s as much about artistic solidarity as it is about spiritual healing. In the hands of troubadours BélO and Beethova Obas, heated rhythms become smoothly mellifluous, while the all-woman troupe Zili Misik forges a Creolized connection between Haiti’s ancestral mizik rasin and other New World styles like jazz, reggae, Afro-Cuban son, and samba. Peniel Guerrier and the Mikerline Dance Company serve as ambassadors of Haitian culture through masterful traditional dance.

FREE!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:30 PM

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Damrosch Park Bandshell

ETHEL with special guests Adam Scheslinger with Mike Viola, Dayna Kurtz, Juana Molina, Tom Verlaine with Patrick Derivaz

By persistently exploding the parameters of what a string quartet can be, ETHEL challenges listeners as it bewitches them. This world premiere features the feisty four-piece in collaboration with tunesmiths who’ve proven just as captivating, whether trafficking in folkish blues (Dayna Kurtz), clever power pop (Fountains of Wayne songwriter Adam Schlesinger with Candy Butchers’ Mike Viola), off-kilter post-punk guitar explorations (Tom Verlaine with Patrick Derivaz) or swirling sonic carpentry (Juana Molina). In these new collaborations, ETHEL invigorates each song with arrangements both plush and plucky.

FREE!