West African, Flamenco and Samba for today
Good morning! My picks for today are:
LunchBreak – Music Without Borders: L’Orchestre Super Vitesse
Modern West African Dance Orchestra
Randolph Cafe :: 78 E. Washington St.
12:15 PM
Modern West African Dance Orchestra L’Orchestre Super Vitesse performs a free lunchtime concert as part of the Music Without Borders Friday series.
LunchBreak’s Music Without Borders Friday concerts feature music styles from around the world.
Ottmar Liebert + Luna Negra
Old Town School of Folk Music at 4544 N Lincoln Ave Chicago
$30 General Public/$28 Old Town School Members/$26 Seniors & Children
Ottmar Liebert composes, performs and records music in a “nouveau flamenco” style, which mixes elements of flamenco with jazz, bossa nova and other genres. Ottmar Liebert’s music can be difficult to categorize, which is welcomed by the artist himself. It is usually placed in the new age section at record stores, or under world music from Spain. He has recorded with his band, Luna Negra, since 1990. Liebert describes Luna Negra as a “rubber band” — it changes with the seasons, members are always coming in or out.
Alfonso Ponticelli FLAMENCO PROJECT
9pm. Doors open at 7:30 pm
$15 (buy your tickets here)
Mayne Stage, Chicago
Pansequito, Alfonso Ponticelli on guitars
Gil Alexander on percussion
Rami Gabriel on oud and guitar
Tony Ballog on violin
Cristina Dominguez Gutierrez on castanets and dance
Chicago adored gypsy jazz artist Alfonso Ponticelli returns to Mayne Stage showcasing his Flamenco Project. Alfonso will feature very special guest Pansequito, a famed Flamenco singer from Spain, percussionists and Flamenco dancers. Alfonso Ponticelli introduced Chicago to gypsy jazz in the 1990s with inspiration from Django Reinhardt, pioneer virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer. Alfonso is a multi-instrumentalist, who has played banjo and guitar with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and has studied abroad with the great gypsy flamenco guitarist Rafael Riqueni.
Also El Payo performs!
Brazilian Tropical Night
10pm-2am
Logan Square Auditorium
2539 North Kedzie
Chicago, Illinois
Micareta style dance evening by the Chicago Samba Group.
– Age Limit: 18 and older to enter – Must be 21 or older to drink alcohol.
– Admission fee at the door: $10.00 after 8:30pm.
– Event’s Time: Doors open at 9:00pm it closes at 2:00am, show starts at 10:00pm
– Samba dance lesson.
– Carnaval costume parade by: Samba One Dance Group. Carnaval costumes from 2011’s Brazilian carnival…
– Brazilian Food by Sinha Elegant Cuisine will be available during the event for a separate charge…
– Brazilian drinks, Caipirinha special $5.00
– Directions: By train, Blue Line at Logan Square Station Click here.
– Parking: Street parking, or park in the parking in lot behind the Band Popular.
– Salsa, merengue, bachata, regaton and other styles will be played during the band’s breaks.
For more information: http://www.chicagosamba.com/TROPICAL.html
– Age Limit: 18 and older to enter – Must be 21 or older to drink alcohol.
– Admission fee at the door: $10.00 after 8:30pm.
– Event’s Time: Doors open at 9:00pm it closes at 2:00am, show starts at 10:00pm
– Samba dance lesson.
– Carnaval costume parade by: Samba One Dance Group. Carnaval costumes from 2011’s Brazilian carnival…
– Brazilian Food by Sinha Elegant Cuisine will be available during the event for a separate charge…
– Brazilian drinks, Caipirinha special $5.00
– Directions: By train, Blue Line at Logan Square Station Click here.
– Parking: Street parking, or park in the parking in lot behind the Band Popular.
– Salsa, merengue, bachata, regaton and other styles will be played during the band’s breaks.
For more information: http://www.chicagosamba.com/TROPICAL.html
Tonight: Free concert of Argentinian Tango and Latin Music with Mauro Frosio
Mauro Frosio is a virtuoso pianist from Argentina that plays with famous local Spanish Rumba band Bandoleros. You may have seen him perform with them during the weekends at Pasha. Tonight, he will present the premier of his own show at RUMBA (351 W. Hubbard in Chicago) . It will be a night of Tango and Latin music. This is a free concert and it goes from 7 to 9 pm .Call 312.222.1442, if dining at Rumba or just walk in.
Tonight and Every Tuesday Night: Brazilian Music with Bossa Tres
If you are in Chicago and are looking for options to go out tonight, I would recommend checking out the fantastic Bossa Tres show at Barra Ñ (2977 N Elston Ave Chicago). This band brings you to the shores of Brazil every Tuesday night. So plan on going next Tuesday if you can’t make it tonight. Stop by and enjoy the culture. The faithful crowd that gathers at Ñ on Tuesdays is a mix of Brazilians, people from other South American countries, and everything else. The band starts playing at 10 p.m. and the show runs until 1 a.m. I have been to Enye ( the English pronunciation for the Spanish letter “Ñ”) many times and have always had a good time due to the positive energy filling up this place. Try the Raspberry mojitos. They are the best in town. No cover.
Tonight: Music from Bosnia, Colombia, Latin America, and Tunisia
Hello my dear Urbanites! My recommendations for today Saturday are as follows:
Amel Curic last concert in Chicago
Amel Curic’s last concert in Chicago is tonight at Belami Café (5530 N Lincoln Ave). Don’t miss the chance to hear this talented singer perform Bosnian traditional music as well as from the rest of the Balkan region. My friends and I saw his show last week and we had a blast dancing to his music. Not only he performed traditional Balkan songs but he also sang famous covers in English. The show runs from 10pm to 2am. Cover is $10 and includes one drink of your choice. Here is a video of a couple of songs I could capture that night. The first one is a cover of the Gipsy Kings song “Un Amor”. The second one is a Serbian love song called Vranjanka. I love the passion and emotion that Amel puts in the interpretation of these songs, especially for Vranjanka.
AfriCaribe Fundraiser
Support Africaribe Cultural Center while enjoying a night of great live performance, DJ, Food, and Art. Bomba, Plena, Son Jarocho, Samba, Rumba, Salve and more. Performances by AfriCaribe, Son Del Viento, Chi Caribeña Dance Troupe, Brazilian Samba/Axe, Wemilere, Grupo Capoeira Brazil & Dj Bohique. The event will be held from 7pm to 12am at La Casa Puertorriquena (1237 N. California Avenue Chicago). $7 in advance, $10 at the door. For your convenience you may purchase tickets online
Bomba Estereo “el alma y cuerpo tour” w/SOULPHONETICS & The Color Brown
According to Apple ITunes, Bomba Estero is one of the most promising bands to emerge from South America in the new millennium. Bomba Estereo merges sticky cumbia beats with electronica. Direct from Colombia on their “el alma y cuerpo tour”, BOMBA ESTEREO will be performing with Soulphonetics and Leo Suarez at Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Avenue Chicago) at 8pm. $15 in advance and $17 at the door.
Ticket link: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3545795
Najib Bahri’s El Amal – A Tribute to Tunisia
9:00 pm at Alwan for the Arts
with Master Percussionist Najib Bahri -Darbouka, Bendir, Riqq
featuring Hanna Madbak – Guitar, Irina Kom – Dancer and Karla G. Garcia – Dancer
Najib Bahri’s ensemble El Amal (Arabic for “Hope”), performs a wide range of classical and contemporary North African and Middle Eastern music styles, encompassing a unique world-beat fusion expression while remaining rooted in his ethnic art form. Watch Nahib perform here.
Najib Bahriis a composer, performer and an educator of North African and Middle Eastern rhythms and music folklore. Born in Tunisia, Najib Bahri is an expert in these rhythms, and a master percussionist on the Darbouka (goblet drum), Bendir (frame drum), and Riq (Arabic tambourine) in the Maghrebi, Mashriqi and Khaligi classical and folk styles.
Hanna Madbak is a guitarist, composer and producer of world-beat music. While he was trained as a traditional Flamenco guitarist by Mariano Cordoba, Hanna’s guitar and music composition style has evolved to a musical expression at the intersection of many musical genres and cultures. Hanna’s music stems from a globalized and multicultural perspective. As a firm believer in music as an international language of peace, Hanna is committed to promoting World-Beat fusion as a means of fostering cross-cultural understanding and harmony.
Tickets cost $20. Student/Senior/Member: $15
TONIGHT: GYPSY, FLAMENCO, AND TANGO
Today is Friday May 13, and some people may be afraid to go out tonight. If you are not, and are actually looking for some options to spend your Friday evening, let me suggest the following shows:
Flamenco and Gypsy Jazz with Alfonso Ponticelli and dancer Cristina Gutierrez at Katerina’s
1920 W Irving Park Rd Chicago
$10 cover
Ponticelli has played gypsy-jazz music for more than a decade, having traveled several times to the annual Django Reinardt Festival in France. He introduced gypsy-jazz to Chicago in the 1990s. A multi-intrumentalist, he won the 1994 U.S. National Mountain Dulcimer Championship and plays both banjo and guitar with the Illinois Philarmonic Orchestra. He’s also a gypsy flamenco guitarist, and went to Cordoba, Spain, to study with the great flamenco guitarist Rafael Riqueni. I saw this show last month and had a great time. I loved the energy of the place and the people working there, and the connection between the performers and the audience. Here is a sample of what I saw that night:
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Las Guitarras de Espana presents an Intimate Evening of Flamenco Music at Uncommon Ground on Devon
1401 West Devon Avenue Chicago
In its incarnation as a small ensemble, Las Guitarras de Espana features the gorgeous vocal melodies of composer Patricia Ortega, the Indian vocalist, Satya and the rhythmic footwork of flamenco dancer Wendy Clinard. The intensity and beauty on display at the front of the stage is anchored by Afro-Cuban percussion, the melancholy cello work of the Syrian artist, Kinan Abou-afach and the studied Spanish guitar of composer Carlo Basile. Las Guitarras de Espana will release its 5th CD, “Tantas Cosas” in 2011. 10pm, $15. Advance tickets only, purchase HERE or call 773-465-9801 for reservations.
ARTango Gala Opening Night Party
4203 N Ravenswood Ave
ARTango Center is a studio that offers group and private tango classes and milongas. Tonight, the studio is proud to present a NEW TANGO HOME in Chicago, a place where you can enjoy tango as well as experience authentic Argentinean culture. With its interior designed and built by Argentineans, who put much effort into creating a vibrant modern space that, at the same time, would have an authentic feel of an Argentinean home, the NEW ARTango home is like a little Buenos Aires in Chicago where everyone can come and dance tango, and feel the heat of the passionate milonga nights.
ARTango wants you to fall in love with tango and become friends with the wonderful people of the ever growing tango-community in Chicago. The studio has FREE Parking and the Gala Opening Night Party is scheduled from 10:00 pm until 5:00 am.Have you ever try Argentinian Asado (BBQ)? Here is your chance to try it because this party will have authentic Argentinian asado. This event is BYOB
Cost: $15 (asado included in the price)
East meets West in Tony Talwar’s music
Tony Talwar is one of my recent discoveries in the local world music and dance scene in Chicago. I found his music very pleasant to listen to, so I decided to share it with you. Tony is a local cross-cultural DJ that likes to mix electronic dance music with classical Indian instruments such as sitar, sarangi, waja, tumbi, dhol and tabla. Vocals come from a variety of musical styles, including Qawwali, Bhangra, Bollywood and Raag. You can hear a sample of his music in the following link:http://ow.ly/4TZRL. The name of this song is Tabla Raaga Project and comes from his latest CD titled Bhangra Communication. If you would like to hear more of his music or buy music for this CD, you can do it here.
Tonight at 7pm: Free concert featuring the Children’s Choir of Morelia
Tonight at 7pm, you can enjoy a free concert featuring traditional songs from Mexico and beyond with the Children’s Choir of Morelia. The Children’s Choir of Morelia is the flagship group and pride of the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia – the oldest conservatory in Mexico, founded in 1743. The choir currently consists of forty children aged eight to seventeen. This show is part of the Chicago Youth in Music Festival.
Please note location:
Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy Auditorium
2850 West 24th Boulevard
http://ow.ly/4SCXs
Tonight: Free Salsa and Bachata lesson with Latin Rhythms Academy
Do you want to improve your Salsa and Bachata skills? Then come for a free intermediate Salsa & Bachata lesson with Latin Rhythms Academy at 9:30pm at Lalo’s at University Village on Halsted & Maxwell Street. The dance floor will be open from 9pm to 2 am.
Tonight: Brazilian Music with PLANETA AZUL
Cuban restaurant Cafe Laguardia in the Bucktown neighborhood is turning out to be the spot to hang out on Wednesday evenings to listen to live Latin music. Tonight, local Brazilian music Trio PLANETA AZUL will be playing there from 8 to 11pm. I was at Cafe Laguardia the last time the trio played and it was a blast. There is no cover, so don’t miss the chance to hear them play. The address is 2111 W Armitage Chicago. More information about Planeta Azul at http://ow.ly/4Shz5. And here is a video with a sample of their music. Enjoy!
Chicago Urbanite 