Promoting Chicago as a global cultural destination
We did it again! Our dance flashmob during Novalima’s concert at Clark Street Wold Music Festival was a lot of fun and here is the video to prove it. Thanks to everyone who participated, and specially to Milagros Guerrero Ormeño, lead singer of the Peruvian dance band, Novalima, for being our accomplice!
Do you have any ideas for another flashmob? Leave your comment here. We want to hear it!
Underground Wonderbar
710 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois 60654
Saturday November 17
8pm-10:30pm
Chicago Urbanite, Chicago’s top blog promoting world music and dance, invites you to come celebrate and be grateful with us! Live music by NuBambu, the hottest rumba-reggae band in Chicago. Cover includes access to all of Underground Wonderbar stages.
Also, we will be filming footage for Nu Bambu’s Music Video and we want YOU to be in it. Come out with your dance moves and support the band’s video. It will be FUN!
DJ Rebolu will throwing down world music
Free giveaways.
50% OFF beautiful Jewelry by Monsieur Pamplemousse. We will also raffle a gorgeous necklace valued at $162!
YOUR ATTENDANCE WILL MAKE CHILDREN FROM PERU HAPPY THESE HOLIDAYS!
We will be collecting donations for Christmas events that will benefit children from Lima and the Afro-Peruvian community of El Guayabo, Chincha (see pics here). Here is a video of these beautiful children dancing and playing their own music:
Cover: $10
50% off to Chicago Urbanite followers who RSVP here (click on “Join”) before 3pm on Nov 17
(Must follow this blog/ like our Facebook page and RSVP to get discount)
Cover includes access to all of Underground Wonderbar stages. After our show, stay for Lonie Walker & her Big Bad Ass Company Band show. Also DJ MWELWA , FLX, and Kino will have their Global Late Nite from 11pm to 5am
Summer must be over but events in Chicago are still heating up!
Here are my picks for this weekend:
Chicago World Music Fest
September 21-27
Multiple locations
The awaited World Music Fest is starting tomorrow and runs until September 27. We are very excited about this year’s version because it will be the first time that all performances are free. This year’s festival also has a marked preference for showcasing local world music bands. This is the largest and longest running festival of international music in the US. Click here to see the full schedule and participating venues.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs Carmina Burana at Millennium Park
Friday September 21st at 6:30pm
In September 2010, Riccardo Muti launched his tenure as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with an unforgettable concert in Millennium Park. With an audience of 25,000, this monumental “Concert for Chicago” was praised for its thrilling physical impact, elegance and staggering power by the Chicago Tribune. This fall, Muti and the CSO return to Millennium Park to perform Carl Orff’s choral blockbuster, Carmina Burana. Don’t miss what is sure to be another landmark in CSO and Chicago history. You can find more information about this event here
Villapalooza
Saturday, September 22nd starting at 12:00pm
3724 W. 26th St.
Chicago,
Presented by the SurCul Collective, a group of community organizers and educators, Villapalooza is an all-day outdoor music festival based in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, and back for its second year on September 22.
Among this year’s musical acts will be my band NuBambu and electro-cumbia giants Cumbia Machin from San Diego, CA, local favorites Malafacha, Sangre Michoacana, Scheme, Sin Orden, Population, and Vicios De Papa.
$5 suggested donation gets you access to all three stages and a full day of great music!
Click here for full schedule
I will be co-hosting a live world music radio show tomorrow (September 11) at 9pm. Our guest is Black Bear Combo, a Chicago brass/reed band whose sound is a raucous mutt channeling the common energy between traditional music from eastern Europe and the Balkans, punk rock, and free jazz.
If you are in Logan Square or Wicker Park tune us in at 1710 am (T.R.I.B.E.S. Radio). The rest of the world can watch us online at this link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Quennect4
The city of Chicago is canceling the international music series “Music Without Borders” that is held every summer in Millennium Park. This great world music series offers a unique cultural experience and a summer highlight for many because it exposes thousands of Chicagoans and visitors to wonderful music and cultures from around the world. Discontinuing the program would represent a huge loss for Chicago and a setback for the goal of being known as a city that has the very best in arts, creativity, and innovation.
Chicagoans need this kind of programming to foster Chicago’s reputation as a global cultural destination and as a city that promotes inclusion and appreciation for cultural diversity. The “Music Without Borders” series brings people from diverse ethnic populations and ages together to joyfully celebrate and learn about the beauty of cultural diversity.
These concerts also encourage pride in the city, as well as intercultural integration. In the city of Chicago, which was recently cited as being the most segregated city in the nation , “Music Without Borders” provides a space for interaction between different cultural groups in the public sphere and encourages a positive attitude towards diversity and integration. Watch the video below to understand the spirit that the Music Without Borders created and the love for Chicago that it infused in people attending these concerts:
It would be great to have some of our tax dollars dedicated to support international music programs that promote inclusion and intercultural integration. Music Without Borders gives Chicago a visibility as a world-class destination, bringing visitors to the city, benefiting business, and helping achieve Mayor Emmanuel’s goal of getting 50 million visitors by 2020. We hope the city of Chicago considers reinstating Music Without Borders to strengthen Chicago’s reputation as a global cultural destination.
I started a petition to get Music Without Borders reinstated. If you are interested in supporting this cause, please click here to sign the petition , share this post, and leave a comment here.
Thanks!
One of the most exciting up and coming city blogs – Chicago Urbanite – celebrates 1 year in the traditional Chicago style with music, dance, food and fun. And to top it all off, Chicago Latino TV will be covering the event, so be ready to smile for the camera!
Join us in positiveness tonight, Saturday March 24 starting at 9pm, so we can finally meet each other and form a stronger community bond.
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What do you get when you mix electric guitars with the sound of indigenous Touareg music made by guitar poets and soul rebels from the Sahara desert? The answer is Tinariwen, a band that was founded in the 1980s by nomadic Touareg musicians/rebel fighters from the Southern Sahara Desert in Mali. Yes, at one point in their lives, some of the band members used firearms to defend their people, but these days they use guitars to express their aspirations, and they do it superbly. The band stopped by in Chicago last Friday for a live performance at Metro and to promote their fifth album titled Tassili. A musician friend of mine told me about their music and how great they were, so I knew they were going to be good, but I did not expect them to be amazing.These guys are super talented. Friday concert was my first encounter with their music but it certainly won’t be the last: I am hooked.
The guys from Tinariwen took the stage wearing clothes “à la Touareg”: loose-fitting robes and except for Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, the lead guitar and founder of the band, they had veils covering their heads and hair, some even with their faces covered. Tinariwen means “the Deserts” in Tamashek (the language of the Touareg), and like their name, their music has some of the qualities associated with a dessert: it is mysterious, hypnotic, undulating, inviting you to fall into a trance-like state. Their psychedelic sound is dominated by electric guitar and bass playing mixed with traditional percussion instruments. Some people call it Desert Blues. For their new album though, they opted for acoustic sounds, so an acoustic guitar was also part of the mix. The guitars played a preponderant role during the concert, but the bass and the percussion players stole the show at many points. Those guys are monsters! Complementing the talent of the guitar, bass, and percussion players was the singing in Tamashek that felt at times like mantras for meditation, and the undulating dance movements of one of the band members. His movements reminded me of the movements of the sand dunes in a desert. The crowd (including myself) could not help but fall under their spell.
This was the second time they performed in Chicago this year, and after attending their concert this last Friday, I can understand why they would come two times the same year: it is a love relationship. The crowd fed the band with an incredible energy, and in return, they played three encores and shouted “I love Chicago!” in various occasions during the show. For those of you who have not had the pleasure to hear their music, you should fix that a.s.a.p. Here is a sample of it:
Photos by Mark Hetzel
An enthusiastic crowd welcomed the Gipsy Kings last Thursday at Ravinia, a place that has become their second home in Chicago. Although the concert felt somewhat short, they pleased the audience by playing many of their popular songs such as Djobi Djoba, Un Amor, A Tu Vera, Caramelo, Volare and Bamboleo. The Kings also played some songs with a strong Latino influence such as Samba Samba, Sabroso, and the solo of cajon and congas. The highlight of the show happened at the end of the concert, when the band allowed the ladies in the audience to get on the stage and dance with them. Many of these ladies were dancing around them seductively. The Kings, as good professionals, were able to keep playing without missing a single beat.
Chicago was the last city of their American Tour this year. Fortunately, it was a perfect evening to close the tour with an outdoors concert. The lawn at Ravinia was packed with fans from around the world. Walking through it, you could hear a multitude of foreign languages being spoken. One of the people sitting at the lawn was Natasha Boyderman, who came to Ravinia from Sauganash, a neighborhood located in the Northwest side of Chicago. In her group alone there were people from Cuba, China, Chile, Germany, Italy,Macedonia, Mexico, Russia, Syria, and the United States. Natasha mentioned that she likes the diversity of people that go to Ravinia to see the Gipsy Kings. She considers that it is very important for Chicago and for all ethnic groups to gather together in one place and that a Gipsy Kings concert is the perfect opportunity for this to happen. “Diversity – she stated- is definitely what makes us unified and stronger”.
After the concert, I was able to talk to a charming Andre Reyes, who plays the guitar and does back up vocals in the band. Andre told me that he loves Chicago food and that he enjoys the atmosphere and the crowd at Ravinia. He also explained that the band is a family affair. They are all cousins from two related gypsy families with roots in Barcelona, Spain: the Reyes and the Balliardos. The cousins met by chance at Montpellier, France, more than two decades ago. After jamming together on that occasion, they decided to start the group. Despite being so famous, Andre is a very approachable artist. Nicolas Reyes, his brother and the lead singer of the band, has the same charismatic demeanor. Maybe this is part of the secret for their sustained success. The Gipsy Kings are still going strong and are able to move our souls (and feet) with their wonderful music.
Chicago Urbanite 