Programme
|
Times |
Artists |
|---|---|
| 18:00-19:30 | Gustavo Morales aka Ghost |
|
19:30-20:30 |
|
|
20:30-21:15 |
|
|
21:15-22:30 |
|
| 22:30-23:15 | Gustavo Morales aka Ghost |
| 23:15-00:45 | Corinne Bailey Rae presents Black Rainbows |
Corinne Bailey Rae presents Black Rainbows
About
To say that Corinne Bailey Rae was inspired by her visits to the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago does not do justice to the profundity of her experience. She was transformed.
“I knew when I walked through those doors that my life had changed forever, ” she says.
Built in 1923 on the South Side of Chicago as a community savings and loan, the building was purchased by renowned artist Theaster Gates in 2012 and reimagined into a cathedral of Black art; 17,000 square feet housing a one-of-a-kind space for innovation in contemporary art and archival practice.
Stony Island’s collection encompasses a vast array of art and artifacts. Among them are house music legend Frankie Knuckles’ 5,000-deep vinyl collection, a trove of 15,000 books and periodicals donated by the Johnson Publishing Company — publisher of Ebony and Jet magazine — and a collection of “negrobilia” that includes postcards depicting lynching and ash trays sculpted in the images of black children.
While Bailey Rae’s transformation was gradual and remains ongoing, the spark to the sheer enormity of the venue and the witness it pays to Black art and life was immediate. The two-time Grammy winner began writing the songs for her newest release Black Rainbows before she’d even left the building from her first visit in 2017. She continued tinkering with them up until early 2023 saying with a laugh “I finished the last bit of recording the day before we sent it to be mixed. If you give me that amount of time, I will work right up to the last minute, because I’m always thinking of ways I can make it better.”
That perfectionism was even more crucial on Black Rainbows, her fourth album, given how deeply felt it is.
The 10-track collection — co-produced by Bailey Rae and her long-time creative collaborator Steve Brown — is a testament not only to the stimulating power the Stony Island Arts Bank collection has to push artists to become their highest, most expressive selves but the depth of Bailey Rae’s gifts as a songwriter and vocalist. The spectrum that the Leeds native traverses reveals new elements of her spirit.
The ravaged anger and electric guitar cacophony of “Erasure” gives way to the chilly alien synths and birdsong of “Earthlings.” The giddy girl group fizz enlivening “New York City Transit Queen” — all handclaps and joyous gang vocals — contrasts with the spare piano balladry of “Peach Velvet Sky.” Black Rainbows feels very much like a work of trapeze artistry as Bailey Rae flings herself from song to song, firmly grabbing each successive bar to keep the flow consistent as she sings of beauty queens and the enslaved, churches embedded in the rock of the earth and outer space.
Ultimately, Bailey Rae plans multiple explorations around her Stony Island inspirations, including a dance piece, visual art, books, lectures, and more. As the various projects come together, she is excited for audiences to hear all the colors in the prism of Black Rainbows.
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Gustavo Morales aka Ghost
About
Gustavo Morales, is a musician-percussionist, who has covered many genres of his time, achieving popularity and international acclaim. Dj, explorer and producer of experimental music such as ambient and electronica.
Gustavo Morales was born in Caracas in 1979. He began his artistic life at a very young age, between dance and music. He studied music at "Jose Angel Lamas" in Caracas. He started to learn international percussion instruments and Afro-Venezuelan percussion in different schools, such as Bigott Foundation and The Trapatiesta (UCV). In adolescence he moved to Aragua, a city renowned for its proximity to the coast, and diversity and cultural enrichment in terms of drumming and other leather instruments and entered the Folkloric Group CUMACO in Ocumare de la Costa, Aragua State.
Gustavo is one of the founding members of the Groups "Saoco of Venezuela" and "Cuero y Sabor".
The musical taste that covers the different genres with percussion, implemented through laptops and controllers, allows him to create sounds and rhythms with percussive elements, acoustic and digital, loopers, synthesizers, Afro-Venezuelan drums and other instruments, and expand as an artist. Also organizing and promoting musical and cultural events.
In these activities he has visited various places like Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, USA, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Bonaire, Aruba and Curacao, among other countries.
Now based at the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, working and developing some musical projects like “Itinerantes Jam Session”, La Itinerantes Dance Orchestra and the new concept "Travel on the Beat" at Gudde Wellen as coordinator and Dj resident, Travel on the Beat is a series of Showcase Events that presents the best of ethnic & world music blended with various electronic music sub-genrest, and also playing in different venues and European festivals. Also creator-cofounder of Rootstown Festival, the first Reggae and Hip Hop Festival in Luxembourg.
Working in partnership or collaborations with different artists from all over the world, Baldo Verdu and Tonto Malembe (UK/VE), Susana travasos (PO), Stuck in Colors (US), Indios Beta (ESP), Orestes Gómez, Rodner Padilla (VE), C4 Trio (VE), Jorge Glem (US), Yosune (PO), among others.
Programmer and curator at different festivals and venues, such as: USINA Festival, Fête de la Musique, Konrad Cafe, Gudde Wellen, to name a few.
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ENGLBRT
About
ENGLBRT is the collaborative duo of Georges Goerens and Niels Engel. The astonishing partnership sounds effortless thanks to the chemistry between two of Luxembourg’s most prolific and respected musicians. Like a well-adjusted science experience, they carefully draw from a vast field of source materials to achieve genre-defying results. After being active in acclaimed projects within the Luxembourgish music scene, both musicians retreated into renowned culture hub Kulturfabrik to eventually come up with ENGLBRT's distinctive sonic palette, laying the groundwork of future recordings with first single ‘Harm'.
Both musicians draw on a long legacy of omnivorous instrumental and genre-bending music, with a sound that is slow and widescreen, incorporating elements of electronica, contemporary jazz and well-crafted indie-pop. As if working from a lab setting, the duo isolates samples from their common musical lexicon to unearth hidden relationships, always leading to the discovery of enticing combinations. Those first experiments and songs shaped the nature of the collaboration resulting in their debut EP Odes to Everything to be released on the Berlin-based label Listenrecords in 2023. Taking cues from the endless scroll of everyday life, ENGLBRT delivers a dazzling soundtrack to our accelerated culture, shaping new sonic possibilities in the process.
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Joel Culpepper
About
In 2021, Joel released his debut album, “Sgt Culpepper, ” which was hailed as a “genre-bending masterpiece” by critics. The album showcases Joel’s versatility as an artist, blending elements of soul, funk, jazz, and hip-hop into a seamless, cohesive whole. Garnering 6 music A playlists, a cover feature in The Guardian’s Observer and a TV debut Later with Jools Holland.
Joel’s live performances has captivated audiences around the world with his soulful, high-energy shows, earning him a reputation as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary soul music. With his unique sound and undeniable charisma, Joel Culpepper is a rising star in the music industry and a force to be reckoned with.
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