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9/19/12

GLOBAL THURSDAYS CONCERT SERIES MOVES TO FRIDAY NIGHTS WITH SEASON OPENING SEPT. 21 2012



Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang's upcoming performance at Arab American National this Friday, September 21st (7pm). This show kicks off a tour out west after dates with Omar Souleyman and a stellar show at the MOMA in support of their En Yay Sah LP, available now on Luaka Bop.

Sierra Leonean native Ahmed Janka Nabay single-handedly radicalized bubu, a frantically-paced electronic dance music with ancient, magical origins. As civil war raged in Freetown, his cassettes sold in the hundreds of thousands and kids followed him through the streets. Despite his efforts to make peace, Janka became a target. He was able to escape, and now resides in DC, joined by members of Gang Gang Dance/Highlife, Skeletons, Zs and Saadi. Together they've become the first Bubu band ever in America, releasing their An Letah EP (True Panther), and now En Yay Sah.

Check the rest of the schedule below


GLOBAL THURSDAYS CONCERT SERIES MOVES TO FRIDAY NIGHTS WITH SEASON OPENING SEPT. 21

Detroit-area debuts, new music highlighted in 2012 Fall lineup

Frantic dance music by an African superstar with a new CD on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label opens the 2012 Fall Season of Global Fridays, formerly Global Thursdays, at the Arab American National Museum (AANM).

Janka Nabay – king of the traditional bubu music from his native Sierra Leone – brings his U.S. posse the Bubu Gang to Global Fridays for their Detroit debut at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, featuring cuts from full-length CD, En Yay Sah, released this month by the Luaka Bop label. Then, on the heels of their blistering set at the 20th Concert of Colors last month and their brand-new EP, MND: Music Never Dies, M.A.K.U. Sound System returns to Detroit for another dizzying trip that begins with traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms and ends somewhere in the punk-jazz stratosphere on Friday, Oct. 19.

In the midst of her first North American tour, Jordanian songstress Macadi Nahhas spins traditional Arabic melodies from her new CD, The Collection, backed by members of the Michigan Arab Orchestra, on Friday, Nov. 16. The 2012 Fall Season closes Friday, Dec. 7, with a concert to benefit youth in Armenia featuring southeast Michigan’s leading Armenian musicians, Sean Blackman (2010’s In Transit) and 2012 Kresge Artist Ara Topouzian, and New York vocalist Hooshere Bezdikian.

Since 2005, this multicultural performance series – a sister series to the annual summer Concert of Colors world music festival in Midtown Detroit – has offered high-quality musical and spoken-word presentations for fans of traditional and world music and those with adventurous cultural tastes.

“By moving the series to Friday nights, we hope to make these artists – many of whom have never played in our area – more accessible to a larger audience,” says Devon Akmon, deputy director of the AANM.

Enhancing the Global Fridays experience are the Museum’s intimate 156-seat Auditorium and the after-show artist “meet and greets” and CD signings. The $10/$9 Museum Members ticket price ($20, no Member discount for Dec. 7 concert) and free, lighted parking makes Global Fridays a great entertainment value for everyone.  For complete Global Fridays information and to purchase tickets online, visit www.arabamericanmuseum.org. Tickets are also available at the door.

Read more about this season’s artists below.

Global Fridays is made possible in part by DTE Energy and Comerica. Artist accommodations are provided by DoubleTree Hotel Detroit Dearborn.



Global Fridays 2012 Fall Season @ Arab American National Museum

7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21
Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang
Bubu/Afrobeat

Janka Nabay is the undisputed king of bubu, a frantically paced dance music with ancient, magical origins in his native Sierra Leone. A superstar there since the mid 1990s, Nabay saw his music become a political football during a bloody civil war, so he came to America in 2002. The Bubu Gang is the posse of musical collaborators Nabay has hooked up with in the U.S. – Doug Shaw (Gang Gang Dance, Highlife, White Magic), Jason McMahon and Jonathan Leland (Skeletons), Michael Gallope (Starring) and vocalist Boshra Al-Saadi – to create a wild, high-octane juggernaut of call-and-response vocal interplay, juddering dancefloor rhythms, synths and guitars. These exciting new sounds draw as much from bubu as they do from the sunny energy of Ghanaian highlife, the extended improvisations of ‘70s Miles Davis, the hypnotic rhythms of classic Afrobeat and the swirling echoes of ‘60s and ‘70s psychedelia.

The group financed its critically acclaimed 2011 appearance at the South by Southwest Festival with a Kickstarter campaign; its current national tour stopped at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., among other venues. The self-released EP An Letah was issued last spring; a full-length CD, En Yay Sah, on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label, was released this summer. Click HERE to watch a video.

“…the music evokes a street parade that keeps collecting passersby and growing… a delirious wig-out.”

“…tight and fresh, an intoxicating mixture of afropop, electronic music and indy jazz.”



7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19
M.A.K.U. Sound System
Latin ska/funk

Comprised of players hailing mostly from Colombia, M.A.K.U. Sound System makes big music that begins in traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms and ends somewhere in the punk-jazz stratosphere. Clarinet, trombone, sax, guitarra and Latin percussion supplement a rambunctious, driving rock core, creating a sound familiar enough to be danceable but always surprising. M.A.K.U. was born between the years 2009 and 2010, formed by South American expats living in New York City. They are Liliana Conde (vocals, percussion); Juan Ospina aka Prodigio Arribetiao (vocals, bass); Camilo Rodriguez (guitar, gaitas); Robert Stringer (trombone); Pipe Quiroz (synthesizers); and Andres Jimenez (drums).

Since their sizzling performance at the 20th Concert of Colors in Midtown Detroit this summer, M.A.K.U. has been on the road, playing venues including the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  They recently completed a new EP, MND: Music Never Dies, a follow-up to 2011’s Makumbala.

“The octet's deep, sometimes dubby sound tears through the fabric of tradition with drums, electronics, horns, and a clarinet that adds a klezmer tinge.” 

“This ensemble presents a show full of pure energy, explosive drumming and Latin American flavor.”



7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16
Macadi Nahhas 
Arabic Traditional
FIRST NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

A popular vocalist on the international festival circuit, this young Jordanian revives traditional, folkloric Arabic music with sparkle and style. Trained at the Music Conservatory of Beirut, Nahhas gave an early live performance at the 1997 Jerash Festival and became a regular there. This year alone, she has appeared at the Festival du Monde Arabe – Montreal; Kuwait’s Summer Cultural Festival; Live at DRM in Lebanon; the Palestine National Festival in Ramallah, and Babel Ramadan Nights at Beirut’s Babel Theater, among other events. Nahhas gives special love to songs of Iraqi origin; her latest CD, The Collection, a compilation of her best-loved songs and previously unreleased tracks, came out earlier this year. Click HERE to watch a video from the new CD or HERE to visit the artist’s Facebook page. 

For this concert, Nahhas will be accompanied by members of the Michigan Arab Orchestra.

Media Sponsor: www.ArabAmerica.com

Concertgoers may also enjoy the free opening reception for the exhibition Little Syria, NY: An Immigrant Community’s Life & Legacy, prior to the performance.



7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7
Hye Harmony: Creating Dreams for Armenian Children
Armenian Traditional
SPECIAL BENEFIT CONCERT TICKETS $20

Southeast Michigan’s leading Armenian musicians – charismatic guitarist Sean Blackman and kanun virtuoso Ara Topouzian – unite with New York City vocalist Hooshere Bezdikian for this benefit concert for the children of Armenia, who have suffered for generations in the wake of the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century. Hye (which translates as Armenia) Harmony takes place on the anniversary of the deadly 1988 earthquake in northern Armenia.

Blackman is a master of the acoustic nylon-string guitar, a composer and a visionary who has drawn top musicians from around the world to the Motor City. 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow Topouzian plays the kanun – a 76-stringed laptop Middle Eastern harp. He has appeared in solo performances and with renowned Armenian and world musicians throughout the U.S. Topouzian and Blackman performed in Blackman’s In Transit, a 19-piece world music extravaganza that drew a capacity crowd to Detroit’s Orchestra Hall in 2010.

Hooshere Bezdikian is a first generation Armenian American who creates an inventive, balanced fusion of contemporary and traditional music – a unique electronica/trip-hop/rock sound, infused with her signature Armenian/Middle Eastern vibe.  She performs regularly on the east and west coasts; her song Willow won first prize in the 2006 Billboard Song Contest.

One could say the world is Blackman’s oyster.”

“If you are a fan of Armenian kef (party) music, or most any kind of party music for that matter, you & yours will enjoy this…”

“Curtis Mayfield would agree…Hooshere has soul.”

Ara Topouzian video HERE.
Sean Blackman video HERE.
Hooshere Bezdikian video HERE.

Tickets for this benefit concert are $20 (no Museum Member discount), with half of all proceeds going to the Armenian Relief Society and its youth initiatives.


All Global Fridays performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Lower Level Auditorium at the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave. just west of Schaefer Road in Dearborn. Free, lighted parking is available in the municipal lot north of the Museum.

Tickets, $10/$9 Museum Members ($20 for the December 7 benefit concert, no Member discount) are available in advance online at www.arabamericanmuseum.org; tickets also available at the door. 

Complete information is available at www.arabamericanmuseum.org or by calling 313.582.2266.

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The Arab American National Museum documents, preserves and presents Arab American history, culture and contributions. It is a project of ACCESS, a Dearborn, Michigan-based nonprofit human services and cultural organization. Learn more at www.arabamericanmuseum.org and www.accesscommunity.org.

The Arab American National Museum is a proud Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Read about the Affiliations program at http://affiliations.si.edu.

The Museum is located at 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI, 48126. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday; Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for students, seniors and children 6-12; ages 5 and under, free. Call 313.582.2266 for further information.