Category: music

Dananeer (Ahmed Badrakhan, Egypt, 1940, 90 minutes) Umm Kulthum , the woman known as the voice of Egypt, shines in this gorgeous black and white classic about a Bedouin girl with an exquisite voice who is “discovered.” Screening will be introduced by special guest, biographer Virginia Danielson, Richard F. French Librarian of the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library, Harvard University.

The gifted trumpeter and composer Taylor Ho Bynum joins his mentor, and 10-year collaborator, saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton in a rare duet performance. The culmination of Ho Bynum’s New England bicycle tour (dates in six states via two-wheels), this historic concert in Amherst pairs “one of the most exciting figures in jazz’s new power generation” (Time Out Chicago), with one of the seminal musical figures of our time.

“Taylor Ho Bynum is one of those once-in-a-lifetime talents who can play everything and always sound like himself,” writes Robin D.G. Kelley. “Remarkable technique, inventiveness, energy…he can really ‘talk’ with that horn of his and the tunes he’s written are mad genius.”

Bynum’s resume includes extensive performances and recordings with Braxton, and the large ensembles of Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor. He is also a member of groups led by Myra Melford, Jason Kao Hwang and Joe Morris. Bynum’s most recent releases include a duo with drummer Tomas Fujiwara, Stepwise (NotTwo), Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings’ Madeleine Dreams (Firehouse 12), Positive Catastrophe’s Garabatos Volume One (Cuneiform), The 13th Assembly’s (un)sentimental (Important Records), and the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet’s Asphalt Flowers Forking Paths (Hatology). In addition, he is a curator and vice president of Dave Douglas’ Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT Music), a partner in Firehouse 12 Records, and the president of Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation.

“To judge from his album of duets with Anthony Braxton,” writes Francis Davis, “Bynum has it all, including a devilish sense of humor…one of the savviest trumpeters to come along in recent years, a growling sound-and-space man in the tradition of Lester Bowie.”

Anthony Braxton (born in 1945) has had as great an impact on creative music as anyone in the last 50 years. Since moving from his native Chicago, where he was active with The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Braxton has released well over 100 albums, won a MacArthur Award, is a full professor at Wesleyan University and continues to perform, record, write, and influence the course of arts in America. “Whatever one calls it,” writes Chris Kelsey, “there is no questioning the originality of his vision; Anthony Braxton creates music of enormous sophistication and passion that is unlike anything else that has come before it."

Rokia’s a Malian singer with a difference. The daughter of a diplomat who was posted to the US, Europe, and the Middle East, her music represents a fascinating fusion of cultures. Along with her feather light vocals, Rokia’s music is infused with western pop rhythms and traditional African instruments, making for rare and beautiful music. The result is a beguiling sound that can claim to be “world music” in the purest sense.

Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Wednesday, April 14
Concert Hall 7:30 PM
$30, $25, $15, Five College/GCC/STCC students and Youth 17 and under: $15

Zakir Hussain is appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in his own country, India, but earned him worldwide fame. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study. The favorite accompanist for many of India’s greatest classical musicians and dancers, he has not let his genius rest there. The concert features not just Hussain, but a number of musicians, mostly from India, playing percussion instruments as well as sitar and sarangi (a north Indian stringed instrument played with a bow).

“Mr. Hussain’s drumming was a marvel of time and texture… for a concert of spectacular rhythmic fireworks.”
—The New York Times

Co-presented with the Asian Arts & Culture Program.

Saturday, March 27
Concert Hall 8:00 PM
$35, $25, $15, Five College/GCC/STCC students and Youth 17 and under: $15

The Chieftains are the heart and soul of traditional Irish music. They have collaborated with the giants of the entertainment world and won countless Grammy Awards but the essence of The Chieftains can be found in the first tiny wail of Paddy Moloney’s tin whistle or the gentle lilt of Kevin Conneff’s classic Irish tenor voice, or those priceless—and frequent—moments when, in perfect sync, the band peels off a reel at breakneck speed.
“…any performance by The Chieftains is a celebration of the emerald glow of Irish culture.” –The Los Angeles Times

Wednesday, March 10
Concert Hall 7:30 PM
$40, $30, $15, Five College/GCC/STCC students and Youth 17 and under: $15

The Grammy-nominated Imani Winds have taken a unique path, carving out a distinct presence in the classical music world with their dynamic playing, culturally poignant programming, and genre-blurring collaborations. This concert will feature their unique collaboration with jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris whose passionate artistry, energetic stage presence, and astonishing virtuosity have propelled him into the forefront of the current jazz scene.

In addition to the performance of Harris’ work A Sonic Painting in Wood, Metal and Wind, the concert will feature Imani Winds and Harris playing together and separately. According to Harris, “We will blur the lines between improvisation and composition, and in turn, between classical and jazz, by introducing improvisation to the woodwind quintet.”

“If it’s possible for a classically trained wind quintet to rock the house, Imani Winds blows the roof off.”
—All Things Considered, National Public Radio

Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Wednesday, February 3
Bowker Auditorium 7:30 PM
$25, $15, Five College/GCC/STCC students and Youth 17 and under: $15