(New York, NY - February 28, 2005) New School University’s Jazz & Contemporary Music Program will present a concert with Abdou Mboup & Waakaw on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., as part of the 2005Jazz Presents series. The series showcases the Jazz Program’s stellar faculty while introducing audiences to the rising stars of jazz - students who currently study in the Jazz Program or recent alumni.
Abdou Mboup & Waakaw
Abdou Mboup (percussion, Kora and voice), Miho Nobuzane (piano), Kenny Davis (bass), Craig Rivers (sax), Charles Hopkins (drums), Nassim Zerriffi (percussion), Devlin Goldberg (percussion)
Born in Senegal, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Abdou Mboup, learned traditional African drumming from a family of musicians and oral historians, and has since developed an individual style that builds on this tradition. In the 1970s, he became a key figure in Senegalese music, and toured with Hugh Masekala. He has collaborated with such jazz artists as Randy Weston, Joe Zawinul, Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Barron, Craig Harris, and Nina Simone.
His inventiveness in mixing the colors and rhythms of African traditional music with modern practices reaches new levels with his band, Waakaw - meaning “country boys” in his native Wolof. The musicians in Waakaw, joined by students in his African Drumming Ensemble at the New School’s Jazz Program, will present original compositions that reveal the energy behind his blend of tradition and innovation.
Tickets are $10 per show or $30 for the four concert series and may be purchased at the New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, NYC or at the door on the day of the show. (Box office hours are Monday through Thursday, 1:00 - 8:00 p.m., Friday, 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.) Tickets may also be charged by call (212) 229-5488. Admission to any “Jazz Presents” performance is free for college students with valid ID, children and young adults, grades K-12.
The next concert in the Jazz Presents series will be on Thursday, April 21, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., with Rory Stuart Quintet and Friends.
New School University's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program offers a B.F.A. degree program in Jazz Performance, and in Composing/Arranging. The faculty includes such renowned artists as Reggie Workman, Chico Hamilton, Buster Williams, Jimmy Owens, Benny Powell, Joanne Brackeen, and Jane Ira Bloom. Alumni of the program include many of today's most prominent jazz artists - Larry Goldings, Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Miri Ben-Ari, Peter Bernstein, Ali M. Jackson, and Marcus and E.J. Strickland. Martin Mueller is the Executive Director of the Jazz Program. For more information, visit the Web site at www.newschool.edu/jazz.