Angelique Kidjo's Remain in Light with Bells Atlas
Organization:
The UC Theatre Taube Family Music Hall
Category:
Music
Geographical Area:
Oakland
Start
Date:
5/4/2018
End Date:
5/4/2018
Start Time:
8:00 PM
End Time:
12:00 AM
Event
Info:
Friday, May 4, 2018, 8:00pm, Doors: 7:00pm
Angelique Kidjo is a GRAMMY Award-winning Beninese singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos.
Angelique Kidjo grew up in Ouidah, Benin, a country in West Africa that sits snugly between Togo and Nigeria.
She was born into a musical family, her mother is a choreographer and director of a theater group, her brothers are instrumentalists and at the age of six she was singing and dancing in her mother's company and later joined her brothers' group, the Kidjo Brothers Band, where she sang a variety of Benin-style songs.
Growing up in Benin exposed her to a rich variety of music. She was heavily influenced by the traditional folk styles and love songs of the country - epic songs full of allusions to the history of the villages and the rituals and voodoo ceremonies of the older generation but, perhaps more importantly, she was listening to the new urban African music percolating up from South Africa and the Western songs ranging from James Brown, Aretha Franklin to Jimi Hendrix that she heard on the radio.
The formidable South African vocalist Miriam Makeba was a great influence on the young Kidjo, so much so that Angelique, who was already making a name for herself, recorded an adaptation of a Makeba song for Benin radio. Her first hits followed and she toured the Ivory Coast.
It wasn't until Kidjo made the trip to Europe that her career came alive. It was Cameroonian producer, Ekambi Brilliant, who suggested that Angelique move to Paris to record and the singer left Benin for Europe.
Paris in the eighties was the breeding ground for the new African music and African artists, freed from the constraints of African tradition yet incorporating their roots with western styles were generating revolutionary sounds.
DISCLAIMER: Our aim is to continuously provide our
progressive audience with an open and interactive medium to view
and share relevant,
beneficial and interesting "career, economic, lifestyle and
networking" listings, ads, content and resources.
While the above information may be accurate and viable, the role
of Minority Professional Network, Inc. (MPN) is
strictly as a communications medium, and we do not
accept any responsibility for
cancellation, changes, errors, omissions, inconveniences, or any other form
of liability for any content
displayed or disseminated via our web sites, or e-marketing or social media
promotional services.
If there are any
doubts, we
encourage you to conduct additional research or contact the listed host or responsible entity.
CLICK HERE to inform us about any ads, listings or content
which appear to be
inappropriate,
fraudulent or misleading, or inconsistent with our theme and focus.