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The 2002 Green Music Festival At Sonoma State University Presents Cuban Jazz & Salsa On The Green
AUGUST 4, Sunday — Sonoma State University lawn (Rohnert Park, CA, JUNE 12, 2002)— The Green Music Festival at Sonoma State University, a summer-long celebration of music, arts and ideas, presents a sizzling double bill concert on Sunday, August 4, featuring superstars of Cuban jazz and salsa, GONZALO RUBALCABA and ALBITA — delivering the soulful music of Cuba with total passion and full-on sizzle. Bring a picnic, relax on the lakeside lawns, and take in the exciting sounds of jazz piano virtuoso GONZALO RUBALCABA. Then, put on your dancing slippers for salsa dancing on the green to rootsy Cuban Son singer ALBITA, the "Cuban diva" of Miami's South Beach club scene. Gates open at 2 p.m. for picnicking, fine wine and food. GONZALO RUBALCABA and his trio perform at 4 p.m. Dance instructors lead the crowd in salsa dance lessons beginning at 5:30 p.m., to warm up for ALBITA's hot appearance at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $6–$35, available by calling (707) 546-8742. For information, see www.greenmusicfestival.org GONZALO RUBALCABA "Gonzalo Rubalcaba is the greatest young jazz pianist in the world." — PopMatters "A thunderous, passionate player with approximately 800 fingers." — Jazz 52nd Street Review Composer/pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, nominated for three GRAMMY® awards this year, brings astonishing richness to his music, a blend of Afro-Cuban dance rhythms with jazz virtuosity and classical training. A captivating performer, accomplished composer, and gifted player with amazing technique, Rubalcaba explores the orchestral potential of the grand piano, combining elements of 19th-century romanticism, Yoruba religious beats, swing, bebop, modal jazz and spontaneous improvisation. He embraces the full world of his Cuban musical roots, integrating folkloric strains with the vanguard of musical expression. Rubalcaba was born in Havana in 1963 with musical greatness in his blood, his father a pianist (who helped introduce the "cha-cha-cha") and his grandfather a well-known danzon composer. He began piano lessons at age 8, and received classical music training at the Havana Institute of Fine Arts, where he earned a degree in musical composition. An inventive musician and young prodigy, he quickly gained renown and began touring internationally in 1980. By the 1990s he had strong ties to jazz giants including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Haden, Joe Lovano, and Jack Dejohnette. He met Haden in 1986 at the Havana Jazz Festival and was invited to appear with him and Paul Motian at the 1989 Montreal Jazz Festival, participating in what became known as the Montreal Tapes. He made his breakthrough at the 1990 Montreux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland, again performing with Haden and Motian, where his appearance created a sensation and catapulted him into the consciousness of the international jazz audience. Signed by Blue Note in 1990, Rubalcaba is now one of their top artists. He has toured extensively,appearing at prestigious festivals from Mount Fuji to Montreux to Jazz at Lincoln Center. Since 1996 Rubalcaba has lived in Florida. ALBITA "…spicy salsa with conga beat" — New York Times "…extraordinary musicianship…" — Newsday "…a powerful blend of old organic Cuban with a few modern twists…" — The Heral Cuban Son singer-songwriter ALBITA is an international superstar whose soulful vocals are steeped in the poetry and rhythms of traditional Cuban music. The rootsy singer from Havana's La Víbora barrio became the toast of Miami through her shows at the Centro Vasco. Albita continually explores the rich diverse history of Cuban musical forms, from smoky ballads to pulsing dance tunes. She has released seven distinctive albums (one in Cuba, two in Colombia, and four in the U.S.) that sound like no one else in American—or Cuban—music, and has just released her eighth, Hecho a Mano ("Hand Made," Silva Screen/Times Square). Born in 1962, Albita Rodríguez first learned music at home. Her parents were poetistas repentistas —poetic improvisers—in the traditional Cuban country style of punto guajiro, who did comic duets in live performances, on radio and on television. Albita feels a particular closeness with guajiro, the authentic Cuban music of her youth. The style of Son, which goes back to Cuba's fight for independence from Spain, combines African and European elements in a polyrhythmic indigenous musical art form—the basis of today's salsa. Albita started writing songs as a small girl (seven years old), was given a guitar on her fifteenth birthday, and by sixteen was playing her own music. She grew up in Cuba at the beginning of the era of the nueva trova—the nationalist singer-songwriter movement that generated Cuba's biggest international stars of the 70s. And there was dance music, above all the son. Her early music incorporated all these influences, taking the traditional song poetry of her parents as a basis, and the neglected heritage of guajira music. Self-taught, she learned by doing, spending her time with musicians and playing gigs wherever she could. Albita left Cuba for Colombia, where Cuban guajira music is hugely popular, and stayed three years before moving to Miami in 1993. She began performing at the Centro Vasco restaurant and soon became a local legend, as nostalgic Cuban exiles rubbed shoulders with the beautiful people of South Beach crowding to hear her hip and sultry vocal style. In the rush of celebrity that followed, Albita became not only a music star but a style icon, sought out by the South Beach jet set—Madonna, Quincy Jones and Gianni Versace—and performing all over Latin America, Europe, and the U.S., including at President Clinton's second Inaugural Ball. With her new CD Hecho a Mano, Albita takes her place as a startlingly original singer-songwriter, with passionate, rhythmic interpretations of lyrics that come from deep down inside her remarkable life. Intimate and reflective, sexy and poetic, the album pulls together the different experiences of a lifetime, her clever and economical lyrics and compelling vocal style telling a complex story with few words and full emotion. GREEN MUSIC FESTIVAL TICKETS & INFORMATION The annual Green Music Festival, now in its third year, presents a summer-long program of music, arts and ideas in a beautiful wine country setting by the lakes at Sonoma State University. This year's festival, under the artistic leadership of Jeffrey Kahane, is focused around the theme, "On Common Ground: Evolving Landscapes in Music, Arts and Ideas," explored through concerts, lectures, programs for children and youth, and a special Ansel Adams Centennial Exhibition in the University Art Galllery. Buy tickets to two or more music events and enjoy a $3 discount per ticket! All events take place at the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., 40 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Tickets are available at (707) 546-8742. For information, see www.greenmusicfestival.org.
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| HOME | FREE NEWS SUBMISSION | PREMIUM PR DISTRIBUTION | PR COPYWRITING | RSS FEEDS | TESTIMONIALS | CONTACT | ||||
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Radio |
Tech |
Video |
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