Home | About the Freight | Tickets | Membership & Support | Map & Directions | Mail & Email Lists | Contact | New Home
PREVIOUS SHOW JUNE CALENDAR NEXT SHOW
Markus James & The Wassonrai
Sunday, June 8, 2008
visionary world blues "Mali meets Mississippi"
w/ special guest Stephen Kent

Door 7:30 P.M., Music 8:00 P.M. | Purchase advance tickets: $18.50

"A cultural exchange of haunting beauty and mystery" (Blues Review magazine) and "Eerily atmospheric" (Down Beat magazine) are but two of the praises that folks have been heaping on Markus James' evocative fusion of Delta blues and West African roots music. Markus and The Wassonrai—Malian and Guinean musicians including multi-instrumentalists Mamadou Sidibe, Abdallah Alhassane Toure, percussionist Karamba Dioubate, and Amadou Camara—make rich, brooding, soul-filled music that explores the connection between the American form and its roots in Mali. Their simmering grooves and beautiful melodies are played on guitar and various West African instruments like the calabash, the one-stringed njarka violin, and the kamele n'goni, or "hunter's harp."

Originally a rock and R&B musician from Virginia, Markus first visited Mali in 1994, when he made his way to the village of Niafounke to meet the legendary "Malian Bluesman," Ali Farka Toure. Since then, he has been writing and recording blues-influenced music with traditional Malian artists, including the tunes on his new CD, Snakeskin Violin. He's also been the subject of an acclaimed documentary: folks who attended last year's Mill Valley Film Festival will recall Timbuktoubab, which focused on Markus' collaborations with musicians in Timbuktu.

Don't miss this mesmerizing performance!

Visit Markus' website



PREVIOUS SHOW RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE NEXT SHOW
© 2008 Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music | website constructed by stevenrueadams.com