Event Info
Join us on Fri, July 14 for a 2023 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! concert featuring Oumou Sangaré and Vox Sambou.
Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, often called “The Songbird of Wassoulou,” is a legendary name in contemporary West African music. Blending traditional Wassoulou rhythms with modern language and sensibilities, she’ll grace the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! stage for a second time with an inimitable listening experience. Opening is Montreal-based MC Vox Sambou, a master of language who writes and performs in Haitian, French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
*Please Note: A limited amount of chairs will be available at this show, but you are also permitted to bring your own.
About the artists
Since the release of her debut album Moussoulou in 1989, there’s been no respite for the Malian singer Oumou Sangaré. Notable waymarks on her rich and fruitful journey include some of the most definitive recordings in the history of contemporary African music, all released on the World Circuit label: Ko Sira in 1993, Worotan in 1996, and Seya in 2009, the latter nominated for a Grammy in the Best World Music Album category. Numerous international tours and performances on prestigious stages such as the Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan complete this roll of honour. Timbuktu (2022), the first release on her own Oumsang label, is the latest act in this unparalleled musical epic, one that World Circuit has become associated with once again.
Montreal-based vocalist and bandleader Vox Sambou channels the spirit of Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, making uplifting, joyful, charged music that combines Afrobeat, funk, reggae, hip- hop, and rhythms from all across the African diaspora. He performed across Europe at Jazzahead, Bremen, Germany; Zomer Van Antwerpen Festival, Belgium; Huvila Tent Festival – opening for Calypso Rose, Helsinki; and Global Copenhagen. In North America at DC Jazz Fest; The Kennedy Center; Festival International de Jazz de Montrea; Rio-das-Ostras Jazz Festival, Brazil; Womad Chile; and Circulart, Colombia. Sambou is committed to denouncing injustices and social imbalances. He hopes to bring back a sense of pride to his people by shedding light on their rich and unique cultural heritage. He is now at his 4th solo album We Must Unite, recorded in Montréal, that will be released on May 7th 2023. He has worked for 15 years as director of a youth community center, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to prevent delinquency among teenagers in the district of Montreal’s Côte-des Neiges. He co-founded Solid’Ayiti, an artist initiative working for a long-term solidarity between Montreal and movements fighting for social justice in Haiti, according to the principles of self-sufficiency, education, decentralization, and reforestation.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
The Lena Horne Bandshell at Prospect Park is home to BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, New York’s longest-running, free outdoor performing arts festival. Named to honor the legendary singer, actress, dancer, and Brooklyn native Lena Horne, the Bandshell is transformed into a venue every summer that can accommodate over 8,000 people.
BRIC is committed to welcoming people of all abilities
The facility is completely wheelchair accessible. If you require special seating arrangements, please ask any staff member to speak with the house manager on the day of the performance when you reach the gate, and we will happily accommodate you. If you have any other questions about accessibility, please contact Benno Orlinsky at [email protected] or (718) 683-5637.
About BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! is New York City’s longest-running, free, outdoor performing arts festival, held ever year at Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park.
