Events

Events

Fronteras at River To River Festival 2014

  • Date:27 - Jun - 2014
  • Time:4:00PM
  • Venue:South Street Seaport, Up (Fulton St. & Front St.)
  • Location:New York, NY
  •  FREE!

June 27-29, 2014

Fronteras: New and Old Sounds
from Latin America and the Caribbean
River To River Festival

From an accordion fronted Tex-Mex punk band to socially conscious Haitian songs, and from ambient folk and electronica to the NYC debut of the king of Colombian vallenato and cumbia, the series travels the crossroads, the blurs and the beats of both traditional and contemporary sounds.

Friday June 27, 4pm – 9:40pm
Kuenta i Tambu (KiT) Afro-Caribbean global bass beats
Pinata Protest (NY Debut) Punk rock-y-roll
SLV Moody rock and pop
Helado Negro Ethereal electronica
DJ NIckodemus Global Turntables

Kuenta i Tambu (KiT)

Kuenta i Tambu (KiT)

Afro-Caribbean global bass beats

Caribbean Carnival revelers Kuenta i Tambu (KiT) are a riot of beats and rhythms who’ve transformed the traditional tambú music of Curaçao into the 21st-century phenomenon of Tambutronic or global bass. A wild and colorful explosion of energy, the band has cleverly found a balance between electronic sound samples, song, chant and the infectious rhythms played by ritual tambú drums. The name Kuenta i Tambu translates to “Stories and Drums” from Papiamentu, which is the native language of the Dutch Caribbean islands Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire.

Pinata Protest

Pinata Protest (NY Debut)

Punk rock-y-roll

Punk rock-y-roll band Piñata Protest are a bilingual accordion-fronted quartet committed to the notion that old school punk rock and old-school Latin border music can be fused into something modern and loud. Their sound has been dubbed “amphetamine norteño” and “ranchero punk” and they’ve been described as Selena meets Slayer, and an intoxicating border mash up of The Ramones and Ramon Ayala with songs that target the adversities and emptiness of modern life with dead-eyed aim. “brilliant” and “mind blowing.” -NPR’s alt Latino

SLV

SLV

The moody, intensely personal pop songs of multi-instrumentalist/songwriters Sandra Lilia Velásquez and Sean Dixon’s new project SLV have a subtle electronic edge. Velasquez is the founder of the acclaimed Latin band Pistolera, which released three studio albums and toured extensively in the USA and abroad. Sean Dixon is the drummer for the experimental electronic band Zammuto. Together the pair recorded the SLV debut EP Dig Deeper, produced by ten-time Grammy nominee and legendary bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, who plays bass on three of the songs and co-wrote one. On SLV’s debut in early 2013 Feast Of Music wrote “[the group] transported the audience to a different time and place… her energy blanketed the audience…”

Helado Negro

Helado Negro

Helado Negro, one of many musical projects of Roberto Carlos Lange, the son of Ecuadorean immigrant parents, is an ethereal electronica project that reflects 21st-century Latin America. Pounding bass beats from passing cars, boom boxes bouncing down the block, late-night parties and the rich sounds and colors of the various Latino cultures of Southern Florida where he was born provided a foundation for Roberto’s interest in sound and lifelong quest to discover the unlimited variety of objects used to produce music. The atmospheric haze and low-tempo beats set the backdrop beautifully for Helado Negro’s dreamy echoed vocals. Armed with a microphone and a table full of electronic gizmos, he’s capable of a remarkably rich,hypnotic sound – SPIN

DJ Nickodemus

DJ Nickodemus

Global Turntables

Brooklyn based DJ/producer Nickodemus has been an ambassador for global club sounds since he started spinning at the legendary Giant Step parties that rocked New York in the mid 90′s. When he founded the legendary Turntables On The Hudson party with his friends Mariano & Nappy G, they continued mixing their eclectic DJ sets with live musicians. The influence of hip-hop, house, reggae, soul and jazz led him to the sounds of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Middle East and India.

Saturday June 28, 5:30pm – 9pm
Curupira (NY Debut) Bogota’s Socially Conscious Funklorica Rockers
BelO Haiti’s outspoken groove innovator
DJ Nickodemus Global Turntables

Curupira

Curupira (NY Debut)

Bogota’s socially conscious funklorica rockers

Bogota-based Curupira are a groundbreaking group who perform an original style of music they call funklorica. Well respected for incorporating traditions like gaita, chalupa, fandango, puya, champeta, currulao, and joropo from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and the eastern plains of Colombia with contemporary urban sounds including rap, rock, funk, and classical Indian music, Curupira are also known for their strong socially conscious lyrics that reflect their country’s political situation and the world’s. In fact much of their music comes from areas where there is ongoing war, disputes over territory, and other conflicts keeping their music vital.

BelO

BelO

Haiti’s outspoken groove innovator

Haiti’s outspoken groove innovator BélO has been hailed as the island’s musical ambassador to the world. The globally informed singer, songwriter, and guitarist interweaves Afro-Caribbean Haitian traditions with jazz, rock, and reggae alongside a progressive voice for social and political transformation into what he calls “Ragganga”. This young Haitian singer-songwriter is one to watch. He’s making an interesting fusion of Haitian roots styles and global sounds. Afropop Worldwide.

DJ Nickodemus

DJ Nickodemus

Global Turntables

Brooklyn based DJ/producer Nickodemus has been an ambassador for global club sounds since he started spinning at the legendary Giant Step parties that rocked New York in the mid 90′s. When he founded the legendary Turntables On The Hudson party with his friends Mariano & Nappy G, they continued mixing their eclectic DJ sets with live musicians. The influence of hip-hop, house, reggae, soul and jazz led him to the sounds of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Middle East and India.

Sunday June 29, 1:30pm – 5pm
Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta Funky big-band indie mambo and cumbia
Rey Vallenato Beto Jamaica (NY Debut) The King of vallenato and cumbia
DJ Nickodemus Global Turntables

6pm Seaport Block Party! Turntables on the Hudson Reunion:
Nickodemus, Mariano & Nappy G, and Manhattan Samba

Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta

Funky big-band indie mambo and cumbia

The 1950s funky big-band indie mambo and cumbia sound of Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta is led by keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist Sergio Mendoza (Devotchka and Calexico) and features the rich baritone of Mexican vocalist Salvador Duran (who dueted with Willie Nelson on “Señor” in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, and who has performed alongside Neko Case, Iron and Wine, and Glen Hansard) with guitar, keyboard, percussion, drums and, of course, Mariachi brass.

Rey Vallenato

Rey Vallenato (NY Debut)

The King of Colombian vallenato and cumbia

The King of Colombian vallenato and cumbia music, Beto Jamaica, makes his NY debut performing the ecstatic accordion fronted dance party music from the Caribbean coast. Since earning his “Rey” title at the prestigious Leyenda Vallenata Festival, Beto has become one of Colombia’s most beloved artists and has contemporized the tradition by adding electric bass, congas and timbales to the traditional lineup of accordion, guacharaca (a tube-shaped percussion instrument) and caja vallenata (small goat leather drum) while never losing sight of the music’s Caribbean, Native American, Spanish and West African roots.

DJ Nickodemus

DJ Nickodemus

Global Turntables

Brooklyn based DJ/producer Nickodemus has been an ambassador for global club sounds since he started spinning at the legendary Giant Step parties that rocked New York in the mid 90′s. When he founded the legendary Turntables On The Hudson party with his friends Mariano & Nappy G, they continued mixing their eclectic DJ sets with live musicians. The influence of hip-hop, house, reggae, soul and jazz led him to the sounds of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, the Middle East and India.