The Town Hall Presents | Fatoumata Diawara

The Town hall PresentS

FriDay, February 21, 2020

FATOUMATA DIAWARA GABY MORENO

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FRIDAY, February 21, 2020

The Town hall Presents GLOBAL ICONS SERIES

FATOUMATA DIAWARA Fatoumata Diawara (guitar & vocals) Sam Dickey (guitar) Shea Pierre (keyboards) Joshua Brozosky (bass) Wayne Matthews (drums)

GABY MORENO Jorge Glem (cuatro)

Cover Photo © Aida Muluneh

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LEIA-LEE DORAN, Principal Designer

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Malian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor Fatoumata Diawara brings her mesmerizing blend of traditional African music and elements of Western pop, rock, Afrobeat, funk and R&B to The Town Hall.

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One of the most remarkable voices to emerge in world pop in recent years, Fatoumata Diawara’s music boldly blurs the lines between tradition and innovation. In the arc of a song, she can move from delicate textures and hypnotic grooves to hard-edged rock and back. Not surprisingly, her work has attracted the attention of musicians working on a broad range of styles, leading to collaborations with artists as diverse as Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca; singer Bobby Womack; singer and songwriter Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz fame); jazz master Herbie Hancock, and Ethiopian composer and arranger Mulatu Astatke, among others.

Living now in Italy after many years based in Paris, France, Diawara sings mostly in Bambara, the national language of Mali, and builds on the tradition of “songs of advice” from the culture of her ancestral Wassoulou region. In her songs, Diawara has addressed issues such as the pain of emigration; a need for mutual respect; the struggles of African women; life under the rule of religious fundamentalists, and the practice of female circumcision.

At her Town Hall appearance, fronting a quintet featuring electric guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums, Diawara will be featuring songs from her most recent album, fittingly titled Fenfo, which translates as “Something to Say.” Fenfo was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best World Music Album.

Indeed, her music has a punch — and a conscience.

“I didn’t want to sing in English or French because I wanted to respect my African heritage,” she once explained. “But I wanted a modern sound because that’s the world I live in. I’m a traditionalist, but I need to experiment, too. You can keep your roots and influences but communicate them in a different style.”

Her main message is hope, she said in a recent interview.

It’s all “about the world, peace, how Africa can be a better place, especially for women, because I am one, and I am a survivor,” she elaborated. “I want to encourage those who have lost hope.”

It’s a blend of artistry and social engagement that embodies the spirit of the Town Hall’s Global Icons series, part of the programs leading up to the venue’s 100th anniversary celebration next year, and resonates with the history of the hall itself. The Town Hall opened in 1921 as a meeting space to debate the important issues of the day. It has been the home and birthplace to landmark social, cultural and musical events in American life.

Photo © Aida Muluneh

@TownHallNYC | 4

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Born in the Ivory Coast in 1982 to Malian parents, Diawara grew up in Bamako, Mali’s capital. She went to live with an aunt who was an actress, which eventually led to her appearing on film and becoming a celebrated child star. In what sounds like an old Hollywood script, defying the wishes of her parents who wanted her to marry, Diawara, then 19, joined a French street theatre company and fled Bamako a step ahead of the police who had been told she had been kidnapped. It was during her time with the theater company that her music-making grew from pasttime to passion and a new career.

Diawara’s singing became a feature of the company’s performances and soon she began appearing in the clubs and cafes of Paris.

That led to her working with jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré and, eventually, to her debut album, Fatou, in 2011, which she produced and for which she wrote all the songs in addition to playing guitar and percussion.

“I started writing songs first—it wasn’t my idea to play an instrument, because, in Mali, that’s not common,” she told sheshredsmag.com last year.

“Women normally don’t play instruments. You don’t grow up to be something like this. But I was too dependent on other people when I began performing, and I don’t like that. I like to be independent if I can. It was becoming necessary to play and perform without a band. So I went to the market, bought a book, and began learning.”

In parallel, she also continued her career as an actor, including a role in the 2014 film Timbuktu, which received both BAFTA and Academy Award nominations and won Best Film at the 11th Africa Movie Academy Awards.

Film work continues — but she leaves no doubts about where her creative heart is.

“I’m still making movies, every two years or so. I do like acting. But music is more ‘me’. It’s my hope, my love for my continent. It’s my communication with my generation. It’s my conversation with the next generation.”

Photos © Marco Ferrario 5 | @TownHallNYC 5 | @TownHallNYC

ABOUT THE ARTISTS As part of her evolution as songwriter and performer, Diawara has turned to the electric guitar (she called it “my soul mate” in a recent interview), which she also taught herself. “There aren’t many African women that play the electric guitar so I wanted to be the one.”

The look and sound — Diawara holding center stage in African garb with an electric guitar, before what looks and often sounds like a rock band — instantly sums up her approach.

“Musically, you will realize that I don’t have a traditional instrument in my band,” she said recently. “The only traditional instrument in my band is my voice. It is the voice that brings the tradition.” Her work, she said, has “one foot in traditional music and one foot in modern music.”

GABY MORENO (vocals, guitar) Since moving to Los Angeles from her native Guatemala, singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno has released five albums, earned a Latin GRAMMY for “Best New Artist” (2013) and a GRAMMY nomination for her album Illusion (2017).She was nominated for an Emmy Award with cowriter Vincent Jones for their theme song to the TV series Parks and Recreation. Moreno also sings the theme song to – and voices the character of Marlena in -- the Emmywinning Disney TV series Elena of Avalor, which features Disney’s first Latina princess.

She has toured with Tracy Chapman, Hugh Laurie and Ani DiFranco and is a regular guest Photo courtesy of the artist on public radio’s Live From Here with Chris Thile. Her latest album ¡Spangled! is a collaboration with musician, songwriter and producer Van Dyke Parks. The 10-song set, released on Nonesuch Records in 2019, celebrates the migration of song across the Americas and features guest appearances by Ry Cooder and Jackson Browne. gaby-moreno.com

JORGE GLEM

(cuatro)

New York City-based Venezuelan musician Jorge Glem is a GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominee who has shared the stage with a who’s-who of Latin stars, including Paquito D’Rivera, Carlos Vives, Calle 13, and Nella. A master of the cuatro, he is committed is to presenting Venezuela’s iconic stringed instrument to audiences around the world. @TownHallNYC | 6

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MAJOR GIFTS, CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT SUPPORT This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Town Hall’s Education Outreach Program and Global Icons Series are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. We would like to thank the following foundations, corporations, and government institutions for their support:

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Jujamcyn Theaters Edythe Kenner Foundation The Kinder Morgan Foundation The Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation Lewis QVC Trust Local One The Mansfield Family Foundation Morgan Stanley Nederlander Organization Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York State Council on the Arts

New York University Stavros Niarchos Foundation Henry Nias Foundation Office of the President, Borough of Manhattan, Gale A. Brewer Pamela and Richard Rubinstein Foundation Pricewaterhouse Cooper The Reed Foundation S&P Global The Shubert Foundation The Shubert Organization, Inc. Theatre Refreshments Ticketmaster Wenner Foundation

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