Habana/Harlem™
Joining forces with the generous support of George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival New York, we are thrilled to present the third installment of Habana | Harlem™ at Harlem Stage. Two nights of stellar performances produced by Neyda Martinez and Onel Mulet honor the legacy of the rich cross-cultural collaborations between Havana and New York, begun in the early 20th century and continuing unabated to this day.
Friday, June 25
Cultural Fusion: Past, Present and Future
In the tradition of Harlem Stage’s Harlem Stride program, this evening will feature a musical dialog between two world-renowned pianists – the New Orleans legend Henry Butler and Cuban sensation Osmany Paredes. The program will begin with curated selections from the late 20th century employing pieces from the “early jazz” period alongside ragtime, danzones, and habaneras to reveal and celebrate historical parallels.
Saturday, June 26
UPTOWN NIGHTS with The Pedro Martinez Project featuring guest vocalists de'Adre aziza, Ihsan, Maria Isa, Nina Rodriguez, and DJ Cato.
The second component of “Cultural Fusion: Past, Present and Future” will introduce audiences to the singular vision and dynamic energy of Pedro Pablo Martinez’s newly formed Pedro Martinez Project. In his new role as bandleader, “Pedrito” (formerly of Yerba Buena) infuses the project with his unique brand Afro-Cuban funk with hip-hop inflections. Fans will groove, move and dance to his exciting new music.
Henry Butler
An eight-time W.C. Handy Best Blues Instrumentalist award nominee, Henry Butler knows no limitations. Although blinded by glaucoma since birth, Butler is also a world class photographer with his work displayed at exhibitions throughout the United States. Playing piano since the age of six, Butler is a master of musical diversity. Combining the percussive jazz piano playing of McCoy Tyner and the New Orleans style playing of Professor Longhair through his classically trained wizardry, Butler continues to craft a sound uniquely his own. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues and R&B influences, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace.
www.henrybutler.com
Osmany Paredes
Osmany Paredes Gonzalez is a pianist, composer and arranger whose style blends jazz with his Afro-Cuban rhythmic heritage by using a technique derived from years of classical education. Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, his father began Osmany's musical education at the age of five. Guillermo Paredes, percussionist with the Santa Clara Orquesta de Música Moderna, was his first teacher and primary influence. He taught him about the different Afro-Cuban rhythms and styles. Osmany played with many groups in Cuba including the charanga group Orquesta America. After moving to Mexico in 1992, he played with various artists and groups including Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Jerry Gonzalez and Celio Gonzalez among others. In January 1998, Osmany became musical director, composer and arranger of his group Menduvia. He recorded his first CD of Latin Jazz in Mexico entitled Osmany Paredes con Menduvia, under the Fonosound/Universal Music Latino label.
www.osmanyparedes.com
The Pedro Martinez Project
The Pedro Martinez Project celebrates the solo debut of a dynamic and multifaceted artist whose meteoric rise and trajectory spans two decades. He’s performed since the age of 11 with greats such as Lazaro Ros, Mercedita Valdes and Meshell N’dege O’cello to name a few. With Slave to Africa, his first solo album, he unleashes his artistic repertoire and vision as composer, lyricist, lead percussionist and vocalist. Pedrito, as he is referred to by friends and fans, pays homage to the rich musical legacy he has inherited and embodies, Africa. Enthusiasts will delight in his unique interpretation of Caribbean-tinged Afrobeat rhythms. In September 2000, Pedrito won first place in the Thelonious Monk Institute’s Afro/Latin Jazz Hand Drum competition at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
de'Adre aziza
de’Adre aziza’s portrayal of a 14-year-old African American school girl, a Dutch liberal, and German filmmaker in the Tony winning musical Passing Strange, garnered her critical acclaim and a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2008 the, the New York Times called her work in Passing Strange and the Off-Broadway musical Doris to Darlene “radiant” and said that her “megawatt smile, silky singing voice and dazzaling beauty make it entirely plausible that she would be singled out for potential stardom.” de’Andre has also performed at Lincoln Center with Stew, and Carnegie Hall with Jessye Norman and The Roots. In addition to a burgeoning acting career, de’Andre has also made her mark in the world of jazz. She has performed with Roy Ayers at the Bermuda Music Festival. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
www. deadreaziza.com
Ihsan
Ihsan sings in the key of the divine feminine. Manhattan born, Jersey bred, and Brooklyn steeped, the East Orange native continues in the body rocking tradition of hip-hop songstresses. Ihsan rhymes, sings, and chants down desires and trials that are not always pretty but always provoke thought and move the crowd. As a poet, singer, songwriter, playwright, activist and occasional model, Ihsan houses an amalgam of women under one mind. And then there's the groove. Singing with depth of feeling and bass Ihsan delivers music inspired by hip-hop, soul, Senegalese, R&B, and house percussion beats. On stage she channels a Jamaican rude gal with down-home flava and street wit that makes people want to wind their waists and bob their heads in unison.
www.myspace.com/ihsanmusic
Maria Isa
Born and raised in the Twin Cities to NuyoRican parents, emcee, singer, and songwriter Maria Isa is recognized for her dedication towards celebrating her cultural diversity through music and political activism. In 1992 she started her performing arts education at El Arco Iris Center for Arts, forming Raices in 2002 with other advanced students to conserve their ancestral Puerto Rican folklore music.
www.sotarico.com
Nina Rodriguez
Nina Dilet Rodriguez was born on May 28th 1981, in Buffalo, NY. She began her musical journey at the early age of four. The passion she had and has for music inspired and motivated her to learn all the diverse aspects of music. A graduate of the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, Nina’s background in Afro-Caribbean rhythms, combined with the contemporary sounds of gospel, freestyle, hip-hop, R&B, reggae, alternative, pop and also salsa. She incorporates all these influences to create her unique dynamic sound complimented by her signature charisma mesmerizing audiences. Her energy and percussive sound has led to collaborations with well know producers such as Louie Vega, and Fero Navi. Nina strongly believes that music elevates us all, and truly loves the feeling of becoming one with her audience as they listen to her voice and watch every move she makes on stage.
Neyda Martinez
Neyda Martinez is the founder and executive producer of Habana | Harlem™, a cultural production company and independent label. Through MONSERRAT Ltd., she serves private sector and non-profit clients including the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Random House, Hachette Book Group USA (the world’s second largest book publisher), WNYC Radio, NYC Mayor’s Office of Adult Education, Latin Grammy’s, PBS’ POV series, and others. Previously, she’s held key staff positions at El Museo del Barrio, The Public Theater, and Salomon Smith Barney/CITIGROUP. An arts immersion and workforce development initiative she conceived was awarded $100,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation to a nonprofit organization. She is Vice Chair of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, and sits on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s audience development committee. Her articles have been published in Latin London Magazine, New York Post, Postmedia (Milan, Italy) and El Diario La Prensa. Neyda earned a BA from Loyola University and an MPA Columbia University.
Onel Mulet
Onel Mulet, artistic and musical director for Habana | Harlem™, is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, flute & percussion), composer and producer whose career spans almost three decades. Onel has performed in some of the most prestigious music festivals and concert venues across Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. He has toured, performed and/or recorded with artists including Arturo Sandoval, Chaka Khan, Melissa Etheridge, Patato Valdes, Pedro Luis Ferrer, Jose Luis Rodriguez (El Puma), The Gypsy Kings, The Fania All Stars, and Albita Rodriguez among others. Although Onel, who is of Cuban heritage, has been based in New York since 2002, he was born in Miami, Fl. As a film composer, his work is featured on award-winning documentary, shorts and narrative film broadcast on Showtime, HBO and PBS. He served as musical director for Mama Africa, and the Black Rock Coalition’s 4 Women, for presentations at Lincoln Center Outdoors, The Schomburg Center and BAM Café. For Habana | Harlem™, he’s produced shows at Joe’s Pub, BAM Café, Harlem Stage; and was awarded a residency at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center.
Produced by Neyda Martinez and Onel Mulet
