From Wesleyan Center for the Arts
CFA’s Summer Series Kicks Off With a Free Outdoor Dance Party
Nation Beat is a six member New York based band that combines rural music from northeastern Brazil and the American South. Their explosive live shows have attracted music fans from a wide demographic, including bluegrass and country music fans, Brazilian music lovers and outdoor festival-goers. They perform a free outdoor concert in the courtyard of Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts—located at 283 Washington Terr. in Middletown—on Thursday, July 2 at 7pm. Concert attendees are invited to come early and picnic as well as stay late and watch Middletown’s fireworks from the hill. For more information on this concert, visit www.wesleyan.edu/cfa or call 860-685-3355.
Nation Beat are rhythm gatherers, harvesting the fruit of 500 years of cultural crossbreeding, which is why the sounds of the northeast of Brazil and the southern United States blend together so seamlessly. At the heart of Nation Beat’s Legends of the Preacher lies a totally original 21st century fusion between thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming and New Orleans second line rhythms, Appalachian-inspired bluegrass music, funk, rock, and country-blues. Conjuring the spirit of powerful and liberated carnival queens, rising Brazilian star Liliana Araujo fronts the ensemble with her soaring powerhouse vocals. A recent finalist on Brazil’s “American Idol” spin-off program FAMA, Araujo evokes the righteous soul singers of America’s golden age of soul.
In case of rain the concert will be held in Crowell Concert Hall.
I went to this concert and Nation Beat brought the house down!!
ReplyDeleteThe younger children (Wesleyan Creative Youth Program) lent a great deal of energy to the show by dancing in front of the stage. Unforutnately, it made everyone in the first 4 rows have to find a new seat in the crowded venue to view the entertainment. A lesson learned.
Great, great, concert!! Thank you Wesleyan.