Capital One City Parks Foundation announces performance from Michael Mwenso as part of their SummerStage Anywhere series on February 25, 2021 at 7PM EST. The performance will be streamed virtually as part of a Black History Month celebration.
The performance is titled the Michael Mwenso: Hope, Resist & Heal, Performance and will also be hosting a conversation with Shannon Effinger. Michael Mwenso is not only a musician but an artist and social commentator. He will offer his unique and ancestral perspective on Black music and its power to heal. He is an African-born queer man who grew up in London and New York. The performance will consist of a live studio recorded performance with his group, Mwenso and the Shakes, a multicultural New York jazz group. After the performance the conversation with arts journalist Shannon Effinger focusing on the continuum and power of Black roots music will take place.
Michael Mwenso was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone but spent his teenage years at the legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in London where he was exposed to musicians like Benny Carter, Elvin Jones, Ray Brown and Billy Higgins. Mwenso is known for his work as a trombonist, singer and performer playing in jump bands, reggae and Afrobeat horn sections and at hard-bop sessions.
Mwenso has worked with big names like Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jon Batiste, Aaron Diehl, Sullivan Fortner and Jamison Ross.Mwenso began his collaboration of Juilliard trained musicians known as The Shakes which come from all over the world including Sierra Leone, South Africa, Madagascar, London, France, Jamaica and Hawaii. Between all of them they create a unique jazz and blues sound through African and Afro-American music.
The performance will take place on February 25, 2021 at 7PM EST. The performance will be streamed virtually on SummerStageAnywhere.org and across SummerStage social media outlets Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch as part of a Black History Month celebration. For more information on the performance visit Capital One City Parks Foundation’s website.
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