Bàkk to the Future: Lamine Touré and Group Saloum
Saturday, October 16, 2010
8:00 PM in Slosberg Recital Hall
Pre-Concert Talk by Ethnomusicologist Patricia Tang
7:00-7:45 PM at Slosberg Music Center

"Lamine Touré and Group Saloum kick out a hard-hitting dance mix that spans the percussive fury of Senegalese mbalax and the joyful uplift of Congolese soukous"
— Banning Eyre, Boston Phoenix

Group Saloum is America’s hottest Afro-mbalax band. Founded by world-renowned griot percussionist Lamine Touré, Group Saloum fuses Senegalese mbalax- highlighted by the infectious rhythms of Toure’s sabar drums - with elements of jazz, funk, reggae, and Afrobeat.

Lamine Toure is widely recognized as one of Senegal’s leading percussionists. Born into a griot family of sabar drummers, Lamine Toure has been drumming since the age of four, a skill that he inherited from his ancestors. Since the early 1990s, Toure has been a key figure in the Senegalese music scene, performing with the successful mbalax band Nder et le Setsima Group throughout Africa, Europe, and North America. Toure’s global experience inspired him to create a new style of Afro-mbalax music, incorporating the diverse musical influences he encountered during his travels. Upon settling in Boston in 2001, Toure began to search for musicians who would help realize his inspiration. The result was the creation of Group Saloum.

Listen to their music

Simon Shaheen
Saturday, March 12, 2011,
8:00 PM in Slosberg Recital Hall
Pre-Concert Talk: tba
7:00-7:45 PM at Slosberg Music Center

“‘Ecstasy’ best describes the exquisite performance given by [this] virtuoso.”
- The Detroit Times

"Simon Shaheen's success in combining characteristics of Middle Eastern music, Western classical music, jazz and Latin rhythms into a gorgeous tapestry can be traced to his capacity to find their common threads."
“‘Ecstasy’ best describes the exquisite performance given by [this] virtuoso.”
- The Detroit Times

"Simon Shaheen's success in combining characteristics of Middle Eastern music, Western classical music, jazz and Latin rhythms into a gorgeous tapestry can be traced to his capacity to find their common threads."
- Los Angeles Times

Simon Shaheen dazzles his listeners as he deftly leaps from traditional Arabic sounds to jazz and Western classical styles. His soaring technique, melodic ingenuity, and unparalleled grace have earned him international acclaim as a virtuoso on the ‘oud and violin. Shaheen is one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process.
Most recently, Shaheen has focused much of his energies on Qantara. The band, whose name means "arch" in Arabic, brings to life Shaheen's vision for the unbridled fusion of Arab, jazz, Western classical, and Latin American music, a perfect alchemy for music to transcend the boundaries of genre and geography. The group's release Blue Flame earned eleven Grammy nominations and high acclaim by the Los Angeles Times as "stunning" and "meticulously conceived."

Simon Shaheen dazzles his listeners as he deftly leaps from traditional Arabic sounds to jazz and Western classical styles. His soaring technique, melodic ingenuity, and unparalleled grace have earned him international acclaim as a virtuoso on the ‘oud and violin. Shaheen is one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process.
Most recently, Shaheen has focused much of his energies on Qantara. The band, whose name means "arch" in Arabic, brings to life Shaheen's vision for the unbridled fusion of Arab, jazz, Western classical, and Latin American music, a perfect alchemy for music to transcend the boundaries of genre and geography. The group's release Blue Flame earned eleven Grammy nominations and high acclaim by the Los Angeles Times as "stunning" and "meticulously conceived."