Back in June, Arts Desk reported that D.C. soul singer Reese Palmer, who founded the Marquees singing group in 1957 along with Marvin Gaye and two others, had bladder and prostate cancer and was in Southern Maryland Hospital. A benefit concert was held for him at the time at the Eclipse featuring D.C. R&B old-timers [...]
Senegalese singer Baaba Maal’s “Tales from the Sahel” show tonight at the Birchmere should prove to be very different from his last local appearance a year and half ago. That gig offered his 13-piece band Daande Lenol adapting songs from his 2009 album Television, which featured programmed beats and guest vocals from members of New York band [...]
The D.C. area has plenty of club DJs spinning popular Latin dance music, and various promoters and clubs bringing in big-name reggaeton, bachata, salsa, and rock en español acts, but Maracuyeah is carving a unique niche. Since March, the D.C. DJ duo has been assembling evenings that feature an eclectic mix of cutting-edge tropical dance [...]
Like the Washington City Paper theater and dance critics who've seen Fela! during its ongoing run at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Harman Center, I found much to like about this musical bio of Nigeria’s most controversial musician. But I found one thing in the production a bit curious. While the actors and dancers all seemed to be of [...]
Good news, roots rock fans: Starting tonight, Edmonston, Md., venue Surf Club is again hosting live music you can drink to. Owner James Byrum wrote to local roots music listserv Twistlist on Sept. 15 with the good news:
Thanks to the Prince Georges County Liquor Control Board, the Surf Club is once again hosting live bands with [...]
The Surf Club still has not permanently regained an entertainment license allowing it to present live music and sell booze in the same evening, but the club’s owner James Byrum announced on the club’s website Monday that tomorrow's tribute show to what would have been Buddy Holly’s 75th birthday (the rock pioneer was born Sept. 7) [...]
For the first time last week, Prince George's County authorities used expanded powers related to dancehall licensing to shutter the Capitol Heights nightclub MSG following a fatal shooting that police said took place outside the venue. Those powers fall under a July 19 bill passed unanimously by the Prince George's County Council that increased license fees, requires [...]
Out of fear that Robert Mugabe’s government will have him arrested, the Zimbabwean singer and guitarist Thomas Mapfumo has lived in exile in Eugene, Ore., since 2000. Mapfumo's chimurenga music, or music of struggle, is banned from the airwaves in his home country. But the 66-year-old musician known as The Lion of Zimbabwe will make [...]
In 1976, two decades before helping put together the Buena Vista Social Club, then-Havana resident Juan De Marcos Gonzalez began revitalizing interest in classic Cuban son dance music with the group Sierra Maestra. Thirty-five years later, Gonzalez is no longer a member, but on Tuesday night Sierra Maestra, featuring five of Gonzalez’ original bandmates, will [...]
This year’s 19th annual DC Caribbean Carnival parade, scheduled for Saturday on Georgia Avenue NW, almost didn't happen.
The annual procession, featuring costumed participants on flatbed trucks and on foot, requires a large police presence, and last year the D.C. Police Department hit organizers with an overtime bill, of which $53,000 is still owed. In May, Carnival [...]
