media
Here you will find our last press release, some published articles, photos of Carla Leininger and testimonials about Global Beats.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Information:
Carla Andrea Leininger, Promoter
carla@globalbeatspitt.com
(412) 608-3946
Kenia celebrates the music of Dorival Caymmi, one of the legends of Brazilian music
Pittsburgh, Pa (Oct. 9, 09) – On Tuesday, October 27th, the Cabaret at Theater Square will be stage to one of the most unique shows of the year when Brazilian vocalist, Kenia, performs with renowned artists such as percussionist Airto Moreira, pianist Fernando Merlino, bass player Leo Traversa and guitarist, Eric Susoeff, for a deep journey into the music of Bahia, Brazil, bringing to Pittsburgh the repertoire of one of its legends, Dorival Caymmi.
Born in Salvador, Bahia, Dorival Caymmi was the son of an Italian immigrant and African- Brazilian woman. He had a distinctive style and was the writer of many classic songs, including the first success of Brazilian bombshell, Carmen Miranda, entitled “O Que é Que a Baiana Tem?” (“What Is It About Bahian Women?”). In the 1960’s many of his songs were covered by Bossa Nova pioneer, João Gilberto. Among the many musicians heavily influenced by Dorival Caymmi were Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, prominent names in world music charts today. Writing in The N ew York Times in 2001, Ben Ratliff said Mr. Caymmi was perhaps second only to Jobim in establishing a songbook of this century’s Brazilian identity. A large part of this was evoking the life and dreams of working-class people, particularly of the coastal fishermen.
Accompanying Kenia will be percussionist Airto Moreira, who in the past few years was voted the number one percussionist by Jazz Times, Modern Drummer, Drum Magazine, Jazzizz Magazine, Jazz Central Station’s Global Jazz Poll. Airto has also been advancing the cause of world and percussion music as a member of the “Planet Drum” percussion ensemble, with Mickey Hart, drummer for “The Grateful Dead”, and master conga player Giovanni Hidalgo and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain. According to Kenia, “when you are paying tribute to one of the most well known names in Brazilian music, having one of the best Brazilian percussionists only adds to the authentic interpretation of Caymmi's powerful, and yet delicate, work."
To complement the exceptional repertoire and percussion, Kenia has also invited New York based and one of the best bass players in the scene today, Leo Traversa. Brazilian pianist, composer and arranger, Fernando Merlino, and Pittsburgh’s own jazz guitar player, Eric Susoeff, will also take part in this one of a kind performance.
Adding another artistic dimension to this event is Alison Zapata, a local painter whose work can be seen throughout the city. Sh e will be exhibiting and auctioning new and original paintings of Dorival Caymmi. Proceeds will benefit the “Arts in the Favelas” project in Brazil. Zapata will also be collaborating with Kenia on the cover of her upcoming album.
The “Kenia celebrates Dorival Caymmi” performance is co-presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Global Beats and the Latin American Cultural Union, with the support of a grant from the Multicultural Arts Initiative. It’s scheduled for Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, at the Cabaret Theater at Theater Square. VIP tickets are being sold to give guests an opportunity to meet the artists in a private reception at 7:15 pm. VIP guests will also receive preferred seating, special Brazilian hors’ d’oeuvres and will be the first to receive a digital copy of Kenia’s upcoming album to be released in early 2010. The event itself starts at 8 pm and traditional cuisine from Bahia as well as the Brazilian popular drink, “caipirinhas,” will be added to the theater’s menu to enhance the “Bahia” experience.
As Dorival Caymmi said in one of his popular songs: Você já foi a Bahia? Não? Então vá! In English it means: Have you been to Bahia? No? Then go! On October 27th Pittsburgh will have the opportunity to experience the rich and mystical culture and music of Bahia right in the heart of the cultural district.
About Kenia: Born in exotic Rio de Janeiro, Kenia is one of the most excitingly unique performers you can hear today. Her deep tone and excellent choice of repertoire is a sure sign of expertise. Kenia has an infectious charm and persuasive whisper that takes more power in her native Portuguese language, but is equally evocative in English. Her most recent album, “Simply Kenia,” received the award of “Best Album of the Year” by the Brazilian Press Award. Kenia is a Pittsburgh resident and a recognized name in the city’s jazz scene. For details see www.kenialive.com.
About Global Beats:
Global Beats is the name given to an event that creates a venue for world music and cultural diversity. Its founder is Carla Andrea Leininger, a Brazilian native who felt the need for Pittsburgh to manifest its international cultures in a social setting favoring networking, dancing and the enjoyment of contemporary world music, in the same ambiance. Regular Global Beats nights are on the last Saturday of the month at the AVA Lounge, 126 S. Highland Ave, in the growing East Liberty area.
Allegheny_West_magazine pg 44 titled She Beats to the Drums of Other Worlds.pdf
A Unifying Beat
By: Mike Shanley
April 4, 2007
Without knowing the exact address of AVA, the relatively new lounge at 126 South Highland Avenue might be easy to miss. The dark awning hanging over its doorway dwarves the name, which is painted in the lower right corner of the front window, in letters just a few inches tall. At a quick glance, its façade looks similar to many storefronts in this transitional neighborhood. But walk by on the weekend, and it points to the future of this ever-evolving area.
On this last Saturday in February, Brazilian dance music blares onto the street as patrons work their way through the door. The throng of bodies — nearly 200 by the end of the night — adds extra heat to the packed room. The décor has yet to be completed, says Justin Strong, who along with Tim Guthrie, runs AVA as well the Shadow Lounge, the seven-year old venue around the corner on Baum Boulevard which connects to AVA via the back hallway. Seating is minimal. Besides a few streamers, the only decoration comes in the form of four candles, mounted a few feet from each other in glass cases along the left wall, which like the rest of the room is painted black. Yet, all of this is secondary to el ritmo that Carla Leininger is spinning from the DJ booth in the back of the room.
Global Beats, which takes place the last Saturday of every month, features dance music not only from Leininger’s native Brazil, but from countries around the world, juxtaposing Arabic music with grooves from Turkey, Venezuela and Iran, to list but a few. The theme of tonight’s event celebrates the Brazilian Carnival, emphasized by the video of lavish parade in Rio projected on the wall. As women in beaded headdresses slink across the wall, women in crop tops on the dance floor fling their arms in the air and chant along with the foreign songs. One couple dances more suggestively with each new song while an ethnically diverse crowd, dressed in everything from ball caps and baggy pants to suits, comes together for the pulsating music and atmosphere.
An International Community
Leininger created Global Beats in 2004. A host of the weekly “Brazilian Radio Hour”on WRCT-FM 88.3, she launched the event at a club in the Strip District. “I saw a lot of people from the international community at Déjà Vu, and asked had they ever considered doing anything there in terms of a World Music night,”she says.
For the next year and half, Global Beats took place at Déjà Vu during the week, first on Wednesdays and later Thursdays. To welcome people of various ethnicities, Leininger contacted different community groups, such as Carnegie Mellon’s Columbia en Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Venezuelan Association, for assistance in programming the music. (Leininger also has her own Brazilian Pittsburgh website for natives: www.arrepiabrasil.org.) Other informal groups have contributed to evenings that featured Arabic and Persian music. “I can’t claim to know everything about World Music,”she says, modestly. “I need someone who’s involved with the culture too.”
Each Global Beats party has a theme, which makes up half of the evening’s music, with music from other countries blended mixed together for the rest of the set. “It tends to be the music that the youth in their [native] country are listening to when they go out dancing,”Leininger says. “I think a lot of people think of it as folk music, which it isn’t. I want to play whatever it is they’d be listening to, not what their grandparents would be listening to.”While some World Music has the potential to take its bare music essentials, reduce them to an elemental nature and mix it with a generic, programmed beat, the music at Global Beats maintains the exciting quality of the traditional music even as it takes on a modern identity.
Leininger took a break from Global Beats in early 2006 when a job change gave her less time during weeknights. Strong, of the Shadow Lounge, encouraged her to set up shop each month after she helped promote a concert through the Brazilian Radio Hour. AVA had been open a month at that time, but she was ready to pick up where she left off.
Hot Music, Hot Neighborhood
AVA’s location borders Shadyside, East Liberty and Highland Park, an area that has grown by leaps and bounds since Strong opened the Shadow Lounge in 2000. Kelly’s Bar and Lounge on South Penn Circle, as well as the restaurants Abay and the Red Room Cafe, are drawing more people to the neighborhood, and Strong says events like Global Beats add to it by fulfilling a need no one else is addressing. “Pittsburgh is far behind as far as providing a true diverse selection of entertainment and an infrastructure and support of different cultures moving into Pittsburgh,”he says. “A lot of times, it’s very black and white and if you’re anything but that, sometimes you don’t feel as welcomed or tolerated. We want to provide a platform that says this is supported and celebrated. At the same time, hopefully we’ll boost the global population moving into this area.”
testimonials
Carla is deeply committed and passionate about her mission - to create memorable and brilliantly nuanced musical events that build intercultural bridges while being hugely entertaining. The thought, effort and talent that she pours into crafting these exceptional events is most impressive - South America, Middle East, Asia, Europe... all regions have been featured and blended into a unifying force for peace and understanding. Global Beats does more for intercultural awareness and tolerance at a public level than all manners of summits, conferences and speeches, and makes it fun and exciting.
Kannu Sahni
You’re doing some very valuable work in the community.
Bob Ogara