ANTIBALAS AND ZAP MAMA ANNOUNCE FIRST-EVER NATIONAL TOUR

Two World Music Trailblazers Unite as Zap Mama Returns for First US Tour Since 2009

(New York, NY) America’s premier afrobeat band, Antibalas, is excited to announce a collaborative tour with Zap Mama, Marie Daulne’s international polyphonic vocal group, that will travel across North America in January and February 2015.

Antibalas, founded in 1998, evolved out of the same Brooklyn-based musical nucleus as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and emerged onto the world music scene around 2000. After years of heavy international touring the band rose to greater prominence in 2007 for its role in the musical direction of the Broadway musical “Fela!.” 

“I've been a fan of Zap Mama for twenty years. We’ve never had the chance to collaborate before, nor with any other group on this scale. This is a thrill and a privilege for us to be working together,” says Martín Perna from Antibalas. "I think the energies and talents of each group are complementary and really exciting things will happen when we get to perform."

The 29-date Zap Mama / Antibalas tour, produced by Columbia Artists Management LLC, will be presented at performing arts centers around the country, as well as venues including the Fillmore in San Francisco, Park West in Chicago, and the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan.  The tour begins at the University of Florida at Gainesville on Jan. 21, 2015 and concludes on Feb. 27 at the University of Texas, El Paso.

The concerts will feature a brand-new presentation, deeply combining the two groups into one show specially created for this tour.  “Every time I do a tour, I want the show to have its own unique story arc which, even if it’s not explicitly expressed, still gives a certain flow or cohesiveness to the presentation,” says Zap Mama founder Marie Daulne.  “I’m very excited to explore the intersections between our globally influenced vocal harmonies and the polyrhythmic rhythms of Antibalas.  I’m sure it will be an exciting and fun journey.”  

Antibalas (Spanish for "bulletproof"), is a Brooklyn, NY based big band inspired by the golden age of West African and Afro-Caribbean musical styles of the 1970s as well as the jazz and improvised music traditions of their native New York. Members of Antibalas are sought-after session and touring musicians, regularly recording and performing with a spectrum of artists including the Roots, TV on the Radio, Jovanotti, Arcade Fire, Allen Tousaint, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Angelique Kidjo, and Betty Lavette.

Zap Mama, is an all-female troupe of afropop vocalists based in Europe who first created a sensation in the US world music scene in 1991 with their critically-acclaimed self-titled release on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label. Marie Daulne, known worldwide as the creative force behind Zap Mama, redefines the word "vocalist” by creatively expressing sound and storytelling through tone and pure voice. Melding afropop and with American and European urban music using ethnic polyphonic vocal structures, Zap Mama is a world-music revue that can transport the listener around the globe in the course of a song.

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Itinerary listed below:

ZAP MAMA and ANTIBALAS on tour: 

Date	City	State	Venue
1/21/15	Gainesville	FL	Curtis M. Phillips Performing Arts Center - Mainstage
1/22/15	Tampa	FL	Ferguson Hall
1/23/15	West Palm Beach	FL	Michael and Andrew Gosman Amphitheatre
1/24/15	Cutler Bay	FL	Main Stage South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center
1/25/15	Lake Buena Vista	FL	House of Blues - Lake Buena Vista
1/27/15	Atlanta	GA	Variety Playhouse
1/28/15	Richmond	VA	University of Richmond - Carpenter Theatre
1/29/15	Newport News	VA	Ferguson Center for the Arts Concert Hall
1/30/15	Washington	DC	The George Washington University Lisner Auditorium
1/31/15	Union	NJ	Kean University - Wilkins Theater
2/3/15	University Park	PA	Pennsylvania State University - Eisenhower Auditorium
2/4/15	Pittsburgh	PA	Byham Theater
2/6/15	Detroit	MI	Music Hall Center for Performing Arts
2/7/15	Toronto	ON	Koerner Concert Hall
2/9/15	Brattleboro	VT	The Latchis Theatre
2/10/15	St Johnsbury	VT	Fuller Hall
2/11/15	New York	NY	Highline Ballroom
2/12/15	Storrs	CT	University of Connecticut - Jorgensen Auditorium
2/14/15	Chicago	IL	Park West Theatre*
2/15/15	Madison	WI	Wisconsin Union Theater
2/18/15	Chico	CA	California State University, Chico - Laxson Auditorium
2/19/15	Arcata	CA	Humboldt State University - John Van Duzer Theatre
2/20/15	San Francisco	CA	The Fillmore*
2/21/15	Santa Monica	CA	The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage
2/22/15	Solana Beach	CA	Belly Up Tavern
2/24/15	Scottsdale	AZ	Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts - Piper Theater
2/25/15	Tucson	AZ	Fox Tucson Theatre*
2/27/15	El Paso	TX	UTEP *

 

* = On sale date TBA