Events

Win An Invite To The Okayplayer Holiday Jam w/ The Roots

December 9, 2011 Leave a comment

Our 5th Annual Okayplayer Holiday Jam is coming up quick! If you wanna join us and throw down with The Roots and a slew of special guests (trust, you do), we’ll be giving away 50 guest spots, each with a +1, to the party. Complimentary brews from Heineken from 7-8 PM! All’s you gotta do is head here and sign up for the Okayplayer/Okayafrica newsletter — if you already receive our newsletter, just enter your info again (we’ll never spam). Get to it and make sure you’ll be in the New York area Dec. 15!

ENTER TO WIN AN INVITE TO THE 5TH ANNUAL OKAYPLAYER HOLIDAY JAM WITH THE ROOTS

 

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NYC: DJ/Rupture Morrocan Radio Show + ‘Transes’ Screening Tonight

December 5, 2011 Leave a comment

What: DJ/Rupture will be showing a selection of his favorite Moroccan music videos, cell phone footage and music on a special live broadcast of his Mudd Up! WFMU radio show. Afterwards, there will be a screening of director Ahmed El Maanoun’s Transes (1981), a documentary which follows Morocco’s maghrebi pioneers, and the country’s most important band to this day, Nass El Ghiwane [stream the group's "Fine Radi Bida Khouya" above].

Where/When: Spectacle Theater, 124 South 3rd St [and Bedford], Brooklyn, NY. All details below!

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NYC: Nettle Record Release Party w/ Lamin Fofana

December 2, 2011 Leave a comment

What: DJ/Rupture‘s group Nettle will be performing live in celebration of the release of El Resplandor: The Shining In Dubai — a cello, violin, guembri, guitar, and voice concept album remake of Stanley Kubrick’s famed film (this time set in a luxury hotel in Dubai, U.A.E.). Lamin Fofana will also be spinning.

When/Where: Saturday, December 3rd @ Vaudeville Park in Brooklyn (L to Graham). “Mint tea, dates, and homemade deliciousness will be served.” All details, plus a video of the group performing live with Imanaren below.

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NYC: Win 2 Free Tickets For Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves + Lizz Wright Dec. 18th

November 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Win 2 free tickets to see Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves, and Lizz Wright pay tribute to other great ladies of song Miriam Makeba, Abbey Lincoln and Odetta at NJPac on Dec. 18. Their show, “Sing the Truth” is about bringing the soulful voices of the past back to the stage through 3 of today’s most passionate singers. Tickets are $50-$90 but enter your email here to win 2 free seats for this fantastic celebration of jazz. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

 

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NYC: OKA Co-Hosting ‘An African Election’ + Questlove At Brooklyn Bowl

November 29, 2011 Leave a comment

Join Okayafrica and the African Diaspora International Film Festival for a special screening of An African Election this Thursday Dec. 1 at Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues) at 7:25pm. The film’s director, Jarreth Merz will be there for a Q&A session. Be sure to trek with us to Williamsburg after the film to check out OKA boss man, Questlove‘s DJ set at Brooklyn Bowl.

The film plays like an action thriller, complete with tension so thick you could cut it with a knife – trust (trailer above). The all-access look at the internal diplomacy that saved Ghana from civil war during the 2008 Presidential run-off is particularly impressive. When we say “all-access” we mean you even get a peep at J.J. Rawling watching television in his living room. Rad. Read a review of the film here.

 

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Houston/Dallas: Catch Fally Ipupa Live

November 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Congolese superstar Fally Ipupa is set to play Dallas and Houston this Turkey Day weekend. Catch Fally’s signature mix of Ndombolo and Congolese rumba with pop and RnB Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 at The Meridian Gardens (Houston) and Jet Blue (Dallas), respectively. Check out the flyers below for all the info and peep the video for Fally Ipupa’s 2008 hit “Mabele” above.

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Bombino Returns To North America

November 22, 2011 Leave a comment

Fusing the distinct sounds of Western blues and rock with traditional Tuareg music, Bombino is a figure of African guitar alongside the likes of Tinariwen and Ali Farka Touré. Raised during a period of resistance and rebellion, his music reflects both the strife of warfare and a great sense of hope and optimism for the Tuareg people. The story of Bombino and his people’s struggle for self-determination was told in the moving film Agadez, the Music & the Rebellion, and his Cumbancha album Agadez. Catch Bombino on his upcoming North Amercan tour dates!

11-26-2011 Montreal, QC
11-27-2011 Burlington, VT
11-28-2011 Northhampton, MA
11-29-2011 New York, NY
11-30-2011 Somerville, MA
12-02-2011 Washington, DC
12-03-2011 Port Washington, NY
12-06-2011 Los Angeles, CA
12-07-2011 Joshua Tree, CA
12-09-2011 San Francisco, CA
12-10-2011 Portland, OR
12-11-2011 Seattle, WA
12-13-2011 Mexico City, Mexico
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Win 2 Tickets To The African Diaspora International Film Festival!

November 18, 2011 1 Comment

What: The 2011 African Diaspora International Film Festival is almost underway in New York City. The festival will host an “eclectic mix of urban, classic, independent and foreign films that depict the richness and diversity of the life experience of people of African descent and Indigenous people all over the world.”

Where: The Schomburg Center for Black Culture (515 Malcom X Boulevard), Symphony Space Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway @ 95th St), Quad Cinema (34 West 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues), the Teacher’s College at Columbia University (525 W. 120th St)

When: Nov. 25 – Dec. 13

Click here to enter to win 2 all-access tickets to the festival valued at $250 each! Simple as that. We’ll select a winner randomly and notify via email on Nov. 23rd.

Okayafrica will co-host a special screening of An African Election on Thursday Dec 1 at Quad Cinema (put it in your calendar), complete with a dope after-party (details to come). The film is an intense, inside look at the 2008 Presidential elections in Ghana. The country could have plunged into a post-vote civil war, but the film documents just how effective internal diplomacy was at solving the crisis. Check out the trailer above.

Go here for more info on the festival . Click here for a full schedule of films.

 

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NYC: The Most Remote Music Festival In The World

November 16, 2011 Leave a comment

The Sahara Desert is the most unsuspecting spot for a music festival of this magnitude, but The Festival in the Desert continues to draw crowds to Timbuktu every year. Despite travel warnings, folks come out to hear music from West African, Tuareg, and Malian musicians, as well as big-name western acts such as Jimmy Buffet and Robert Plant. The Essakane Film , (trailer above) is about the battle to keep the festival going. This Thursday, Nov. 17, there will be a fundraiser and cocktail party for the film at The Player’s Club in Gramercy Park in NYC from 7:30-11:00pm. You don’t want to miss performances by  Essakane Film stars, the renowned Tuareg poet-guitarists Tinariwen, and American musicians JeConte and Leni Stern, as well as sneak peek footage from the film. Manny Ansar, the director of the Festival in the Desert, will also be flying in from Mali to attend. For more info click here. Purchase discounted tickets here.

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NYC: Angélique Kidjo Revisits Her Childhood in Benin

November 15, 2011 Leave a comment

Angélique Kidjo, seen lending her voice to Occupy Wall Street in the video above, will revisit tales from her childhood in Benin at Joe’s Pub in New York City. The shows take place Thursday Nov. 17 at 9:30pm, and Friday Nov. 18 at 7:00pm. Kidjo and director Jo Bonney will be sharing a sneak peek at their work-in-progress as part of Joe’s Pub’s New York Voices series. Head here for more information on the event.

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