Joe's Pub Announces GREAT GOOGAMOOGA 2013 in Prospect Park, 5/17-19

Joe's Pub at The Public Theater has confirmed eight bands for the Joe's Pub Stage at the just-announced and second annual Great GoogaMooga. The three-day outdoor food, drink and music festival is produced by Superfly Presents and will take place Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19, 2013 in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The Joe's Pub Stage will host eight performances on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19.

The lineup for the Joe's Pub Stage includes Brooklyn Bhangra party band RED BARAAT; melodic folk trio PEARL AND THE BEARD; high-energy 8-piece Afro-Colombian outfit M.A.K.U. SOUNDSYSTEM; sizzling Parisian-style jazz band THE HOT SARDINES, iconic New Orleans artist Jonathan Batiste; cabaret superstar and comedienne Lady Rizo, gospel and roots vocalist MARCELLE DAVIES LASHLEY and Mexican brass band BANDA DE LOS MUERTOS.

"We are so proud to showcase these talented artists outside of our Manhattan home, and to partner with GoogaMooga," said Joe's Pub at The Public director Shanta Thake. "All of the bands on the Joe's Pub Stage reflect not just the diversity of our programming at Joe's Pub, but the great cultural diversity that thrives in New York City."

The leading showcase venue in New York, Joe's Pub continues to set the standard for music programming that highlights diversity, excellence and accessibility. In addition to GoogaMooga, Joe's Pub has programmed several events outside of its downtown home at Astor Place including Make Music New York, Joe's Pub in the Park at the Delacorte Theater and The Cooper Hotel Summer Salon series. Through its partnership with GoogaMooga, Joe's Pub will strengthen its commitment to community engagement in all five boroughs, an essential piece of Public Theater founder Joe Papp's mission.

"We are thrilled that we are able to extend the reach of Joe's Pub to my beloved Brooklyn. These fantastic artists convey just a taste of the depth and breadth of Joe's Pub's repertory," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis.

A festival that celebrates cornerstones of New York culture, GoogaMooga is open to the public and a majority of its tickets are complimentary. Tickets to Friday night's kick-off concert, along with tickets to the VIP Cocktail Experience for Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19 will go on sale Thursday, March 28 at 12pmEST. Friday ticket buyers will be guaranteed one complimentary ticket, per ticket purchased, to either Saturday or Sunday. Complimentary, General Admission tickets for Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19 will be available in an online giveaway running Monday, April 1 through Wednesday, April 3. Complimentary tickets will be awarded at random and recipients will be notified by email on or before Wednesday, April 10. All tickets will be available at www.googamooga.com

"As a renowned institution in New York, one that has given the city access to diverse and eclectic programming year after year, we are excited to be working with Joe's Pub for GoogaMooga 2013," said Jonathan Mayers, Co-Founder of Superfly Presents.

Since celebrated restaurateurs Luke Ostrom and Chef Andrew Carmellini joined the ranks in 2012, Joe's Pub at The Public has become one of the city's top destinations for music and food. GoogaMooga also celebrates the intersection of food and music by pairing 85 of New York's top restaurants with 75 brews and 100 wines. Joe's Pub will be found among the incredible A-list of vendors in GoogaMooga's General Admission and The Library at The Public will be serving craft cocktails within the festival's VIP Cocktail Experience. Carmellini's Chef of The Public Michael Oliver will serve Sweet n' Sour St. Louis Ribs, while The Library's head bartender Tiffany Short will serve a signature cocktail from her craft cocktail program at The Library.

The artists on the Joe's Pub Stage join a list of over twenty bands confirmed for GoogaMooga including Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Flaming Lips, The Darkness, Matt & Kim, ShaRon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Father John Misty, De La Soul, Cults, Sharon Van Etten and more.

BANDA DE LOS MUERTOS A few years ago while eating a taco Jacob Garchik first heard the magnificent sound of brass band music from the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He immediately bought a bunch of CDs and videos, exploring the genre. Living on the edge of the Mexican part of Sunset Park, he was sure that he could find some of this music performed live, just like it is in Chicago and LA. He searched the colorful night club posters up and down Fifth Avenue, and despite understanding no Spanish, he knew that one thing was clear: none of the bands pictured had enough players to form a genuine acoustic Banda-14! He called his friend Oscar and a dozen of their other friends, and Banda de los Muertos was born. Featuring his arrangements of classic Banda tunes of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries along with their own unique twist, Banda de los Muertos takes the traditional sound of Mexico and mixes it with the lens of Brooklyn to create a truly astounding sound. http://www.bandadelosmuertos.com/

THE HOT SARDINES Take a blustery brass lineup, layer it over a rhythm section led by a stride-piano virtuoso in the Fats Waller vein, and tie the whole thing together with a one-of-the-boys frontwoman whose vocals have been compared to Anita O'Day's, and you have the Hot Sardines. In a short time, the Hot Sardines have gone from their first gig - at a coffee shop on the last Q train stop in Queens - to selling out Joe's Pub three times in three months, headlining at Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing. The Sardine sound - wartime Paris via New Orleans, or the other way around - is steeped in hot jazz, salty stride piano, and the kind of music Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt and Waller used to make: Straight-up, foot-stomping jazz. http://hotsardines.com/

Jonathan Batiste Jonathan Batiste is an iconic artist, unique in this generation. With his voice on piano and dapper sense of style, he has ignited the NYC music scene. He is from a celebrated lineage of musicians. He has performed in over 40 countries, has appeared in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Concertgebouw, has released several CD's, among them "Times In New Orleans", "Live In New York: At The Rubin Museum Of Art", and "MY N.Y.", and EP's "The Amazing Jon Batiste EP" and "In The Night EP". On T.V. he has been featured in the NBA All-Star Game Half-Time Show 2008, the HBO series "Treme", and BET. He has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Prince, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Connick Jr., Roy Hargrove and Cassandra Wilson. Jonathan Batiste is the founder and leader of The Stay Human Band, a modern jazz ensemble noted for their world-class music, high energy and uplifting spirit. http://jonathanbatiste.com/

Lady Rizo Though it is rumored that she is the product of a night of unrestrained indulgence between Peggy Lee, Mel Brooks, Nina Simone, Dean Martin and Janis Joplin the truth is Lady Rizo was raised by theatrical gypsies with the highest show business ethics. When she almost looked of age she rebelled against the comforting, unscrubbed, rustic life and set out for a world of harsh metropolitan sophisticates. The 'Cabaret Superstar' (New York Magazine), comedienne and chanteuse revives the genre by creating vintage arrangements & theatrical explorations of pop songs from every decade. Lady Rizo (nee Amelia Zirin-Brown) co-created the cult caburlesque spectacular Lady Rizo & the Assettes in 2005. In January 2010 she won her first Grammy on a duet with acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma that was released on a Holiday album featuring Diana Krall, James Taylor and Alison Krauss among others. http://www.ladyrizo.com/

M.A.K.U. SOUNDSYSTEM Comprised of 8 members, hailing mostly from Colombia, M.A.K.U. SoundSystem makes big music that begins in traditional Afro- Colombian rhythms and ends somewhere in the punk-jazz stratosphere. Clarinet, trombone, sax, guitarra, and Latin percussion supplement a rambunctious, driving rock core, creating a sound familiar enough to be danceable but always surprising. http://www.makusoundsystem.com/

MARCELLE DAVIES LASHLEY Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, powerhouse gospel vocalist Marcelle Davies-Lashley is a classic, hardworking New York singer. She's one of those women that you have seen all over town, making everyone else sound great. She has been seen with Carl Hancock Rux, Lizz Wright, and Toshi Reagon and BigLovely amongst others, and she's now ready to finally claim her place on center stage. Her sound can be described as a mix of gospel, jazz, and R&B, but it's much more than that. Marcelle Davies-Lashley gives a soul and an inspiration to music rarely seen. Her voice is an uplifting and inspiring instrument. Her songs speak directly to her history of hard work, moving its sound right into the hearts of her listeners. http://www.marcelledavieslashley.com/

PEARL AND THE BEARD Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul. Former strangers Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles were united in the great city of New York. Each had migrated there from a far corner of the nation with naught but food in their pockets and money in their bellies. Since then, the three have nested, and their unique brand of brightly melodic songcraft continues to blossom of its own accord. The band's genre-bending and expectation-defying sound has since burst the trio out of the confines of the New York music scene, allowing them to traipse the United States on a multitude of national tours and across the pond for a hugely successful inaugural UK tour in 2011. http://pearlandthebeard.com/

RED BARAAT Formed in 2008, Red Baraat is a pioneering eight-piece band from Brooklyn, New York. Conceived by Sunny Jain, the group has drawn worldwide praise for its singular sound-a merging of hard driving North Indian bhangra rhythms with elements of jazz, go-go, brass funk, and hip-hop. Created with no less a purposeful agenda than manifesting joy and unity in all people, Red Baraat's spirit is worn brightly on its sweaty and hard-worked sleeve. http://www.redbaraat.com/