The Town Hall to Open New Season with Mariza, Diego El Cigala and Tomatito

Portuguese fado singer Mariza, flamenco/jazz singer Diego El Cigala and flamenco guitarist Tomatito headline a unique series of shows at The Town Hall this October.

Distinguished members of a generation of new masters, their music is a celebration of both tradition and renewal. These concerts, curated and presented by The Town Hall, mark the beginning of the 2016/2017 season in this landmark venue.

MARIZA, performing October 15, is the leading figure in fado, the melancholy soul music of Portugal. She has not only revitalized what once seemed a dimming tradition but did so while bringing it to new audiences, collaborating with artists such as Sting, Lenny Kravitz and Gilberto Gil. She will be presenting her new Latin Grammy-nominated Nonesuch recording, Mundo (World) which includes classics honoring the late fado legend Amalia Rodrigues and iconic tango singer Carlos Gardel, and new songs written for her by the Grammy-winning Spanish producer Javier Limón.

DIEGO EL CIGALA, performing October 22, was already one of the most distinctive young voices of New Flamenco when, with Cuban pianist and arranger Bebo Valdés, he ventured into the classic popular Cuban music repertoire and Argentine tango in Lágrimas Negras (Black Tears), an album that became a global hit. Cigala will be presenting his Sony Music Latin CD debut, Indestructible, in which he explores the intersection of flamenco singing and classic 70s salsa.

TOMATITO, performing October 29, was born in a Gypsy family of notable flamenco guitarists and is one of the leading guitarists in contemporary flamenco. He will appear leading his sextet with guest flamenco dancer José Maya. To his impeccable credentials in the tradition - he was a long time accompanist of Camarón de la Isla, perhaps the most transcendent flamenco singer of the 20th century - Tomatito has added adventurous, open-minded explorations of jazz, classical music and Latin American genres.

"We start our season with new-generation giants," said M.A. Papper, Artistic Director of The Town Hall. "These aren't just the torchbearers, but the innovators of fado and flamenco. Seldom do audiences have the opportunity to see and hear artists who possess not only expertise and deep respect for their traditions but the talent and creativity to take them in new directions."

A cultural crossroads, The Town Hall was built by a vibrant group of suffragists (The League for Political Education) as a meeting space to explore, educate and inspire. Inaugurated on January 12, 1921, The Town Hall has celebrated the diversity of New York with programs for all audiences through its own eclectic programming and by opening its doors to an unparalleled roster of independent producers. The 1,500 seat hall, with its grand feel and impeccable, warm acoustics, has been a showcase for music from around the world, as well as a space for public affairs and political discourse and to champion education and social progress.

Some of the towering figures that have appeared at The Town Hall include Paul Robeson, Sergei Rachmaninov, Pablo Casals, Andres Segovia, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Carlos Montoya, Langston Hughes, Thelonious Monk, Igor Stravinsky and Bob Dylan. For more information, visit the Town Hall history page.

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Songlines Magazine "Best Artist" Winner 2016

MARIZA

Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 8:00 p.m.

"Joy and sadness, yearning and hope, which draw equally from the traditional and the modern"

ALL ABOUT JAZZ

Few artists have had the impact in their genre of choice that singer Mariza has had in fado. By the time the genre's greatest star, singer Amalia Rodrigues, passed away in 1999, fado was in danger of becoming a cultural relic. Marisa dos Reis Nunes, better known as Mariza, is the leading figure of a young generation of artists that re-energized the genre. Her very first album, Fado em Mim (Fado in Me, 2001) became an unexpected national and international hit. "She has a magnetic stage presence, and can communicate joy, sadness and despair overcoming language barriers," said musicologist Rui Vieira Nery. "Since Amalia, there has been no other singer who has forged such a career." In fact, she has made it her mission to spread fado, collaborating with top artists, from pop to classical music. In her new Nonesuch CD, Mundo (World), the singer's first release in five years, Mariza celebrates the soulful Portuguese tradition while opening it up to the world. The CD was just nominated for a Latin Grammy.

TICKET INFO: http://thetownhall.org/event/mariza

Mariza "Alma"

Four-time Latin GRAMMY Winner

DIEGO EL CIGALA

Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 8:00 p.m.

Diego Ramón Jiménez Salazar, better known as Diego El Cigala, (the nickname El Cigala, roughly "the prawn," alluded to his thin frame), was an important young singer in Nuevo Flamenco when in 2003 he collaborated with the great, late Cuban pianist and arrranger Bebo Valdés in Lágrimas Negras, a recording that recast classic Cuban songs and Argentine tangos with a flamenco feel. The disc became an improbable global hit and since, Cigala´s career, while anchored in traditional flamenco, has been distinguished by his imagination and courage in exploring other musical traditions. Leading an eight piece band (for the first time including horns), Cigala will be presenting his new CD, titled Indestructible, set for release Oct. 28 on Sony Music Latin. In this new CD, recorded in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Cuba and the U.S., the singer revisits the classic sound of 70s salsa, reinventing some of its hits with his soulful, inimitable flamenco touch.

TICKET INFO: http://thetownhall.org/event/diegoelcigala

Five-time Latin GRAMMY Winner

TOMATITO

Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 8:00 p.m.

Flamenco guitarist and composer José Fernández Torres -- Tomatito -- is one of those rare artists as comfortable in flamenco gatherings as in a jazz festival. A member of one of the great flamenco dynasties in his native Almeria, Spain, Tomatito (the nickname means "little tomato") was just 12 when he was discovered playing in a local tablao by the great guitarist Paco de Lucía and José Monge Cruz, "Camarón de la Isla," widely considered one of the greatest singers in flamenco history. In time, Tomatito would replace De Lucía as Camarón's accompanist, remaining his musical partner for 18 years until the singer's passing in 1992. Afterwards, Tomatito began a solo career in which he explored jazz (in collaborations with artists such as Dominican pianist Michel Camilo and guitarist George Benson), film music and pop (with vocalist Neneh Cherry), and Latin pop (Romeo Santos). His new recording with Camilo, titled Spain Forever, will be released in October. But for this show, Tomatito will be revisiting his flamenco roots and his CD Soy Flamenco (I Am Flamenco, 2013) in a program featuring his son, guitarist José del Tomate, and guest flamenco dancer José Maya.

TICKET INFO: http://thetownhall.org/event/tomatito