BRIC Announces 2019 Season Of BRIC House Sessions Concert Series

BRIC, the pioneering NYC arts and media organization and leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, announces the spring 2019 season of BRIC House Sessions (February-April 2019), part of BRIC's 40th Anniversary. The exhilarating concert series, held annually, brings the ethos of the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival into the organization's Fort Greene headquarters through world-class performances on Thursday evenings. BRIC House Sessions draws its talent from a bold and eclectic array of musical genres and world cultures, with concerts featuring opening acts by DJs and musicians, and headlining sets from internationally-renowned artists.

Set against the backdrop of BRIC's contemporary art gallery and the BRIC House Ballroom-one of the best spaces for live music in Brooklyn-each evening delivers a unique multi-sensory experience. BRIC House Sessions kicks off with Talib Kweli: A Love Note to Brooklyn, a Valentine's Day concert celebrating hometown love. Brazilian MC NIKO IS opens with a set featuring tracks from his upcoming album, UNIKO (February 14).

The series continues with concerts from: Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year-winning Canadian-Mexican musician Boogát, preceded by a set from Waahli, one of the leading members of hip hop group Nomadic Massive, marking his solo U.S. debut (February 21); Son Little, an artist whose "grasp of the folkways, ancient growls, otherworldly electricity, and showmanship inherent to black music...separates all of them from the less unctuous catalogs of their generational peers" (Consequence of Sound), on February 28; Jordanian Palestinian Electro Arabic Dabke (Shamstep) band 47SOUL, who make "high-energy music with a message that's delivered in both Arabic and English" (The Guardian), with opening sets from female-fronted neo-afrobeat deconstructionist group Underground System (March 7); and three-time GRAMMY Award-nominated David Bowie / Blackstar saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his bandmates on March 28.

BRIC House Sessions concludes April 11 with Portland-based eclectic indie folk band Y La Bamba, whose singer Luz Elena Mendoza, NPR raves, is "one of the most innovative and exciting young vocalists around." Brooklyn-based indie quartet Habibi open. Brooklynites DJ Bembona and Freddy DeBoe will serve as the resident DJs throughout the series.

Founded in 1979 with a dual cultural and civic mission to foster economic revitalization through the arts, BRIC celebrates four decades of serving as a welcoming cultural connector between emerging and established artists in Brooklyn and the borough's many diverse communities-of being "Where Brooklyn Comes Together,"as the organization's new tagline states.

The 40thAnniversary Season at BRIC House-its first under newly appointed BRIC President Kristina Newman-Scott-highlights the central idea that has animated BRIC's identity from the very beginning: that to create the future we want to see, artists must be supported in their role as civic leaders and citizens must be empowered to speak in their own creative voice. The season also deepens the organization's inclusive approach to both local and global discussions, and the places where they intersect.

BRIC HOUSE SESSIONS SCHEDULE AND EVENT DETAILS

Talib Kweli: A Love Note to Brooklyn | NIKO IS
Special Guests TBA
Thursday, February 14, 2019 | 8pm
Doors & DJ Set | 7pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$20 Adv / $25 Day of Show
General Admission: Standing

Brooklyn-based MC Talib Kweli-an artist who has earned his stripes as one of the most lyrically-gifted, socially-aware and politically-insightful rappers to emerge in the last 20 years-celebrates his love for Brooklyn in this Valentine's Day performance.

A BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival alum, Talib Kweli has worked with Mos Def as one-half of Black Star; partnered with producer Hi-Tek for Reflection Eternal; released landmark solo material; and collaborated with Pharrell Williams, the Soul Rebels, and J Dilla. Kweli delivers top-tier lyricism, crafting captivating stories and showing the ability to rhyme over virtually any type of instrumental.

Brazilian lyricist and Kweli protégé NIKO IS will open with tracks from his highly anticipated debut album UNIKO. As a preview of the Brazilian-inspired sounds found on the record, he recently released "Meet Me in the Future" that features Kweli and shows off Niko's "skilled bilingual flow and raspy vocals, backed by an irresistible beat" (Remezcla).

Boogát | Waahli
February 21, 2019 | 8pm
Doors & DJ Set by DJ Bembona | 7pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$15 Adv / $18 Day of Show
General Admission: Standing

Boogát is a multiaward-winning Canadian-Mexican musician from Quebec who mixes multi-lingual hip hop with danceable Latin rhythms including cumbia, salsa, reggaeton, and more.

The son of immigrant parents from Paraguay and Mexico, Boogát started singing first in French, but moved to Spanish after playing with electronic music producer Poirier and with the Latin music group Roberto Lopez Project. Boogát's first Spanish-language album, El Dorado Sunset, won two Felix Awards in 2013 for "Best Music Album in the World" and "Producer of the Year." The album San Cristóbal Baile Inn,which includes collaborations with Andrés Oddone, Frikstailers, Miss Bolivia, Niña Dioz, and Lemon Bucket Orkestra, was released in 2017 and hailed as "a brilliant personal exploration of the multiplicity of identity" (CDC Music).

Waahli, one of the leading members of hip hop group Nomadic Massive, is a guitarist, beatmaker, and trilingual MC who performs in English, French, and Creole. After touring the international festival scene with Nomadic Massive, he released his first solo effort in September and makes his U.S. solo debut at BRIC, with an organic mix of hip hop and Haitian and Afro-Caribbean influences.

Brooklynite DJ Bembona (Vibras NYC) opens the night with her radical blend of Afro-Diaspora sounds.

Son Little
February 28, 2019 | 8pm
Doors & DJ Set by Freddy DeBoe | 7pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$20 Adv / $25 Day of Show
General Admission: Standing

There are many channels to Son Little's broadcast with varied stops on the dial, from blues to soul to funk to folk, with frequencies of Marvin, Otis, and Stevie in one amazing show.

His songs are deconstructions of the diaspora of American R&B. He deftly weaves different eras of the sound-blues, soul, gospel, rock and roll-through his own unique vision. Never forced, always smooth, each note a tributary on the flowing river of rhythm and blues. "[Son Little's] new album, called New Magic, is bumpy blues meets rooted R&B meets old school nu soul meets... well... magic" (NPR).

Known for his soulful rock 'n' roll saxophone sound, Freddy DeBoe has traveled the world performing with Daptone Recording Artists Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones, and James Hunter Six. He spins an all-vinyl DJ set of soul, blues, and beyond to start the night.

47SOUL | Underground System
March 7, 2019 | 8pm
Doors & DJ Set by DJ Bembona | 7pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$15 Adv / $18 Day of Show
General Admission: Standing

Hot off a summer tour of Europe's big summer festivals, and on their way to a U.S. debut at Globalfest in January and Austin's South by Southwest, 47SOUL will turn the BRIC House Ballroom into a party with a message.

An Electro Arabic Dabke (Shamstep) band formed in Amman Jordan in 2013, 47SOUL's members are rooted in Bilad Al-Sham, spanning the divides from Amman to the Galilee to Ramallah and the rest of the Palestinian Diaspora. Their lyrics, mixing Arabic and English, call for celebration and freedom in the struggle for equality.

Underground System is a quintessential New York City band. A convergence of musical and cultural influences, the unstoppable female-fronted group of neo-afrobeat deconstructionists have cultivated a sound as inimitable as its members. Robbing American Afrobeat of its derivative formalism, Underground System continues to reinvent their brand of global dance music, remaining a force determined to recreate, redefine, and reconstruct.

Brooklynite DJ Bembona (Vibras NYC) opens the night with her radical blend of Afro-Diaspora sounds.

Donny McCaslin
March 28, 2019 | 8pm
Doors & DJ Set by Freddy DeBoe | 7pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$20 Adv / $25 Day of Show
General Admission: Standing

Donny McCaslin is a saxophonist and bandleader who mixes rock, jazz, and psychedelia to create a hard, dynamic art-pop fusion. Performing with guest vocalist Ryan Dahle and live projection animation, McCaslin and his stellar bandmates will premiere music from their new album Blow.,"grafting their trademark sleek, emotive electrojazz onto lush, proggy art rock" (Rolling Stone).

With more than a dozen albums of his own, in addition to many sideman appearances, McCaslin came to wider prominence when English rocker David Bowie hired McCaslin's ensemble as his backing band for Blackstar (2016), Bowie's final studio album.

Known for his soulful rock 'n' roll saxophone sound, Freddy DeBoe has traveled the world performing with Daptone Recording Artists Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones, and James Hunter Six. He spins an all-vinyl DJ set of soul, blues, and beyond to start the night.

Y La Bamba | Habibi
April 11, 2019 | 8pm
Doors & DJ Set by DJ Bembona | 7pm
BRIC House Ballroom
$15 Adv / $18 Day of Show
General Admission: Standing

At the heart of Portland-based Y La Bamba is indie-folk singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza's inquisitive sense of self as she explores what it means to be a Mexican-American woman.

Acknowledging folk music from both sides of the border throughout the band's five albums, "the beauty of the band's presentation is listening for those source inspirations and how each member of Y La Bamba rises to the challenge of making a musical and cultural statement without sounding preachy" (NPR). Their latest record, Mujeres, exists in the post-2016 landscape of a national identity crisis, and Mendoza is leading us through places we are afraid to go.

Brooklyn-based indie quartet Habibi creates music that blends psychedelic rock and sixties girl group harmonies. The name Habibi means "my love," an Arabic word that vocalist Rahill Jamlifard grew up using in her Iranian family, and the group's first EP in more than four years-significantly the first one recorded in Farsi-came out in spring 2018.

Brooklynite DJ Bembona (Vibras NYC) opens the night with her radical blend of Afro-Diaspora sounds.

About BRIC

BRIC is celebrating 40 years as the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. The organization presents and incubates work by artists and media-makers that reflects the diversity of New York. BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year.

BRIC's main venue, BRIC House, offers a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass-walled TV studio and artist work spaces.

Some of BRIC's most acclaimed programs include the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park; groundbreaking media initiatives, including BRIC TV, BRIC Radio, and Brooklyn Free Speech; and renowned contemporary art exhibitions. BRIC also offers education and community-building programs at BRIC House and throughout Brooklyn.

In addition to making cultural programming genuinely accessible, BRIC is dedicated to providing substantial support to artists and media makers in their efforts to develop work and reach new audiences. BRIC is unusual in both presenting exceptional cultural experiences and nurturing individual expression. This dual commitment enables BRIC to most effectively reflect New York City's innate cultural richness and diversity.

Learn more at BRICartsmedia.org

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