Antibalas & Zap Mama Play the Byham Theater Tonight

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents two world music trailblazers in concert tonight, February 4, 2015 at 7:30pm. This performance will take place at the Byham Theater, located at 101 Sixth Street, downtown Pittsburgh. The presentation is part of the 2014-15 Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series.

Tickets ($25.00 - $45.00) may be purchased in-person at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, online at TrustArts.org, or by calling (412) 456-6666. To purchase 10 or more group tickets, call (412) 471-6930.

The concert will bring together the premier afrobeat band, Antibalas, in a collaborative tour with Zap Mama, Marie Daulne's international polyphonic vocal group, that returns for their first US tour since 2009. The unified tour will travel across North America during the months of January and February of 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."

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