"A Trip to Vodou Jazz"
La Troupe Makandal will present a musical tribute to its late Artistic Director, Haitian Master Drummer Frisner Augustin (1948-2012). This tenth-anniversary commemoration pays homage to Mr. Augustin’s lifelong passion for jazz. He learned to drum in the temples of Vodou, an Afro-Haitian spiritual practice. His talent brought him to the stage, and he relocated to New York with the band Jazz des Jeunes in 1972. Augustin worked with jazz artists Kip Hanrahan and Andrew Cyrille while experimenting with his own brand of Vodou jazz with Makandal. The fusion of Vodou song and drumming with the harmonies of North American jazz sustains a musical tradition beginning in such sites of earlier Haitian diasporas as New Orleans.
Makandal's drumming ensemble (Renald St. Juste, Steve Deats, Kesler Pierre, Paul Uhry Newman) will collaborate with the Michael LeMorin Quartet (Michael LeMorin, Chris Fletcher, Bobby Raymond, Brian Carter) and vocalist Sirène Dantor René.
Rooftop Terrace @ Brooklyn Commons
495 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Photo by Chantal Regnault