Black Atlantic:
Natu Camara
Guinea/USA &
Edmar Castañeda
Colombia/USA
Saturday, March 20, 2021 | 8:00 pm
Duke Performances is excited to present our Virtual season – The Show Must Go Online! High-quality, commissioned films featuring artists originally slated for in-person performances will premiere on Vimeo for ticket holders. Each film, shot following local safety protocols, is made in collaboration with an audio and video crew in each artist’s home city.
General admission tickets are $10 per presentation and Duke Student tickets are available free of charge through the support of the Provost and the Vice Provost for the Arts at Duke University. The ‘Black Atlantic’ package — which is available at a discount of 25% off for $22.50 — provides access to all three ‘Black Atlantic’ double feature presentations, including performances by Okaidja Afroso & Lakou Mizik, Natu Camara & Edmar Castañeda, and Jane Bunnett and Maqueque & 3MA. Tickets go off sale at 8 PM ET on the day of the presentation. Ticket buyers will receive a unique Vimeo link to watch the presentation online from the Duke University Box Office before the listed start time. Films will be available for viewing for 72 hours.
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In Conakry, a sprawling legion of Natu Camara’s adoring fans regard her as “the Tina Turner of Guinea.” In her music and high-octane shows, the impassioned singer-songwriter substantiates the weighty nickname. In the early 2000s, Camara led West Africa’s first all-female hip-hop group, the Ideal Black Girls (IBG). Years after releasing Guinèya Moumonèra (It’s Not a Shame to Be a Woman) — a multiplatinum opus advocating for women’s rights — as a member of IBG, the dynamism of Camara’s musical evolution continues to reveal itself in Dimedi (“Child” in her native language, Susu), an inspirational solo debut underscoring the significance of children having positive role models. Singing in five languages, Camara uniquely blends afro-rock, pop, and soul, speaking to the range of heroes who have influenced her individual sound: Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, and Baaba Maal.
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Colombian-born, New York-based harpist Edmar Castañeda has marked the past several years with a series of collaborations alongside accomplished musicians, whose distinctive styles have beautifully complemented his unique take on the Latin jazz form. 2017’s Live in Montreal and subsequent tour with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara were hailed by JazzTimes as “breathtaking in its intrepidity and spirit”; 2019 brought us Harp vs. Harp, a collaboration with Swiss harmonica player Gregoire Maret, in which both musicians showed “an unrivaled command of their instruments” (DownBeat), as well as an hour-long performance with banjoist Béla Fleck at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. This spring, “peerless master of the Colombian harp” (NPR) will be front and center in an intimate, ethereal recorded performance for Duke and Durham audiences.
— Paul Blest
