Feb 20

World Music Concert: Presenting Carla Bruni


Presented by the World Music/CrashArts

Thursday, 15 February 2018 ONLY
Berklee Performance Center
136 Massachusetts Avenue
Carla Bruni on Facebook

Reviewed by Bishop C. Knight

(Boston, MA) As a vocalist Carla Bruni had an effortless delivery, and she was best crooning at a mellow level, which any close listener of Bruni’s albums would already know.  Her voice was much fuller and sultrier at a slow pace, which conveyed more genuine feelings that the audience sensed and responded to with thundery clapping.  Program notes provided by World Music/CrashARTS prepared the audience for a coup de foudre, the French term for falling in love at first sight, trying to ready everyone for a moody and emotional evening of intimate ballads.  Ultimately, as anticipated, this was a performance for romantics to attend the week of Valentine’s Day; a concert presenting new songs from Carla Bruni’s latest album called “French Touch.” Continue reading

Nov 16

Berklee Performance Center Presents David Broza & Friends on Dec. 16, 2017

David Broza & Friends

Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center
136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
Berklee on Facebook

David Broza is one of the most innovative and creative musicians in the world today. For more than 40 years, he has performed blues, jazz, rock, country, folk, and world music. Singing in Hebrew, Spanish, English, and Arabic, Broza brings the full spectrum of his work to a performance that also features his all-star band and special guests.
$55 / $65 / $75 / $85
Berkleee has been in the news. Equality through transparency. #metoo
May 03

A Passionate Concert: Ana Moura on April 30, 2016


Presented by World Music/CRASH arts
April 30, 2016 @ 8pm only
Berklee Performance Center
Boston, MA
Ana Moura on Facebook
World Music/CRASH arts on Facebook

Review by Noelani Kamelamela

(Boston, MA) The last time Ana Moura was hosted by World Music/CRASH arts in 2014, she brought the house to its feet in a celebration of her latest release at the time Desfado.  This show was excellent in a different way.  Certainly, her latest album Moura has been touring since last year and those performances were condensed for her concert at the Berklee Performance Center this past Saturday. Featuring a great backing band, Ana Moura dazzled the typically stoic New England audience to the point of stupefication for two hours. Continue reading

Jan 14

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents The Bad Plus, January 24 @ 8PM

Photo by Jay Fram

Photo by Jay Fram

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents

The Bad Plus

Performing the Boston premiere of Ornette Coleman’s Science Fiction
With specials guests Tim Berne, Ron Miles, and Sam Newsome

Saturday, January 24, 8pm,
Berklee Performance Center
WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts on Facebook
The Bad Plus on Facebook

Boston, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents the Bad Plus performing the Boston premiere of Ornette Coleman’s Science Fiction on Saturday, January 24, 8pm at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. Tickets are $28-$42. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.

Widely heralded for its innovative reworkings of rock, indie, electronica, and modernist classical music, the Bad Plus now turns to Ornette Coleman’s landmark 1972 album Science Fiction to honor the great master of free jazz. Bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King pay tribute to Coleman by boldly interpreting Science Fiction song for song, with help from an esteemed horn section of fine improvisers including Tim Berne, alto saxophone; Ron Miles, trumpet; and Sam Newsome, soprano saxophone.

Continue reading

Nov 10

Like Raw Silk: Ana Moura in Concert


Presented by World Music/CRASHarts

Friday, Nov. 7, 2014
Berklee Performance Center
Boston, MA
World Music/CRASHarts on Facebook
Ana Moura on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Ana Moura has a voice that captures your attention. It sounds the way raw silk feels against the skin. You are helpless to do anything but listen. She has a majestic stage presence and a unique storytelling style. Her concert on Nov. 7 was nothing if it wasn’t captivating.

Moura and her faithful band visited the Berklee Performance Center last Friday night to an audience besotted with her music… And ripe with family who celebrated the talents of bandmate player Angelo Freire. Moura stocks her band with equally as talented musicians but Freire would draw fans on his own merit. He displays excellent musicianship and exquisite skill on the Portuguese guitar. Continue reading

Oct 16

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents ANA MOURA

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents Portuguese Fado Star

Ana Moura
Friday, November 7, 8pm, Berklee Performance Center

Boston, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents Portuguese fado star, Ana Moura on Friday, November 7, 8pm at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. Tickets are $37-$28. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.

Exquisite vocalist Ana Moura possesses a sound unlike any other in fado. Her voice trolls freely though the Portuguese tradition, flirting elegantly with pop and broadening the soul-baring genre with stunning results. The BBC raves, ³her melancholic intimacy dominates the moment it sashays out of the speakers . . . setting a mood of mesmerizing sorrow.² Examiner.com called Moura¹s voice ³made for melodrama . . . aesthetically thrilling and emotionally heartbreaking.²

Fado (literally, ³fate²) is a type of Portuguese singing, traditionally associated with pubs and cafés, and is renowned for its expressive and profoundly melancholic character. Although the origins are difficult to trace, today fado is regarded by many as simply a form of song which can be about anything but must follow a certain structure. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade which symbolizes the feeling of loss (a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent lifelong damage). The singer of fado speaks to the often harsh realities of everyday life, sometimes with a sense of resignation, sometimes with the hope of resolution. Continue reading

Aug 20

Indian Sarod Master, Amjad Ali Khan: Sept. 15, 7:30PM

Photo care of World Music/CRASHarts Press Center

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents INDIAN SAROD MASTER, AMJAD ALI KHAN
Sunday, September 15, 7:30pm, Berklee Performance Center
Amjad Ali Khan Website
Amjad Ali Khan Facebook
World Music/CRASHarts Facebook

BOSTON, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents Amjad Ali Khan, from India, on Sunday, September 15, 7:30pm at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston. Tickets are 48, $42, $37 or $28, reserved seating. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.

In a career spanning 50 years, Amjad Ali Khan has single-handedly elevated the sarod to one of the most popular instruments in the Northern Indian tradition. Trained by his father, the legendary Haafiz Ali Khan, Amjad Ali Khan is the sixth in an uninterrupted lineage of music masters. Joining him are his sons, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, who are already beloved as the next generation of masters on this ancient instrument. Two tabla virtuosi will add percussive richness to the ensemble sound.

In the West, the sitar has become better-known than the sarod, but in India both string instruments are held in the highest regard. The sarod is much smaller than the sitar and its sound has a lithe muscularity that is lean and clean, with less of the sitar’s prominent jangling of sympathetic strings. The sarod comes from the Afghan rubab, a folk instrument which still dominates Afghan music today. Amjad Ali Khan’s great great great grandfather, Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash brought the rubab to India about 200 years ago, and it was his descendants who gradually transformed the rubab into the sarod as it is known today. The name sarod comes from the Persian ‘sarood’ meaning ‘melody,’ alluding to its more melodic tone.

The sarod has four strings used for playing the melody, plus four drone and rhythm strings and 11 steel sympathetic strings. The strings are plucked with a small plectrum, which can be a hammer or a feather, and the fingerboard is covered with a smooth metal plate which makes it easy to slide from note to note. The range of colors that a player like Amjad Ali Khan can get out of the instrument is truly incredible, justifying the instrument¹s important role in classical Indian instrumental music.

For More Information:

About World Music/CRASHarts
World Music, a non-profit organization established in 1990, is New England¹s premier presenter of global culture, featuring music and dance from the far and near corners of the globe. In 2001, World Music launched CRASHarts as a division of World Music dedicated to presenting a contemporary performing arts series in greater Boston. World Music/CRASHarts strives to offer audiences an opportunity to share in many different cultural and artistic expressions and seeks to foster an atmosphere of discovery and exploration. The organization presents approximately 70 concerts and 15 educational programs per year. For more information, call (617) 876-4275 or visit www.WorldMusic.org.

World Music/CRASHarts is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mar 17

Muito Obrigado: Ana Moura at the Berklee Performance Center

Photo borrowed from the lovely Ms. Moura's Facebook Page

Photo borrowed from the lovely Ms. Moura’s Facebook Page

World Music/CRASHarts presents, in collaboration with the Mass Cultural Council

Saturday, March 16, 2013
Berklee Performance Center
Boston, MA
World Music/CRASHarts Facebook Page
Ana Moura Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston by way of Portugal) While a large percentage of Bostonians were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (a made up holiday to celebrate something that never happened) there was a smaller part of Boston reaping the benefits of Portuguese culture. The concert given by Ana Moura and her exquisite band (Portuguese guitar player Angelo Freire plays with incomparable skill. His performance was virtuosic.) on Saturday, March 16 was as near perfect as fate can make it. She performed traditional Fado, Portuguese folk, and jazz standard from her 2012 CD, Desfado. Continue reading

Feb 20

Ana Moura at Berklee Performance Center on March 16, 8PM

World Music/CRASHarts presents
Portugal’s fado star Ana Moura

Photo borrowed from the lovely Ms. Moura's Facebook Page

Photo borrowed from the lovely Ms. Moura’s Facebook Page

Saturday, March 16, 8pm ONLY
Berklee Performance Center
136 Massachusetts Ave.,
Boston, MA
Ana Moura Facebook Page

Portuguese vocalist Ana Moura has emerged as a leading voice of traditional fado with her captivating interpretations of her country’s soulful answer to the blues. With a luxuriant voice and captivating stage presence, Moura has taken the art form in new directions and will be backed by Portuguese guitar, acoustic guitar, double bass, keyboards and drums.

Her mesmeric appeal radiates from within, even if you don’t know a syllable of Portuguese. Her ability to alternately whisper, growl and ring like a silver bell are the hallmarks of a fine singer.”—NPR Music

Continue reading