African Friends: Bakithi Kumalo & Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa
Tickets $20 online, $25 at the door
African Friends: A chance meeting developed into a deep friendship and a beautiful musical partnership.
Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa
Tanyaradzwa is a visionary leader committed to African liberation. She is a scholar, healer, composer, singer, and Zimbabwean gwenyambira (mbira player)
She holds a Doctorate of Music in Voice Performance, a Master of Music in Voice Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition (cum laude) with minors in Voice Performance and French.
Tanyaradzwa did her undergraduate studies at Princeton University and her graduate studies at the University of Kentucky. At both institutions, she was the first Zimbabwean in history to graduate with degrees in music.
She recently returned to Princeton University where she was awarded the prestigious Hodder Fellowship by the Lewis Center for the Arts. This is a creative fellowship that was previously awarded to Danai Gurira and Nora Chipaumire – two immensely gifted ZImbabwean artists who inspired her. It is such an honour to be following in their artistic footsteps.
She is now an inaugural START Fellow at Princeton University.
Growing up in Harare, Zimbabwe as the granddaughter of entrepreneur George Chirume Tawengwa – founder of the Mushandirapamwe Hotel, the first Black-owned hotel in Highfield, Harare (formerly Salisbury) – Tanyaradzwa was inspired by a spirit of entrepreneurship and collaboration from a young age. She was also surrounded by music; her maternal great-grandfather had been a choral conductor, and both sides of her family enjoyed music-making.
“I perform for audiences all over the world, but my songs are for my people. When I call on the ancestral melodies that are held in our soil, our trees, our hearts, and our blood, I know that we are all healing – one note at a time. ”
Bakithi Kumalo
Bassist Bakithi presents a joyful musical journey from the Roots and Rhythms of South Africa. Bakithi Kumalo always brings the most talented artists together for the ultimate musical experience that promises to move you in multiple ways. He has just completed a US tour with his lifelong friend, Paul Simon.
Found at the heart and soul of modern-day anthems that have shaped our sense of music and culture as we know it, award-winning, multi-instrumentalist Bakithi Kumalo (Bah-Gee-Tee Koo-Ma-Low) is ranked among the top 50 bass players in the world by Bass Player Magazine.
Born in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa, and surrounded by relatives who loved music and actively performed, with traditional African rhythms and acappella vocal groups all around him. Kumalo learned to follow the groove of the bass lines and developed licks based on the left-hand work of accordion players in the township bands. Landing his first job at the age of seven filling in for his uncle’s bass player, he continued to work as a session musician in South Africa during the 1970s and early 1980s and was soon recognized as a top session bassist, accompanying international performers during their South African tours.
Introduced to Paul Simon through producer Hendrick Lebone during recording sessions for the Graceland album in 1985, Kumalo traveled with Simon to New York to finish the record. Following accompaniment on the premier tour, he spent several years commuting between Soweto and New York City before permanently settling in the United States.
With a career spent touring alongside artists including Hugh Masekela, the Grateful Dead, Sting, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Gloria Estefan, Derek Trucks, Miriam Makeba, and many others, his abilities extend to his solo work as a singer, percussionist, pianist, and songwriter—in addition to his bass playing—presenting a culmination of diverse influences from throughout his life. Touring regularly with Simon throughout his career, Kumalo has recorded with and performed alongside artists including Joan Baez, Cyndi Lauper, Hugh Masekela, Herbie Hancock, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Brecker, Grover Washington Jr., Mickey Hart, and Disney’s The Lion King.
Best known for his groundbreaking bass line in “You Can Call Me Al,” pocket grooves from “Boy In The Bubble” and “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” and his overall big bass sound, Kumalo has also released several solo albums. His most recent project had him working alongside producer Maxfeld Gast and Militia Hill to create What You Hear Is What You See.
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By Car or By Train
The East Falls Train Station is a short walk from the Fallser Club. Parking in East Falls is no problem! There is ample free on-street parking near the East Falls train station driveway at 3610 Midvale Ave and a paid municipal lot three blocks away at 4100 Ridge Ave. Midvale Ave and Ridge Ave are both well-lit!