String Fling: An evening of world music with harps from Africa to Alameda December 3, 2010

Join us for a euphoric evening of eclectic, rhythmic and highly unearthly global music incorporating harps from Africa to Alameda. This pre-holiday harp festival will feature Daniel Berkman, performing 21st century ambient African Kora, the Bindi Society and world-renowned Paraguaryan harp and violin virtuoso Carlos Reyes. Bindi Society’s music is inspired by an array of global traditions accentuated by a deep love of ancient languages. Haunting vocals sung in Ancient Gaelic, Sanskrit, Hebrew and English accompany classically-tinged groove harp, harmonium and world percussion--including marimba and santur. Carlos Reyes will dazzle and delight, demonstrating his unique fusion of blues, rock, jazz, latin and classical styles, with members of his band “The Electrick Symphony”.

Carlos Reyes:
On stage from the age of five, Carlos Reyes is world renowned for his mastery of the Paraguayan harp and violin. Described as “Santana meets Gipsy Kings”, Carlos bridges traditional musical genres and mesmerizes audiences with unique fusions of Blues, Rock, Jazz, Latin and Classical styles. At age ten, he debuted on harp with the Oakland Symphony, then made his debut on violin with the Oakland Youth Symphony at age fourteen. He has toured the world, sharing the stage with Steve Miller, The Doobie Brothers, Clint Black, Chuck Mangione, Charlie Daniels, Wynona Judd, Willie Nelson, legendary slide guitarist Roy Rogers, and guitarist Peppino D’Agostino. In addition to his profound mastery of harp and violin, Carlos also plays guitar, bass, mandolin, and keyboards; and is a well-respected producer, composer, and engineer.

Bindi Society is comprised of Tina Blaine (percussion, marimba, santur), Barbara Imhoff (harp), and Cait McWhir (vocalist/Indian harmonium). An exotic fusion of timbres and disciplines, Bindi Society combines Celtic, Indian and Middle Eastern-style vocals with classically-tinged groove harp and world percussion. Their instruments and voices merge to produce ethereal timbres and resonant harmonic overtones with contributions from special guests Alex Stahl on bass and Stephen Schultz on Hümmelchen and Baroque flute. The sound is reminiscent of Imhoff’s Beasts of Paradise and Ring, and Haunted by Waters, McWhir and Blaine’s original collaboration.

Daniel Berkman is a San Francisco based composer, multi-instrumentalist and innovator of the kora (a 21-stringed harp/lute from West Africa). His early recordings for kora highlighted his use of electronic devices and loop boxes to transform his kora in real time in live performance. his latest work, "Calabashmoon", is a collection of crafty and poignant kora pieces woven with a tapestry of sounds and impressions of West Africa. Daniel also plays guitar, handsonic, kora and gravikord for Artemis and is a featured electronic artist on rtfm records

For more information please visit: www.rhythmix.org or call 510-865-5060.

Official Website: http://www.rhythmix.org/content/10events/101203.html