Alsarah, Nubatones bring East African retro-pop to DePauw

Sunday, September 11, 2016
The Nubatones consist of percussionist Rami El Aasser, bass player Mawuena Kodjovi, oud player Brandon Terzic and Nahid with additional vocals.
Courtesy photo

Sudanese-American singer-songwriter Alsarah will perform an eclectic mix of North and East African Retro-pop music alongside her group, the Nubatones, at DePauw University Thursday, Sept. 15.

The concert, presented by DePauw’s Performing Arts Series, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Thompson Recital Hall, located in the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts.

The program is presented free of admission charge and is open to the public.

The UK’s Guardian has called Alsarah “the new princess of Nubian pop and Sudanese retro.” She was featured in the 2014 documentary “Beats of the Antonov,” which won the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

The Nubatones consist of percussionist Rami El Aasser, bass player Mawuena Kodjovi, oud player Brandon Terzic and Nahid with additional vocals.

Spin notes that Alsarah & the Nubatones have “effectively blended ancient traditions with fresh ideas, and dogged study with lived experience. That’s all thanks to the project’s Sudanese-born, Yemen-raised, Brooklyn-based leader, who is not only a gifted musician and singer, but an ethnomusicologist as well.”

NPR declared that the group’s debut album, Silt, has “all the deep rhythms, fluttering vocals and serious grooves we were hoping for.”

For more information about the Performing Arts Series, persons may contact Ron Dye at rdye@depauw.edu or 658-4689.

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