Concert Celebrates The Spirit And Soul Of Africa with Soul, Afro-Beat, Hip Hop, Latin and Funk Collaborators Yerba Buena, and special guests Blackalicious, Money Mark and Meshell Ndegeocello

SUNDAY, JULY 20, AT 7 PM
KCRW'S WORLD FESTIVAL

The beat goes on at the Hollywood Bowl with Soul of Africa, part of KCRW's World Festival 2003 on Sunday, July 20 at 7 p.m. Grammy-nominated India.Arie headlines the concert; Yerba Buena and a number of special guests bring to life Red Hot and Riot, the tribute album to Nigerian Afro-beat superstar Fela Kuti. Yerba Buena, the Afro-Cuban sensation whose bandleader produced the album, is also featured along with hip hop duo Blackalicious, funky keyboardist Money Mark, DJ Total Eclipse of the X-Ecutioners, and urban funk jazz artist Meshell Ndegeocello.

Hosted by radio personality Garth Trinidad, the evening will burn a creative fire through a variety of sounds and styles from a number of music genres. Fusing Latin, soul and African beatscapes, Soul of Africa highlights the outstanding notes and lyrics of Kuti's Afro-beat and celebrates the pan-African sentiment through guitars, percussions, keyboard, rhymes, saxophones, trumpets and of course, captivating vocals. India.Arie, known for her sincere, acoustic-based pop, closes the show.

The Soul of Africa is the third concert of KCRW's World Festival 2003, which was created in partnership with KCRW (89.9 FM/National Public Radio). The six-concert series continues with Sounds of Brazil on August 10; Reggae Night on August 24; and concludes with Latin Roots and Rock on September 7.

Making her Hollywood Bowl debut, the Grammy-nominated INDIA.ARIE has an unmistakable true signature all her own: honest, unpretentious and deeply affecting music. She learned the transforming power of music early in life, encouraged by both parents. India.Arie experimented with a number of instruments throughout her youth before discovering the guitar in college, which brought on a sense of self-awareness and the world around her. After the multi-million success of her first Motown debut album Acoustic Soul, Sade personally invited India.Arie to open her 2001 tour, expanding the initially scheduled 28 arena dates to 40. India.Arie was honored with an Essence Award for her empowering anthem "Video," and named best R&B female artist by BET. Ever-creative, she released her most recent Grammy-winning album, Voyage to India, in 2002.

Representing the new sounds of the New York City streets, multi-instrumentalist Andres Levin blended a number of influences to create the multi-piece band YERBA BUENA -- a Cuban foundation with Fela-like Afro-beat, hip hop, funk and a dash of Middle Eastern themes. With the hope of creating "one nation under a drum," Yerba Buena's intensely percussive and infectious beats is an on-going workshop that seeks collaborations in studio and on stage with guest stars such as singer Me'Shell Ndegeocello, keyboardist Money Mark, and jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Hooked on their music, The Dave Mathews Band invited them to open a number of their arena dates. As bandleader of the African-rooted Latin music group, Levin also served as principal producer of the Red Hot + Riot Fela Kuti tribute which highlights this Bowl performance. Yerba Buena last played the Bowl in 2002.

Born in Berlin and raised in Washington D.C., MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO has received seven Grammy nominations among her four albums, yet still remains something of an underground phenomenon. Me'shell adopted the name Ndegeocello as a teenager, which means "free like a bird" in Swahili. She discovered her musical gift under the tutelage of her father, jazz saxophonist Jacques Johnson and taught herself the bass, guitar, keyboards and drums. Me'shell became the local favorite in D.C. go-go clubs before being courted by several labels. In 1993, she became the first Female artist signed to Madonna's Maverick Records and broke through the dominating grunge-rock scene with her groundbreaking, genre-busting debut, Plantation Lullabies. A prolific writer, Me'shell has also scored films, composed for dance companies and worked with the industry's top artists including The Rolling Stones. Her most recent album, Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape, was released in 2002.

MONEY MARK is best known for transforming the Beastie Boys from one hit wonders into mature, transcendent musicians with his textured keyboards and songwriting on their 1991 comeback LP Check Your Head. A Red Hot series veteran, Money Mark previously released tracks on the Red Hot in Rio and Red Hot in Latin albums. In high demand, he has recorded music for the movie "Blow," played keyboards on Femi Kuti's 2001 album, did a track for Santana's Supernatural record and allowed his songs to be used in iMac computer commercials.

Self-described "everyday brothers", the dynamic duo of Chief Xcel's (Xavier Mosley) studio wizardry and Gift of Gab's (Tim Parker) quicksilver tongue formed BLACKALICIOUS in 1991. In high school, their friendship developed through their love of hip hop and eventually honed their intensely, all-night living room freestyle sessions into accomplished artists. Filling the gambit from verbal funk-burners and battle-rhyme rippers to finely crafted future soul, Blackalicious collaborated with urban and alternative star artists including Ben Harper, Zach De La Rocha (formerly of Rage Against the Machine) and The Roots on their fourth studio album, Blazing Arrow. This will be a Hollywood Bowl debut for Blackalicious.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A hit from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 35th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

Sunday, July 20, 7 p.m.

KCRW'S WORLD FESTIVAL

Soul of Africa

INDIA.ARIE

RED HOT & RIOT LIVE! featuring YERBA BUENA and special guests

BLACKALICIOUS, MONEY MARK, MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, and TOTAL ECLIPSE from the X-ecutioners

Garth Trinidad, host

Tickets ($1 - $73) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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