Kakraba Lobi at Hughes House

Sunday, April 8, 7:30 PM (doors open @ 7) at

The Historical Langston Hughes House in Harlem

( Located in the landmarked home of poet Langston Hughes @20 E. 127th Street between 5th and Madison.)

Admission $10RSVP: events@motema.com · 212-860-6969

Kakraba Lobi is considered to be the one of the great African musicians of his time. He has gained international acclaim as being the first to take the gyil (a complex and obscure West African marimba) from his village folk tradition to the international classic concert stage as a solo and chamber music medium.

At Hughes House, on Easter Sunday at 7:30pm, Krakaba will perform with his protojé, Valarie Naranja, one of America's premier marimbists known for her work in the Saturday Night Live band, with The Lion King, and with Paul Winter Concert. Also performing is Naranja's long time musical partner, multi-instrumentalist Barry Olson known for his work with Paul Simon , Ray Barretto and Hector Lavoe. The group has an extraordinary chemistry and instrumentation. This will be an evening of deep musical meditation and expansion.

The compositions that the group will perform come alive at the intersection between the highest mastery of traditional rhythm and melody from Krakaba's home land, Ghana, and the highly disciplined cutting edge creativity of Naranja and Olsen, long time innovators on the New York music scene.

This Easter, please join us to witness history in the making as Krakaba Lobi & Valarie Naranja perform in masterful synchrony on the gyil, ancestral African fore-father of the modern piano, and Barry Olson performs on the Hughes House's brand new Fazioli grand piano, the most modern innovation in piano making artistry. (The Fazioli Piano Forte company was founded in 1979, and is now considered among the finest piano marks in the world.)

"Stunning solos" The Star Ledger (Johanessburg) "The experience of being taken back to African roots and then hearing it's transformation into cutting edge art that retains its hold on traition is a breathtaking one." Christopher Padock, U.S. Information Agency.