With La Jolla Symphony and San Diego Children’s Choir
“O’Donovan is in a league all her own—her harmonic and rhythmic inventions make for post-folk ear candy.”—Nashville Scene
“There’s a…march to the blossoming of her catalog and her artistry and it’s on full display on All My Friends.”—The Bluegrass Situation
“vocalist of unerring instinct”—New York Times
GRAMMY winner Aoife O’Donovan celebrates democracy and womanhood on her new solo album, All My Friends. The 9-song collection is inspired by the passage of the 19th amendment and the evolving landscape of women’s rights in America over the past century. She artfully draws on speeches and letters by Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Voters, to write intricately filigreed new, original songs infused with modern viewpoint. The 2022 Folk Alliance International Song of the Year winner, who was last seen at ArtPower in 2022, is joined by La Jolla Symphony and Chorus and the San Diego Children’s Choir, conducted by Sameer Patel.
From his beginnings as one of Chicago’s most thrilling young trumpeters, to his current status as an internationally renowned musician, composer and bandleader, Marquis Hill has worked tirelessly to break down the barriers that divide musical genres. Contemporary and classic jazz, hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house, neo-soul—to Hill, they’re all essential elements of the profound African-American creative heritage he’s a part of. “It all comes from the same tree,” he says. “They simply blossomed from different branches.”
That mission to bring styles together, complemented by Hill’s absolute mastery of his instrument, is a through line connecting his many achievements. It can be heard on his latest album, Modern Flows Vol. II, with its seamless blend of jazz interplay, hip-hop-infused rhythms and socially conscious spoken-word. It’s integral to The Way We Play, his Concord Jazz debut from 2016, where Hill and his musicians reinvent jazz standards using their generation’s wide- ranging influences. It marks the four records Hill self-released before November of 2014, when he won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz competition and became a presence on the global scene virtually overnight. And it defines the revelatory live dates by Hill’s longtime working group, the Blacktet, which the Chicago Tribune called “a remarkably polished, immensely attractive ensemble.”
Today, Hill maintains a nonstop touring schedule with the Blacktet, and the intensely interactive, utterly unique band has become a kind of graduate school for next-level talent—Hill included.“One of the most beautiful things about leading a group is the flow of knowledge and energy that we bounce off of one another,” he says. “Each member contributing their distinctive voice is what truly makes the music and magic happen.”
“Roomful of Teeth is revolutionizing choral music.”—New Yorker
Roomful of Teeth is a two-time GRAMMY Award-winning ensemble dedicated to the performance of new works for eight amplified voices. Through collaboration, commissioning, and new technologies, they seek to reimagine the expressive potential of the human voice.
Their latest album, Rough Magic (New Amsterdam Records, 2023) was captured using groundbreaking recording techniques and innovative spatial technology. Roomful of Teeth was recognized at the 66th GRAMMY Awards in 2024, winning Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for Rough Magic; and composer William Brittelle’s work Psychedelics, which appears on the album, was nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
ArtPower is excited to present one of the most exciting artists in the international jazz community: pianist, composer, bandleader, and Blue Note recording artist Nduduzo Makhathini. With a range of musical and cultural influences—including Zulu rituals and the church—“Makhathini’s visionary character becomes more fascinating with each new endeavor”—DownBeat
Since making his international debut for Blue Note in 2020 with Modes of Communication: Letters From the Underworlds, the South African pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini has earned widespread acclaim for the genuinely spiritual transcendence of his music. For Makhathini, a Zulu healer and educator who has delved deeply into the histories and traditions of his ancestors, improvised music has never been merely about aesthetics or idioms. As the New York Times put it when naming Modes of Communication one of the Best Jazz Albums of 2020: “In a moment when spiritual jazz has become a dangerously buzzy concept, trust a musician who has truly devoted his life to divination practices.”
Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Leyla McCalla finds inspiration from her past and present—her music vibrates with three centuries of history and influences from around the globe. McCalla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo and guitar and, as a multilingual singer and songwriter, has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience. In addition to her solo work, McCalla is a founding member of Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell) and alumna of Grammy award-winning Black string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops.
McCalla returns to ArtPower with acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and film composer Yasmin Williams. She has an unorthodox, modern style of guitar playing and utilizes various techniques including alternate tunings, percussive hits, and lap tapping in her music to great effect. Her “radiant sound and adventitious origins have made her a key figure in a diverse dawn for the solo guitar” (The New York Times). Williams’s music has been described as rich, harmonious, and “in a lot of ways, the joy and possibility she brings to the guitar reminds me more of Eddie Van Halen than any of the other fingerstyle guitarists to whom she’s compared” (NPR Music).
Reggae SummerSplash is an annual festival presented by the WorldBeat Cultural Center in San Diego and has a 13 year history of celebrating reggae music and culture. Each year the festival features performances by renowned reggae artists, providing a vibrant atmosphere that brings together fans of the genre. Come out and enjoy this year’s summer festival with the family! There will be a world pop up market including food and beverage vendors.
This year’s lineup features Mykal Rose, Warrior King, Etana, Alika, Kush and the Bloodfiyah Angels, Quinto Sol and Revival!
Presented by WorldBeat Cultural Center and ArtPower
One of the most respected MCs in any language, Ana Tijoux has been winning over fans around the world since her debut 1977 bubbled up from an underground sensation into mainstream recognition after being featured on the hit TV show “Breaking Bad” and favorited by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.
“South America’s answer to Lauryn Hill: equally skillful at singing and rapping,” (New York Times), Tijoux brings her new album Vengo on tour to the US—her first full US tour since 2018—which showcases the nimble MC over lush, golden-era hip-hop production rooted in traditional Latin instrumentation.
Born in France to Chilean parents in political exile during Pinochet’s dictatorship, Tijoux moved back to Chile as a teenager and found a home in the emerging hip-hop scene of Santiago. In concert, Tijoux takes the stage with a full band that brings to life the intricate arrangements of the new album, a whirlwind trip through hip-hop, jazz, and funk, spiced with a bit of politics and her great sense of humor that has led audiences around the globe fall in love with her.
With very special guests Nathan East ’78 and Gregg Bissonette
Bringing a sensibility that comes from being around this music their whole lives, lead guitarist and vocalist, Will Johns, is Eric’s Nephew; on keyboards, Noah East is son to Clapton’s longtime bassist, Nathan East.
The set includes not only the “Clapton Classics” but rekindles hits from albums Behind the Sun, August and Journeyman—recordings that have particularly influenced this band and led to Eric’s record breaking 24-night residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall with Gregg Bissonette (Ringo Starr) on drums!
A Live Band Journey Through The Enchanted Eras of Taylor Swift
With her distinct style, legendary catalog of music, and a stage presence like no other, it’s easy to see why Taylor Swift is one of the most successful and influential artists of the 21st century. This tribute, created by Cassie B and developed at UC San Diego features all of Taylor’s top hits including; “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, “Love Story”, “You Belong With Me”, “Look What You Made Me Do”, “Wildest Dreams”, and more!
“Mark Guiliana, a technical master with a rare sense of musicality, has over the last decade become one of the most influential drummers of his generation.”— JazzTimes
Hailed by the New York Times as “a drummer around whom a cult of admiration has formed,” Mark Guiliana brings the same adventurous spirit, eclectic palette and gift for spontaneous invention to a staggering range of styles. Equally virtuosic playing acoustic jazz, boundary-stretching electronic music, or next-level rock, he’s become a key collaborator with such original sonic thinkers as Brad Mehldau, Meshell Ndegeocello, Donny McCaslin, Matisyahu, and the late, great David Bowie.
