La Linea London Latin Music Festival

London Latin Music Festival (2nd April – 3rd May 2008):

Lontano present Brazil plus 1 - Wednesday April 2nd - Purcell Room
Ska Cubano -

La Linea Launch Party + Latin Dub Soundsystem + Special Guests - Thursday April 3rd - Koko

Tangopolis: Bajofondo Tango Club + Melingo - Friday April 4th - Royal Festival Hall

Lontano present Brazil plus 2 - Wednesday April 9th - Purcell Room

Lalo Schifrin with the London Symphony Orchestra - Thursday 10th April - Barbican

The Ipanemas + Zuco 103 - Wednesday 16th April - Barbican
Paco Peña & Nishat Khan Spirit & Passion Sunday April 20th - Royal Festival Hall

Very Be Careful + special guests Wednesday April 30th - Cargo

Café Tacuba + Forro in the Dark Saturday May 3rd - Barbican

Annually, since 2001, La Linea has been defining and re-defining contemporary Latin music. In previous years the festival has brought the likes of Gotan Project, Seu Jorge, Pink Martini and Spanish Harlem Orchestra to the UK for the first time. 2008's debutantes include The Ipanemas from Brazil, the originators of Afro Bossa finally arriving in the UK nearly 50 years after their formation: Argentina's Melingo and Forro In The Dark from Brazil via New York.
DJ Dolores and Aparelhagem got the party started early with their La Linea '08 Pre-Launch event at Cargo, their first UK show for 3 years, while the great Argentinian composer/pianist/arranger Lalo Schifrin who wrote "Mission Impossible", "Cool Hand Luke", "Bullitt" and many other memorable scores for film and TV, makes a rare UK appearance fronting the 89 piece London Symphony Orchestra. The night is a special Jazz meets the Symphony event.
Ska Cubano, with their charismatic front line and great musicians drawn from Cuba, Monserrat, Japan, Jamaica and the U.K. never fail to raise the temperature, and this will be their first London appearance of 2008. Bajofondo Tango Club return with a unique evening from the "Tangopolis" of Buenos Aires with special guest Daniel Melingo and band.

Mexico's premier Rock en Español exponents Café Tacuba make only their second appearance in the U.K. as do L.A.'s Cumbia evangelists Very Be Careful. Paco Peña & Nishat Khan rekindle their Spirit and Passion 10 years after their first collaboration tracing the common roots of Flamenco and Indian music.

Lontano present Brazil plus 1
Wednesday April 2nd
Purcell Room
7.45 pm
£15, £12

Southbank Centre Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
020 7960 4242

This concert features works by two Classical Brazilian composers - Villa-Lobos and Francisco Mignone, performed by the Lontano ensemble and pianist Clelia Iruzun. The programme includes music by Villa-Lobos, including the Choros VII, the recently rediscovered Danzas Africanas, and Prole do Bebe. Music by Mignone includes Variations on a Brazilian Theme, and Danca do Botocudo. In addition to these popular favourites, the programme includes new works by the British composers Andrew G Wilson and Silvina Milstein.


La Linea '08 Launch Party with
Ska Cubano + Latin Dub Soundsystem + special guests
Thursday 3rd April
Koko
7-1 am
£16

1A Camden High Street,
NW1 7JE
0870 1451115

Two bands whose names tell the story. Ska Cubano fuse the sounds of pre-revolutionary Cuba with Jamaica's choppy ska and the occasional Colombian Cumbia to create a brew that kicks like a cocktail blending Wray & Nephew + Havana Club. Latin Dub Soundsystem contribute a mix to the new Ska Cubano remix CD "Ajiaco!" (alongside the likes of Da Lata, Spiritual South and Ojos De Brujo's DJ Panko) and spice their take on Latin music with contemporary dancefloor stylings.


Tangopolis: Bajofondo Tango Club + Melingo
Friday 4th April
Royal Festival Hall
7.30 pm
£25, £20, £15

Southbank Centre Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
0871 663 2500

Bajofondo is the twenty-first century tango group led by Gustavo Santaolalla, double Oscar winning composer of the "Babel" and "Brokeback Mountain" scores and director of the forthcoming Café de los Maestros tango film.
Tonight's special show pits Bajofondo against the extraordinary talent of Daniel Melingo and his band, making their UK debut in a night of the best from the Buenos Aires Tangopolis.
The poet and songwriter Horacio Ferrer has written that Buenos Aires is "a tangopolis . . . tango is a way of walking before it is a dance, a way of talking before it is sung, a way of dreaming first and later poetry."


Lontano present Brazil plus 2
Wednesday April 9th
Purcell Room
7.45
£15, £12

Southbank Centre Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
020 7960 4242

This Brazilian-influenced programme includes works for strings (performed by the Lontano ensemble) and for solo piano, performed by Clelia Iruzun, who perform music by Villa-Lobos, Mignone and Nazareth, who was probably the first Brazilian composer to write Afro-Brazilian classical music. The evening features Brazilian classics such as Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No.9, the UK premiere of Francisco Mignone's Fantasia No.3 for strings and piano, and a selection of Classical Brazilian tangos by Nazareth. The concert also features new works by British composers Jeroen Speak and Chris Sansom.


Lalo Schifrin with the London Symphony Orchestra featuring soloists Alex Acuna, James Morrison and Pierre Boussaguet
Thursday 10th April
Barbican
£20, £25, £30

Silk Street
EC2Y 8DS
020 7638 8891

Argentina born Lalo Schifrin is a pianist, composer and conductor, equally at home conducting a symphony orchestra, performing at an international jazz festival (his first break was meeting jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie and becoming his pianist/arranger), or scoring a film or television show.

He has written more than 100 scores for films and television including classics such as "Mission Impossible", "Cool Hand Luke", "Bullitt", "Dirty Harry", "The Cincinnati Kid" and "Amityville Horror". Recent film scores include "Rush Hour", "Rush Hour 2" and "Bringing Down The House".


The Ipanemas + Zuco 103
Wednesday 16th April
Barbican
£15, £17, £20

Silk Street
EC2Y 8DS
020 7638 8891

The Ipanemas were originally formed in the late 1950s and although their eponymous 1964 debut was much sought after there was no follow up until Far Out Recordings released the newly recorded 'The Return of the Ipanemas' in 2001 featuring original drumming legend Wilson Das Neves and original sambossa guitar specialist, Neco. Their 4th Far Out release, "Call of the Gods", is due in April and the live band, as well as Wilson, features Ivan Conti and Alex Mahleiros from yet another legendary Brazilian outfit, Azymuth.

Zuco 103, the Brazilian/European band have positioned themselves at the vanguard of the new world / electronic fusion movement. Since the release of their best-selling album Tales Of High Fever http://www.crammed.be/zir/12/index.htm in 2002, Zuco 103 (aka Rio-born singer / lyricist Lilian Vieira, Amsterdam-born drummer / composer Stuv aka S.Kruger, and Munich-born keyboardist / composer Stefan Schmid) have been touring around the world, setting audiences on fire with their brilliant mix of live + electronic rhythms, fronted by Lilian's extraordinary voice and presence. This will be their first London appearance for several years so a special night is guaranteed.


Paco Peña Flamenco Company & Nishat Khan – Spirit & Passion
Sunday 20th April
Royal Festival Hall
£36, £26, £19, £12

Southbank Centre Belvedere Road SE1 8XX
0871 663 2500

Spirit & Passion is a unique collaboration between flamenco legend Paco Peña and sitar giant Nishat Kahn first performed 10 years ago. The performance brings alive the ancient musical link which traces the source of Flamenco to the deserts of Rajasthan in India. This musical encounter isn't so much a fusion, it's more a reunion of musical cousins after centuries of separation.

"Investigating the Indo-Iberian interface has become a fruitful area of fusion, with many musicians exploring these links in their music. But - with all due respect to the others - Khan & Pena's Spirit and Passion is a real meeting of heavyweights" Time Out


Very Be Careful
Cargo
7pm-1am
£12 in advance

83 Rivington St Kingsland Viaduct Shoreditch EC2A 3AY
07800 600 100

Cumbia is the new Cumbia and Very Be Careful are in the vanguard of the new Cumbia Revolution sweeping all before it in 2008. The irresistible, skanking, off-beat rhythm of classic Cumbia and Vallenato, from '50s and '60s Colombia, is what fires up these Los Angelenos, with driving percussion, raw vocals, accordion, double bass and infectious melodies.


Café Tacuba + Forro In The Dark
Saturday May 3rd
Barbican
7.30 pm
£10, £15, £20

Silk Street
EC2Y 8DS
020 7638 8891

Mexico's Café Tacuba are stars in the Rock en Español genre whilst being influenced by the folk traditions of Mexico's indigenous people. They have also contributed to soundtracks such as Amores Perros and Y Tu Mamá También.

Arthouse enough to be covered by the Kronos Quartet, Urban enough to have built a raucous fan-base from the streets of Buenos Aires to the barrios of Mexico City. This will be only the band's second show ever in the UK.

Forro in the Dark will be making their UK debut. They perform a hip version of Forro (a traditional music style from North Eastern Brazil) and are based in New York, David Byrne features on their last album.

Tickets are available from: www.comono.co.uk/lalinea