Loide: Cool Notes From an Afrolusophone Chanteuse

Loide belts out Afrolusophone jazz at Bohemian Caverns

When I think of Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde I invariably
think of Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Machel and Amilcar Cabral. Phrases like  A luta continua, and the heat of the revolutionary struggles in Portuguese controlled Africa come to mind. But on a late July night at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC the cool, jazzy sounds of Loide’s music turned them into places of love and longing as she transported us back to where her roots lie. Loide was born in France with both Mozambican and Guinea-Bissau heritage, and then raised in California. That rich, diverse background filters through her music; she sings in Portuguese and English with influences ranging from Sarah Vaughn and Miriam Makeba, to Sade and Cesaria Evora. On that night in July it

New Video: Lady Pcoq and Mello-D at Bossa Bistro

Lady Pcoq performing at Bossa Bistro

“Who in here remembers State of the Union? On U Street?” asked Lady Pcoq of the audience during an interlude where her group Lady Pcoq & the Plumes was performing at Bossa Bistro in Adams Morgan. I was among a few who raised their hands. Back in the late nineties while shooting a documentary film about poetry and spoken word in Washington, DC, I spent many an evening at joints like State, Kaffa House and Mangos.

Chico & Rita: Love, Romance and Afro Cuban Jazz (Trailer)

Chico & Rita Poster

After running into the trailer for this animated feature film on thenublak, I can understand why film enthusiasts in the UK are so excited about Chico & Rita opening there on November the 19th. I know that it has already been screened in North American film festivals like Toronto and Telluride, but here’s what I really want to know: when can we see it in the cinemas stateside?? Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque, 1992) and Graphic Artist Javier Mariscal directed this love story that begins in Havana, Cuba and trumpets through New York and Las Vegas to the Afro-Cuban Jazz sounds of Bebo Valdés. It tells the story of Chico, a piano player, and Rita, a singer who unite in music, passion and romance, but their relationship gets stagnated by cruel circumstance and heartache.