APR 13-16 | JAZZ & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Apr 13 - Apr 14, 2023
Joe Henderson Lab
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
Born in the West African nation of Sierra Leone and weaned on jazz as a teenager hanging out at Ronnie Scott’s in London, Michael Mwenso became obsessed with the Harlem Renaissance when he settled in the neighborhood in 2012 after Wynton Marsalis recruited him to work with Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The dynamic vocalist and frontman of Mwenso & The Shakes, he and the band gained widespread notice in 2019 with a widely traveled multimedia production created in collaboration with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem that celebrated the cultural movement’s centenary. The show honored the Jazz Age artists who lived and performed in 1920s Harlem, such as Fats Waller, Andy Razaf, and Duke Ellington, while embracing the entire African diaspora.
With a dazzling cast of musicians including South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe and artists hailing from Europe, Jamaica, Madagascar, and the U.S., the Shakes combine the craft of consummate entertainers with improvisational prowess. The band’s debut album, Emergence (The Process of Coming Into Being), captured the surging energy of the live experience, prompting The New York Times to describe the band as “intense, prowling, and ebullient."
With a dazzling cast of musicians, the Shakes combine the craft of consummate entertainers with improvisational prowess.
These songs are anthemic — an explosion of ideas and sounds wrapped around familiar instrumentation
NPR Music
These songs are anthemic — an explosion of ideas and sounds wrapped around familiar instrumentation
NPR Music
Personnel
Michael Mwenso vocals
Ahmad Johnson drums
Chris Smith bass
Xander Naylor guitar
Rashaan Salaam trombone
Aris Dolce, Jr. saxophone
Vuyo Sotashe vocals
Netanya Thompson dancer
Not many bands in the orbit of jazz today can begin to approach the crowd-pleasing threshold of Mwenso and the Shakes.
WBGO
Personnel
Michael Mwenso vocals
Ahmad Johnson drums
Chris Smith bass
Xander Naylor guitar
Rashaan Salaam trombone
Aris Dolce, Jr. saxophone
Vuyo Sotashe vocals
Netanya Thompson dancer
Not many bands in the orbit of jazz today can begin to approach the crowd-pleasing threshold of Mwenso and the Shakes.
WBGO
Watch & Listen
Mwenso and the Shakes
No Regrets
Mwenso and the Shakes
Resolute
Mwenso and the Shakes
No Regrets
Mwenso and the Shakes
Resolute