Umoja Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Umoja Orchestra is a Gainesville, FL
-based band whose music incorporates elements from afrobeat
, jazz
, funk
, afro-cuban
as well as traditional African, Caribbean and South American styles, like salsa and merengue. The band's instrumentation is modeled closely to bands such as Fela Kuti
's Africa 70 and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
.
Umoja Orchestra was, and still is, a strong presence in the Gainesville music scene and is ever-growing. It is especially known for its energetic, crowd-pleasing, and dance-oriented live performances, usually selling out local venues and putting on spectacular shows. They have gone on three national tours, mostly through the East Coast, but as far as Texas. The name "Umoja" comes from the Swahili word for "unity".
The band is currently in hiatus, with some members in New York, Texas, California and Florida, but there are plans to regroup and continue their musical career.
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
-based band whose music incorporates elements from afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, afro-cuban
Afro-Cuban
The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...
as well as traditional African, Caribbean and South American styles, like salsa and merengue. The band's instrumentation is modeled closely to bands such as Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
's Africa 70 and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Antibalas is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra...
.
Umoja Orchestra was, and still is, a strong presence in the Gainesville music scene and is ever-growing. It is especially known for its energetic, crowd-pleasing, and dance-oriented live performances, usually selling out local venues and putting on spectacular shows. They have gone on three national tours, mostly through the East Coast, but as far as Texas. The name "Umoja" comes from the Swahili word for "unity".
The band is currently in hiatus, with some members in New York, Texas, California and Florida, but there are plans to regroup and continue their musical career.
Members
- Sebastián López Velásquez: Guitar, Vocals, CharangoCharangoThe charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. Primarily played in traditional Andean music, and is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. Many contemporary charangos are now made with...
, Accordion - Natalia Pérez: Vocals, Percussion
- Michael Pedron: Bass
- Michael Claytor: BanjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, Percussion - David Borenstein: Saxophone, Clarinet
- Irving Campbell: Saxophone
- Jason Prover: Trumpet
- Evan Hegarty: Keyboard
- Keegan Jerabek: Trumpet
- Evan Garfield: Drumset
- Doug Fischer: Trombone
- Micah Shalom: Trombone
- David Choo: Saxophone
- Adam Finkelman: Percussion, Timbales
- Scott Bihorel: Congas
- Scott Clayton: Guitar
- Paul Kronk: Guitar
- Johnny Frias: Congas
Discography
- Dinner at the Republic 2009
- Abre la Puerta 2008
- Umoja Means Unity 2007
See also
- AfrobeatAfrobeatAfrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
- Fela KutiFela KutiFela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
- Antibalas Afrobeat OrchestraAntibalas Afrobeat OrchestraAntibalas is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra...
- World MusicWorld musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
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