New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Angélique Kidjo has unveiled the first music video from her just-released and lauded new album Celia (Verve/Universal France). "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" is an artful, cutting edge video that uses contemporary dance to capture the joyous spirit of salsa icon Celia Cruz, and features Afrobeat drum pioneer Tony Allen.
Today The Root premiered the video along with an extensive discussion with Angelique, calling her "an African icon. A musical masterclass. A woman of the world."
Read the full piece here: https://theglowup.theroot.com/life-is-a-carnival-the-world-according-to-angelique-ki-1835289103
Watch the video for Angélique's take on "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" - one of Celia Cruz's most popular recordings - here: https://AngeliqueKidjo.lnk.to/AKLaVidaVideo
On Celia, Angélique explores the African roots of the Cuban-born Cruz and reimagines selections from Cruz's extraordinary career in surprising new ways, spiked with sounds and rhythms from Cuba, Africa, the Middle East, Brazil,
America and beyond. Along with Tony Allen, it features Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, Shabaka Hutchins and his band Sons of Kemet, and the Gangbe Brass Band from Benin. Celia was recorded in New York and Paris, produced and arranged by
David Donatien and mixed by Russell Elevado (D'Angelo, Kamasi Washington).
Angélique has discussed her life-long admiration for
Celia Cruz on a number of public radio programs (including Here & Now and NPR Music), and for a Billboard feature that just ran as well.
The video for "La Vida Es Un Carnaval" was filmed by South African director Chris Saunders, and choreographed by Carmel Loanga, who hails from Gabon in Central Africa, & uses a mix of classical Tango, Salsa and modern dance forms.
Angélique will tour various projects through the year and she will open for
Vampire Weekend at Madison
Square Garden on
September 6. In 2018 she released a radical reimagining of Talking Heads' landmark 1980 album 'Remain In Light' to rave reviews and will perform her version of it on select dates in 2019 as well.
PRAISE FOR CELIA
"She belts with enough grit to rival Cruz herself" -The New York Times
"The ten best new albums we heard in April" -NPR
"Kidjo's reinterpretations rearrange the molecules of songs that many of us know by heart. The results are glorious…Celia Cruz's music and her entire being was a reminder of the presence of Africa in Cuba. Angélique Kidjo's Celia musically closes that circle with reverence and more than a little love. - NPR First Listen
"It's going to be astounding" - BoingBoing
"Since Cruz's roots were in Nigerian Yoruba culture, Kidjo's version acts as a kind of musical homecoming -The Guardian, 4/5 stars
"Kidjo succeeds on Celia because she not only pays revelatory tribute to a prime influence, but channels that very spirit of inspiration to deliver a high-water mark in her catalog" -AllMusic
Tour dates:
Jun 8 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl - Playboy Jazz Festival (Celia)
Jun 16 - Vieille-toulouse, France - Rio Loco Festival (Celia)
Jun 21 - Paris, France - Solidays (Celia)
Jun 25 - Geneva, Switzerland - Centre de arts / Ecole Internationale
Jul 6 - Kongsberg, NO - Kongsberg Jazz Festival (Sing The Truth)
Jul 9 - Stuttgart, DE - Jazzopen (Sing The Truth)
Jul 13 - Northampton, MA - Green River Festival (Remain In Light)
Jul 14 - Lowell, MA - Boarding House Park (Remain In Light)
Jul 21 - Berlin, Germany - Wassermusik Festival (Celia)
Jul 23 - Milan, Italy - Festival Arconati (Remain In Light)
Jul 24 - Rome, Italy - Auditorium Parco della Musica (Remain In Light)
Jul 27 - Gdynia, Poland - Ladies' Jazz Festival (Celia)
Jul 30 - London, England - Royal Albert Hall (Celia)
Aug 2 - Crozon, FR - Festival Du Bout Du Monde (Celia)
Aug 3 - Marciac, France - Festival Jazz in Marciac (Celia)
Aug 31 - Toronto, ON - Harbourfront Centre
Sep 6 - New York, NY - Madison
Square Garden (supporting Vampire Weekend)
Feb 14 - St Louis, MO - Sheldon Concert Hall
Feb 16 - Ann Arbor, MI - Michigan Theater (Remain In Light)
Mar 14 - New York, NY - Carnegie Hall - Stern Auditorium
