Nkenya
Photo by Mike DeFilippo
I had the pleasure of hearing Zimbabwe Nkenya perform a couple of years ago, when he opened for Cooper-Moore at Joe's Cafe. He was a marvel. Rather than stringing together adjectives, I'll just encourange you to go here and listen. Nkenya was also part of BAG II, the resurrection of St. Louis' famed Black Artists' Group; for more on that, see Byron Kerman's article ("Coda and Bridge," 2008), here.
So I was really sad to hear that Nkenya had suffered a stroke late last year, and that he hasn't been able to play music since. The folks at New Music Circle, as well as a group of friends and musicians, are doing a benefit concert for Nkenya this Saturday, January 30, at the Kranzberg Arts Center. The program includes performances by Jim Hegarty, Fred Tompkins, Deb Summers of New Music Circle; Bobo Shaw, drums and George Sams, trumpet; Dave Cheli's “Tribal Chicken”; HaZMaT (Tom Zirkle and Matt Henry) Baba Mike Nelson, trumpet; and poets Curtis Lyle and Michael Castro.
Nkenya moved back to St. Louis a few years ago, after living for many years in New Mexico, where he hosted KUNM's Sunday night show, "The House that Jazz Built." He has performed with Julius Hemphill, Rob Brown, Douglas Ewart, Abdul Wadud, William Parker, Fred Ho's Afro-Asian Music Ensemble, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake, Daniel Carter, Frank Morgan, Eddie Gale, J A Deane, Floyd LeFlore, Chris Jonas, Mary Redhouse, Bill Cole's Yoruba Proverbs, Jim Marshall, Tom Hamilton, and Maurice 'Malik' King, among others; he's performed in venues all over the country, including the Velvet Lounge in Chicago, and Lincoln Center, The Knitting Factor and PS 122 in New York. Here, he's played a really diverse range of venues, including the Scott Joplin House, the Lemp Arts Center, Ivory Perry Park, Central Reform Congregation and KDHX's Midwest Mayhem Festival. This Saturday's show would have much to recommend to music fans regardless, but the fact that all proceeds go to support Zimbabwe Nkenya and his wife, Deborah, makes it an even more important show to add to your calendar. --Stefene Russell
Details:
Admission by donation, tbd by audience member
Saturday January 30, 2010, 7:30 pm
Kranzberg Arts Center Black Box Theatre, 501 N. Grand
