Join us in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Mannes Sounds Festival!

Mannes Sounds: Africa Unite!

Curated and directed by Claude Grunitzky, founder of TRUE Africa, this performance traces the evolution of Black music in sound, dance and African contemporary photography, from storytelling, kora and drumming traditions of West African griots and musicians to American jazz and funk all the way to new generation hip hop and Afrobeats. Co-production of Isabel S. Wilcox and Mannes Sounds, in collaboration with the School of Drama, the School of Jazz, with participation of Parsons School of Design faculty, Eva Davidova.

Program highlights include:

Djassi DaCosta Johnson solo dance to music of Salieu Suso kora and student drummer

Salieu Suso kora with student guitarist

Actors from the School of Drama speaking a Ben Okri text on African unity and creativity (from his book "The Last Gift of the Master Artists")

Student jazz ensemble (sax, bass, piano, drums quartet) interprets three songs from three different periods of jazz (traditional, bebop, free jazz) and link them to hip hop samples

Student rapper: African unity and creativity

Afrobeats Finale: All performers!