Description
Los Ricos: Sonia Olla & Ismael Fernández
Hailed by The New York Times as “a furnace of earthy sensuality” and by The Washington Post as “the most charismatic performer,” flamenco dancer Sonia Olla (Barcelona) and singer Ismael Fernández (Seville) are a powerhouse duo on and off stage.
Sonia, trained at Barcelona’s Instituto de Teatro y Danza, has toured worldwide with flamenco greats including Antonio Canales, Eva la Yerbabuena, and María Pagés, while Ismael, born into the renowned Familia Fernández, has performed at Spain’s top tablaos and with legends such as Farruquito and Gustavo Dudamel. Both have graced premier venues from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Sadler’s Wells (London), Esplanade Theatre (Singapore), and Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona).
Together they have created acclaimed shows such as Tablao Sevilla, Entretiempo, Por los Caminos, Tiempo al Aire, Ella, and Gloria. Their work has been featured at major flamenco festivals in New York, Havana, Edmonton, and Santa Fe, and they are frequent collaborators at Joe’s Pub and other NYC stages. Beyond the flamenco world, they choreographed and performed with Madonna (Rebel Heart Tour) and Ricky Martin (All In!), and have been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Spanish media outlets.
Now based in New York, Sonia and Ismael continue to teach, perform, and tour internationally, bringing both traditional flamenco roots and contemporary creativity to their art.
Slavic Soul Party!
Fiery Balkan brass, throbbing funk grooves, Roma (Gypsy) accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops make Slavic Soul Party! NYC’s official #1 brass band for BalkanSoul GypsyFunk. SSP! pumps a strong Balkan brass sound through the filter of life in New York’s outer boroughs, making new music out of the unplanned results of immigration, proximity, and globalization. Over the past 15 years the band has released 7 full-length albums, and toured in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Turkey, and Zimbabwe, from pasha’s palaces to dive bars, Carnegie Hall to Serbian schoolyards, festival stages to prison courtyards. The band’s music has fans on both sides of the Atlantic, and their tunes have been covered by Serbian brass stars, New Orleans funk stalwarts, and legendary street bands. SSP!’s Tuesday night residency in Brooklyn has become a destination for music fans from around the world, and is famous for “delivering a great time.” (New York Times)
In September 2016 Ropeadope Records released Slavic Soul Party! Plays Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite. SSP! re-imagines Duke Ellington’s iconic Far East Suite as an Eastern European brass band discovering an exotic American sound, reversing the “exotic tinge” and reveling in this subtle, funky, and brilliant music. Ellington’s suite (created with Billy Strayhorn) was inspired by a 1963 State Department tour that was cut short – they didn’t make it to the “Far East” – and serves as a perfect foil for SSP!’s blend of East European, Romani, and American sounds. Critics call it “a pretty heavenly match” (TimeOut NY) and say “parts of SSP’s reinterpretation sounds like a Bulgarian wedding, others like a gypsy jazz funeral in New Orleans. And yet… it all sounds like Duke Ellington.” (Wall St Journal).
Clarinet Mania (Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Serkan Çağrı, Sal Mamudoski, Ismail Lumanovski)
Four of today’s greatest clarinet masters Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Serkan Çağrı, Sal Mamudoski, Ismail Lumanovski, come together to for the ultimate clarinet jam. Hüsnü Şenlendirici comes from a deeply musical Romani family. Raised amid the sounds of trumpet and clarinet, he began studying at the Istanbul Technical University State Conservatory before launching his professional career. He’s known for transforming Turkish folk and Romani melodies with bold improvisation, deeply influenced by the musical traditions of the Aegean and Anatolia.
Internationally renowned clarinetist Serkan Çağrı is celebrated for his effortless style and musical versatility. Equally at home in Balkan, Turkish, Greek, classical, jazz, and blues traditions, he seamlessly blends genres with a sound that is both rooted and innovative.
Born in New York to Macedonian-Roma roots, Sal Mamudoski grew up surrounded by Balkan, Turkish, Romani and other musical traditions. Gravitating to the clarinet early, he studied under Yuri Yunakov among others. His debut solo album Klarnet-Ché fuses jazz, funk, flamenco, Latin, Balkan, Middle Eastern, Gypsy, and Turkish influences—a reflection of his diverse upbringing.
Native of Macedonia, Ismail Lumanovski is a genre-crossing clarinet star. From virtuosic Balkan folk to jazz improvisation and classical forms, Ismail moves fluidly across styles, bringing both depth and dynamism to every performance. He performs worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician across classical, folk, jazz and cross-over styles. He leads the New York Gypsy All-Stars, and his music blends Balkan, Turkish, Gypsy and Western classical traditions.