Gino Sitson
Voistrings (Buda Musique, released April 14, 2015)
If you love the music of Bobby McFerrin and you don’t know about Gino Sitson, you really need to listen to his recordings. The Cameroonian vocalist, percussionist and composer has a similar style and has been exploring the worlds of jazz, classical, Cameroonian music and pop using his voice and body percussion to create a dazzling array of musical sounds.
On Voistrings, Gino Sitson combines vocals, onomatopoeian sounds and percussion with a small string ensemble composed of viola and cello, crossing the borders of jazz and classical music. Sitson indicates that he loves many styles of music and when he was composing Voistrings, he originally wanted it to be just his voice and strings. Eventually, he decided to include his full band, adding bass, drums and piano.
Sitson was born in Cameroon in a musical family. His mother was a vocalist and choir director, and his family comes from the musical line known as ‘Ntontas,’ or players of horns. As he grew in a city, he listened to a wide range of music, ranging from Cameroonian music to blues, jazz and classical music recordings. Sitson moved to Paris to the United States, although he travels frequently to Paris to complete a Ph.D. in musicology at the Sorbonne.
The lineup on Voistrings includes Gino Sitson on vocals, vocal effects, percussion and body percussion; Helio Alves on piano; Lonnie Plaxico on double bass; Willard Dyson on drums; Jody Redhage on cello; Lev ‘Ljova’ Zhurbin on viola; and Charene Wade on vocals.
Gino Sitson and his band will be presenting his new CD at Zinc Bar in New York City on June 9th, 2015.
Venue: Zinc Bar Jazz Club
82 West 3rd Street (btw Thompson & Sullivan)
Time: 20:00 and 22:00 (8:00 & 10:00pm)
Price: $10.00
Ticket Phone: 212-477-ZINC
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
