Berlin, Germany – Congo Square (2005), a film by Michael Schehl (produced by WDR, Germany) will be showcased on Tuesday, 8th March at 7:00 pm in the theater hall at the House of World Cultures in Berlin.
Congo Square is how the square in New Orleans was called, where in the time of slavery on Sundays the blacks were allowed to dance and make music. Congo Square is also a music festival in the framework of the series of events Black Atlantic which took part in autumn of last year in the House of World Cultures.
The curator of this unique project was jazz guitarist Jean Paul Bourelly from Chicago. He succeeded in bringing together in Berlin more than 40 musicians of different nationalities and musical styles. On two long weekends representatives of black music from Africa, the USA,
Cuba, Latin America, Europe, and Berlin improvised and took a trip together to track down the African beat – their roots – in current music.
Participants included: Archie Shepp, Tony Allen, Cindy Blackmann, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Doudou N’Diaye Rose, Marque Gilmore, Vanessa Mason,
Omar Sosa, Joe Bowie, Torch, DJ Spooky, and Ali Keita.
Michael Schehl accompanied this creative musical exchange with his camera. The result is a music film showing very lively how the musicians combine jazz, hip hop, soul, rock, drum´n bass and traditional African music thus creating new forms.
The music documentation will be shown on television for the first time on
Tuesday, 29th of March 2005 at 11:50 pm on WDR.
The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is located at John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin. Phone: +49 ( 0 ) 30 – 39 78 7 197.
Image: House of World Cultures – Photo by Angel Romero
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.