Somi: The Lagos Salon Tour; Sept 19-20, Two Evenings, Four Shows

Intimate Songs from a Lagos Sojourn

The Red Poppy Art House is very excited to announce a special two-night, four show engagement with critically-acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Somi.  These two evenings of music are part of  the artist’s Salon Tour, promoting the release of her lastest album, The Lagos Music Salon.

In late 2011, acclaimed East African vocalist & songwriter Somi decided to move from New York City to Lagos, Nigeria for 18 months in search of new inspiration. The result: a new album she calls The Lagos Music Salon released summer 2014 as her major label debut on Sony Music/Okeh. The album which features special guests Angelique Kidjo and Common draws it material from the tropical city’s boastful cosmopolitanism, urgent inspiration, and giant spirit – straddling the worlds of African jazz, soul, and pop with a newfound ease and a voice that Vogue Magazine simply calls “Superb!”

“A New High Priestess of Soul!” – The Huffington Post

Praised for both her musical and scholarly achievements, Somi has made a powerful impression on audiences internationally.  Musically, she draws inspiration from many lands, but her connection to Africa is at the heart of her creative expression.  She weaves together velvety, African-tinged jazz textures, soul-driven vocal styling, and compassionate, socially conscious lyrics.  Somi has been compared to her venerable vocal “fore-mothers” Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone, both of whom strived for a music-making tradition of entertaining listeners and mobilizing the collective social conscience. Her work honors the tradition of African narratives told through song, and attempts to shed light on the modern African experience by telling the stories of individuals she encounters as well as her own experience of being an African woman. In addition to singing and writing songs, Somi is a TED Fellow, an inaugural Association of Performing Arts Presenters Fellow, a 2013 Park Avenue Armory Artist-in-Residence, and the founder of New Africa Live, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating  ​ contemporary African artists working in the performance, visual, and literary arts.

The Lagos Music Salon is an ode to the Nigerian metropolis, where she spent an 18-month creative sabbatical in 2011,  absorbing the city’s expansive urbanism, cultural power, and enormous spirit.  This very personal album is the accumulation of months of writing songs in response to her experiences of the unique social climate of Lagos, collaborating with local musicians, and previewing her works-in-progress before small audiences.  In particular, the Salon Tour is devoted to the idea of encouraging greater artist-to-audience engagement and closer connection to the music by performing intimate concerts reminiscent fo the shows she played while in Lagos.  The Red Poppy Art House has long strived to provide this kind of experience for musicians near and far, and is very honored to have the opportunity to be graced by her talents.

Check out Somi’s website here and a preview of her new album!
Also, please join the official Facebook event here, and invite all your friends!