Media Contact: Dolores Davies, (619) 534-5994 or ddavies@ucsd.edu

INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER DOMINIC KANZA TO PERFORM AT UCSD FEB. 19

Internationally acclaimed musician, composer, and scholar Dominic Kanza will give a public lecture-performance Feb. 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the University of California, San Diego’s Price Center Theater.

Kanza, whose body of work stands at the crossroads between popular African and American musical forms, will visit UCSD from Feb. 12-26 as a Regents’ Lecturer.  Kanza and his ensemble, the African Rhythm Machine, have recently produced a CD, "Congo!" which serves up a spicy brew of soukous, soul, jazz and fusion.  He tours and performs regularly with Zairean pop idol Papa Wemba and American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.

While at UCSD, Kanza will also participate in several other free public events, including a workshop "Music on Fire," which will examine African and African diaspora musical forms, styles, and genres in social, historical and political context.  The workshop will take place Feb. 19 from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Price Center, Gallery A. Kanza will also host a guitar clinic, co-sponsored with the UCSD Music Department, which is free and open to musicians (who should bring their guitars) and members of the public.  The clinic will be held Feb. 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Mandeville B-210, Erickson Hall.

Kanza’s lectures and performances trace African musical forms from their roots on the African continent to their vital transformations in the new world. He is an expert in the musical genres most often known as souskous and rumba. These musical genres, which gained momentum during the 1950s and ‘60s in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have set the tone for and reflected modernity throughout Africa.

"Congo," released last year, has been considered a stellar contribution to world and cross-over pop music in its combination of intricate African guitar and rhythmic styles with American rock harmonic forms.

Kanza’s visit to UCSD is being sponsored by the UCSD African and African-American Studies Research Project (AASRP) and the Ethnic Studies Department.  For more information please call (619) 534-4790.