NEW ORLEANS (press release) – CimaFest NOLA 2023 on Saturday, April 29, will celebrate Black culture, Funk music and the strong links between Cuba and New Orleans. The lineup for the inaugural CimaFest NOLA at the Civic Theater brings together the unique sounds of Cimafunk’s home island of Cuba with some help from his New Orleans friends. “CimaFest is all about honoring Africa, celebrating the Funk and celebrating the culture. We’re coming strong” – Cimafunk
Cimafunk, who plays with a powerful eight-person all Cuban backing band that he refers to as The Tribe (La Tribu), is bringing an even bigger tribe to the Civic Theatre the first weekend of JazzFest.
The Grammy-Nominated Cuban Funk artist who has drawn comparisons to James Brown and Bruno Mars and Keith Spera of NOLA.com referred to as a “musical highpoint” of the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival just announced that he’ll be joined by La Dame Blanche, a powerful AfroCuban singer and rapper and instrumentalist, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, with whom Cimafunk collaborated with on the newly-released single from Galactic, “Ready for Me, Jazz/Blues- Rock/Hip Hop Trumpeter Maurice “Mobetta” Brown, who currently plays with Anderson.Paak, Big Chief Juan Pardo of the Golden Comanche Mardi Gras Indians, and Haitian Allstar singer and guitarist Paul Beaubrun. These guests will join the already star-studded lineup of AfroCuban legends—legendary percussionist Pedrito Martinez, and singer, rapper and percussionist Brenda Navarrete, and headliners Cimafunk & The Tribe.
Cimafunk is the first Cuban Artist to start a festival in the United States in decades (or ever) and he’s chosen to do it in New Orleans and in celebration of the strong links between Cuba and New Orleans and curated the lineup to highlight those ties. He’s even bringing eight young Cuban music students (junior high, high school and university age) from Cuba New Orleans to perform at CimaFest and take part in community engagement activities throughout the week. “New Orleans is my home away from home, and I always bring that Afro-Cuban Funk,” says Cimafunk. “This time I’m coming with even more Funkstars from Cuba, NOLA and the world and we’re gonna get down.”
Although the musical ties between Cuba and New Orleans date back centuries, recent cultural collaborations between young musicians from both places have been breathing new life into these deep roots. In January, Cimafunk hosted 150 guests this January for the “Havana Funk Expedition,” which included Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Galactic, Mannie Fresh, and students from the Trombone Shorty Foundation, who participated in musical workshops with students from their Cuban counterparts at the Guillermo Tomas Conservatory. This trip served as a follow-up to the historic Getting Funky in Havana trip in 2020 that played an integral role in developing Cimafunk’s connection with the music of New Orleans.
This deep connection with New Orleans has been at the center of what Afrocuban legend Chucho Valdes calls Cimafunk’s quest of “uniting Afro-Cuban and African American.” CimaFest NOLA is all about bringing more of Cuba to New Orleans and some of New Orleans back to Cuba. Funk music and the shared Groove is at the heart of this celebration of black culture. CimaFest NOLA 2023 will offer a unique addition to the arsenal of night-time Jazz Fest performances by showcasing the spirit and soul of Cuban music, with a smattering of New Orleans funk and jazz added to “el gumbo musical.” Tickets are on sale now!
WHAT: CimaFest NOLA
WHEN: Saturday, April 29, 2023. Doors 8pm/Show 9pm
WHERE: The Civic Theatre, 510 O’Keefe Ave, New Orleans LA 70113
TICKETS: $50 on sale at the Civic Theatre website; https://civicnola.com/cimafest
