Santa Monica College (SMC) will host virtuoso musician Prince Diabaté and ethnomusicologist Ric Alviso in “The Ancestor of Hip-Hop and the Blues: A Performance-Lecture with Prince Diabaté, a Griot from West Africa.” The presentation will focus on the griot tradition, which connects with African history and modern-day music styles such as hip-hop, the blues, and salsa.
The performance-lecture is free and will be presented twice:
• Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 11:15 a.m. in the SMC Student Services Center, Orientation Hall (SSC 183), located on the main SMC campus at 1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, and
• Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in The Edye at the SMC Performing Arts Center, located at 1310 11th Street (at Santa Monica Boulevard), Santa Monica.
Prince Diabaté is a griot, or traditional storyteller, musician, and poet from Guinea, West Africa. Born into a family of musicians who have been documenting history in song since the 12th century, he is a virtuoso musician on the 21-stringed harp called the kora.
Ethnomusicologist Ric Alviso is a composer and a Professor of Music at CSU Northridge. He has also been teaching at SMC since 1994.
The event is sponsored by the SMC Associates.
More information is available by calling the SMC Office of Public Programs at 310-434-4100.
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