MAKING MOVIES IS TAKING THEIR ‘CARNAVAL’ ON THE ROAD W/ ALEX CUBA AND LAS CAFETERAS
By McKenzii Webster
(Los Angeles, CA - April 17, 2018).- For four weeks in the summer of 2018, venues across the USA will host the first ever Carnaval tour, curated by Making Movies. The concerts will invoke the spirit of a Latin American Carnaval where music, culture, and protest dance together. Carnaval: The Tour features special guests: Alex Cuba, Las Cafeteras, and Mariachi Flor De Toloache.
Carnaval The Tour is redefining folk in North America by highlighting the rich, but often overlooked, folk music of Latin America and the artists who are bringing it into the future. From Los Angeles to Cuba, Panama to New Orleans, Carnaval is a moment to let loose and express the resilience of the human spirit. It is an open and inclusive environment; a place where tradition and rebellion coexist.
The 21-date tour will begin on May 14 at Boulder, Colorado and end on June 9th in Kansas City. This one-of-a-kind concert experience is an extension of the Making Movies Carnaval, a music and arts festival founded by American rock'n'roll band Making Movies. Carnaval: The Tour celebrates Latino heritage in the United States by focusing on the integral role Latin music has played in the American story of folk, jazz, and rock'n'roll. "Celebrate Our Folk" is our way of saying "celebrate our America."
Making Movies is a known band that blends pulsing Afro-Latino rhythms, psychedelic jams and rock 'n' roll swagger into powerful live performances, full of theatrics and cathartic climaxes. Armed with the ambitious and politically charged 2017 release I Am Another You - "lyrically and sonically one of the best albums of the year," NPR raved - and a companion EP, You Are Another Me, the Kansas City band punches out one high-energy song after another. The foursome showcases their Latin American roots, with front man Enrique Chi incorporating traditional instruments like the Panamanian mejorana alongside electric guitar, or the Chaurand brothers swapping drums and percussion for a dueling zapateado huasteco, a traditional form of dance from Veracruz, Mexico. The band's political idea is straightforward enough that they can express it in four words: "We are all immigrants."
Alex Cuba, a forward-thinking, indie-minded artist who has amassed a steadily growing following among critics and fans will be the special guest at the tour for the first 14 dates. With over 20 awards and nominations to his name, including 4 Latin Grammys, two Juno Awards and three Grammy Nominations. His music at once incorporates his roots and is a unique amalgam of styles.
Las Cafeteras a Chicano band from East Los Angeles, California that fuses spoken word and folk music with traditional Son jarocho, Afro-Mexican music and zapateado dancing, will be another special guest joining Carnaval: The Tour on 7 dates.
