Singing the Bones Music Salon w Lydia Violet, M'Gilvry Allen, & Kele Nitoto

Through an evening that is part musical performance & part sing-a-long, artist-activist Lydia Violet takes us into the realms of Singing the Bones, a program she has spent these past years working on, encouraging the reconnection to ancestral cultures through music and story. Many of us grow up disconnected from our ancestral cultures, requiring us to consciously turn towards our histories and study to learn the foods, festivities, folklore, and songs that lay there. Tonight is a celebration of three American artists who have pursued this path of connection, sharing some of the bounties of what they have found.

Lydia will share songs from her Iranian heritage, rich with poetry and longing. M'Gilvry Allen will share fiddle tunes and ballads from his Scottish and Irish ancestries, luring us in with rhythm and strings. And Kele Nitoto will share music from Haiti, Congo, and West Africa, drawing from his multiple generations of a musical family from Oakland itself. And for the first time, these three artists will collaborate together on some songs!

You're invited to come and enjoy the sounds, and learn some tunes as well! We will also teach you some songs throughout the night, summoning the joy of singing together. We hope to weave a soulful thread for that which feels tattered and longs for peace and reconnection.

Doors at 7: Show at 7:30

Hosted at Euclid Manor, Oakland, address sent upon ticket purchase

$25, no one turned away for lack of funds

Lydia Violet: Lydia is an Iranian-Armenian-American multi-instrumentalist weaving together Southern blues, American roots, and Iranian folk music traditions. With her live band she combines fiddle, banjo, and luscious harmonies to offer a soul-folk revival experience. In the past year she has collaborated with world-renowned artists Rising Appalachia, MaMuse, and Lyla June. ♬ www.lydiafiddle.com ♬

Kele Nitoto: Kele Nitoto is a second generation African-American percussionist and singer. Born and raised in the Oakland Dance Culture, Kele Has studied with masters of many styles, becoming proficient in West-African, Congolese, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Peruvian, and Afro-Haitian traditional musics. Over the last 25 years, Kele has performed internationally in dance companies, bands, and teaching workshops and classes, summer camps, spiritual and workplace retreats, and for countless ceremonies and celebrations.

M'Gilvry Allen: M’Gilvry Allen will bring with him a set of fiddle tunes from his ancestral Scottish lineages and the diaspora of Scottish & Irish immigrants through eastern North America. M’Gilvry also writes original music and tours with several projects, including Maya Elise & The Good Dream, Josiah Johnson, and the Feelings Parade. His work can be found at mgilvryallen.com