In Memory of Frisner Augustin
1948 – 2012
Saturday, June 25, 2022
8 pm (Doors open at 7:15)
Rooftop Terrace @ Brooklyn Commons 495 Flatbush Avenue
Little Caribbean in Flatbush, Brooklyn (map)
Photo by Chantal Regnault, 1987
MAKANDAL PRESENTS A TRIP TO VODOU JAZZ: IN MEMORY OF MASTER DRUMMER FRISNER AUGUSTIN ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS PASSING
On Saturday, June 25, 2022, La Troupe Makandal, one of the Haitian diaspora’s longest-lived performing arts companies, will host a concert in tribute to Master Drummer Frisner Augustin. Mr. Augustin introduced La Troupe Makandal to the Haitian community in Brooklyn when it emigrated from Haiti in 1981, and he served as its Artistic Director until his sudden passing in 2012. The June 25 tribute begins at 8:00 PM on the Rooftop Terrace of Brooklyn Commons at 495 Flatbush Avenue in the Flatbush neighborhood, a.k.a. Little Caribbean. Audience may gather on the mezzanine from 7:15 PM.
This tenth anniversary commemoration pays homage to Mr. Augustin’s lifelong passion for jazz. He learned to drum in the temples of Vodou, an Afro-Haitian spiritual practice. During his teens choreographer André Germain introduced him to Lina Mathon Blanchet, who brought him into her Vodou jazz ensemble, and he relocated to New York with the band Jazz des Jeunes in 1972. Augustin later worked with jazz artists Kip Hanrahan and Andrew Cyrille, but he also experimented with his own brand of Vodou jazz with Makandal. The fusion of Vodou song and drumming styles with the harmonies of North American jazz echo and sustain a musical tradition beginning in such sites of earlier Haitian diasporas as New Orleans.
Makandal will present its own drumming ensemble (Renald St. Juste, Steve Deats, Kesler Pierre, and Paul Uhry Newman) in collaboration with the Michael LeMorin Quartet (Michael LeMorin, Chris Fletcher, Bobby Raymond, and Brian Carter) and with vocalist Sirène Dantor René.
Tickets: At the door, or click/tap below for advance purchase
GENERAL ADMISSION $18 STUDENT/SENIOR ADMISSION $15
Resources:
Frisner Augustin Memorial Archive
Frisner Augustin Archive on YouTube
Frisner Augustin Biography on Wikipedia
Michael LeMorin Web Page
Michael LeMorin YouTube Channel
Michael LeMorin Facebook Musician Page
Information:
718-953-6638, makandal@earthlink.net
Download press release HERE.
A Trip to Vodou Jazz is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).
Additional funding has been provided by the NYSCA–A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program).
Page banner: Detail from photo by Lois Wilcken: Makandal at The Town Hall, New York City, 22 September 1989
Photo of Frisner Augustin by Chantal Regnault
Vèvè (sacred diagram) for Ountò, the drum spirit, public domain, edited by Kesler Pierre and Lois Wilcken
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