Manno Charlemagne
singing at the Maysles
Cinema on May 18
After almost 20 years, Manno Charlemagne,
the Haitian folksinger
whose lyrics and melodies have inspired
a generation of Haitian activists
and revolutionaries, is fi nally returning
to perform in Brooklyn, NY, where he
spent many of his most prolifi c years in
the early 1980s exiled by the Duvalier
regime.
On Sat., Jun. 5, 2010, he will
perform at Haïti Liberté at 1583 Albany
Avenue in the heart of Brooklyn’s Little
Haiti neighborhood.
Manno last performed a public
concert in Brooklyn in 1992, after being
briefl y imprisoned by military authorities
and then taking refuge in the
Argentinian Embassy following the
1991 coup d’état that overthrew President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Prior to his concert, there will be a
presentation of a 52-minute fi lm about
his life and music entitled “Dans la
Gueule du Crocodile” (In the Crocodile’s
Mouth), produced in 1998 by Catherine
Larivain and Lucie Ouimet (in Kreyòl
and French with no subtitles).
After being elected as the mayor
of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in
1995, Manno served a tumultuous and
truncated term, which is well illustrated
in the fi lm.
Since 1999, the singer has lived
mostly in Miami, performing twice
weekly with his band at the celebrated
Tap Tap Restaurant in South Beach,
with occasional forays to Canada and
Europe.
On May 18, Haitian Flag Day, he
gave a solo performance at the Maysles
Cinema to an enthusiastic audience in
Harlem. On May 20, he also performed
one of his signature songs – “Banm
Yon Ti Limyè” (Give Me a Little Light)
– at the star-studded gala benefi t for the
Jazz Foundation of America at Harlem’s
historic Apollo Theatre.
The performance and fi lm presentation
at Haïti Liberté will begin at
7 p.m.. A contribution of $10 is requested. |