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TJOVI GINEN
SATURDAY JULY 21
WESTMINSTER STREET STAGE | 11PM
Tjovi Ginen, which roughly means "children or spirit of Africa", invokes their message of freedom through a blend of African, Latin and Haitian vodou rhythms. Their lyrics lace each track with Reggae, Ska and Jamaican dub poetry and unfold stories of struggle and triumph, pain, power and love. Daniel Laurent, founder and leader of the band, fled Duvalier's brutal regime with his family at the age of 11. Educated at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and Harvard University, Laurent immersed himself in the city's Haitian music scene, forming the group Batwal Rada in the 1980's. He studied the tanbou, the nuances of Haitian vodou rhythms and the origins of Ra Ra, or spiritual street-festival music. As the Haitian Roots Movement began to reach its peak and Haiti became a political volcano, Laurent branched out and formed Tjovi Ginen, a more politically charged collective that incorporates the roots and rhythms of the island nation and its mother, Africa. The band is a primary example of how Haitian roots music has no boundaries and embraces all colors, nations and creeds. The problems of Haiti are universal - struggle, oppression, poverty - but in the words of Laurent, Ginen's music is "vibrant.taking root in both Africa and Haiti, so we know that there's joy in the message and in the struggle."
Myspace.com/tjoviginen »