With the performance of Mauritanian griot musician and singer Noura Mint Seymali and Brooklyn-based Ethiopian jazz act Anbessa Orchestra in late March, and the upcoming shows from Brooklyn from Zimbabwean rhythm kings Mokoomba on Tuesday, April 9, the State House, our fair city’s most precocious young venue, has kicked off its World Beat concert series, allowing locals to explore the fertile frontier of international grooves without having to leave the comfort of the Elm City.
“A goal of mine has always been to have a world music series going,” said Rick Omonte, the man behind Shaki Presents, the production company responsible for curating the State House’s polyglot program of disparate acts strung together by the slender thread of the phrase “world beat.”
Omonte knows that a phrase like that is necessarily fraught.
“Back in the ‘80s people would say ‘world music’ and you could feel the room cringing, it was sort of this coffee house, kind of really tepid thing came to mind,” Omonte said. “That’s not what we’re talking about here.”
Even before the State House officially opened its doors in its current location, it was using The Grove, a collaborative space on Chapel Street around the corner from (and abutting) the State House’s current location. Omonte brought in acts like Mali’s Cheick Hamala Diabate, Texas-based modern cumbia act Money Chicha, and the New York-based Ethio-groove acolytes Anbessa Orchestra.
“Slate (Ballard), one of the owners (of Statehouse), said something the other day that I kind of really like,” Omonte said. “He said ‘it’s like a passport.’ Travel tickets are expensive. Not a lot of us have a lot of time off. Not a lot of us can afford to go anywhere. So, you know what? We’ll bring the world here. It may sound a little corny but our hearts in the right place.”
“We’re trying to build trust with the community,” Omonte added. “We want people to say ‘hey, I was at this other show that kicked my butt, maybe tonight’s show will kick my butt too. It’s the same promoter. Same presentation.’” He hopes it will be somewhat akin to finding a record label with a great line-up: If you like a few acts on the label, you are likely more open to the label’s other acts.
Brian Slattery Photo
Omonte has been putting on shows in Connecticut since the early ‘90s, but before joining the State House, he hadn’t had a venue at his back full-time since the end of his eight-year run booking “Sundazed at Bar.” Now that he has teamed up with the State House, that’s changed. He’s been able to start fishing a little deeper in the reservoir of burgeoning international acts. Buzz has been growing, attendance has been trending upward, and Omonte is hoping that will continue.
But what fits in the world beat series? What doesn’t?
“We had a great Swedish punk band play last year, but I wouldn’t really put that with the world beat,” Omonte said.
“World”? Sure. “Beat”? It’s music. Isn’t it? But “world beat”? Not quite. It’s a bit of a know-it-when-you-see-it kind of thing.
“It’s exciting. It’s a little bit different, a little edgy,” Omonte said. All of these bands, however, have in common that they blend traditional music from somewhere in the world with modern grooves to generate a sound that is strange and infectious, otherworldly and yet oddly familiar.
Omonte is meticulous in his pursuit of putting on a good show, obsessive in his drive to find new music and sincere in his desire to share an authentic experience with his community. “It’s a sickness,” Omonte remarked on his insatiable appetite for new sounds. “I do it all day at work, and then I come home and do the same thing.”
Following one’s passion is rarely a sure strategy for running a business, especially for music that would have seemed so niche just a few years ago. But things seem to be panning out pretty well.
“I feel like there is a tide coming in,” Omonte said. “Certainly, vinyl has something to do with it. You’ve got labels reissuing Holy Grail Brazilian records, and the heads are hearing it and they’re making the taste.… But if you go to the bigger cities like New York, in Brooklyn there are shows like this all the time and there is everything else going on too, there is enough space for it all to exist without stepping on anyone’s toes.”
New Haven is not New York. But the greater New Haven area is now famously a microcosm for the demographics of the United States as a whole. So while the State House isn’t drawing from a well of 10 million residents, it is drawing from a diverse crowd. Noura Mint Seymali’s audience was a perfect example of the broad reaching appeal of world beat, attracting skinny jeans, a few pairs of comfy slacks, and some grass-stained New Balances. Though many of the names on this upcoming concert series may not be immediately recognizable, the vibes are, and they’re worth seeking out.
Mokoomba plays at the State House on April 9, followed by Combo Chimbita on May 2, and Los Mirlos on May 15, with more shows following. For a complete listing visit the State House’s website.