UPCOMING EVENTS
GreenRoom Exchange is excited to present Malian Kora Master Youcouba Sissoko
Friday, April 5, 2024 at 7PM at Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center 141 E Main St, Lexington, KY
A renowned Kora Master, Yacouba Sissoko comes from a Djeli family of Malian musicians dating back centuries. He has modernized the Kora sound collaborating with contemporary music greats such as Harry Belafonte, Lauryn Hill and Paul Simon.
For centuries, Djelis (or Griot in French) have been the musical storytellers, a position that is inherited through a family bloodline. Highly respected within their communities, they are the keepers of the factual history and the fictional fables of past rulers, nobles, social groups and families.
Join us as Yacouba and 4 other master musicians from Mali take us on a journey to West African! Their music is mesmerizing!
PAST EVENTS
GreenRoom Exchange presents Malian Kora Master Youcouba Sissoko - April 5, 2024
A renowned Kora Master, Yacouba Sissoko comes from a Djeli family of Malian musicians dating back centuries. He has modernized the Kora sound collaborating with contemporary music greats such as Harry Belafonte, Lauryn Hill and Paul Simon.
For centuries, Djelis (or Griot in French) have been the musical storytellers, a position that is inherited through a family bloodline. Highly respected within their communities, they are the keepers of the factual history and the fictional fables of past rulers, nobles, social groups and families.
Join us as Yacouba and 4 other master musicians from Mali take us on a journey to West African! Their music is mesmerizing!
Live Video Taping Session with Senegalese singer Alioune Guisse and his All-Star Band - February 17, 2024
GreenRoom Exchange Presented a Very Special PopUp Concert, a Live Video Taping Session with Senegalese singer Alioune Guisse and his All-Star Band.
The album was recorded in Dakar Senegal and our hometown of Lexington KY using the finest musicians from two continents.
Alioune was joined by guitarist Abdulaye Kone from the Ivory Coast of West Africa (appeared with Alioune in 2022), Haitian drummer Johnbern Thomas (who played here with Paul Beaubrun in December), bassist Rade Bemamg from Madagascar, Lexington’s Percussionist Ibrahima Diop from Senegal, and producer/keyboardist Lee Carroll.
GreenRoom Exchange & Origins Jazz Presents The Leo Genovese Trio - Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 6PM
Leo Genovese Trio includes:
Leo Genovese – piano
Jeff Williams – drums
Francesco Marcocci – bass
Leo’s brilliance is unquestioned, having recently received a Grammy Award for his solo on Wayne Shorter’s last record “Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival”, and awarded “Rising Star on Piano” in Downbeat Magazine’s latest poll,. He has released eleven albums as a leader and appeared on dozens as a sideman. Leo tours with The Mars Volta when not pursuing his own projects.
In a career spanning fifty years drummer Jeff Williams has played with a litany of jazz greats: Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, and Dave Liebman’s Lookout Farm, Joe Lovano and Tom Harrel. Jeff has recorded seven albums for the Whirlwind Recordings label.
Live Video Taping Session with Senegalese singer Alioune Guisse and his All-Star Band - February 17, 2024
GreenRoom Exchange Presented a Very Special PopUp Concert, a Live Video Taping Session with Senegalese singer Alioune Guisse and his All-Star Band.
The album was recorded in Dakar Senegal and our hometown of Lexington KY using the finest musicians from two continents.
Alioune was joined by guitarist Abdulaye Kone from the Ivory Coast of West Africa (appeared with Alioune in 2022), Haitian drummer Johnbern Thomas (who played here with Paul Beaubrun in December), bassist Rade Bemamg from Madagascar, Lexington’s Percussionist Ibrahima Diop from Senegal, and producer/keyboardist Lee Carroll.
GreenRoom Exchange: Good Giving Challenge
We want to thank you for being a good friend and supporter of GreenRoom Exchange! This year instead of our Celebrate The Creative fundraiser we have had over the years, we are participating in the Good Giving Challenge.
Haitian Singer/Guitarist/Humanitarian Paul Beaubrun Dec. 2, 2023
A multi-talented Haitian Roots and Blues musician. Paul has been lighting up European, Montreal and US festivals for years with his high energy and contagious rhythmic music. Paul weaves his impeccable guitar skills, rich vocal and musical ingenuity into something special. He is also well known for his role in the band Arcade Fire.
“One Man, One Piano, One Extraordinary Experience” Grammy Award Winning Argentine Pianist - Leo Genovese
July 15, 2023
Performing solo, improvisation, and Argentinian folk inspired piano. When we first saw Leo Genovese perform his fingers flew over the keys with such speed, precision, passion and intensity that it took our breath away. He performs with the Esperanza Spalding Group, Wayne Shorter Group and Jack Dejohnette, but may be most visible right now as the touring keyboardist for reunited progressive rockers the Mars Volta.
Renowned Ghanian Master Percussionist Gideon Alorwoyie and Afrikania
Aug 5, 2023
Experience Afrikania’s high energy performance in traditional costume followed by Lee Carroll’s C the Beat. They’ll rock the house and get you moving! Sunday join a workshop a to learn African drumming and dance. Our travels to Gideon’s home in the Volta region of Ghana has helped us understand his mission to preserve this ancient form of communication through drums and dance.
Venezuelan Harpist & US Banjoist - Larry Bellorin & Joe Troop
Feb 19, 2023
LARRY BELLORÍN from Monagas, Venezuela is a legend of Llanera music. JOE TROOP, from North Carolina is a GRAMMY nominated Bluegrass/ old time musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe’s acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he started working with asylum seeking migrants. Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters are on a mission to show that music has no borders.
Celebrate The Creative highlights local international Artist Grant winners:
Dec 17, 2022
We are excited to introduce:
Lakshmi Sriraman, from India, will present an original dance that incorporates Bharatanatyam folk dance, classical Carnatic music and poetry with music she’s recorded in India.
Sophia Wiunda, from Tanzania, will provide a fashion show of African designs she has tailored.
Regina Harris, from Angola, and her students will perform Capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts that originated in Angola as a form of vibration/dance used by slaves to keep their culture alive.
Senegalese Singer/Composer-Alioune Guisse and Lee Carroll’s C The Beat
Aug 27, 2022
This concert is the culmination of two years of work between Senegalese singer/songwriter Alioune Guisse, and Lexington musician/producer Lee Carroll. It involved two trips to Senegal to record in studios in Dakar (during the pandemic) with the top Senegalese musicians, and numerous trips to Lexington to record in Duane Lundy’s Lexington Recording Company with Lexington’s. finest.musicians.
C The Beat presents AFRICAN MASTERS – Gideon Alorwoyie & George Dzikunu
Apr. 21, 2022
Gideon Alorwoyie (founder of the Afrikania Cultural Troupe of Ghana, West Africa) and George Dzikunu (former director of Adzido, and the Pan African Dance Ensemble). Expect an exciting dialog between Africa and the New World as we explore sounds from West Africa, Cuba, Brazil, Jamaica and the US.
C The Beat is: Lee Carroll keys, Robert Frahm guitar, Tripp Bratton drums, Thomas Usher bass and Jonathan Barrett saxes. Also, special guest Chase Fleming on trombone, ocarina and didgeridoo.
The International Artist Commission Grant Winners Artist Showcase
December 5th 2021
Introducing you to our local award recipients: These local artists are expressing themselves in ways that reflect their country of origin. They each have a profound story of how they came to Lexington and an artistic project that reflects their talent and history.
Teddy Kabengele – Musician with a live gospel music project, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, refugee from Zambia
Aous Naasree – Graphic artist working on fabric, leather and paper with a design inspired by Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, from Iraq, refugee from Syria
Yamukumba M’baya – Photographer with a photojournalism project, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and refugee Zimbabwe
Celebrate The Creative 2020
August 29 – August 30 2020
Our fundraiser, Celebrate The Creative has gone VIRTUAL! It is on Facebook and our website to benefit Greenroom Exchange. It will include MUSIC videos posted by our friends from Ghana, Senegal and Cuba along with local talent and donations of creative arts by friends in our community, all coming together to support GREENROOM EXCHANGE!
Voices of Africa - Senegal & Ghana
September 6, 2019
This event highlights an exciting interplay between Senegalese singer Alioune Guisse and Ghanian drummers and dancers Godwin Abotse and Gidi Agbeko along with local musicians. They will be performing at the Roots and Heritage Festival and at a special Garden Concert. The point is to illustrate the joy and magic that happens with cultural exchange.
Xiomara Laugart and Axel Laugert
May 31. 2019
The renowned Cuban singer, Xiomora Laugart, her son virtuoso pianist, Axel Tosca Laugart, brilliant composer and saxophonist, Jonathan Ragonese, and a supporting cast of world class New York musicians including a string sextet and jazz quartet will perform traditional Cuban songs. Known as the Voice of Cuba and internationally acclaimed, Xiomara has recorded over 17 albums and appeared on Broadway as Celia Cruz. Axel, a rising star in the New York jazz scene, is wowing audiences everywhere, hosting a regular Latin jam at NYC Zinc Bar and touring abroad.
