Chicago's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Making Black history happen now!
For 40 years the renowned Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (EHE) have defined and refined the possibilities of African and Jazz music. Their memorable live performances result in them regularly touring in North America, Europe and Asia. In February they will play more than 20 dates across Canada and the U.S. as well as in Pretoria, South Africa.
The EHE trio of Kahil El'Zabar, Ernest Khabeer Dawkins, and Corey Wilkes are currently preparing to release a new CD "Black is Back" while El'Zabar is the focus of a new documentary called BE KNOWN, by filmmaker Dwayne Johnson-Cochran.
Find out why this group was chosen to play at the Kennedy Centre last June and why Kahil El'Zabar is often referred to as modern jazz's "best-kept secret" and by the Kennedy Centre as "one of the most prolific jazz innovators of his generation".
The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. at Revival (783 College St. at Shaw, Toronto, ON) on Sunday February 2.
Doors open at 7 p.m. - More venue information at:
www.revivalbar.com
Email ehetoronto2014@gmail.com to secure $10 advance tickets. Tickets are $15 at the door. For more band and event information please contact Shane Gerard at 416-671-4667.
Who are the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (EHE)?
Kahil El'Zabar – Founder of the EHE and the Ritual Trio, this world renowned percussionist and composer is a master of many instruments like congas, bongos, African drums, shekere, gongs, trap drums, balaphon, marimba, kalimba, balaphon, and berimbau. He has worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Donny Hathaway, David Murray, Stevie Wonder, Henry Threadgill, Paul Simon, Nina Simone, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Bang, Hamiet Bluiett, Sonia Dada, Poi Dog Pondering and many others.
His talents also extend to scoring feature films like "Mo' Money" (Columbia Pictures) and "How U Like Me Now" (Universal Pictures) to creating the musical score for the New York theatre staging of The Lion King. He has also worked with Chicago house music innovators like Marshall Jefferson and Ten City. In 2006, the Deeper Soul Remix Project saw EHE songs revisioned by DJs/Producers like Osunlade, Henrik Schwarz, IG Culture, Charles Webster and Djinji Brown.
Some of the other awards El’Zabar has received include being named “Chicagoan of the year” in 2004 by the Chicago Tribune; percussionist of the year award from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2002, 2003 and 2005; and in 2010, the U.S. Embassy awarded El’Zabar the Cultural Diplomacy Award. This April the French government will make him a Chevalier of their Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at a ceremony in Paris.
Ernest "Khabeer" Dawkins - One of Chicago’s premier jazz saxophonists has extraordinary talents that extend to trap drums, African and Latin hand-percussion, saxophone, trombone, digeridoo, bass clarinet and kalimba among other instruments. Dawkins has worked with Ramsey Lewis, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, Edward Wilkerson, Jr., Henry Threadgill, Amina Claudine Meyers, Anthony Braxton, Jack McDuff, Famadou Don Moye, Jerry Butler, and the Dells. He also composed music for the documentary film Malcolm in 1995 under the direction of Alan Siegal.
Corey Wilkes – A young lion who roars in several music genres. Wilkes filled the vacant trumpet seat in the Art Ensemble of Chicago left by the late great Lester Bowie and has shared the stage with Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Ledisi, Soulive, Meshell Ndegeocello, Roscoe Mitchell, Will Calhoun, Malcom Jamal-Warner and more. His soulful notes can also be heard on DJ sets by Logic, Osunlade and Josh Deep. He also holds down posts as an Artist-in-Residence and Board Member with the Jazz Institute of Chicago and a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble links:
EHE Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/EthnicHeritageEnsemble
BE KNOWN trailer -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTqpp2xksE
Kennedy Center performance 2013 –
http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5486&type=A
Various EHE performances and songs:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ethnic+heritage+ensemble&sm=1
Deeper Soul Remix Project tracks:
http://www.beatport.com/release/deeper-soul-remix-project/27585
