Etienne Charles + Creole Soul

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

TIME: 7:15-8:15PM

VENUE: WEST STAGE. MIDWAY PLAISANCE AT South ELLIS AVE.

ETIENNE CHARLES

Trinidad-born Etienne Charles is a performer, composer, and storyteller continuously on the search for untold stories and sounds with which to tell them. He is a firm believer in music and performance as tools for provoking thought and dialogue. 

Charles researches his compositions by travelling to the regions on which he is focused, meeting with musicians and cultural leaders, and observing and participating in rituals in order to become fully immersed in the cultures he is studying. His mission to highlight  marginalized communities is evidenced by his projects, including Carnival: The Sound of a People Vol. 1, San Jose Suite, Creole Soul, and Folklore, and his dedication to the preservation of artistic traditions in his homeland has led him to form the carnival bands We the People, Street Party, D’longtime Band, and, most recently, Euphoria, which in 2020 featured a full brass band riding a truck through the streets of Woodbrook and Port of Spain, playing vintage calypso and soca. 

Charles’ live concerts engage, enlighten, educate, and enrich audiences with energized, multidisciplinary performances featuring original compositions, thematic improvisation, dance, short films, and spoken word. 

Among other honors, Charles has been granted a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, a Caribbean Heritage Trailblazer Award, a Michigan State University Teacher Scholar Award, and a Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award. He has been written into the U.S. Congressional Record for his musical contributions in Trinidad and Tobago, and featured as a panelist and performer at the White House.  

He has been featured as a bandleader at jazz festivals around the world, and as a sideman he has performed with and/or arranged for Roberta Flack, Marcus Roberts, Marcus Miller, Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Big Band, and many others. He has been commissioned to compose or arrange for the Savannah Music Festival, Chamber Music America, Charleston Jazz Orchestra, and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami.

The musicians:

Etienne Charles - trumpet /percussion

Harvel Nakundi - drums

Godwin Louis - saxophone

Alex Wintz - guitar

Barry Stephenson - bass

Axel Tosca Laugart - piano