The Festival: OKAN (Dance/World/Afro-Cuban)

OKAN follows up on their Juno-nominated and Independent Music Award-winning debut album Sombras, with their 2021 JUNO Award-winning album Espiral, taking the prize for World Music Album of the Year. OKAN, is a women-led ensemble that fuses Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, courage and love. Blending traditional Cuban music, jazz, and contemporary Afro-Cuban sounds, OKAN embraces every culture and welcomes it as its own. OKAN has  great sophistication in their music which showcases the evolution of Cuban music outside of Cuba.

Lead vocalist in OKAN, Elizabeth Rodriguez, born in Havana, is a violinist and was a Concertmaster of the Havana Youth Orchestra. Since moving to Canada in 2013, Rodriguez has been pursuing her musical career as a singer and violinist for several bands including the Juno-winning band of Jane Bunnett & Maqueque and The Battle of Santiago.

Drummer/percussionist Magdelys Savigne was born in Santiago de Cuba and is an award-winning percussionist, vocalist and composer.  Savigne is also a member of Maqueque and the Battle of Santiago, as well as Bill King’s Rhythm Express. As renowned soloists in their own right, they combine their individual careers and backgrounds into a deeply profound soul.

Rodriguez and Savigne will be joined by a formidable rhythm section,  Frank Martinez Nodarse on drums, Roberto Riveron on bass, and Jeremy Ledbetter on keys.

Opening Act – Jeff Rabena