Eli Winter / Amadou Kouyate
$10-$15 sliding scale
- Eli Winter, guitar
- Amadou Kouyate, kora
Chicago-based guitarist/composer Eli Winter's new self-titled album (Three Lobed Recordings) finds him building on the promise of his recent records with a gem of an album on which he leads an ad-hoc group that delicately balances a range of colors and moods. Winter is an accomplished player with impeccable technique and an unassuming virtuosity, capable of both mesmerizing intricacy and florid romanticism, but on Eli Winter he frequently plays a supporting role, creating ample room for his collaborators. The result is the sound of an artist escaping any lingering shadows of his primary influences and coming into his own. Assisted by a murderer's row of peers and contemporaries including Cameron Knowler, Yasmin Williams, David Grubbs, Ryley Walker, Tyler Damon, Jaimie Branch, and others, Eli Winter showcases a compositional depth and authoritative skill only hinted at on Winter’s rightfully acclaimed previous work.
Amadou Kouyate (DC) is the 150th generation of the Kouyate lineage and has studied and performed Manding music since the age of three years old. Amadou is a dynamic djembe and koutiro drummer. He also plays the 21-string kora, which he learned first with his father, Djimo Kouyate and other master Diali – oral historians/musicians – of Manding tradition in West Africa. Amadou has brought his music to The Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institution, Bristol Academy, and Isle of Wight in England; Tim Festival in Brazil; as well as the Lowell, East-Lansing, and Dayton National Folk Festivals. He collaborated with Sweet Honey in The Rock at Carnegie Hall and performed at the Victoria World Rhythm Festival.