In October 2014, the groundbreaking music diplomacy project OneBeat brought 25 musicians from 17 countries around the world to the U.S. for a month of collaboration. 2014’s OneBeat program began with a two-week residency at the Montalvo Arts Center in the Bay Area followed by a two-week tour to Los Angeles, Arizona, and New Mexico. In each of these locations OneBeat musicians spent several days performing, leading youth workshops, and facilitating public music-making events. OneBeat is an initiative of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation.
Events
OneBeat SF – October 15th, 2014
San Francisco, CA
2 – 5pm / Pop-up performances in iconic spaces around the city / Free
7-11pm / Public Works / $10 suggested donation | Invitation
Found Sound Nation and the Global Lives Project present OneBeat SF, a music-media event featuring 20+ artists and musicians mixing melodies, vocals and beats against the backdrop of Global Lives video work.OneBeat musicians and staff partner with Bay Area independent filmmakers, COMPOUND and the creative agency Projector to produce a series of spontaneous live pop-up performances and video shoots throughout San Francisco. Write email hidden; JavaScript is requiredfor more details about locations.
A one-of-a-kind audio-video jam, works performed at OneBeatSF are a radical re-imagining of \’world music\’ – with works created exclusively for this event via a seven-day collaboration-convergence of artists and musicians from around the globe. Colombian percussion, Arabic classical vocals, Ukrainian indie rock, reimagined Kyrgyz folk tunes and more, will be juxtaposed against videos of everyday life from around the world produced by the Global Lives Collective.
Public Works 161 Erie Street San Francisco, CA 94103 | publicsf.com
OneBeat Montalvo – October 19th, 2014
Saratoga, CA
11am – 4pm / Montalvo Arts Center / Free | Invitation
A multi-location music performance that explores the musical potential of the extraordinary grounds of the Montalvo Arts Center.
Part concert, part musical festival, the program will feature small group performances staged throughout Montalvo\’s grounds and buildings that showcase unique new works created by OneBeat during their month-long stay at the Lucas Artists Residency Program. Guests are invited to mingle among the musicians as they perform and later gather in the Garden Theatre for a longer ensemble performance.
Montalvo Arts Center 15400 Montalvo Rd Saratoga, CA 95071 | montalvoarts.org
Sonos Showcase: Improvising Democracy – October 22nd, 2014
Los Angeles, CA
Sonos Showcase: Improvising Democracy
8 – 10pm / Sonos Studios / Free with RSVP | Invitation
Improvisation in the 21st Century – An Exploration of Improvisation and Technology in partnership with Ableton and Blue Note.
This interactive performance will feature a global mix of OneBeat musicians as they explore diverse styles of musical improvisation from straight-ahead jazz to Cuban rumba to interaction with intelligent technologies, powered by innovative music software Ableton Live. OneBeat uses musical improvisation as a means of international diplomacy, as well as an allegory for freedom of expression, collective creativity, and authentic cross-cultural exchange. Presented in partnership with Ableton, and celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Blue Note records.
Sonos Studio 145 N La Brea Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036 | sonos-studio.com
Mariachi Plaza: Musical Muertos Mundiales – October 24th, 2014
Los Angeles, CA
Mariachi Plaza: Musical Muertos Mundiales
7-10 pm / Mariachi Plaza & Mbar / Free | Invitation
1Beat & the Boyle Heights Farmers Market present Musical Muertos Mundiales: A celebration of musical cultures from around the world and from three historic neighborhoods in downtown LA: Boyle Heights, the Arts District, and Little Tokyo.
Colliding sounds and stories from around the world on the stage of one of LA\’s most beloved public performance spaces. OneBeat at Mariachi Square features the music of 25 OneBeat Fellows — young professional musicians from 17 countries who all share a desire to use their music to make the world a better place — in collaboration with young musicians from the historic Boyle Heights & Little Tokyo neighborhoods. This concert will explore the visible and invisible boundaries in the City of Angels and around the world, as well as ways that music can be used to bridge cultural gaps with the power of groovy beats and mesmerizing melodies. This will be followed by a Halloween dance after-party across the street at the M Bar. After party will feature local Cumbia band A Poco No, plus DJ sets from 1Beat fellows & local tropical DJ, Fresko.
Mariachi Plaza Pleasant Ave Los Angeles, CA 90033 | mariachiplazalosangeles.com
M Bar Boyle Heights 1846 E 1st St Los Angeles, CA 90033 |facebook.com/mbarboyleheights
OneBeat Living Room Concert – October 25th, 2014
Los Angeles, CA
8-11 pm / Art Share L.A. / Free | Invitation
A musical immersion in the global collaborative laboratory of OneBeat at Arts Share L.A.Welcome to the global collaborative laboratory of OneBeat, where 25 musicians from around the world will fill the many rooms of the Art Share building with performances and sound installations that bridge sonic and social worlds. Part house party, part participatory sound experiment, part geo-political dialogue, this unforgettable evening will trace the musical connections between oft-estranged continents, neighborhoods, and ideologies.
Art Share L.A. 801 E 4th Pl Los Angeles, CA 90013 | artsharela.org
OneBeat Arcosanti – October 28th, 2014
Arcosanti, AZ
7-9 pm (dinner at 6pm for $10) / Arcosanti / Free with RSVP | Invitation
This intimate performance will utilize the unique desert architecture and acoustics of Arcosanti, as we explore themes of human beings\’ relationship with natural forces, and reflect on how humanity has changed the ecology and landscape.
Hailing from Egypt to Venezuela, this year’s fellows include a percussionist and educator from Recife, Brazil; a singer-songwriter and composer from Istanbul, Turkey; an experimental vocalist from Java, Indonesia; and twenty-two other incredible musicians. We are excited to introduce you to this exceptionally diverse crew, and to invite you to see and hear the explosion of new multimedia content that they will soon share with the world. Admission is FREE, but registration is absolutely required. Dinner will be available at 6 pm in the Arcosanti Cafe @$10 per person and will include vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free options.
Cafe At Arcosanti 13555 S Cross L Rd Cordes Lakes, AZ 86333 | arcosanti.org
Sister Round Robin – October 30th, 2014
Albuquerque, NM
Sister Round Robin 8pm / Sister Bay Abq / Free | Invitation
Sister Bar will host musicians from across ABQ and around the world in a rolling, spontaneous improv session, ranging from the funky to the sublime.
A warm-up to our Nov 1 performance at the Rail Yards, this spontaneous round-robin improv session will bring together OneBeat musicians — 25 socially engaged musicians from 17 countries — and a group of musicians from ABQ in an improv session that spans genres and continents. Ranging from the funky to the sublime, the absurd to the awesome, come be a part of this unique music and geo-political dialogue, and hang out with an incredible crew of musicians from every corner of the globe.
Sister Bar 407 Central Ave NW Albuquerque, NM 87102 | sisterthebar.com
OneBeat Albuquerque – November 1st, 2014
Albuquerque, NM
5-9pm / Rail Yards / $5 suggested donation | Invitation
Wedged in between Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos, this event will partner a global cadre musicians with a crew of ABQ artists to celebrate a global diversity of musical and artistic expressions of the journeys of spirit.
The theme of this year’s OneBeat is the Audible Invisible, finding sonic expressions for the invisible powers that control us, from gravity to electromagnetism to culture. The Rail Yards show on November 1 – wedged between Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos – will explore concepts of Spirit, one of the great invisible human universals. While the OneBeat musicians come from radically different backgrounds and religious beliefs (or lack thereof), they are all fascinated with the journey of spirit and particularly the notions of “thresholds” which spirits cross in life, death and other transformations. Interwoven with this musical performance will be art and video installations along these same themes. Featured visual artists include Augustine Romero, Michelle Montjoy, Ellen Babcock and others to be announced.
Save the date and don’t miss OneBeat Albuquerque!
Albuquerque Rail Yards Blacksmith Shop (“The Yards”)
777 1st St. SW (between Stover & Hazeldine Streets south of Coal Ave.) | facebook/thealbuquerquerailyards
