Sunday, May 17, 2009

African Arts Festival, St. Louis Art Museum
to present Mamadou Diabate, Zimbabwe Nkenya

Next weekend's St. Louis African Arts Festival includes a couple of events at the Saint Louis Art Museum that may be of interest to local fans of jazz and creative music.

Kora player Mamadou Diabate (pictured) will give a free concert at 7:00 p.m, Friday May 22 in the Grigg Gallery as part of the Museum's Art After 5 series. A native of Mali, Diabante has played at festivals and concert halls across North America, performing music that blends his African griot heritage with jazz and other contemporary sounds.

Then at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, the Museum will present St. Louis' own bassist, composer and mbira player Zimbabwe Nkenya in a musical "listen-and-learn" session as part of its Family Sunday series.

Both programs are free and open to the public, and admission to the Saint Louis Art Museum is free to all every day. For more information about the Saint Louis Art Museum, call 314-721-0072 or visit www.slam.org.

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