Yacub Addy accepts his NEA National Heritage Fellowship award from National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Ladesman at an awards ceremony at the Library of Congress on September 22, 2010. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships are the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. At the ceremony, Rocco Landesman said, "A master of the traditional Ga music, Yacub Addy is a generous mentor of aspiring drummers as well as a collaborator with jazz and popular musicians, who has created new works that speak to issues of social and cultural relevance today."
Yacub Addy and Odadaa! are so proud to have appeared at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC with Wynton Marsalis in “LET FREEDOM SWING: A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA”, an event honoring President Barack Obama's Inauguration and Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday on 01/19/09.
Jazz titan Marsalis and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor led the all-star event which included many jazz greats and hosts Angela Basset and Courtney Vance.
Yacub Addy’s Odadaa! played with Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performing "Ajeseke", a dynamic piece from Congo Square, the ground-breaking two hour co-composition Addy and Marsalis wrote together.
Tues Oct 7, 7-9 pm: Showing of documentary Fauberg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans in Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall.
Wed Oct 15, 7-9 pm: Showing of the DVD Congo Square, the performance of Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis's composition at the 07 Montreal Jazz Festival, in Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall.
Thurs Oct 23, 8-9:15 pm: "Challenges of Creating Congo Square: Working With Wynton," a lecture-demonstration by Yacub and Amina Addy Yacub and Amina Addy will present a lecture-demonstration re Mr. Addy's acclaimed collaboration with Wynton Marsalis which incorporates video footage of the New Orleans premiere and 07 Montreal Jazz Festival concert, photos by Jazz at Lincoln Center's award winning photographer Frank Stewart, personal stories of the history of the collaboration, demonstration of rhythms incorporated into the piece, and q&a. Filene Recital Hall.
Sat Nov 1, 8-10 pm: Yacub Addy's Odadaa!, traditional and creative music and dance from Ghana, concert in Filene Recital Hall.
Yacub sits in with the Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet on the main stage of the Albany Tulip Festival on a beautiful sunny Sunday in Washington Park in Albany, NY.This music is an accessible and exuberant achievement, a tonic for the pop weary. It richly deserves an audience.”
- Mike Hopping
Asheville, NC
The DVD captures the exceptional 2-hour performance of Congo Square (composed by Wynton Marsalis and Yacub Addy) at the Montreal Jazz Festival 2007. The piece was also performed by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Yacub Addy’s ensemble Odadaa!. Available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Netflix, and Emarcy Records (for international purchases).
Yacub Addy spent a week in Burbank, CA, at Glenwood Studios with renowned producer Delfeayo Marsalis and engineer Patrick Smith (of the Tonight Show), remixing the Congo Square recording in 5.1 surround sound for later release.
Written by Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis as a continuous composition with 15 movements, it’s best to purchase the whole album, then you also receive a digital copy of the 28-page booklet with informative articles by Yacub Addy and Wynton Marsalis, and song translations. Just type in “Yacub Addy” and you will find the listing.
