Imaginary Dialogues: Dahomey with Yosvany Terry and Afro-Cuban Roots

Yosvany Terry is celebrated as a brilliant saxophonist, chekeré virtuoso, and visionary composer. He masterfully integrates the traditional sounds of his native Cuba with innovative, fiery post-bop, and sophisticated harmonies. Drawing inspiration from the musical traditions of the Old Kingdom of Dahomey—what is now present-day Benin and known in Cuba as Arará—Terry's Afro-Cuban Roots: Ye-dé-gbé ensemble introduces audiences to ceremonial Afro-Cuban music blended with the contemporary sounds of New York.

This ArtsThursday performance on May 1st will feature Yosvany Terry, a Senior Lecturer on Music and Director of Jazz Ensembles at Harvard University, along with vocalists and percussionists Pedrito Martinez, Roman Diaz, Sandy Perez, pianist Fabian Almazan, bassist Or Bereket, drummer Obed Calvaire, and dancer Reynaldo Gonzalez, who will represent the divinities from the Arará religious and spiritual pantheon.

Free and open to the public.

This event is part of ArtsThursdays, a university-wide initiative supported by the Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA), in partnership with the Harvard Arts Festival produced by the Office for the Arts at Harvard and the the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.

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