Otaak Band is planning its first tour in the US in January 2014. Otaak Band is the collaboration of Miguel Merino, from Indiana, USA, and Ahmed Said Abuamna from Eastern Sudan. Ahmed Said is from the Beja, who are the indigenous people of the region between the Nile and the Red Sea in Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt, and a master of the Beja’s traditional lyre, the masankop.
I met Miguel in 2010 when he came to visit Sudan for his first time. In April 2012, after three years of collaboration, they recorded their first album of lyre music, Bejawiya, all with words in the Beja language. The band played several concerts in Cairo in support of the album’s release and received a fantastic response from audiences all over the city.
Website: http://www.otaakband.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/otaakband
Youtube Ch: http://www.youtube.com/otaakband
2014 Tour Dates
1/15 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music
8:30 PM, $10
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1/16 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music, Beja rhythm and dance workshop
7 PM, $20 registration
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1/18 – Indianapolis, IN – Jiallo’s African & Caribbean Cuisine
8:45 PM, $10
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1/22 – Bloomington, IN – Emeriti House, Indiana University
1/23 – Bloomington, IN – PBS-WTIU, Television Broadcast Performance
1/24 – Bloomington, IN – Mathers Museum, Indiana University
7 PM, free
1/26 – Bloomington, IN – The Player’s Pub w/ Salaam
8 PM, $10
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1/29 – Minneapolis, MN – The Cedar Cultural Center
7:30 PM, $18 advance/$20 day of show
1/30 – Chicago, IL – 32 Forty!
8 PM, $12
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