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08 février 2009

World Music Icon Angelique Kidjo visits Oahu

Angelique Kidjo is one of the hottest names in World Music today attracting the admiration of audiences and other renown musicians alike. Her last album, Djin Djin featured guest appearances by Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Peter Gabriel, Ziggy Marley and Branford Marsalis. Angelique Kidjo will be performing at LCC Theatre on Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 7 pm. Given that such a wide variety of notable musicians welcome the opportunity to collaborate with her, it should come as no surprise that Kidjo is backed by highly skilled musicians who support her in performances of original compositions as well as renditions of the songs of Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, George Gershwin and others. Kidjo is fluent in Fon and Yoruba, languages of her birthplace of Benin, and father and mother, respectively. She is also fluent in English and French and performs in each of these languages.

Kidjo is a voracious consumer of music. She started out performing with her family as a child. When she got older, she moved to Paris where she studied progressively more advanced music and vocal techniques with various teachers while performing with different musical groups. As her career grew from supporting greats like Nina Simone and personal idol Miriam Makeba, to being recognized as a headliner in her own right, her cultural repertoire likewise grew. Over the years her albums have included rock, jazz, funk, Caribbean and Brazilian flavors and techniques mixed with her rich Beninese heritage.

While Kidjo's name may not be familiar to people, her music just might be via its appearance in pop culture. Her songs have appeared in episodes of the Simpsons, Six Feet Under, Without A Trace and on the big screen in Ace Ventura, Streetfighter, Krippendorf's Tribe, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Sahara, and Blood Diamond. Just as her songs are representative of different parts of the world, Kidjo is also a fervent advocate for improving the lives of peoples around the globe. She has been UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002. She created a foundation that supports and promotes secondary and higher education for girls in Africa. The number of occasions she has lent her talent to benefit or promote causes are legion.

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