On March 23, 2022, chatterbird will partner with singer-songwriter and cellist Leyla McCalla to present a concert at the National Museum of African-American Music that creatively reimagines her album, Vari-Colored Songs, a tribute to the poetry of Langston Hughes. Recently re-released on Smithsonian Folkways, the album is a celebration of the complexity of Black culture and identity, and a tribute to the legacy of poet and thinker Langston Hughes.
As a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, McCalla sets Hughes’ poems to her own spare yet profound compositions. She juxtaposes these with arrangements of folk songs from Haiti, the first independent Black nation and the homeland of her parents, tapping into the nuances of Black experience. McCalla’s music elegantly weaves Haitian influences together with American folk music, just as Hughes incorporated Black vernacular into his remarkable poetry, and the way the Haitian Kreyòl is a beacon for the survival of African identity through the brutal legacy of colonialism. This is music of reclamation, imbued with a quiet power that grapples with the immense weight of history.
This concert is offered on a sliding scale, with a suggestion to "Pay Your Wage" – at the door or online, pay an hour's worth of your wage. Cash and cards will be accepted at the door. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
To learn more about NMAAM’s Roots Theater, visit: https://nmaam.org/roots-theater/
PARKING OPTIONS:
Most Affordable Option: Free self-parking is available from 6 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. in the state lots behind the Supreme Court Building (off Dr. Martin L. King Blvd., between 7th & 8th Avenues). Enter “State Employee Parking Lot 17A, Nashville 37219” into Google maps for exact directions. NMAAM is a 10-minute walk southeast along Rep. John Lewis Way.
Closest Option: The 5th & Broadway Parking Garage costs $12.00 up to 2 hours; $17.00 up to 3 hours; and $20.00 up to 5 hrs.
For a full list of parking options downtown, consider visiting www.nashvilledowntown.com/get-around/nashville-parking