Akua Allrich
DCJazz Fest Singing Afro-Beats: Exploring Jazz Voice through Rhythm
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
1101 6th St SW
Washington, DC 20024
Free admission
About this concert
TIME & LOCATION
Friday, May 2, 2025 | 10:30 AM and 1:00 PM
Arena Stage Kogod Cradle, 1101 6th St SW, Washington, DC 20024
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DEADLINE TO REGISTER: January 12th, 2025
Singing Afro-Beats: Exploring Jazz Voice through Rhythm featuring vocalist Somi of Rwandan and Ugandan descent (10:30 AM show) and DC-based vocalist Akua Allrich (1:00 PM show) will explore various international rhythms. Musicians will highlight improvisation, blues, sampling, signifying and swagger; and provide informative, age-appropriate commentary for the student audiences in between performing musical selections. The connections between jazz, African and Afro-Cuban rhythms are deep. Students will learn that key elements of rhythm create of global extensions of jazz, many part of the continuum of African American musical conception and the rhythms that came from Africa. The field trip will challenge students’ thinking about these rhythms in unique ways.
Each show is 75 minutes.
A question/answer session will follow the performance.
DCJF will promote the field trips to all DC public/public charter elementary schools and arrange free, round-trip bus transportation.
This program is a collaboration between DC Jazz Festival and the Library of Congress. This field trip is made possible by a major grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; will additional support provided by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Max and Victoria Dreyfus foundation, and the Venable foundation.
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What fans are saying
L
February 3rd 2025
Not much can be said about the sister, the band and/or the show except the entire affair was FANTASTIC! $25 WAS A BARGAIN! The show was worth 3-4 times the cost! my overall rating is 99 out of 100.
Cheverly, MD@Publick Playhouse
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Akua Allrich Biography
Jazz vocalist and DC-native Akua Allrich has proven herself to be a musician of extraordinary talent and crowd-moving passion. With finesse and charisma, this vocalist, composer and teacher, has successfully etched out a place for her unique musical expression, electrifying audiences in and around the nation’s capital with sold-out performances.
With the launch of her independently produced album, A Peace of Mine, in 2010, the young artist’s music and concerts created a significant buzz with critics and music-lovers alike. Said Franz Matzner of All About Jazz, “Akua Allrich’s music flows with a free, natural energy as engaging as her equally ingenuous personality.”
Her appeal has reached across US borders and she has earned international attention. In 2011, Allrich signed a distribution deal with Japanese record label AGATE/Inpartmaint Inc. The CD was released in Japan during their “Golden Week” in May 2011. Music lovers and tastemakers from around the world have expressed their appreciation and excitement at Allrich's new brand of music.
Allrich’s style is fluid and ever evolving. Her musical roots run deeply into blues, soul and rhythm and blues, with a clear grounding in jazz and pan-African music. She sings in many languages including Portuguese, French, Spanish, English, Xhosa, and Twi. Given her ability to capture the essence of a broad range of musical genres, Allrich is often likened to legendary artists such as Oscar Brown, Jr., Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone. She has developed popular tribute programs involving the latter two women and other great African American women of jazz.
Akua Allrich was educated at Howard University, where she obtained her BM in jazz vocals and a master’s degree in social work. She was taught, coached and mentored by talented musicians such as world-renowned singer/drummer Grady Tate, singer Kehembe V. Eichelberger, and pianist Charles Covington.
She is the child of a musical family (her father, Agyei Akoto, was a founding member of the jazz group, Nation, and recorded two albums during Allrich’s youth). Her home held a wealth of cherished recordings that she and her siblings were invited to explore. In fact, she did not buy any albums until her second year in college because her parents had such an amazing collection of jazz records. One of the first jazz albums she bought was John Coltrane’s Live at the Village Vanguard: The Master Takes.
Allrich has already proven her abilities as a performer and bandleader by producing and performing many successful solo and group programs. In addition to focusing on her own engaging compositions, she keeps an ear to the rest of the world and to other eras and artists. Akua Allrich has inspired music lovers from all walks on an international scale, who enjoy her exceptional artistry and eagerly await her next offering.
Read MoreWith the launch of her independently produced album, A Peace of Mine, in 2010, the young artist’s music and concerts created a significant buzz with critics and music-lovers alike. Said Franz Matzner of All About Jazz, “Akua Allrich’s music flows with a free, natural energy as engaging as her equally ingenuous personality.”
Her appeal has reached across US borders and she has earned international attention. In 2011, Allrich signed a distribution deal with Japanese record label AGATE/Inpartmaint Inc. The CD was released in Japan during their “Golden Week” in May 2011. Music lovers and tastemakers from around the world have expressed their appreciation and excitement at Allrich's new brand of music.
Allrich’s style is fluid and ever evolving. Her musical roots run deeply into blues, soul and rhythm and blues, with a clear grounding in jazz and pan-African music. She sings in many languages including Portuguese, French, Spanish, English, Xhosa, and Twi. Given her ability to capture the essence of a broad range of musical genres, Allrich is often likened to legendary artists such as Oscar Brown, Jr., Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone. She has developed popular tribute programs involving the latter two women and other great African American women of jazz.
Akua Allrich was educated at Howard University, where she obtained her BM in jazz vocals and a master’s degree in social work. She was taught, coached and mentored by talented musicians such as world-renowned singer/drummer Grady Tate, singer Kehembe V. Eichelberger, and pianist Charles Covington.
She is the child of a musical family (her father, Agyei Akoto, was a founding member of the jazz group, Nation, and recorded two albums during Allrich’s youth). Her home held a wealth of cherished recordings that she and her siblings were invited to explore. In fact, she did not buy any albums until her second year in college because her parents had such an amazing collection of jazz records. One of the first jazz albums she bought was John Coltrane’s Live at the Village Vanguard: The Master Takes.
Allrich has already proven her abilities as a performer and bandleader by producing and performing many successful solo and group programs. In addition to focusing on her own engaging compositions, she keeps an ear to the rest of the world and to other eras and artists. Akua Allrich has inspired music lovers from all walks on an international scale, who enjoy her exceptional artistry and eagerly await her next offering.
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