Musicology Barcaffè Sessions: Spring season in Belgrade!

The spring part of Musicology Barcaffe Sessions season will start in March with a focus on bass players. The first performer will be Richard Bona, and two weeks later the incredible Nick West. In April, Musicology will host the first joint performance of the all-star duo – drummer Manu Katche and pianist Matija Dedic, while in June we expect a real musical fusion spectacle, the band Snarky Puppy – performing a concert between the walls of Kalemegdan, on the tennis courts.

Musicology Barcaffè Sessions concert series will continue the successful season number 3 with the performance of Richard Bona, a bass player, singer and songwriter from Cameroon. Bona and his band will hold two concerts at the Bitefartcafe club on March 10th and 12th. The bass player was honored with the most important international awards, such as Grammy and the Victories du Jazz Award for the best international artist in 2004. He played and recorded with musicians such as Mike Sterne, George Benson, Chaka Khan, John Legend and many others. In Belgrade, he will perform with his five-member band.

Another maestro on bass, the American funk diva, singer and protégé of the legendary Prince, Nik West, will perform on March 26th, also at the Bitefartcafe club. Explosive stage presence isn’t enough to describe the way Nik West moves, wows, and shocks crowds everywhere. “She is a real life gumby on stage, all while singing, dancing, and slapping the hell out of her bass guitar!” With credits that include work with artists such as, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, Prince, John Mayer, Glee and more, bassist, singer and songwriter Nik West is much more than just another pretty face!!!

The famous African-French showman, pop and rock musician, composer and jazz player Manu Katche will perform on April 14 at the Bitefartcafe club. He started his career as Peter Gabriel’s drummer, continued with Tracy Chapman, Johnny Michel, Sting, Dire Straits, and while in this region he first performed in cooperation with Gibonni in 2001, this April you will have the opportunity to hear him in a completely different edition, back to back with one of the most important Croatian jazz pianist Matija Dedić. Surrounded by music from birth, this pianist performed in front of the Belgrade audience accompanied by his father Arsen, and after his father’s death, he continued playing his music with his mother, Gabi Novak. Our audience already knows him very well, since his solo concerts and performances with different artists from the jazz, pop or ethno music were always sold out.

The end of the season is reserved for the band Serbia has long been waiting for. For the first time in this part of the world, after several years of waiting, Michael League and his “super band” are finally arriving to Serbia. Snarky Puppy, a planet-known band and winner of 3 Grammy Awards, will close this year’s Musicology Barcaffe Sessions series, with a concert on tennis courts in Kalemegdan on June 23rd. The band was formed by bassist and primary composer Michael League in 2003, starting inconspicuously enough as a group of college friends at the University of North Texas’ Jazz Studies program. Today, Snarky Puppy is a collective of sorts with as many as 25 members in regular rotation. They each maintain busy schedules as sidemen (with such artists as Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and D’Angelo), producers (for Kirk Franklin, David Crosby, and Salif Keïta), and solo artists (many of whom are on the band’s indy label, GroundUP Music). The performance of Snarky Puppy will be a crown of Musicology Barcaffe Sessions effort to bring to the biggest fusion band in the world to Serbia. A spectacular ending and a journey through the second part of the MBS music season will be completed by the enjoyment in the exquisite taste of Barcaffé espresso coffee.