The All Female Band, Zili Misik, Will Perform at The Newport Health Equity Zone North Side Family Picnic, at the Florence Gray Center on July 11th
The North Side Family Picnic will take place on the grounds of the Florence Gray Center, 1 York Street in Newport on Tuesday, July 11 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Zili Misik, the all-female band from Boston featuring New World Soul, will perform an interactive concert. Carrigan Nelson, Easton’s Beach Idol 2016 winner and volunteer community music educator and motivator will open for the band. The North Side Picnic is free and open to the public of all ages.
The North Side Picnic is an initiative of the Newport Health Equity Zone in collaboration with Common Fence Music’s Connecting the Beats program, The North End Boys and Girls Club and The Newport Housing Authority.
A free summer grill of burgers, dogs, veggie burgers and summer sides will be provided with generous support from the Kiwanis Club of Newport. Community members are also encouraged to bring their own picnics or a side dish or two as well as folding chairs or blankets. There will also be games and face painting for the younger set.
There will also be a sign-up list for the three free HEZ sponsored drumming workshops to be held at the North Side Community Market at the Pell Elementary School on July 25, August 1 and August 8. Kera Washington, ethnomusicologist, percussionist and musical director of Zili Misik will lead the workshops.
Zili Misik has been bridging cultures, generations, and continents for seventeen years. The band performs an acoustic & electronic fusion of roots music of the African diaspora. Zili Misik honors its influences while creating a sound that is uniquely its own: New World Soul. The band’s name celebrates the Haitian spiritual entity, Ezili, who is envisaged as a mother, lover, and warrior. Zili’s songs are sensual, political, self-reflective, positive, and loving.
Zili Misik has won a Boston Music Award for Outstanding International Music, has been featured on an episode of Design Squad, on NPR’s Here & Now, the BBC’s Afro Pop Worldwide and has performed at NYC’s Lincoln Center. The band has opened for Ms. Lauryn Hill and Angelique Kudjo among other luminaries.
These events are funded by the Newport Health Equity Zone (HEZ). HEZ is a state-wide coalition.
The Newport Health Equity Zone is a city-wide coalition mobilizing residents and resources of the Broadway and North End neighborhoods to make Newport a place where everyone can thrive.
Common Fence Music’s Connecting the Beats introduces area youth and their families to a network of African-Inspired drumming and dancing ensembles. The program, now in its seventh season connects music traditions, generations, neighborhoods and individuals in a nurturing drum circle.
For more information on Newport Health Equity Zone, visit http://newporthealthequity.com/.