October 18, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY
A musical group out of Africa on a world tour doesn't sound like a huge deal.
But the back story to the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars puts their current
tour into an amazing context.
The group of six musicians was born in the crucible of the civil war in Sierra
Leone, a brutal conflict that raged through most of the 1990s and created over
two million refugees at camps across Africa.
The Refugee All Stars first used music in those camps to bring some hope to a
hope-less setting. Now they are bringing that hope and joy to audiences around
the globe.
On November 3 the All Stars will take their infective African reggae-folk
sound to Grand Rapids as they present an 8 pm concert in the Calvin College
Fine Arts Center. In addition Calvin will show the award-winning documentary
on the Refugee All Stars on October 31 on campus.
Those who have seen the group perform say it is an event not to be missed.
Zach Niles is co-director of the documentary on the group. He first watched
the All Stars perform in the camps.
"I remember there was an older man who was dancing to the music," he says.
"And I remember somebody pulled me aside and said, 'This man's been in a
refugee camp for six years and I've never seen him dance. I've never seen him
smile.'"
Both the documentary and a live concert present an incredible mix of
emotions.
As the San Francisco Chronicle said this summer in a major feature story on
the group: "But even more life-affirming and triumphant still is the band
itself stepping out of the movie onto stages around the world, such as the
recent Bonnaroo Festival, where the Refugee All Stars performed last month
before a crowd of more than 75,000.
Tickets for the Calvin concert are $20 and are available at (616) 526-6282 or
www.calvin.edu/boxoffice
For more on the group see
http://www.calvin.edu/admin/sao/calendar/information/slras.htm
To download an MP3 of the group singing "Living LIke a Refugee" see:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/13/DDG8SJTF0R1.DTL&type=music
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Received on Thu Oct 19 11:52:44 2006
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