Table Pounding Music presents A Benefit Concert for the American Civil Liberties Union/New York Civil Liberties Union featuring Abraham Inc (featuring David Krakauer, Fred Wesley and Socalled), Members of the Silk Road Ensemble, Marc Ribot and “Where Worlds Collide” (featuring South African pianists Kathleen Tagg and Andre Petersen).

Special Guest: Frank London of the Klezmatics
Guest Speaker: Donna Lieberman, head of the New York Civil Liberties Union

Event produced by David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg.

Abraham Inc ia an unprecedented collaboration between three cultural visionaries: David Krakauer, champion of klezmer music and world-class clarinetist; legendary funk trombonist and arranger Fred Wesley, celebrated for his work with James Brown and George Clinton; and hip-hop renegade and beat architect Socalled – Abraham Inc. heralds a time when boundaries are eroding, mutual respect is presumed, and musical traditions can hit with full force without concession or appropriation. Their CD Tweet Tweet peaked at #1 in Funk and #1 in Jewish and Yiddish Music, and #7 in Jazz on Billboard. Backed by a three-piece horn section led by Wesley plus musicians who collaborate frequently with Krakauer and Socalled – and the result is an all-out klezmer-funk dance party!

Marc Ribot has released over 20 albums under his own name over a 30-year career that has included many “Best Of” year-end lists. Rolling Stone points out that “Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985’s Rain Dogs, and since then he’s become the go-to guitar guy for all kinds of roots-music adventurers: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp.” Additional recording credits include Neko Case, Diana Krall, Elton John/Leon Russell’s The Union, Solomon Burke, John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards, Marianne Faithful, Joe Henry, Allen Toussaint, Medeski Martin & Wood, Caetono Veloso, Susana Baca, Allen Ginsburg, Madeline Peyroux, Nora Jones, Jolie Holland, Akiko Yano, The Black Keys, and many others. He has also composed and performed on numerous film scores such as “Walk The Line” (Mangold), “The Kids Are All Right,” and “The Departed” (Scorcese).

Representing a global array of cultures, Silk Road Ensemble musicians co-create art, performance, and ideas. The Grammy Award-winning Silk Road Ensemble has been called “vibrant and virtuosic” by the Wall Street Journal, “one of the 21st century’s great ensembles” by the Vancouver Sun, and a “roving musical laboratory without walls” by the Boston Globe.

Made up of performers and composers from more than 20 countries, the Silk Road Ensemble was formed by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000. Since then, audiences and critics in over 30 countries throughout Asia, Europe, and North America have embraced these artists passionate about cross-cultural understanding and innovation. Inspired by the exchange of ideas that occurred along the historical Silk Road, these global artists draw on the rich tapestry of traditions that make up our many-layered contemporary identities. By weaving together the foreign and the familiar, they create a new musical language.

The group has recorded six albums. Their new album, Sing Me Home, was released in April 2016. The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, a documentary about Silkroad musicians directed by Academy Award-winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom), was released in June 2016. http://www.silkroadproject.org/ensemble

The Kathleen Tagg /Andre Petersen Piano Duo brings together two of South Africa’s most celebrated pianists, one eclectic classical and one jazz artist, in a unique collaboration.