Richmond Counterculture / Shockoe Sessions
Richmond Counterculture/Shockoe Sessions – Kadencia, and Afro-Zen Allstars
Shockoe Sessions Live! is a weekly celebration of Richmond’s goldmine of musicianship! Learn more https://www.shockoesessionslive.com/
On this episode we travel to Puerto Rico with a set from Afro-Puerto Rican band Kadencia Orchestra, and then to Ethiopia with the Afro-Zen Allstars!
Kadencia Orchestra
Kadencia’s mission is to play, promote, and preserve Afro-Puerto Rican music. Their goal is to take their music to every corner and stage. Kadencia is certified by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture as an authentic performer of Puerto Rican Folk music, and is also part of the Virginia Commission for the Arts touring directory, and a resident artist at the Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education, in Chesterfield, Virginia.
They believe in the power of music to bring people together and inspire change. Their core values include authenticity, creativity, and community. They are committed to supporting music that is meaningful, relatable, and thought-provoking.
The band originally started in Puerto Rico and released an album, but lead singer, Maurice Sanabria and his son Maurice “Tito” Sanabria, relocated to Chesterfield, VA in pursuit of professional opportunities. Their desire to conserve and promulgate Afro-Puerto Rican music drove the Sanabria family to start the band in Richmond in August 2018.
Afro-Zen Allstars
Afro-Zen Allstars, Richmond’s guardians of global grooves, is a high-energy little big band featuring blazing horns, a driving rhythm section, and inspired instrumental jams.
With an extensive repertoire of material from across the globe, most notably the exotic sounds birthed in Ethiopia during its’ musical “Golden Age” of the 1960’s and ’70’s, the joyful music of Afro-Zen exists at the place where African musical tradition intersects with Jazz and Jam, rocking both body and spirit.
Photos by Dave Parrish