Longwood Debut
Grammy Award nominated folk musician Andrew Bird joins world-renowned Afro-pop duo Amadou & Mariam in a lively performance exploring diverse genres.
With 17 albums to his name, Andrew Bird leads this lively performance of diverse genres. As a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and whistler, Bird has performed around the globe, acted in Fargo, scored the FX series Baskets, served as a TED Talk presenter, and many other accomplishments.
Known as the most famous ambassadors for Malian and African music, Amadou & Mariam have brought African music to the charts and the dance floor, playing Coachella to Glastonbury and opening for Coldplay to the Scissor Sisters.
More about Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird picked up his first violin at the age of four and spent his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear. He has recorded with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, appeared as “Dr. Stringz” on Jack’s Big Music Show, and headlined concerts at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and festivals worldwide.
Bird performed as the Whistling Caruso in Disney’s The Muppets movie, scored the FX series Baskets, and collaborated with inventor Ian Schneller on Sonic Arboretum, an installation that exhibited at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, Boston’s ICA, and the MCA Chicago. Bird has been a featured TED Talks presenter, a New Yorker Festival guest, and an op-ed contributor for The New York Times.
More recently, Bird released a series of site-specific improvisational short films and recordings called Echolocations, recorded in remote and acoustically interesting spaces: a Utah canyon, an abandoned seaside bunker, the middle of the Los Angeles River, and a reverberant stone-covered aqueduct in Lisbon. Additionally, Bird hosts an ongoing series of live-streamed performances called Live from the Great Room, putting the creative process on display for fans as he collaborates and converses with friends in a candid, intimate setting.
Shortly after receiving his 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album with My Finest Work Yet, Bird made his professional acting debut in the cast of Fargo. In March 2021, Bird released his latest project, These 13, an album entirely co-written and recorded with his longtime friend and former Squirrel Nut Zippers collaborator Jimbo Mathus. Captured live on tape, just the two of them playing and singing from opposite sides of a microphone, These 13 marked the first set of new music that Bird and Mathus created together in more than 20 years.
More about Amadou & Mariam
For the past 40-odd years, Amadou & Mariam have managed to joyfully combine their love story with a musical career. Amadou & Mariam have collaborated with many different people and worked with producers that seem far removed from their universe, like Damon Albarn of Blur and Manu Chao. They have collaborated with artists who are building tomorrow’s pop music, including Santigold, TV On The Radio, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and have had their tracks remixed by Yuksek, Vitalic, Henrik Schwarz, Miike Snow, and Ashley Beedle, leading the songs to the dance floor and underlining their intrinsically danceable quality.
By introducing to the world the richness and subtleties of African music, the duo has brought African music to the charts and to the dance floor. They’ve inspired many artists to mix Afro and electro sounds, such as MHD, DJ Mujava, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Four Tet, and Jamie xx.
At the request of the artist, $1 from each ticket sold will be donated to the Hope This Helps Fund.