Le Guess Who? - festival
organisatie. Le Guess Who
Amirtha Kidambi with HKU students
Saturday 16:00 - 16:30 Main Room - Stadsschouwburg
Amirtha Kidambi presents Outernational
Returning again this year is our ongoing collaboration with Utrecht Art Academy’s ‘Music & Technology’ department to produce an experimental showcase, which will be created and presented on Saturday the 8th at the city theatre. The Music & Tech students have been preparing, under guidance of Amitha Kidambi, a improv session based on Amirtha’s theory surrounding sonic liberation. A key question the students will explore are what are some of the ways that improvisation, collective creation and sonic experimentation can provide alternative models to social power structures such as colonialism, capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy (misogyny/queer+transphobia), ableism, nationality/immigration status etc? How can musical/sonic practice be liberatory?
Rogê
Saturday 18:15 - 19:15 Main Room - Stadsschouwburg
Can samba carry a message of redemption? With his celebratory albums Curyman and Curyman II, Rogê seeks to spread joy, “so that we don’t give in to sadness, to laziness, to a lack of desire to move on with life.” It’s no coincidence that the Brazilian singer-songwriter is considered a key figure in the revival of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music), a genre rooted in resistance and the country’s rich cultural heritage. The artist honours bossa nova’s colourful rhythms and harmonic complexity; expanding its boundaries with cinematic string arrangements and electric textures, Rogê creates his soul-stirring world.
Devendra Banhart solo
Saturday 21:00 - 22:15 Main Room - Stadsschouwburg
With his uniquely flamboyant performances, Devendra Banhart became one of the defining artists of the 2000s international indie music scene. Over the years, his already colourful songwriting expanded, drawing from a rich palette that includes cumbia, bossa nova, blues, folk and avant-garde, crafting a style as distinctive as ink. This unique blend has led him to collaborate with one-of-a-kind artists - Caetano Veloso, David Byrne, Cate Le Bon, Vashti Bunyan, just to name a few - while maintaining his career as “an adventure and an exploration”. After his guest-curation in 2018, Banhart returns to Le Guess Who? for a stripped-back, career-spanning solo show, performing songs from his extensive catalogue… and with some crowd participation.