La Dame Blanche / Carlos Snaider

Sunday, November 5
7:30 pm PDT
Century Ballroom
In-person* 21+
$12-38

Welcomed by KEXP.

With her explosive mix of hip hop, cumbia, dancehall and reggae, the Cuban singer, flutist and percussionist Yaite Ramos Rodriguez, aka La Dame Blanche delivers a powerful and compelling sound which summons the spirits. Born and raised in Pinar del Rio, the westernmost province of Cuba, she was surrounded by music and dance from birth. She was the daughter of Jesús “Aguaje” Ramos, the artistic director of the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club and was frequently immersed in music and dance. Later on she learned classical flute at the conservatory but was always searching for an authentic form of self-expression. As La Dame Blanche states, “in my country, popular music was focused primarily on tradition: the sound, la rumba, the batá drums, etc. In Paris, all borders being open, there was a melting-pot of rhythms and melodies!” Living in Paris, she became inspired to begin her musical career, taking on the ironic stage name La Dame Blanche which nods to the legend of the white lady (a mysterious ghost). She was part of the all-girl salsa band Rumbana, the Grand Orchestre du Splendid, a back-up singer with Sergent Garcia, and live singer for El Hijo de la Cumbia. Eventually finding her own voice, La Dame Blanche has been a prolific performer across the world and created numerous albums. Her newest titled Ella is set to be released in September 2023. La Dame Blanche uses her music to expound powerful messages, taking on racism, colonialism, desire, and women’s empowerment. As Remezcla notes on a recent album review, “with Ella, La Dame Blanche isn’t scared to turn the mirror inwards in order to start much-needed conversations. Through her own empowerment, she encourages women to find their own.”

OPENING: CARLOS SNAIDER

Carlos Snaider photo by Dana Waldron

The third resident artist commissioned by Earshot Jazz to produce original work is Carlos Snaider. Carlos Snaider is a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, improvisor, and composer based in Seattle. He holds a degree in Music and African American Studies from Harvard University. His work explores extended encounters of the present through individual and collective experiences of sound, language, and movement. Carlos co-leads the futuristic jazz/songwriting quartet EarthtoneSkytone, as well as the experimental salsa ensemble Eléré. In these and other projects, Carlos’s work on presence takes form in explorations in embodied movement (musical performance, dance, martial arts, meditation) migration, belonging, bilingualism, and ideas of spiritual unity. The interest in embodied musicality has led him to operate in the interstices of jazz, creative music, global dance music and hip-hop. Snaider and his EarthoneSkytone ensemble are set to release their first album later this year.

For this commission, Snaider presents “Multiverso”— a new creative imagining, that packs in deep grooves, avant-latin soundscapes, and precise musical poetries. He would like to create a listening experience that is at once rhythmic and groove centric, but which also includes personally informed songwriting that invites deep listening, reflection, and intimate contemplation. Carlos Snaider’s ensemble includes Daniel Mendoza (congas, percussion), Mario Fabrizio (drums), Julian Weisman (bass), and Connie Fu (synth, sound).

*Earshot Jazz COVID-19 Policy: Earshot recommends that all ticket holders be vaccinated. Policy subject to change. Full COVID policy here.

This is a 21+ event