Tony Vacca and Fusion Nomads

“From the first time a musician went beyond his or her home village, or region, or nation… music has been an ever-expanding, multi-culti hybrid of instruments and ways to play them. That’s the attitude that fuels the music of Fusion Nomads, and that’s why I asked this ever-changing consortium of musicians to be part of this project.” Tony Vacca

The lineup for March 29th at Hawks and Reed is Tony Vacca, John Sheldon, Jo Sallins and Ron Smith. With special guest, performance poet Tantra Zawadi.

Their careers have covered everything from Pop Music to Avant-Garde, from Electro-Funkadelic to Spirit-Guided Improv, from Western Classical Music to Spoken Word, and from Old School to Nu School to No-School-Could-Teach-This. They have been around the music, around the world, and around each other for more decades than they want to tell, and when they play together, you’d have to say it sounds like all that… and more. Their collaboration is a creative, momentary fusion that takes shameless advantage of their nomadic careers.

Tony Vacca is an innovative American percussionist with Jazz and World Music roots going back to the 70’s. Over the course of his career he has made a habit of pushing the already adventurous conventions of World Music into new territory, both as a soloist and as the leader of his World Rhythms Ensemble. His wide range of performance collaborators include Sting, Senegalese Afro-pop star Baaba Maal, Jazz trumpeter and World Music legend Don Cherry, poet Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets, Senegalese Hip-Hop stars Bideew Bou Bess, and Gokh-bi System, Jazz giant Yusef Lateef, and Massamba Diop, Senegalese master of the tama or talking drum. His eight recordings are a journey through the world of World Music, from tradition to innovation.

John Sheldon is in his 50th year of composing music and performing his unique style of electric and acoustic guitar. After a stint as lead guitarist for Van Morrison, and songwriting for James Taylor, John has performed for five decades as a solo performer, as the lead singer-songwriter with his own rock band, Blue Streak, and in collaboration with other musicians and theater artists. His one-man-show, “The Red Guitar” premiered in 2016 and won him some well deserved attention John also co-founded a new musical and spoken word collaboration, Do It Now with Tony Vacca and beat poet laureate Paul Richmond. Recently, John has performed with internationally acclaimed Senegalese talking drum master Massamba Diop, and since 1978, he has released 13 CDs of his own music.

Jo Sallins has had 37 years of musical performing experience as a drummer. He has toured internationally in Asia, Singapore, Canada, Senegal, West Africa and the US. He is a teaching member of Massachusetts Cultural Council Events & Residency Roster, the New England Foundation for the Arts Touring Roster and a member of BOCES Arts Organization for upstate New York. Jo has performed with: Alvin Ailey, Frank Hatchett, Vishu Wood, Tony Vacca’s World Rhythms, Dan Akroyd, Matt “Guitar” Murphy of the Blue Brothers, Stanley Clarke, Stanley Jordan, Michael Gregory, Gokh-bi System, Marvin “Smitty” Smith and many more.

Ron Smith is a multi-instrumentalist whose music has taken him on a journey from Jazz and Blues to the wide-open world of World Music. He plays saxophone, percussion and electric bass, and his playing style is well-schooled and fiery, and all about the fluid movement between all these genres and more. He is a composer whose group, The Ron Smith Soulful Jazz Trio features many of his compositions. He has performed at Jazz Festivals in Europe, has studied music at Tennessee State University and Berkeley College of Music, and is the Director of Music Programs at Northfield Mount Herman.

Tantra Zawadi: Mother, Poet, Educator, Pan-African Princess –  is the author of three books of poetry (“alifepoeminprogress” published by Chuma Spirit Books, “Gathered at Her Sky,” and “Bubbles:  One Conscious Breath,” published by Poets Wear Prada).  This international performance poet has presented to standing room audiences around the world!

Tantra-zawadi has performed original works off-Broadway including the staged reading of “To Face It”; and featured at The Badilisha Poetry X-Change Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center,  The American Museum of Natural History, The Montserrat Poetry Festival, The Daniel Sorano National Theatre in Dakar, Senegal, Never Again Royal Night in the UK, Black Art In America, The Great Falls International Word Festival, The Austin International Poetry Festival, Woodstock 50 (The Senegal-America Project), and the Amsterdam Dance Event, just to name a few.

Tantra-zawadi, has a Certificate in Social Emotional Arts from UCLArts & Healing, and is a 2020 Brooklyn Arts Fund Grantee for her one-woman spoken word performance of “Black Power Baby Blues.”  She is also a pushcart Prize nominee for her poem “Girl,” a member of the spoken word trio Precious Gift, recipient of the Kings County District Attorney’s Women’s History Month Award; and in 2014, received the honor of Pan African Princess.  She has also garnered residences at Smith College with the Senegal-America Project, and as a participant in E|MERGE Interdisciplinary Collaborative Residency. As a mentor for the Girl-Child Network Worldwide, she is donating a portion of the proceeds from her books to GCN.

Tantra-zawadi, who performs regularly with The Senegal-America Project, is a poetry/creative writing workshop facilitator, and appears in numerous global music compilations, anthologies and publications including Essence Magazine. She is the director of two short documentaries, and her poem and video “Scarlet Waters,” was featured on the Product(RED) video wall to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

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