PODCAST: Banda Magda

Rising world music outfit Banda Magda is soon to release a much-anticipated new album, Tigre, and will perform at Berklee’s Red Room at Cafe 939 on Wednesday, February 8, 2017, as part of The Checkout—Live at Berklee, a series in which alumni return to perform a concert for broadcast via New York jazz station WBGO-FM/wbgo.org.

January 31, 2017

Rising world music outfit Banda Magda is soon to release a much-anticipated new album, Tigre, and will perform at Berklee’s Red Room at Cafe 939 on Wednesday, February 8, 2017, as part of The Checkout—Live at Berklee, a series in which Berklee alumni return to their alma mater to perform a concert for broadcast on New York City jazz station WBGO (88.3 FM). The concert will also be available for streaming from WBGO.

Banda Magda is led by composer, orchestrator, singer, and accordionist Magda Giannikou ’08, and has been met with praise from critics and success on the Billboard and iTunes charts for its enchanting alchemy of styles, ranging from Colombian cumbia and Afro-Peruvian lando to Tropicalia and Greek folk, among others. The group has energized audiences from the Kennedy Center to the Kathmandu Jazz Festival and Giannikou's music has also been heard on Louie, the TV show of comedian Louis C.K.

The group’s work to date has featured several members of popular jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, as well as talented alumni, including Ignacio Hernandez ’07 (guitar, vocals), Mika Mimura ’07 (vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, xylophone, vocals), Keita Ogawa ’07 (percussion, vocals), Juan Andrés Ospina ’07 (piano), Jordan Perlson ’04 (drums), Andres Romistrovsky ’07 (bass), and Marcelo Woloski ’07 (percussion, vocals).

This podcast features the title track from Banda Magda’s album Yerakina, which was coproduced by Grammy winners Michael League of Snarky Puppy and 1994 alumnus Fab Dupont.

Banda Magda, "Yerakina"

Watch Banda Magda perform "Sabía" live at the Red Room at Cafe 939: