Urban Indians: Local Heroes, A Northwest Folklife Benefit Concert

Local urban Indian artists, actors, musicians, and dancers bend and twist all the stereotypes, interpreting and transforming words and music, fusing funk, blues, jazz, rock, and soul with theatrical performance, poetry, and spoken word, then infusing it with a bit of humor. Northwest Folklife's annual Benefit Concert on Sunday evening, March 25 in the Bagley Wright Theatre, presents Peter Ali, Swil Kanim, Gene Tagaban, Little Big Band, and special guest Elaine Miles as emcee.

The members of Little Big Band come from diverse backgrounds of music, theater, visual arts and traditional Native American cultures. The band had its beginnings in an early partnership between bass player Preston Singletary (Tlingit) and poet, musician and dancer Gene Tagaban (Tlingit/Cherokee) for a Seattle Art Museum documentary. Singletary became inspired to explore connections between Native cultures and the African American community-ways of dealing with history through music. He expanded the collaboration to include Star Nayea, a Grammy Award-winning vocalist; Keith Montgomery (Cherokee), guitar; James Rasmussen (Duwamish), trumpet; Terry Maloney, drums; and Maurice Caldwell, Jr., guitar. Tagaban brings traditional Tlingit regalia and story to the performance.

Swil Kanim, The Violindian, is a virtuoso violinist from the Lummi Nation who advocates for self-expression as a way to create stronger community. An actor as well as a musician, he intertwines his music with storytelling and poetry.

Peter Ali, flute player, is descended from a Yaqui mother and a North African Berber Tribes father. He cohosts the Cedar Tree Flute Circle the last Saturday of each month at Wired & Unplugged Coffeehouse in Snohomish.

Weaving the evening together is Elaine Miles (Cayuse/Nez Perce), comedian and prize-winning powwow dancer known for her roles as Marilyn Whirlwind in the TV series Northern Exposure and Lucy in the film Smoke Signals.

Tickets $10 in advance

Date: May 24 at 7:00 PM