FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Multi-cultural event features free performances by Cortadito, Johnny Dread, Venezonix with San Juan USA, and DJ Ephniko
Jupiter, FL, March 28, 2024 – Afro Roots Fest travels to North Palm Beach County for an afternoon and evening of music representing Cuba, Jamaica, and Venezuela at the enchanting Guanabanas Island Restaurant & Bar (960 N Hwy A1A, Jupiter, FL 33477) on Saturday, April 13, 2024, beginning at 4 p.m. No cover, all ages welcome before 9 p.m., 21 and over after. The nomadic event, named “Best Music Festival” in 2019 by the Miami New Times, is now in year 26, with 2024 being the 7th season of programming set to take place at the popular Jupiter waterfront live music venue.
Cortadito is an award-winning Cuban folk band whose specialty is traditional sounds in the vein of the Buena Vista Social Club. Co-founded in 2012 by tresero Jose Elias and guitarist Julio Cesar Rodriguez Delet, the group is now a national touring act and is in the process of finalizing the production of their first full-length release, to be titled Guajiro Triangle, and follows the release of the 2018 EP Canciones de Julio. They have previously backed BVSC star Eliades Ochoa live in concert. Learn more about the band at CortaditoSon.com.
Singer / songwriter Johnny Dread‘s Rastafarian vibes have been rockin’ the globe and bringing the message of Jah to the masses since the release of his debut recording Scarecrow in 1995. Born Juan Carlos Guardiola and originally a drummer, Dread has issued three other full lengths, including his most recent, 2014’s Full Circle, featuring the single and video “Butterfly”. Johnny has toured the world extensively and shared the stage with Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Israel Vibration, among others. More: JohnnyDreadMusic.com.
Andres Ponce is the creative force behind Venezonix, and he’s also the co-founder of Nacional recording artists Elastic Bond. Here he’s teaming up with the amazing percussionists and dancers from the Venezuelan-American cultural organization San Juan USA to bring a vibrant musical show. Venezonix melds the magical fusion of Afro-Venezuelan rhythms with electronic music and technology. Learn more at facebook.com/Venezonix.
In addition to DJing, Ephniko is also an MC who fronts the six-man audio/visual collective Nag Champayons, a group that began as an improvisational collective that drew from African, Caribbean, hip-hop, rock and jazz influences. He also leads the Patacon Conspiracy, which fuses hip-hop and raw lyricism with Pan-African and Latin American rhythms to create a worldbeat sound.
Event support provided by the Florida Department of State Division of Arts and Culture, and Guanabanas. High resolution photos and artist interviews available upon request. Presented by Roots Music, Inc. and Community Arts and Culture.
For more information, please visit AfroRootsFest.com.
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