Rialto Season Brochure

CONTEXT: I wrote these performer descriptions for the Rialto’s 2020-2021 Series brochure. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the season had to be canceled. However, many of the acts were rescheduled and the copy was used for the 2021-22 brochure.

Calabria Foti
Legend Johnny Mathis once described grammy-nominated Calabria Foti’s voice as “some of the most beautiful and artistic music” he had ever encountered, and nowhere is the haunting elegance of her voice more evident than in her recent recording of Billy Strayhorn’s classic, “Lush Life.” After receiving permission from the Sinatra family, Foti became the first person to record the “lost arrangement” of this song, which was created by Nelson Riddle especially for Frank Sinatra’s Only the Lonely album. However, because of its difficulty, Sinatra famously abandoned it mid-recording. And yet, Foti delivers this arrangement of “Lush Life” with an almost chilling ease. An accomplished violinist and connoisseur of the classics, she possesses a depth of talent that defies classification. She is a self-proclaimed “throwback,” with a mastery that reaches across jazz, musical theatre, cabaret, and beyond. Praised by such diverse artists as piano virtuoso Van Cliburn, composer Johnny Mandel, and trumpeter Chris Botti, Calabria Foti is a consummate musician and a dynamic entertainer — with a voice that leaves audiences awestruck.

Pacific Mambo Orchestra
Pacific Mambo Orchestra is a big band with an even bigger sound. Rooted in rich latin musical traditions, PMO expands and invigorates the big band legacy with an energy all their own. In 2014, when this comparatively unknown act beat out industry superstars Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives for “Best Latin Tropical Album,” latin music fans everywhere took notice. Since then, PMO has only grown more dynamic, with a remarkable stage presence that enlivens audiences and instantly converts listeners to fans. Released in January of 2020, their most recent album, The Ill Side, draws from the diverse repertoires of the band’s phenomenal roster of musicians, exploring salsa, bolero, and timba with improvisational flare. These masters of showmanship have roused jazz festival crowds from Monterey to Montreux, and we can’t wait to dance with you here at Atlanta’s Rialto Center for the Arts!

Angélique Kidjo

Angélique Kidjo is among the most iconic and respected artists in international music today. Widely recognized as the “Queen of African Music,” she has collaborated with everyone from Alicia Keys to Bono to Philip Glass. In addition to winning four Grammy Awards for her masterful vocal prowess and innovative explorations of cross-cultural musical genres, she has also proven a tireless advocate for women and children in her native home of Benin and across Africa, serving as both an OXFAM and UNICEF goodwill ambassador. As the New York Times put it, “She sings as the conscience of a community.” In January of 2020, Kidjo received the Grammy Award for “Best World Music Album” for CELIA, a captivating investigation into the African roots of Cuban salsa legend Celia Cruz. The opportunity to see an international star of Kidjo’s magnitude in the intimate setting of the Rialto comes only, in the words of her critically acclaimed tribute to the Talking Heads, “Once in a Lifetime.”