Brand Summer Music Series - Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca

Enjoy a live performance by Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca on Friday, August 9 starting at 7:00 PM. Join us for eclectic live music outside on the lawn behind Brand Library & Art Center. Visitors are welcome to bring a chair or blanket and picnic on the grassy hillsides in Brand Park. Seats are not provided. Performances run 60 - 90 minutes without intermission. Performances may be experienced by children and families.

Ricardo Lemvo has established himself as a pioneer with his innovative music. His blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms with pan-African styles (soukous, Angolan semba and kizomba) has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “seamless and infectious." Lemvo hails from São Salvador Do Kongo (M'Banza-Kongo) in Northern Angola. He grew up in the DR Congo where he was introduced to Cuban music by a cousin who owned a large collection of vintage Cuban LPs. Lemvo came to the US more than 30 years ago to pursue a law degree but ended up devoting his life to music. He is the embodiment of the Afro-Latin Diaspora which connects back to Mother Africa via the Cuban clave rhythm. He is truly multi-cultural and equally at home singing in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish, Lingala, and Kikongo.

Since forming his Los Angeles-based band Makina Loca in 1990, Lemvo has refined his craft and vision, raising his joyous voice with strength, singing songs that celebrate life, and most importantly, inspiring his audiences to let loose and dance away their worries. Through the years, he has performed countless shows in many festivals, night clubs, and Performing Art Centers throughout Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Australia. Giving him the ultimate form of respect, his songs have been performed and recorded by such artists as Colombia's Joe Arroyo, Orquesta Revé from Cuba, and the Russian band, Tres Muchachos.

Lemvo's seven CDs, Tata Masamba, Mambo Yo Yo, São Salvador, Ay Valeria, Isabela, Retrospectiva, and Rumba SoYo have been enthusiastically acclaimed by both print and broadcast media worldwide. He has been the subject of various radio and television programs including BBC Radio, Radio France Internationale, Radio-Télévision Belge, National Public Radio, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Today Show, CNN World Beat, National Geographic World Music, and Televisão Pública de Angola. In film, Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca appeared in the 1998 movie Dance With Me starring Vanessa Williams and Chayanne.

Ricardo Lemvo leaves an indelible impression with any and all who hear his music or see him perform. Why? Because, like Lemvo, there is no other.

For additional information about this event, please contact Brand Library & Art Center at (818) 548-2051 or send an email at . Visit to learn more about the Brand Summer Music Series.

The Brand Summer Music Series began in 2014 and is supported by the , through funding from the , with support from , , and the .

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Free, limited parking is available in Brand Park. An accessible entrance and accessible parking for cars with a disabled parking placard or license plate is located on the East side of Brand Library.

Host or Publisher Brand Library & Art Center