NYC ARTIST MARLA MASE ANNOUNCES SUMMERSTAGE APPEARANCE
New York rock/crossover artist Marla Mase has confirmed that she and guitarist Tomás Doncker will be bringing her “Speak” show to Summerstage 2013, joining a lineup that includes The Zombies, Django Django, Dead Prez, Lianne la Havas and Rakim. The CD “Speak Deluxe” found Marla touring both China and Europe, being honored by Friends of the UN, and receiving top reviews from publications such as The Huffington Post, who said “her feisty message of peace will perhaps wake up the beast in all of us”.
“Speak” is a multi-media concert and dance piece inspired by the songs of Marla Mase’s acclaimed 2013 album, “Speak Deluxe”. Combining live music, spoken word, dance and visual imagery, Marla has teamed up with choreographer Adrienne Hurd, filmmaker James Jankiewicz, and director/producer Sara Berg (who directed A Brief Night Out, Marla’s rock opera about a women going through a mid-life rock-n-roll crisis in 2012) for one of a kind show. “Speak” presents a powerful portrayal of “the universal woman’s” confinement, sexuality, body image, trauma, oppression and freedom, celebrating the raw reality of the human condition as expressed through the eyes, bodies, and voices of women. Through the expressive movements of a troupe of seven dancers, each of whom has a distinct voice and tale in the mini-stories, the dancers will explore the archetypes that make up the idea of what it means to be a modern woman.
The music, co-written by Marla Mase and Tomás Doncker is an integral part of “Speak” and features elements of Rock-n-Roll with World Beat, Punk, Funk, Electronica, Reggae and Soul and will be performed live at each performance with both Mase and The Tomás Doncker Band.
Marla Mase’s “Speak” performance takes place on June 15th, 2013 in Herbert Von King Park and August 17 at The East River Park. Both performances are free to the public. Event information can be found here.
For more information on Marla Mase, please visit www.marlamase.com and www.speaktheshow.com.
Artist: Marla Mase (backed by Tomás Doncker Band)
Location: New York, New York
Styles: rock (alternative/classic), punk, spoken word, global soul, funk, reggae, experimental
Similar to: Patti Smith, David Byrne, Frank Zappa, Iggy Pop, Ian Dury, GTO’s, Jim Morrison, Henry Rollins
CD: SPEAK DELUXE
Marla Mase is a writer/performer/producer/singer/songwriter from New York City. She writes songs, plays, monologues, short stories, erotica, blogs, and poems. Marla is known for her provocative, raw performance style and intelligent lyrics and is regarded by her peers as being a true musical pioneer of our time. She is backed by the Tomás Doncker Band. Just off her first tour in China where she was invited by the Friends of the UN to perform for UN GLOBAL PEACE DAY in Linzhou City, Marla was given an honorary Messenger of Peace award for her visionary work as a songwriter and performing artist. Her fans span the globe.
Marla is about to release the DELUXE Edition of her album SPEAK (on Feb 28, 2013) which will include the 10 songs on the original 2010 album plus 6 new tracks including Piece of Peace, AnnaRexia (a reggae track featuring
Garrison Hawk from Bill Laswell?s Method of Defiance), and Bill Laswell?s dubmix version of AnnaRexia. AnnaRexia is spearheading the StayImperfect Project or Love Your Butt Campaign, which Marla created to empower women to not only accept but love themselves and their bodies. Proceeds from AnnaRexia as well as emerging artist, Lael Summer?s track, The Good Fight (whose EP Marla co-produced with Doncker) will go towards theprojectheal.org, a non-profit organization founded by two teenage eating disorder survivors, that raises scholarship money for girls whose families cannot afford to send them to treatment.
Mase is currently developing THE SPEAK SHOW, a multi-media concert/performance piece using music (from SPEAK DELUXE), spoken word, dance and visual imagery to explore the themes of confinement, sexuality, body image, trauma, oppression (internal/external) and freedom as a means of celebrating the raw reality of our human condition as expressed through the eyes, bodies, voices of women. It was recently booked for NYC Summerstage 2013.
Her debut album, the rock opera, A Brief Night Out (BNO), tells the story of a woman, having an affair, breaking-down, obsessing on war and re-assessing her life. It is also the soundtrack to a theatrical version of the same story that has been performed in New York City with Broadway Veteran Martin Vidnovic playing all the male roles and also as a one-woman show directed by Sara Berg.
Marla’s play, The Canarsie Line directed by Kathryn Rossetter, ran at The Bank Street Theatre to sold out audiences in 2002. Her play Man/Woman was work-shopped at the Abingdon Theatre in 2004.
Marla has her MA in writing and performance from NYU and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Most importantly Marla is the mother to two beautiful souls.
Members/Instruments:
Marla Mase – Lead Vocals
Tomás Doncker: guitars, vocals
Josh David : bass, vocals
James Dellatacoma: guitars, computer (sounds, etc)
Damon DueWhite: drums
Alan Grubner: violin
Heather Powell: back-up vocals
Manu Koch: keyboards
Daniel Sadownick: percussion
Production:
Produced by Tomás Doncker and James Dellatacoma
Engineered by James Dellatacoma of Orange Studios
Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper of Turtletone Studios