Contact 1971 Western Ave. #273, Albany, NY, 12203 518.817.8617 [email protected] www.TainaAsili.com Taina Asili Bio

Taína Asili is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and bandleader carrying on the tradition of her ancestors, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. Her newest artistic work is an energetic fusion of powerful vocals laid over Afro-Latin, reggae, and rock sounds. Residing in Albany, NY, Taína Asili performs her social justice songs as a solo artist, and also with her six-piece band, Taína Asili y la Banda Rebelde, bringing love, resistance, and ancestral remembrance to venues, festivals, conferences and political events across the globe. Taína Asili’s voice exudes strength of Spirit, filling listeners with the fervor for freedom and inspiring audiences to dance to the rhythm of rebellion.

Taina Asili's first album War Cry was released with la Banda Rebelde in 2010, and her latest album Fruit of Hope was released in 2014. Music producer and journalist David Malachowski writes “...the high energy of the band is simply impossible to ignore. The exotic, incessant rhythms reel you in, and the stabbing horns, hypnotic bass and Asili's urgent voice draw you closer.”

During Taína Asili's 20-year career of creating music for social change she has toured the country many times, toured Europe from Ireland to Germany, and has performed in Canada, Mexico, and . Taína Asili has performed at many well-known festivals and venues, sharing the stage with renowned artists such as Talib Kweli, Ursula Rucker, Sonia Sanchez, Paula Cole, Pamela Means, and The Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars.

Taína is dedicated to using her art as a tool for personal and social transformation. The liberation themes in Taína’s writing are based in her social justice work in political prisoner liberation, prisoner rights, environmental justice, and holistic health movements. Taína has an MA in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College. In addition to her performance work, she facilitates poetry and songwriting workshops for both youth and adults. In 2005, she was given the Transformation Award by the Leeway Foundation for her art and social change work. In 2010, the Fabulous Feminist: Creative Force Award was given to Taína by the Holding Our Own Foundation, and in 2015, The Hispanic Coalition NY recognized her as one of their 40 under 40 Rising Stars.

“If you look at our history,” she says, “you see over and over that music has played a central role in changing how people think, both for the good and bad. How we make change in the larger political landscape starts with how we affect one another individually, and music brings a message in a way that opens people—their heart, mind, spirit.”

Quotes About Taina Asili

“Asili is an artist to take very seriously, and this is an important, political-yet- joyous work of passion and purpose, using music to promote ideas and truth, like it used to be.” – David Malachowski, producer and journalist for The Times Union

“A teacher, activist, community organizer, and mother, Asili has specific goals for her music and the language that it carries. It’s been only three years since she moved to Albany, but in this time she’s built a new band, possibly the region’s most diverse; penned a host of politically urgent tunes in a variety of languages; toured the country twice; and, most recently, released War Cry, a pan-global roots-musical mélange that appeals to the struggle of tradition to envision a world of social justice.” – Josh Potter, Assistant Editor for The Metroland

“Her vocals penetrate your heart, the lyrics stir your conscience, the melodies are soothing and the rhythms are contagious.” – Bob Goepfert, journalist for the Troy Record

“Their sound is hard to pin, drawing on jazz, reggae, , and the incendiary energy of Nuevo Cancion and throwing them into a solid folk-rock. Though the group as unit wouldn’t work if any one member were missing, front-woman Asili is undoubtedly the focus, bringing a proud defiance to her work. Equal parts Lauryn Hill, Ani DiFranco and , the group’s songs embodied the kind of power that only ordinary people have when they are able to raise their voices.” – Alexander Billet, writer of the Fabulous Feminist Blog

“Taina brings the struggles, their drum beats and fists raised, to her work, safeguarding respect for those who have come and for those who are about to come. Her voice-tinged with anger, sadness, and hope- undulates like the waves crashing against the lands for which she fights.” – Gina Renzi, Director of Foundation Arts

College/University Performances

• Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY • SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY • SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY • SUNY Albany, Albany, NY • SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY • SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY • Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY • Cornell University, Ithaca, NY • Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY • Columbia University, New York, NY • Temple University, Philadelphia, PA • University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA • Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA • Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA • Northeastern University, , MA • Mass College of Art, Boston, MA • Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, MA • Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI • Goddard College, Plainfield, VT • University of Vermont, Burlington, VT • Naropa University, Bolder, CO • University of Colorado, Denver, CO • University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM • Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA • Reed College, Portland, OR • San Francisco Community College, San Francisco, CA • Humboldt University, Humboldt, CA Festival Performances

• Harry Brown’s Farm Festivals, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 • Finger Lakes Festival, Trumansburg, NY, 2014 • FIESTA, Albuquerque, NM, 2014 • Beatshot Music Festival, 2010 and 2014 • The Tinderbox Music Festival, NY, NY 2013 • Freedom Festival, Troy, NY, 2013 • The Flurry Festival of Music and Dance, Saratoga, NY, 2010, 2012 • OUT/LOUD Festival, 2011 & 2013 • Hudson.Water.Music, 2011, 2012, Hudson, NY • Boston Greenfest, Boston, MA, 2010 • Troy River Street Festival, Troy, NY, 2010 • Norway Arts Festival, Norway, ME, 2010 • Capital Pride Festival, 2009 & 2010, Albany, NY • Black & Latino Pride Festival, Albany, NY, 2009 • Idapalooza, Nashville, TN, 2009 • Rock Against Racism, New Paltz, NY 2008 • The Midpoint Music Festival, Cincinnati, OH, 2008 • International Music Festival, Baltimore, MD, 2008 • The Black Women’s Arts Festival, Philadelphia, PA, 2004 & 2008 • Mamapalooza Festival, NY, NY, 2008 • Art on Lark Festival, Albany, NY, 2008 • Larkfest, Albany, NY, 2008 • The RLA Annual Summertime Block Party, Ithaca, NY, 2008 • Emancipate, NY, NY, 2007 • Festivus for the Restivus, Cabot, VT, 2007

Conference Performances

• Connecting for Change, New Bedford, MA, 2015, 2012, 2009 • Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, Worcester, MA, 2015 • Intergroup Relations Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2015 • Women’s Voices, Women’s Visions, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2015 • NCORE, Washington DC, 2015 • Justice Works Conference, Albany, NY, 2014 • Arts & Symposium for Women, Saratoga, NY, 2014 • Power of Words Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2013 • Resistance Ecology Conference, Portland, OR, 2013 • Conference, Plainfield, VT, 2013 • Silence is Broken Conference, Boston, MA, 2011 • The US Social Forum, , MI, 2010; • Northeast Climate Confluence, Fonda, NY, 2008, 2009, 2010 • The AERO Conference, Albany, NY, 2008, 2009, 2010

Venue Performances

NY: Webster Hall, NYC, NY; The Knitting Factory, NYC; Nuyorican Poets Café, NYC; The South Paw, Brooklyn; The National Black Theater, Brooklyn; The Cake Shop, NYC; Camaradas El Barrio, NYC; The Culture Project, NYC; John Bosch, Brooklyn; The 169 Bar, NYC; The 123 Community Space, NYC; Towne Crier Café, Pawling, NY; Caffé Lena, Saratoga Springs; The Chapter House, Ithaca; Castaways, Ithaca; Community School of Music and Arts, Ithaca; The Lost Dog Lounge, Ithaca; Snug Harbor, New Paltz; Cyber Café West, Binghamton; The Lost Dog Cafe, Binghamton, NY; The Hollow, Albany; The Red Square, Albany; Lark Tavern, Albany; Grand Street Community Arts, Albany; The Art’s Center of the Capital Region, Albany; Dublin Underground, Albany; Rocks, Albany; McGeary’s Irish Pub, Albany; Umana Restaurant, Albany; The Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy; Nobody's Art Gallery, Buffalo; The Gallery, Stamford; The Spotty Dog, Hudson; The Falcon, Marlboro.

PA: The World Café Live, Philadelphia; The Prince Theatre, Philadelphia; The Painted Bride, Philadelphia; The Rotunda, Philadelphia; Studio 34, Philadelphia; The Cinema, Philadelphia; The LAVA Lounge, Philadelphia; Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia; The Mum Puppet Theater, Philadelphia; Amazulu Lounge, Philadelphia; Crossroads Music, Philadelphia, PA.

CA: The Derby, Los Angeles; Chuco’s Justice Center, Los Angeles; La Peña, Berkley; Café Du Nord, San Francisco; Pueblo Nuevo Gallery, Berkley.

CO: Mercury Café, Denver; Gypsy House Café, Denver; The Rock & Soul Café, Boulder.

LA: Cafe Istanbul, New Orleans; Zeitgeist Multicultural Arts Center, New Orleans.

MA: MakeShift Boston, Boston; Community Church, Boston; Tammany Hall, Worcester.

ME: One Longfellow Square, Portland; The Aphodian, Portland.

MN: The Black Dog Café, St. Paul; Dinkytowner, Minneapolis; Candelabra, Minneapolis.

NC: Pour House Music Hall, Raleigh; White Horse Black Mountain, Black Mountain; Firestorm Café, Asheville, NC.

NM: Taos Mesa Brewing, Taos; Santa Fe Pub & Brewery/Santa Fe Sol, Santa Fe; Santa Fe.

VT: Langdon Street Café, Montpelier; Radio Bean, Burlington.

WA: The Royal Lounge, Olympia; Café Vita, Olympia; The Nectar Lounge, Seattle; The Scarlet Tree, Seattle. OR: Alberta Rose Theater, Portland; In Other Words Women's Books, Portland.

Other US Cities: El Batey Urbano, Chicago, IL; Skull Alley, Louisville, KY; The , Detroit, MI; Taala Hooghan , Flagstaff, AZ; Momo’s, Austin, TX; The Rhizome, Austin, TX; Javier’s Bar, Cincinnati, OH; New Haven Lounge, Baltimore, MD; The Reef, Boise, ID; AS220, Providence, RI; Independent Public Alehouse, Greenville, SC.

Canada: The House of Reggae, Montreal, QC; Ociel, Montreal, QC, The Savannah Room, Toronto, ON; Toronto Women’s Bookstore, Toronto, ON.

Puerto Rico: Villa Montana, Isabella, Puerto Rico.

Mexico: Colectivo Tutuma, Oaxaca, Mexico

Europe: Bar Arrayán, Seville, ; Sunflower Public House, Belfast, Ireland; Tenterhooks, Dublin, Ireland; Kebele Social Center, Bristol, England; LARC, London, England; The Greys Pub, Brighton, England; AJZ, Bielefeld, Germany; Knoflook, Den Bosch, Netherlands; , Amsterdam, Netherlands; Joe’s Garage, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Huize Spoorloos, Emmen, Netherlands; UJZ Kornstrabe, Hannover, Germany; Klunkerkranich, Berlin, Germany.

Workshops Experience

Youth Workshops/Programs: Reclaim the Thunder, Warehouse 508, Albuquerque, NM, 2014; Spoken Word Poetry, The Social Justice Center, Albany, NY 2012; Sanctuary Summer Media Camp, The Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy, NY 2008; William L. Sayre High School, The Philadelphia Student Union, Philadelphia, PA, 2005; Taller Puertorriqueño After School Program, Philadelphia, PA 2004; Upper Dublin High School, Fort Washington, PA, 2003 & 2004; Huey Samuel B. School Girl’s After- School Program, Philadelphia, PA, 2004; The Parent Infant Center After School Program, Philadelphia, PA, 2000-2003.

Adult Workshops: Reclaim the Thunder, Connecting for Change Conference, New Bedford, MA, 2015; Reclaim the Thunder, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2015; Reclaim the Thunder, Café Istanbul, New Orleans, LA, 2015; Reclaim the Thunder, MLK Day Event at The Social Justice Center, Albany, NY, 2015. Reclaim the Thunder, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, 2014. Reclaim the Thunder, Power of Words Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2013. Reclaim the Thunder, Resistance Ecology Conference, Portland, OR, 2013; Refugee Voices, Unseenamerica NYS, 2009; Working Lives, Working Hands, Gallery, Binghamton, NY, 2008; Unseenamerica NYS: Refugees and Immigrants Share Photographs and Poetry, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and the Workforce Development Institute, Albany, NY, 2007; When Words Run Dry, The Social Justice Center, Albany, NY, 2007; When Words Run Dry, The A-Space, Philadelphia, PA, 2005; When Words Run Dry, The Rotunda, Philadelphia, PA, 2005; New Direction’s Women’s Correctional Facility, Philadelphia, PA, 2002 & 2003.

Awards & Acknowledgements

• NY Hispanic Coalition, Inc. 40 Under 40 Rising Star 2015 • Metroland Best World Music 2014 • Holding Our Own Foundation Fabulous Feminist, Creative Force Award 2012 • Metroland Reader’s Pick Best World Music 2011 • Metroland Best World Music 2010 • Metroland Best of Recordings 2010 • Metroland Reader’s Pick Best Local Poet 2007 • Leeway Foundation Transformation Award 2005

Contact

Address: 1971 Western Ave. #273, Albany, NY, 12203

Phone: 518.300.3255

Email (Booking / General Contact): [email protected]

Links:

Web TainaAsili.com Facebook fb.com/tainaasilimusic Twitter twitter.com/tainaasili Instagram instagram.com/tainaasili YouTube youtube.com/tainaasili SoundCloud soundcloud.com/tainaasili