Two of the most excitingly colorful Bay Area-based world music bands bring reggae music and Moroccan sounds to celebrate the release of the Reggae Angels’ new CD, “Turn on the Light.” DJ Lionheart Sounds also performs.

With original music filled with spiritual insights and teachings, Oakland’s Reggae Angels have been playing for Ashkenaz dancers for 20 years. The band spends most of its time on the road spreading the message, as headliners and backing the greatest names in reggae. Songs come from their 12 albums recorded over the past two decades, and tonight feature some from “Turn on the Light.” Launched in 1992 by Fenton Wardle (he and Cynthia Roots are the lead vocalists), the Reggae Angels quickly gained a reputation as both the best backing band and leaders on their own. In addition to their own tours, the Reggae Angels have done a 50-city U.S. tour with Andrew Tosh and toured with and backed a who’s who of the top names in reggae (Sugar Minott, Big Youth, the Abyssinians, Frankie Paul, Everton Blender, Junior Reid, and Don Carlos, to name a few), in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Hawaii. The Reggae Angels are well-known not just for their dynamic rhythmic grooves, but also for their universal message of guidance and inspiration towards good, wholesome living. Their lyrics affirm such qualities as wisdom, generosity, and gratitude. The Reggae Angels have their own recording studio in Oakland called The Workshop, where they help produce other artists as well as their own works.

www.ReggaeAngels.com

Yassir Chadly & the Moroccans bring a wide-ranging vision of North African concert and dance music. Born in Casablanca, Chadly has performed with his own bands and with a world of other artists on the Ashkenaz stage over the past 28 years. One of the most revered world artists, Chadly has collaborated and recorded with a who’s who of greats, including Pharoah Sanders, Philip Glass, Omar Sosa, Stephen Kent, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet Company, Steve Coleman, Taj Mahal, and flamenco musicians and dancers. He co-led the jazz-Moroccan Mo’Rockin Band with the late trumpeter Khalil Shaheed. A master of many Moroccan instruments, in this concert Chadly will use a few, likely the oud, gimbri, karkabas, and bendeer, as featured on his most recent recording, “Asheeq Zeen.” In addition to music, Chadly is a Sufi storyteller, an imam of the Oakland mosque Masjid Al Iman, and an associate professor at the Graduate Theological Union.  

www.yassirchadly.com