Nneka
Event on 2012-03-11 20:00:00

Nneka

Pop music is a 'here today, gone tomorrow' world. A starburst of YouTube notoriety and then oblivion. Or at least it is for most. But when your journey has been as long and extraordinary as Nneka's – when you've travelled 10,000 miles and are still only just starting out – then instant celebrity is the last thing on your mind. When your heart is as big as your Afro, when your talents stretch fr…om teardrop soul-singing to freestyle rapping to a first-class degree from a top Continental university, when you've got so much to say about so much, then you are in it for the long haul. Every year since her musical career took off in 2005, this Afro-German warrior princess has built on her successes, stretched her muscles, widened her range. Her debut album 'Victim of Truth' – an inspirational mix of hot loops, black consciousness and 21st-century soul music – was garlanded with praise by the British media. 'As good as The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,' said the Sunday Times. Now, as the UK prepares for the long hot summer of 2009, its soundtrack has arrived: 'No Longer At Ease', a second album every bit as lush and visionary as her first. It's a record on which brains, beauty and beats collide. It's a record that has already made its mark across Europe and beyond. It's a record that Lenny Kravitz and Lauryn Hill both heard and said: 'I want this girl opening my show!' It's easy to see what got Lauryn and Lenny so animated. Nneka's music has still got a big splash of Bob Marley in the recipe, a measure of Nina Simone and a lick of Eryka Badu. But this time around there's more of the best ingredient – Nneka herself. Holding it all together is the emotional focus of her beautiful voice, located in a place somewhere between yearning and rage. The daughter of a Nigerian father and a German mother, Nneka Egbuna was born in Warri, Oil City in the Delta region of Nigeria at the height of its new found wealth in the mid 70s. For nineteen years she soaked up the sounds and rhythms of one of the most musical nations on the planet, a country where expressing yourself through song is just a part of everyday life, a country that has music in its very DNA, where the influence of giants like Afrobeat revolutionary Fela Kuti is never far away. But at the age of 19 this modest and hard-working young girl made the big decision to leave behind the African way of life. To further her education, she moved not just to Europe but to Northern Europe, to the industrial seaport of Hamburg in Germany. For the young Nneka, it was a dramatic change, and there remains an intangible quality in her voice that speaks of being a long, long way from home. "The cultural differences between Germany and Nigeria were extreme," she says. "The way they dress, the way they carry themselves, their religion. So many things that were important to me are not important to them. For two years I was overwhelmed." But dramatic changes can produce dramatic results. Where back home a gift for singing and melody were no big deal, in Germany Nneka's striking looks and vocal talents began to get her noticed. The fact is, there ain't many Nigerian soul singers in Hamburg. "They saw me as 'somebody' in Germany, and I found that very shocking. Back home in Nigeria it's: 'OK, you sing. Anybody can sing. So what?' " For all its innate musicality, Nigerian culture perhaps prizes education higher than any other achievement, and while Nneka was making her first demos and beginning to make waves as a performer, she was determined not to waste the stack of A-levels that she already had under her belt. Enrolled at Hamburg University, she continued to study for a degree in anthropology – no mean feat when you're in demand at clubs and festivals from Paris to Lisbon, from Vienna to Madrid. Nneka's raw yet distinctive style of songwriting and harmonies soon brought her to the attention of top acts touring the continent across a wide range of styles. She opened massive shows for Jamaican dancehall bad-boy Sean Paul; then she did it again, this time for even bigger crowds with global hiphop crossover stars Gnarls Barkley. Add Lenny and Lauryn to that list and you get an idea of the sheer reach of the Nneka sound. It's a sound that places her right at the centre of the new revolution in African contemporary music today. While love, hope and optimism form the bedrock of all Nneka's recorded work, there's a steeliness to her new material, the engagement of a highly developed mind on some of the tough realities of modern politics – both personal and international. It takes no little courage – and insight – to write a song like 'Africans', which tells her people to stop blaming their colonial past for their problems and take responsibility for themselves. To then go back and sing it to packed houses in Nigeria – where the military rule with an iron fist – shows an extraordinary depth and strength of will. But that's just what she did, making a triumphant return to her home country on tour with MTV-Award-winning Nigerian rapper 2-Face. Yet, like the woman who wrote it, the song 'Africans' is not dry and hectoring – it's a soft and elegant melody, a piece of music that doesn't need to shout but instead seduces. Backed by the production of her longtime collaborator DJ Farhot, whose dubby soundworld she has inhabited since those early demo days in Hamburg, Nneka finds the perfect foil for the raw emotion that she brings to a vocal. It's a testament to the strength of Nneka's talent that her success so far is based on word of mouth, on the quality of her albums and the intensity of her live performance. She is not a big-label product, forced down people's throats by marketing dollars. Her audience now numbers hundreds of thousands across two continents, for Nneka now divides her time between homes in Lagos and Hamburg. Those listeners are people who have tracked her down, because there will always be a demand for music that does more than just entertain, but touches something universal. As she puts it herself: "I do it in a sweet way – but I sing to speak the truth."

at Troubadour
9081 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, United States

By Your Side Hosts AUTISM PARTNERS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW, a community resrouce fair, on Thursday, Feb. 23
Event on 2012-02-23 16:00:00
The open house celebrates the opening of the autism therapy center’s second Chicagoland location

Schaumburg, IL — BY YOUR SIDE, a unique therapy center dedicated to providing Speech and Language therapy, ABA therapy and occupational therapy to children, teenagers and adults with autism, invites families to a special grand opening event at their second location. AUTISM PARTNERS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW, an open house featuring a variety of resources for families with special needs children, will be held on Thursday, February 23 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 1920 Thoreau Drive, Suite 180, in Schaumburg.

Families will be able to tour the state-of-the art therapy center, which is set up in a comfortable home-like environment. Additionally, several other organizations and businesses that serve special needs children in the Chicagoland area will have booths at the event. They include:

• Northwest Special Recreation Association (NWSRA) was formed in 1973 to provide a full spectrum of recreation services to individuals with disabilities. NWSRA is a partnership of 17 park districts in the northwest suburbs of Chicago committed to supporting community access to recreation for people with disabilities.

• The Schaumburg Autism Society is a grassroots organization dedicated to improve the lives of all affected by autism by increasing public awareness about the day-to-day issues faced by people on the spectrum, advocating for appropriate services for individuals across the lifespan, and providing the latest information regarding treatment, education, research and advocacy. The Schaumburg Autism Society offers a parent support group that meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Schaumburg Township Building and a Sibling Support Group that meets the fourth Monday of every month at the Kenneth Young Center in Elk Grove.

• Discovery Toys has a 30+ year history of partnering with parents, teachers, specialists, caregivers and children to promote learning through play. Discovery Toys features products that support every aspect of a child's growth: physical, intellectual, emotional and social. There will be items for children to explore and play with that are targeted for different learning styles, with Autism reference symbols indicating the specific learning each toy supports.

• The Red Kite Project at Chicago Children’s Theatre creates multi-sensory, interactive theatre programming tailored specifically to the needs and interests of children on the autism spectrum. Unlike more traditional theatre, Red Kite downplays the use of spoken language and emphasizes a series of sensory experiences rather than the progression of a plot. In addition to theatrical productions, the project also includes Camp Red Kite, a summer arts camp specifically for autistic children.

• Right Fit Sport Fitness Wellness offers an award winning Raise the Bar individualized fitness program for youth and adults with autism spectrum disorders. This innovative "fun" structured fitness and wellness program does not depend on a lot of fancy equipment, glamorous settings or organized sports to achieve real results. Right Fit promotes PLAY as the intervention for essential healthy growth and development. An emphasis is placed on 3 C trainers (commitment, compassionate and credentialed) to implement a sensitive and practical program to improve motor skills and muscle tone, assist in weight management, improve self-esteem, socialization and eliminate self-destructive and self-stimulating behaviors. There are no "can'ts" at Right Fit, which strives to deliver the best in fitness service to help every client achieve fitness and wellness goals!

• Usborne Books & More are educational, imaginative, fun and factual books that children love to read. With over 1,400 titles, Usborne offers something for every age and subject, including Internet-linked and Internet-referenced books. The company publishes non-fiction, fiction, puzzle books, activity books, story books, sticker books and encyclopedias. Usborne Books are visually stimulating with information in bite-sized pieces.

• Rose’s Wheat Free Bakery and Café in Evanston is a full service bakery and restaurant that is 100% gluten free. Rose’s Wheat Free Bakery and Café has been family owned and operated since 2007. With many options for families struggling with multiple allergies or intolerances, Rose’s sets the gold standard for ingredients and flavor in gluten free and dairy free products in the Midwest region. Rose’s will provide samples as well as the opportunity to buy products.

BY YOUR SIDE’s philosophy includes the belief that language is the foundation of all communication and is embedded in every facet of life. Improvement of language skills is directly correlated to quality of life and ability to participate in its activities. These skills are most effective when taught in a natural and relevant environment providing direct instruction and opportunities for generalization with a variety of communication partners.

The floor plan of BY YOUR SIDE is set up to promote and create a natural environment. The center is made up of rooms found in a home with subtle accommodations to support the individual with autism. The facility also includes instruction rooms which are specifically created for one on one teaching of skills in a room free of all stimuli. Language concepts, communication strategies, sensory integration and social skills are then taught within the activities of each of the “home” rooms. Additionally, daily living skills are easily incorporated into therapy with this home design. The center features a living room, kitchen, play room, art room, rec room and indoor playground. The center also includes a clubhouse area for parents/guardians to wait in comfort.

The functional design of BY YOUR SIDE paired with a team of licensed professionals is dedicated to helping each individual become the best version of themselves, teaching them the skills to participate in activities of everyday life.

BY YOUR SIDE’s Schaumburg Center Director Kathryn Neenan, M.S. CCC-SLP/L will lead a team of therapists to carry forward what Executive Director Julie Martin, M.S. CCC-SLP/L, BCBA created back in 2009 at their first location in Burr Ridge. Kathryn and Julie have worked together since 2008 providing therapy to individuals with autism in a variety of settings. Together they have created new programs and developed existing programs to better serve the needs of individuals with autism.

BY YOUR SIDE offers a number of programming options to address the varying needs of the autism spectrum. Frequency and intensity of the program is unique to each individual and determined by the therapy team which includes the family as an important member of that team.

With hours of operation from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday, BY YOUR SIDE accommodates a variety of schedules.

SCHAUMBURG, IL – 1920 Thoreau Drive, Suite 180, Schaumburg, IL 60173.

BURR RIDGE, IL – 16W361 Frontage Road, Suite 131 Burr Ridge, IL 60527.

For more information or to schedule an evaluation for either location, please call
(630) 590-5571 or visit BY YOUR SIDE’s website at www.ByYourSideAutismCenter.com.

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at By Your Side- An Autism Language Center
1920 Thoreau Drive Ste. 180
Schaumburg, United States

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