Bastille Day Bash!

Rupa
and the
April Fishes

MC Rai
Les Croque Notes

If local singer Rupa were a movie, she would be Amélie meets Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown meets Latcho Drom meets Do the Right Thing. She'd be set in India and Berkeley...She would be (and, in fact, is) an instant cult classic among the smart, idealistic, international set. --Hiya Swanhuyser, SF Weekly

rupa & the april fishes is a global fusion group that makes music that is an artful patchwork of sounds from the far east, eastern europe, latin america, france and the US. with songs written by rupa during her time as a physician in training at UCSF, the music tells tales of love in the face of uncertainty, stories of people in motion finding common ground and hope for a world with dissolving borders. bringing together different musical languages using cello, accordion, trumpet, bass, drums, voice and guitar, the band invites people from diverse backgrounds to get together and groove. they give an unforgettable multilingual performance, with songs in french, spanish, english, hindi and roma and textures that range from raucous to romantic.

MC Rai, born in the southern Tunisian city of Gabés, grew up immersed in the folk music traditions of Chaabi, or Mizoued as known in Tunisia. He began performing at an early age, with his first live performance at the age of only eight on a local radio show. Considered a dynamic performer, he continued through frequent, successful live performances on both radio and television to receive considerable recognition in his homeland. MC Rai is part of a new generation of Rai singers taking it to a new level. In 1995, turning his attention from Chaabi to Rai, he began to develop his own distinct style of Algerian Rai, infusing it with the traits of his native Tunisian music. While many of his contemporaries made the move to France where Rai is already a well known style of music, MC Rai chose to reach out to a whole new audience, moving instead to the US. Since his arrival in San Francisco back in August, 2000, MC Rai has gained considerable attention, performing with well-known Rai musi-cian Khaled, DJ Cheb I Sabbah and sharing the stage with artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, and Michael Franti. Now based in Los Angeles, MC Rai continues to make inroads into new markets. This year with the release of his debut album, Raivolution, MC Rai will finally be able to go beyond the impact of his live performances. Recorded in 2005, Raivolution is a reflection of MC Raiʼs vision and new direction for this mesmerizing North African music. Taking a bold, more modern approach by combining cutting edge production, rock guitar, hip hop beats, drum, underlying all of it with his unique Rai style vocals, yet maintaining the traditional Middle Eastern/North African melodic and rhythmic form.