August 20, the Ex/Getatchew & Company: WFMU Will Be Broadcasting Live from Damrosch Park

Many WFMU Listeners are already aware of the news of our next big public event, but here's another nudge: Lincoln Center's Out of Doors series in collaboration with WFMU's Free Music Series are giving you all the chance to see a rare and amazing international music event for free at Lincoln Center/Damrosch Park Bandshell on West 62nd Street at Amsterdam in Manhattan, Wednesday, August 20th from 6-10 PM. On the bill, Holland's legendary avant-punks the Ex, playing live as an expanded 10-piece and joined for the first time in NYC by Ethiopian saxophonist Gétatchèw Mèkurya. If you need even more dazzling news, Lincoln Center added two amazing East African/American collaborations to the bill: Either/Orchestra with Mahmoud Ahmed and Alèmayèhu Eshèté, plus Extra Golden. Thanks to the New York State Music Fund grant that enabled WFMU bring in the Ex and Getatchew, we've also been beefing up not only the forthcoming Free Music Archive, but also have obtained some new equipment to augment the station, and that's been resulting in some more great live broadcasts. So this week, we couldn't be happier to announce that this event now will be going out on WFMU's radio and webstreams as well! If you can't make it to the Park (no advance free tickets this time, so we recommend getting there as early as you can), you can tune in at home and be transported via our mini-Addis-on-the-Hudson on August 20th.

In the meantime, here's an on-line preview to get you stoked (thanks to Allegro/Ethiosonic for permission to post), culled from a DVD documenting a 2006 Ex/Getatchew live set at the Banlieues Blues Festival in Paris. More info about this, and the great Ethiopiques series of releases that have included Getatchew, Mahmoud, and Alèmayèhu, at Buda Musique's site. Also check out WFMU's previous announcement post for some more audio and video clips of these astounding artists. Hope to see you there for what's sure to be a memorable evening for us all!