The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced a partnership with the Association of American Voices to engage with people across the world through music. Known as American Music Abroad, this people-to-people exchange will feature a wide variety of American musical genres through international cultural exchange initiatives that will reach more than 40 countries around the world during 2012 and 2013.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau

of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Info Kit Contents:

Introduction/Biography

Band Members

Background

Song List

Photos / Videos

Artwork

THE CLINTON CURTIS BANDRock / Blues / Roots

THE CLINTON CURTIS BAND (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) was founded by songwriter Clinton Curtis in 2008 with the goal of uniting numerous musical influences to create a modern interpretation of “American Roots Music.” The band draws from Gospel, Delta Blues, R&B, Soul, Dixieland, Jazz, Country, Folk, Funk, Rock, Reggae and Ska. Equally at home on the stages of concert halls and community centers, the group has an end-less repertoire of American standard blues and folk songs, in addition to several albums-worth of original material, penned by front man Clinton Curtis. Passionate about lending a hand to philanthropic and fundraising ventures, the group appears regularly for New York City-based benefit concerts and projects. In 2010, they recorded and released the origi-nal song “History Of Dust,” the proceeds from which were donated to the cause of earthquake-related health giving aid on the ground in Port Au Prince, Haiti, in collaboration with Partners In Health.

CLINTON CURTIS (GUITAR/KEYBOARD/BASS) is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator and passionate student of American musical heritage and history. Raised between the islands of Key West and Jamaica, he is the son of musicians and former reggae hall own-ers. Clinton formed his first group “The Remaining Ten” at age twelve: a ten-piece rhythm and blues band comprised of Key West students and local gigging pros. In 2002, Clinton moved to New York City to study at New York University, focusing on musical performance and American Musicology. Clinton’s broad musical career has taken him through Europe, Canada, and the Caribbean. He made his Carnegie Hall choral debut in 2008, with the San Francisco Sym-phony and has since appeared with a list of New York-based groups including the American Symphony Orchestra, The New York Choral Artists, Riverside Choral Society, and the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert and Kurt Masur for seven concerts in 2011.

JUSTIN GOLDNER (BASSIST/GUITARIST) harbors a deep passion for groove, culture and connections. Born outside Philadelphia, Justin began teaching himself guitar at age 13 and immersed himself in all the music he could find, from blues and funk to bluegrass, hip-hop, Latin-American, Afro-beat, gospel, reggae, Balkan, flamenco, Arabic, and Greek music. At New York University, Justin combined studies in classical and jazz guitar and piano with a deep love for the bass. In recent years, his muse has led him to Egypt, Abu Dhabi and South Africa, where he has performed and educated, exchanging experiences and music with others from across the world. He has been privileged to make music with the likes of household names Frankie Avalon, Paul Shaffer and Lenny Pickett to jazz and classical virtuosi John Scofield, Richard Bona and Mark O’Connor, as well as his mentor, Meshell Ndegeocello.

LIANA STAMPUR (VOCALS) (Touring in El Salvador and Colombia) is a singer, songwriter and early childhood music educator who hails from New York City, where she grew up immersed in an eclectic array of music. Liana’s love for world music and Latin cultures led her to Bolivia where she led workshops in Cochabamba in collaboration with Colectivo Katari, a teaching art-ists collective. With a 2010 grant from the Scripps Foundation, she returned to Cochabamba to record Desde Los Suenos, Bolivia’s first bilingual children’s album, in collaboration with Clinton Curtis, Bolivian singer Marcelo Arias, and Colectivo Katari; the album debuts original music along with traditional US and Bolivian folks songs. Liana also plays piano, harmonica and vari-ous percussion instruments. She received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is enrolled in the Early Childhood Masters program at Bank Street College of Education.

ANDREW MCLEAN (DRUMMER) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. A first gener-ation Jamaican-American, he embarked on a life of music through his church as a drummer at the age of 6. He was also a member of the choir and could be heard drumming for his church choir on WQHT 1520 AM Radio every Saturday afternoon. His work as a church musician led to constant travel throughout the East Coast, playing with artists like Kelly Price and James Hall, and opening for gospel artists such as Tye Tribbett & GA. Under the tutelage of famed conguero Willie “Timba” Rodriguez, he became fluent on the congas and timbales. In 2011, he was one of ten producers and DJs picked by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra to remix the finale of Beethoven’s third symphony, “Eroica.”

GRAY REINHARD (KEYBOARD/GUITAR/ VOCALS) has performed and recorded with doz-ens of bands and artists ranging in genre from Classical to Jazz to Hip-hop and Pop. Gray’s dexterous musical abilities have led him to a diverse group of musical settings. In December 2011, he performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and choir, as a featured pianist in “Jingle Bell Doc with the Minnesota Orchestra,” conducted by Doc Severinsen, Gray’s grandfather. Most recently, Gray performed alongside Garland Jeffreys and Bruce Springsteen at the Light of Day benefit concert for Parkinson’s Disease.

American Music Abroad builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy, which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case music – to bring people together and foster greater understanding. It also builds on the histor-ic legacy of the Department of State’s Jazz Ambassadors, who first traveled the world in the 1950s to connect with people through music.

The Department of State and the Association of American Voices create a series of month-long, multi-country exchange programs. During the exchange, 10-12 ensembles representing American music will conduct public concerts, interactive performances with local musicians, lecture demonstrations, workshops, and jam sessions with diverse audiences. American Mu-sic Abroad activities will focus on younger and underserved audiences in approximately 40 countries with little or no access to live American performances.

American Music Abroad ensembles are selected on the basis of artistic quality and commit-ment to education and cultural engagement through an open competition. Further information about the application process for musicians will be announced fall of 2012.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs promotes international mutual understanding through a wide range of academic, cultural, private-sector, professional, and sports exchange programs. These international exchanges engage youth, students, educators, artists, ath-letes, and emerging leaders in many fields in the United States and in more than 160 coun-tries. Alumni of ECA exchanges comprise over one million people around the world, including more than 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 320 current or former heads of state and gov-ernment.

The Association of American Voices has presented concerts, workshops and master classes, and summer youth performing arts academies to over 200,000 audience members in 110 countries during the past 16 years. With a focus on nations emerging from conflict or isolation, American Voices has taken its unique brand of cultural engagement programs, Jazz Bridg-es, YES Academy and Hiplomacy, to nations such as Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. In recognition of its work, American Voices was selected as a Best Practice Organization by the International Cultural Engagement Task Force and the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy (USCCD) in 2010.

http://americanvoices.org/ama

Originals:

2nd Avenue BallHang OnOnly Way OutRiverside HotelSoul ProjectorMajor CrowePearl RiverHistory Of DustL-TrainBest You CanDifferent Down Here

Covers:

The Weight - The BandMe and The Devil Blues - Robert JohnsonDown By The Riverside - TraditionalIko, Iko - TraditionalHard Times - Stephen FosterValerie - Amy WinehouseAngel From Montgomery - Bonnie RaittI shall Be Released - Bob DylanYou Ain’t Goin Nowhere - Bob DylanLike A Rolling Stone - Bob DylanSmall Axe - Bob MarleySissy Strut - The MetersJambalaya - Hank WilliamsSpirit In The Night - Bruce SpringsteenThe Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band

Click to download Hi resolution photographs here

PHOTOS

VIDEOS

Click song links to view the videos

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere Freight TrainHistory of Dust

Printed Material ArtworkClick to download* Poster* Concert Program* Roll Up Banner