Tigertail Productions

TIGERTAIL PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
CARIBBEAN CROSSROADS
An Evening of Music from Haiti and Curaçao
with Jan Sebon & Chin Behilia

The islands of the Caribbean share the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade-driven African Diaspora, mixed with many different European and indigenous cultures. On Saturday, April 12, music from two of these island communities, Haiti and Curaçao, takes center stage in Miami in a showcase of their shared and varied roots. The evening features South Florida-based Haitian artist Jan Sebon and Curaçao's beloved troubadour Oswin "Chin" Behilia. The concert, at Miami Beach's Colony Theatre at 8:00 pm, is part of Tigertail's 2007/2008 season.

This amazing joint concert features a World Premiere by South Florida-based Haitian artist Jan Sebon and his group KAZAK, Peyi Mwen (My Country), a multi-media musical work that blends current events, autobiography, dance and video. Peyi Mwen is jointly commissioned by Tigertail Productions, the Skirball Cultural Center/Los Angeles and the National Performance Network. Sebon has created a Haitian-based world-fusion piece that is hip, poetic and politically conscious. Chin Behilia, appearing in Miami for the first time, will be accompanied by his ensemble of musicians from Curaçao. Chin is a sharp-witted songwriter whose compositions often penetrate to the essence of life in the Dutch Antilles. Many of his composition include Antillean waltzes reminiscent of the bossa novas of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Chin's repertoire includes lovely danzas, boleros, tumbas and the traditional sehú. This man of many talents was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands for contributions in several fields to his native island as musician, broadcaster, politician, impresario and mentor to young talent. While the islands of Haiti and Curaçao have their own unique languages, Haitian Creole and the Dutch Antillean Papiamento, together these two performers build a musical bridge.

"Chin Behilia's music is a soft and lilting mosaic of genres such as salsa, calypso, soca and zouk, a truly pan-tropical sound." – Songlines

"Sebon keeps Haiti's political, poetic, and musical heart beating…" – Miami New Times

On Thursday, April 10 at 6:30 pm there will also be a free panel discussion, From Dushi Korsou to Peyi Mwen: Caribbean Culture and the African Diaspora, with Oswin "Chin" Behilia and Jan Sebon; Sophia Lacroix, Haitian-American painter; Andrea Shore, Professor at Nova University; and moderator Geoffrey Philp, Jamaican-American writer, followed by a meet-the-artist reception at Circa39, 3900 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach.

To visit Jan Sebon on the web, go to www.jansebon.com and www.myspace.com/jansebon.

Click here (http://oswinchinbehilia.calabashmusic.com) for more on Chin Behilia.

Targeted support for Oswin Behilia comes from the Consulates-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Miami and New York and Curaçao Tourist Board. Jan Sebon is funded in part through Meet The Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program. Peyi Mwen is a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project commissioned by Tigertail Productions in partnership with the Skirball Cultural Center and the National Performance Network. The NPN and the NPN Creation Fund is sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Altria, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information about the NPN go to www.npnweb.org.