Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars' 2nd studio album,Rise & Shine, was released March 23, 2010 byCumbancha. The disc was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos (Michelle Shocked, Faith No More, Angelique Kidjo, Rickie Lee Jones, Susan Tedeschi). The CD was recorded at Piety Street studio in New Orleans with local musiciansTrombone Shorty, Washboard Chaz andBonerama all guesting on the album.
Formed in a refugee camp during Sierra Leone's civil war, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars' incredible story is documented in the award winning, compelling and emotionally-driven film,"Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars." Initial support for the film came from executive producers Steve Bing and Shelley Lazar as well as Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, andAngelina Jolie. The resulting studio album,Living Like A Refugee (Anti Records 2006), is one of the most acclaimed world music releases of the past few years, garnering the band international acclaim and high profile fans including Aerosmith, who the All Stars collaborated with in concert and in the studio.
SLRAS has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show; CNN International; PBS's P.O.V. Series and CBS Sunday Morning as well as NPR's World Café and a special piece with vocalist Black Nature on MTV's Cause Effect.
The group collaborated with Aerosmith on the certified Gold Record, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur as well as their own special appearances on In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 and on the soundtrack for the quintuple Oscar Nominated and Golden Globe Nominated film,Blood Diamond.
The documentary has been honored with over a dozen awards at film festivals including: the 2005 Human Rights Watch Film Festival - Best of the Festival; 2005 AFI Fest - Best Documentary Grand Jury Award; 2006 SXSW Film Festival - Audience Award; 2006 Full Frame Film Festival - Emerging Pictures Audience Award and the Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award; 2006 Nashville Film Festival - Impact of Music Award; 2006 International Documentary Association - Distinguished Feature; 2006 Miami International Film Festival - Audience Award.
Performances on 5 continents at some of the world's most prestigious venues and music festivals including: World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; The Kennedy Center; Save The Children's 75th Anniversary at Lincoln Center with President Bill Clinton; Bonnaroo; Montreal Jazz Festival; Japan's Fuji Rock Festival; Barcelona Acio Musical in Spain; Transmusicales in France; East Coast Blues & Roots Festival in Australia; Central Park SummerStage; Celebrate Brooklyn; Hollywood Bowl; Essence Music Festival in New Orleans; Ottawa Jazz Festival; Winnipeg Folk Festival; Folk and Roots Festival in Chicago; Detroit Festival of The Arts; Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in CA; Oxegen Festival in Ireland; Stooras Festival in Norway; Storsjö Yran Festival in Sweden; Reggae on the River in CA; Jazz Aspen Snowmass and the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
The All Stars and Cumbancha Records are donating 100% of the proceeds from the early release of their new single, "Global Threat," from the latest album Rise & Shine, to the International Rescue Committee's earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
http://www.sierraleonesrefugeeallstars.com
http://www.myspace.com/therefugeeallstars
youtube/slrefugeeallstars
last.fm/sierraleonesrefugeeallstars
Review taken from http://www.rosebudus.com
