Ring in the new year with hits from legendary musicians Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder performed a capella. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, two of the hottest acts in New York’s remarkably resurgent a cappella music scene, m-pact and Duwende, will perform “I Wish … for All Time: Celebrating the Genius of Michael Jackson & Stevie Wonder” at the Granada Theatre.
These amazing reinterpretations of the classic Wonder and Jackson songbooks are accomplished with only the voices on stage — not a single string, keyboard, wind instrument or drumstick.
This truly unique performance is presented by the Granada Theatre Concert Series, sponsored by Lexus, Montecito Bank & Trust and the Santa Barbara Independent.
Hailed as “one of the best pop-jazz vocal groups in the world” by the San Francisco Chronicle, m-pact is respected worldwide as a cutting edge trailblazer in the realm of vocal music. Emerging from an age of auto-tune and overproduction, this Los Angeles-based sextet has cultivated a new generation of ears hungry for the fresh, raw power of nature’s “first instrument” — the human voice.
From the beginning, the “pact” of these well-studied masters has been to stay true to the music, regardless of style or genre. Their sophisticated sound and accessible appeal have garnered them vast accolades, including “Vocal Group of the Year” from the LA Music Awards, “Artist of the Year” from the Seattle Music Awards, and Grand National Champs of the Harmony Sweepstakes competition.
Touring renowned fine arts halls and jazz festivals across four continents, m-pact has performed with a variety of music superstars, including Sheryl Crow, Boyz II Men, Liza Minnelli, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole and Bobby McFerrin. Over the last dozen years, their signature sound has been used in both TV themes and animated Disney feature films, and is enjoyed on syndicated radio worldwide.
Duwende is an award-winning a cappella band from New York. They are best known for their fiercely original, bass and beatbox-driven funk/pop style of music and have headlined major a cappella festivals across the country.
Two of Duwende’s most recent albums, Radio Screaming and Collective, won the 2005 and 2008 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards for Best Pop/Rock Album and Best Pop/Rock Original Song from The Contemporary A Cappella Society. In 2011, Duwende released Remember: The Music of Michael Jackson, gaining them widespread acclaim and leading them to perform for the United Nations, the Sundance Film Festival, the Bill Clinton Global Initiative and the Ellen DeGeneres show. Most recently, Duwende was featured as an international artist for the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, sharing the bill with artists Stevie Wonder, Bobby, McFerrin, Herbie Hancock, Erykah Badu and many more.
Tickets are available for all of these performances through the Granada Theatre’s box office. Click here to purchase online, or call the box office at 805.899.2222.
For all sponsorship opportunities, please contact Kristi Newton, director of development, by phone at 805.451.2932 or via email at knewton@granadasb.org.
— Jennifer Zacharias is a publicist representing the Granada Theatre.