Puerto Rican vocalist Taína Asili carries on the tradition of her ancestors, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. Her newest artistic work is with la Banda Rebelde (the Rebel Band), a six piece international ensemble based in Albany, NY. This dynamic force brings love, resistance, and ancestral remembrance to venues, festivals, conferences and political events across the globe. Powerful vocals laid over an energetic fusion of Afro-Caribbean, reggae, rock, and hip hop sounds, the band's eclectic style represents the diversity of its members, who have origins in Puerto Rico, Sicily, Greece, Spain, Brazil and Ghana. Taína Asili's voice exudes strength of Spirit, filling its listeners with the fervor of freedom and inspiring audiences to dance to the movement of rebellion.
Taína Asili y la Banda Rebelde released their debut album War Cry in 2010, which has already begun to gain international attention. With an uncompromising lyrical integrity and sound that spans continents, the multilingual album War Cry interblends the energy of Ojos de Brujo, the soul of Lila Downs and the defiance of Rage Against the Machine. Journalist Josh Potter of The Metroland, Albany, NY's alternative newsweekly, describes War Cry as "a pan-global roots-musical mélange that appeals to the struggle of tradition to envision a world of social justice."
Taína Asili [tahy-ee-nah ah-see-lee] hails from Philadelphia, PA and Albany, NY where she has worked as a musician, poet, educator and community organizer for over 10 years. She has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Ursula Rucker, Sonia Sanchez, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Pamela Means, Paula Cole, and Tyrone Hill of The Sun Ra Arkestra. Taína was a winner of the 2005 Transformation Award given by the Leeway Foundation each year to a select few of women artists who profoundly use their work towards social change. She was voted "Best Poet" in 2006 and "Best World Music" in 2010 by The Metroland. She has performed from Montreal to San Francisco and from Mexico to Spain capturing the hearts of her listeners.
"If you look at our history," she says, "you see over and over that music has played a central role in changing how people think, for the good and bad. How we make change in the larger political landscape starts with how we affect one another individually, and music brings message in a way that opens people-their heart, mind, spirit."
