Telem Week 2023: Three Jamaican artists to join programme

Telem Week aims to provide a platform for alternative musicians to make and perform original, experimental music together through a songwriting workshop guided by four local faculty artists and two faculty artists from the United States and Nigeria. Participating artists and faculty will play new works over two days at a performance festival in Freetown on 18 and 19 November.

The Jamaican acts confirmed for Telem Week 2023 include Rica G, Jamila Falak and King Calie.

Rica G is a multi-hyphenate cultural practitioner looking to serve as a catalyst for liberation throughout the diaspora using fellowship, technology, education and the arts. An innovative educator and storyteller at the core, she has transformed stages, surf camps, skate parks, computer labs and traditional classrooms into spaces of community learning for scholars of all ages. Her primary mediums of expression are spoken word, bass guitar, tuba, roller skating and photography.

Jamila Falak is a singing upright bassist and a multi-hyphenate creative entrepreneur. Pioneering a unique blend of soulful Afrocentric melodies and heartfelt lyrics, she seeks to inspire uplifting influence and captivate audiences with her artistic expression. Falak released her first single ‘LA AAA ADY’ in 2019, which featured in the Emmy-nominated TV show Jacqueline and Jilly, and has also performed with world-renowned acts such as Marcia Griffiths and Shaggy. She is the founder of the Plant x Play Initiative, a cultivated and cultured community of creatives working towards philanthropy and climate action.

King Calie is the reigning star of Magnum’s 2021 and 2022 Top Performa charts in Jamaica. A dancehall artist with a unique fusion of musical genres and unparalleled artistic vision, Calie also aspires to reshape cultural landscapes.

These artists will be joined by two additional guests from the United States, both serving as faculty artists for the retreat week. Atlanta-based Afro-soul/Afro-folk indie singer-songwriter Tosinger has been singing for more than two decades in Nigeria, the UK and now in the US. With a couple of published works to her name, her music displays a heartfelt conveyance of originality and inspirational lyrics. Tosinger expresses an Afrocentric comforting musical flow that is soulful and folksy, sometimes jazzy, with subliminal messages incorporating her Yoruba language and cultural sounds. An eclectic artist in her own right, Tosinger is also an actress, an event curator and most recently, became the first TEDx music performer at the inaugural launch of TEDxAtlantaWomen (SOAR 2022).

Eric Heveron-Smith has spent the last 15 years playing trombone, tuba, or upright bass with multiple bands on the vintage swing dance scene, and recently, the Youtube supergroup Postmodern Jukebox, all over North America. He has opened for B.B. King and Tower of Power with an Americana band, recorded with artists such as A.C. Newman and Jonathan Scales (alongside Victor Wooten, Christian Scott, and MonoNeon), engineered and mixed countless albums, and played one gig with the legendary Michael McDonald. Eric co-founded the swing group Moonshine Rhythm Club and leads his own jazz band.

The Republic of Sierra Leone opened its first Consul’s office in Jamaica earlier this year, with well-known academic, trade policy specialist and advocate, Prof Rosalea Hamilton, serving as honorary consul. Professor Hamilton will accompany the three Jamaican artists to Sierra Leone for Telem Week 2023, a move, according to a statement, “that underscores the new, emerging opportunities for cultural trade and investment – further strengthening understanding of the historical, cultural, food and fashion links – between the Republic of Sierra Leone and Jamaica, as well as West Africa and the Caribbean.”

“The historical and cultural connections between the Republic of Sierra Leone and Jamaica run deep,” Hamilton said. “Telem Week 2023 provides an exciting opportunity to strengthen and enhance these historical/cultural ties, while opening new opportunities for creative expression and mutually
beneficial collaboration that will foster cultural trade and investment in the future.”

“We know how many uncommon and excellent musicians there are in Sierra Leone – people with a unique voice and a story to share with the world,” Telem Uncommon Sounds’, Solomon Fatoma, said. “We are so excited to partner with the honorary consul of Sierra Leone in Jamaica, the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Washington, DC, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, and numerous sponsors to bring into our creative economy a fresh source of creative expression and inspiration – and the opportunity to produce the kind of global collaborations between West Africa and the Caribbean that audiences all over the world are seeking.”