FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2022
Contact: kelly@epitaph.com

LEYLA MCCALLA SHARES LIVE PERFORMANCE OF
NEW TRACK “DODININ” VIA THE FADER, LISTEN + WATCH NOW

NEW ALBUM ‘BREAKING THE THERMOMETER’ OUT MAY 6

Photo Credit: Noé Cugny

 WEST COAST TOUR DATES WITH NEKO CASE ANNOUNCED

Less than one month from the release of her new album ‘Breaking The Thermometer’, cellist, banjo player and vocalist Leyla McCalla has shared a live performance of the new track “Dodinin” via The Fader and spoke with them about the song and the Radio Haiti-inspired album for a short interview.

Leyla told The Fader about her research process for this album and more details about the themes of “Dodinin” . Listen + read more HERE.

“ “Dodinin” in Haitian Kreyol means “rocking” and is meant to evoke the image of the slave master on his porch, rocking in his rocking chair,” McCalla said of the track’s meaning. “I found this song on an album by a group called Atis Independan - a collective of Haitian artists in exile in New York in the 1980s. The song says, ‘it is us who bake the bread and it’s us who get burned, it’s us who make the bed and its us who sleep on the earth.’ This song is about revolution and really serves as a tribute to the revolutionary spirit of the enslaved peoples of Saint Domingue who overthrew the colonial powers and created the nation state of Haiti.”

Born out of a multi-disciplinary theater project commissioned by Duke University, which acquired the complete Radio Haiti archives in 2016, ‘Breaking The Thermometer’ combines original compositions and traditional Haitian tunes with historical broadcasts and contemporary interviews to forge an immersive sonic journey through a half century of racial, social, and political unrest. The music is captivating, fueled by rich, sophisticated melodic work and intoxicating Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and the juxtaposition of voices—English and Kreyòl, personal and political, anecdotal and journalistic—is similarly entrancing, raising the dead as it shines a light on the enduring spirit of the Haitian people. McCalla isn’t just some detached observer here, though; she writes with great insight and introspection, examining her own journey of growth and self-discovery as she uncovers the Radio Haiti story and the inextricable ties that bind us all to it.

“Haiti’s always seen as this far-away place,” McCalla says, “but we’re far more connected as Americans than we realize. Haiti was the first independent Black nation in the western hemisphere. Its very existence was and remains a threat to colonial power. At the same time, though, it symbolizes a lot about injustice and oppression around the world. When we talk about ‘Black Lives Matter,’ Haiti is a huge part of that.” 

The mix of musical performance and spoken word recordings also establishes a template for much of what’s to come on the album. The mesmerizing “Fort Dimanche,” for instance, uses both original songwriting and archival audio to tell of the infamous Fort Dimanche political prison used by the Duvalier regime to interrogate, torture, and execute suspected dissidents; the meditative “Ekzile” underpins journalist Michele Montas’ recollections of being forced to flee her home country with brooding layers of cello and percussion; and the previously mentioned “Dodinin,” which arrives after a poem of refugee desperation written and read by another assassinated journalist, Richard Brisson, gives voice to the pain and frustration of the working poor.

“I actually learned that song years ago from an old Smithsonian Folkways record,” says McCalla, “and it is a song of revolution, of the poor rising up against the ruling class, and it just felt so emblematic of Haitian social dynamics from colonial times straight through to today.”

Later this month McCalla will perform at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Breaking The Thermometer theatre work will be shown at Miami Dade College in early May. That will be followed by a run of June West coast tour dates with Neko Case. All upcoming shows are listed below.

2022 TOUR DATES
4/29 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
5/6 – Miami, FL – Miami Dade College #
5/20 – Charlotte, NC – Welcoming Interactive Conference ^
6/18 - Fayetteville, AR – Roots HQ
6/7 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s *
6/8 – San Diego, CA – Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay *
6/10 – Los Angeles, CA – Ace Hotel *
6/11 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater *
6/12 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre *
6/13 – Grass Valley, CA – Center for the Performing Arts *
7/6 – Montreal, QC, Canada – Montreal Jazz Fest
7/8 – Sudbury, ON, Canada – Northern Lights Festival
7/10 – Orillia, ON, Canada – Mariposa Folk Festival

# - Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever Theatre Show
^ - Speaking Event
* - with Neko Case

More dates to be announced!

Pre-Order ‘Breaking The Thermometer’

1. Nan Fon Bwa
2. Fort Dimanche
3. Bon Appétit Messieurs
4. Le Bal est Fini
5. Dan Reken
6. Dodinin
7. Ekzile
8. Pouki
9. You Don’t Know Me
10. Jean and Michele
11. Vini Wè
12. Artibonite
13. Still Looking
14. Memory Song
15. Boukman’s Prayer

https://leylamccalla.com/
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

#####

Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever is made possible, in part, with a grant from the MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; a grant from New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Baisley Powell Elebash Fund, and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; a grant from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation; a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council; and a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Duke Performances at Duke University, the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, MDC Live Arts – Miami Dade College, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Special thanks to the Human Rights and Radio Haiti archives at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University for serving as the research site and partner on Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever, and to the Forum for Scholars and Publics.

Explore the Radio Haiti digital archives here: https://repository.duke.edu/dc/radiohaiti

#####

For More Info on Leyla McCalla, Contact:
Kelly Kettering | ANTI- Records Publicity | kelly@epitaph.com