Future projects include the possible pairing of Shokazoba: Afrobeat Battalion with the masterful music of Mamady Kouyaté and his Mande Ambassadors at colleges and festivals from New England into the Mid West. US tour for Hilight Tribe is in the works for 2011, including dates on the West Coast with stops in BC and Canada. Any interested parties or those who wish to re-book the band please feel free to contact Cassandra at cassandra@smallaxemusic.com. Hilight Tribe hopes to continue to build the bridge between the trance community and the world music audiences in the US. Hilight Tribe just played the Cumbre Tanjin festival in Vera Cruz to a crowd of thirty thousand , we are ready for that kind of scene to explode in North America next. Cassandra had the great honor of meeting Earl 'Chinna' Smith and Kiddus-I (godfathers of Jamaican roots reggae and of 'Rockers' movie fame) at a concert last year in Paris. They are interested in touring in the US with an unusual acoustic guitar set that has been blowing minds across Europe. Small Axe looks forward to visiting them in Jamaica and organizing tours with possible collaboration from Ras Kush and his sound system Black Redemption in Brooklyn, NY. Small Axe hopes to use the Veggie Bus based in Northampton, MA for future tours, the Shokazoba collective has toured with it and the bus has also been to Burning Man. We hope to reduce the carbon footprint of our tours through alternative transport such as this vehicle running on recycled cooking oil from restaurant fryers. Andy Algire and the Small Axe team are hoping to create a music festival in Mali in the infamous town of KELA which is the cradle of griot musical tradition. We are looking forward to this project and the magical collaborations that will surely spring from it. We are presently looking for ethical sponsors and backers for the festival, which already has the support of this ancient community including masters such as Toumani Diabaté.
	WORKSHOPS
	Booking groups at colleges and universities is one of the specialties of Small Axe, these gigs are often the backbone of a tour and provide a great opportunity to build a fan base and when appropriate educate people about roots music. Many of the artists represented by Small Axe are experienced with teaching workshops (often on the day following a concert) which provide a chance to explain the instruments and the sometimes complex histories behind the music. Andy Algire, composer and multi-instrumentalist, is part of the Small Axe team and the balafonist for Mande Ambassadors among other projects. Andy is a specialist in the interface between African masters and US audiences and students. He has been a student of the balafon for 8 years under masters Abou Sylla and Famaro Kouyaté and has also become the drummer of choice for visiting stars from Guinea and Mali when they come to play in NYC. With his unique understanding of African music from his years of study in the US and Guinea, Andy is able to help translate complex poly-rhythms for Occidental students. He is an asset on stage and in workshops.