Free music launches summer in the Park

Vashon Park District, in collaboration with Vashon Allied Arts, opens the free Summer Concerts in the Park Series 6:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23, at Ober Park with a double bill of world music from Avaaza and Manooghi Hi.

Avaaza opens the series. The eight-member band includes: Azula Phillips, vocals; Islanders Jason Everett, bass and Charles Reed, guitar; Terri Garrett, clarinet; Michael Nageub, flute and keyboard; Tracy Helming, violin; George Sadak, drums and S. Chandra Naraine, percussion. Together they capture flavors of both traditional and current world music with innovative arrangements. Listen to Avaaza on Facebook.

Manooghi Hi began when singer and Bombay native Mehnaz and her Northwest accomplices constructed a new breed of rock music. Reviewer Jonathan Zwickel (Austin’s South by Southwest) said of them, "To oversimplify, it’s like this: panoramic rock ‘n’ roll fronted by a petite, beautiful Indian woman scat singing in Hindi. The cross-pollination is dizzying — East and West, ancient and modern, pop and classical, ecstatic spiritualism and headbanging rock." They made their first Vashon appearance when they headlined VAA’s World Music Festival in 2009.
Listen at www.manooghihi.com.