Gregg Kofi Brown
Gregg Kofi Brown has been a member of the world class African pioneers OSIBISA for over 22 years and has travelled all over the world promoting the music of Ghana.
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Medeski Martin & Wood
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Lobo
Lobo (born Roland Kent Lavoie, July 31, 1943), is an American singer-songwriter who was successful in the early 1970s, scoring several Top 10 hits, including "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo," "I'd Love You to Want Me" and "Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend." Lobo's songs have been characterized by their sweet melodies, sumptuous instrumentation and soulful lyrics. This has made him well known outside the Western world, including Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
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Bonga
Bonga Kwenda, better known as Bonga, is a singer and songwriter from Angola. Born in 1943 in the province of Bengo, and left Angola at age 23 to become an athlete, becoming the Angolan record holder for the 400 metre dash. He had already begun his singing career at age 15. Bonga abandoned athletics in 1972, concentrating solely on his music. He has released over 30 albums, singing in Portuguese and traditional Angolan languages. His tracks are a mixture of Portuguese-language folk songs, semba, kizomba and latin elements.
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Sibongile Khumalo
This South African Songstress was featured in the South African Music Documentary "Amandla!" Sibonghile Khumalo is one of the leading ladies in the South African tradition of heavenly voices. She has an excellent album out called "Live at the Market theatre" which is a tribute to South African musicians including;Miriam Makeba, Prince Lengoasa, Bheki Mseleku, Caiphus Semenya, Dorothy Masuka amongst others. She is trained as an opera singer and brought that vibe to these recordings. On one of the tracks on the album she switched from vocals to violin the result sounded celtic.
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Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
Sierra Leone
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Nahini Doumbia
Nahini Doumbia is a griot drummer based in Mali. He and his band regularly perform at wedding and private parties in Bamako. A master drummer, he also runs workshops and teaches percussion in Mali, France, and the UK.
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Thomas Mapfumo
Thomas Mapfumo (born 1945 in Marondera, Zimbabwe) is a Zimbabwean musician known as "The Lion of Zimbabwe" for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music. Pre-Independence, his songs openly called for the violent overthrow of the government, with lyrics like "Mothers, send your sons to war." Since the white government didn't understand Shona, however, at first they didn't realize how radical the songs were.
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Orlando Julius
Biography by Nate Cavalieri Few artists have been as crucial to the invention, development, and popularization of Afro-pop than Orlando Julius. Starting in the '60s, Julius was fusing traditional African sounds and rhythms with those of American pop, soul, and R&B. Aside from performing and recording in his native Nigeria, he spent many years in the United States working on collaborations with Lamont Dozier, the Crusaders, and Hugh Masekela. His 1966 effort, Super Afro Soul, made him a national celebrity in Nigeria and even went so far as to influence music in the United States.
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Daara J
Daara J (Pronounced Daa-raa Jee, which means "The School" in the Wolof language) are a Senegalese rap trio, consisting of N’Dango D, Aladji Man and Faada Freddy. Their music blends western hiphop with traditional African rhythms to create a great infectionsly dancy style. In their last album, Boomrang, they were joined by guests including Rokia Traore, who is one of the leading women in Malian music.
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