Showtime has moved to 8:30pm!!

Kenge Kenge, a 9 piece internationally acclaimed group of traditional musicians from Kenya, East Africa will be on début tour Crisscrossing from the East to West coasts of the US, including Canada. The group will make a rare appearance on Friday Aug. 6, 2010 at the Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St., in Sebastopol.  Entry is $20 advance and $25 at the door; African Dinner Available at 7 PM separate from door entrance. Show starts 8:30PM.  Partial proceeds for this event go to the United Africa club, 501C3, non profit organization. 

Kenge Kenge (their name means "fusion of small, exhilarating instruments,") explore the origins of benga, a style popular in Kenya the way rumba is in Congo or highlife is in Nigeria.

This is roots music from the JoLuo community of Western Kenya, with lyrical arrangements that reflect influences from the popular Benga pop-music style. Dense textures of rhythm and chant are overlaid with an unusual assortment of self-made traditional instruments: Nyatiti lyre, Bul drums, the Nyangile sound box, Ongeng’o metal rings, Asili flute, and the Oporo horn. But the singing is in fact the central event, and it is strong and generous, full of character and contrast. Kenge Kenge, with its irresistible bumping rhythms and cycling grooves, is not only folkloric but thoroughly contemporary. The beats are tightly layered and intricate, and there's something about their hypnotizing relentlessness—and the group's rough-hewn, homemade sound—that recalls Congolese group Konono No. 1.

Okili Nguebari, of the Congo, and founder of the United Africa Club says “This music will bring Healing to the community and the entire village”.

In addition to tremendous popularity in their home region, Kenge Kenge have toured to Norway, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and will continue bringing their irresistible dance music and celebration to the world. 

For information on the Show call 707-843-9236.