SFJazz Fest: "Congotronics" November 6, 2005

from http://www.sfjazz.org/concerts/fall05/artists/konono.html:

Combining the sound of electrified likembés (thumb pianos) with megaphone-amplified vocals and percussion instruments made from car parts and cookware, Kinshasa?s Konono No. 1 has been producing music like nothing else on earth for more than a quarter-century. Heard worldwide on this year?s acclaimed disc Congotronics, their singular mix of traditional Bazombo trance music, lo-fi electronica, and more has critics both startled and overjoyed. ?Every so often,? wrote Britain?s Telegraph, ?there comes a record of such unlikeliness, of such overpowering rhythmic intensity?that you?re knocked sideways. This is one of them.? The BBC marveled: ? The tale of how a collection of Congolese thumb pianos provided the missing link between punk, techno, and all points in between has taken 25 years to tell?. It could really be from anywhere, at any time?. This music comes from somewhere unknown and offers hope that there are worlds of music out there, unexplored and waiting to be discovered.?

(see also http://www.crammed.be/craworld/crw27/e/index.htm for more background...and some photos)