Thursday, October 18, 2012

Kalinba @ KaffeeBurger, Berlin 9/26/12

I got there and was told that first there would be a panel discussion in English for an hour and then the music.  The talk was about an article in Ex-Berliner about Afro-Germans and some history of Germany and Africa.  Here's the magazine if you want to know more.

The discussion went a little long, but we eventually got about 45 minutes of music.  We sat on long backless benched for the talk, which they started to fold up and take away as people got up.  Yay!  That means dance floor!  It took some time for the people to get up and the benches to be moved.  I danced off to the side in the meantime.  Later I moved over to the other side, near the drummers.  The sound was terrible over there, even though it was right by the mini soundboard.  I eventually moved back, and the sound was much better.

The music was good.  I loved the kora.  There was also good guitar and violin.  2 drummers with hand drums and a little bit of percussion.  There was a male lead singer and a female singer who also played flute occasionally.  It was fun and I enjoyed it.  I did have to watch out for the drunk youths, but it wasn't too hard.

http://www.exberliner.com/reviews/the-exberliner-africa-night
After the discussion, our musical guests Kalinba Orchestra takes to the stage!
The Berlin-based trio plays original compositions in traditional and modern African styles, including Afro-reggae, salsa, soul and sukus. Kilinba are the creators of the Afro-casa style, mixing Afro and Latin beats with rhythms from Casamance, the southern region of Sénégal.
Get a sample here:
http://kilinba.bandcamp.com
http://www.kilinba.com

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