The Cedar and Walker Art Center Present
KOKOKO! with Curandero and Douala Soul Collective
Friday September 20th, 2019 / Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
All Ages
Standing
$20 Advance / $25 Day of Show
This is a standing show with an open floor. The Cedar always reserves a section of seats for patrons who require special seating accommodations. To request seating or other access accommodations, please go to our Access page.
For a Walker member discount ($16 Advance, $20 Day of Show), please visit the Walker website. Tickets are available online, by phone, at Walker Art Center, Electric Fetus, and The Cedar during shows.
“Get to know the soundtrack of Kinshasa’s tomorrow, a powerful protest project... KOKOKO!”
ABOUT KOKOKO!
A wind of change is blowing over the cultural landscape of Kinshasa.
An amazing alternative scene is thriving far for the occidental fantasies of "world music." It is explosive and vibrant.
These sounds are emanating from the ghetto and downtown clubs of the Congolese capital in between the government-imposed power cuts. The artists actually bring something alive in the chaos of the 3rd biggest african city. They have strong new ideas with DIY constructed instruments and a powerful and unique drive. This movement is more expressive, lively, spontaneous and direct compared to most big cities' scenes, like London, Berlin etc... It's raw, free and open creatively more like NYC in the '70s and '80s or Berlin in the '90s if it has to be compared to artistic movements. It's inventing everything from nothing and it's happening now and you can experience it through the recordings, the videos and KOKOKO! 's incredible live shows.
The band was born in Kinshasa when Makara Bianko, débruit and a group of musicians from the Ngwaka neighbourhood met. They rehearsed and recorded together in a self made studio made of material gathered around. After one month of playing and creating new sounds they improvised a block party on a building site of the Kato street ghetto, that would be the 1st performance of KOKOKO! And will define the collective that also includes art performers and dancers.
Supported by Pitchfork , TIME , i-D, BBC6 , Afropunk and featured at TED's TEDGlobal2017 conference or Resident Advisor's live videos , KOKOKO! is the DIY collective pioneering an inspiring alternative scene from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their introductory video amassed over 2 million views across various platforms, and their hypnotic debut EP, TOKOLIANA, found favour in Resident Advisor , Bandcamp Daily , and BBC Radio 1.
KOKOKO!'s have now released 5 tracks into the public mainstream and have collaborated with other African artists on remixes and music. Now signed to Transgressive Records they are working towards their debut album, due out in 2019.
KOKOKO! is the soundtrack of Kinshasa's tomorrow.
KOKOKO! is composed of:
Recording, producing and artistic direction comes from prolific producer débruit , known and respected for his space/time bending work, fusing synthetic music through collaboration with African, Arabic and Turkish sounds / musicians. He helped craft the raw energy and abundance of ideas which come alive from a production and live performance spectacle.
The project involves a group of musicians from the Ngwaka neighbourhood , a quite psychedelic electronic formation playing repetitive patterns crafted on self designed string instruments and other percussive inventions made from recycled scrap material. Makara Bianko, the young energetic singer creating a brutal hybrid of "coupé décalé" with a punk attitude he calls "Zagué" from the Lingwala neighbourhood where he plays 6 nights a week with his dancers.
Visit KOKOKO!’s Website
KOKOKO! performing “Azo Toke,” courtesy of KOKOKO!’s YouTube channel.
ABOUT CURANDERO
Curandero is a Twin-Cities based project whose music presents a fusion of pre-Columbian Indigenous instruments, house, and dance hall. Reminiscent of the time before Afro-Beat had a name, Curandero's music brings together traditional indigenous instrumentation and rhythms of Mesoamerica (Mexico) with electronic DJ elements and production. It's a new sound that the next generation of urban indigenous latinx chican@ people are hungry for - contemporary, danceable, and rooted in cultural identity.
Members are Gustavo Lira, Xilam Balam, and Rico Simon Mendez (DJ Don Cuco).
Listen to a track by CURANDERO
ABOUT DOUALA SOUL COLLECTIVE
Douala Soul Collective are DJ’s, influenced by the lifestyles of people in the city of Douala, Cameroon. They are travelers who share their ethnic roots and international vibes around street food and music. Na waiti? Na Sekele Party! Their eclectic vinyl collection is a great fit for any funky, loose, good time. Come and dance, listen, or smile to their music!
