Live! From Mt. Crested Free Concert Series Featuring: Zongo Junction
Zongo Junction rolls into Crested Butte tonight when they perform at the Live! From Mt. Crested Butte Free Concert Series! Their 9-piece instrumental Afrobeat band from Brooklyn, New York will have you moving and grooving. Learn how their band took off in the Big Apple in during our conversation below!
1. How did the band start?
The band was started in 2009 after Charles returned from a trip to Ghana. He had been a big fan of Afrobeat for years, and wanted to start the band before he left, but never got it going. When Charles got back, he felt inspired and got a crew of people together to play some of the music in his basement studio in Brooklyn. After a few rehearsals, we had a band! We started playing in clubs around NYC, and slowly started making our way around the East Coast (Boston, DC, Philly, Burlington etc..), and then to the West Coast.
2. What has been your biggest accomplishment as a band?
The sheer fact that we've been able to stay together as a band, record 2 full length albums, and tour multiple times across the country is our biggest accomplishment! It's not easy to do that as a 3 piece band, let alone a 9 piece band.
3. What was the inspiration in traveling to Ghana?
Growing up in the Bay Area, I was exposed to a ton of music from all over the world. A lot of the music Charles listened to and is interested in, has roots in West Africa. When the opportunity presented itself to spend some time in Africa, Charles jumped on it. Charles is the drummer, and the drumming tradition in Ghana in particular, is one of the oldest and richest in the world.
4. What did you do while you were in Africa?
Charles spent a lot of time traveling. The country is rich with different cultures, languages, music, landscapes and more, so there are endless things to do and see. He studied with a xylophonist (there they are called gyil's) for the majority of his time there, named SK Kakraba Lobi, who is the son of one of the most renown musicians in the country. It was an incredible experience to study with someone like that, in a setting like that.
5. Where has been your favorite place to perform while on tour?
Colorado! No joke! It's the most beautiful state, and the people there have been so receptive to us and our music. We hope we can come back more often than once a year!
