Gangbe Brass Band

A 10-man African brass ensemble gorgeously garbed in multicoloured tribal costume is going to stand out at virtually any music festival, but the fact that the Gangbé Brass Band has spent the last decade perfecting their unique blend of traditional West African rhythms with stirring jazz inflections and other influences means that they actually sound as exciting as they look. Hailing from Benin, a little country tucked beside Nigeria, the Gangbé musicians have deep roots tapping into Benin ’s voodoo tradition. Their music is mostly structured in terms of call-and-response, but as those melodies come roaring to life via tubas, trumpets, saxes and trombones, Afro-pop fans will also hear echoes of everyone from Fela Kuti to King Sunny Adé. Fine singers too, the Gangbé Brass Band has produced three acclaimed albums and won fans wherever their startling, riotously engaging live shows have been performed.

“The loping interplay of euphonium, trumpet and sax . . . or the glorious swagger of ‘Oblemu’ wouldn ’t sound out of place at a Mardi Gras in New Orleans. ”
– Jon Lusk, BBC