National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Conglolese "bush rockers" Konono N°1 make their second trip to North America this summer in support of their 2005 breakthrough album, Congotronics (Crammed Discs). The fifteen city tour kicks off at the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 7th and wraps up in New York City's legendary S.O.B.'s on July 24th, giving American and Canadian audiences ample opportunity to see the critically-acclaimed band for themselves.

Veterans of the Congo's fertile music scene, Konono N°1 first came together over 25 years ago in the suburbs of Kinshasa. But unlinke other bands of the era, Konono didn't play the dominant soukous and rumba styles of the day, preferring the more traditional bazombo trace music. Led by the enigmatic, mononymic Mingiedi, Konono played this sound on traditional likembés, or thumb-pianos, which they amplified with a home-made sound system built from old car parts, discarded amplifiers and megaphones. The result was a unique sound they call "Bush Rock": a raw fusion of traditional African rhythms and distorted, avant noise that resonated with critics and fans in the States and Europe when their first international album was released last year.

Konono also made its European and North American debuts last year, and will be returning to both continents this summer.

Tour Dates:

07/07/06
Montreal International Jazz Festival
Montreal, QC

07/08/06
Harbourfront Centre
Toronto, ON

07/09/06
Sunfest
London, ON

07/10/06
The Magic Stick
Detroit, MI

07/11/06
Beachland Ballroom
Cleveland, OH

07/13/06
Cisco Systems Blues Festival
Ottawa, ON

07/15/06
Festival D'ete International de Quebec
Quebec City, QC

07/16/06
Festival D'ete International de Quebec
Quebec City, QC

07/18/06
Higher Ground
South Burlington, VT

07/19/06
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, MA

07/20/06
Pearl Street Nightclub
Northampton, MA

07/21/06
Black Cat
Washington, DC

07/22/06
WXPN Festival
Camden, NJ

07/23/06
Central Park Summerstage
New York, NY

07/24/06
S.O.B.'s
New York, NY