Staff Benda Bilili September 15, 2011

September 15, 7pm & 9:15pm

FROM THE CONGO TO L.A.: STAFF BENDA BILILI IN A TWO CONCERT ENGAGEMENT
An Opportunity to discover Africa's Next Big Music Sensation: like nothing you have seen or heard before!
Grand Performances is proud to present the Los Angeles debut of Staff Benda Bilili in a special benefit concert. This group of paraplegic street musicians from Kinshasa, Congo are modern troubadours who make music of astonishing power and beauty; hailed by the BBC as "African street music at its finest."
The band's mesmerizing rumba-rooted grooves, overlaid with vibrant vocals, evoke, at times, Cuban nonchalance; at others, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul himself, in a musical tour de force with echoes of old-school rhythm and blues, reggae and no-holds barred funk.

The joyousness of their music belies the depth in their lyrics, which are wise, and filled with ironical advice to the people who live in the streets. In Lingala, the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, "Benda Billi" means "look beyond."

At the core of the band are four senior singer/guitarists - survivors of polio who use customized tricycles to get around, yet can get off their seats and occasionally dance on the floor of the stage, with their arms joyfully raised. They are backed by a younger, all-acoustic, rhythm section pounding out tight beats, led by the weird, infectious guitar-like solos performed by young Roger Landu, who plays the satonge, a one-string electrified lute he designed and built himself out of a tin can.

Staff Benda Bilili's U.S. concert tour, sponsored by Rotary International, is in conjunction with the U.S. release of the film Benda Bilili! distributed by National Geographic Films. Benda Bilili! premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2011 Cesar Awards, the national film award of France. The Los Angeles limited release will be on October 7, 2011.

Official Website: http://www.grandperformances.org/en/events/Staff-Benda-Bilili.html