Zongo Junction

Brooklyn's Brain Cave Festival went down this past Thursday (4/11) through Sunday (4/14) mostly at Europa (it also included a free day show on Saturday at the Greenpointers.com Market). The first night had a good dose of rock from Peelander-Z, The Suzan, and Eula, plus a horn-filled set from Zongo Junction and Supremes tribute band Guyanna Ross and the Supremes. Pictures of those bands are this post. It also featured Gunfight! and Hoya, who unfortunately we missed. - Brooklyn Vegan

The influence that Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti had on music is so vast that Brooklyn band Zongo Junction needs 12 members to even get close to the kind of hypnotic, polyrhythmic funk he pioneered. Fortunately, they’ve got their own updated musical bag of tricks to work with.

“We’re trying to channel Fela’s Africa 70 band from the mid-’70s and get that sound on the recording, but a lot of us are also listening to new pop music, so we’re taking elements from that,” drummer Charlie Ferguson says.

Fela’s music was intensely political, inspired by oppression in his native Nigeria. While Zongo Junction delves into social issues on such songs as “Elephant & Mosquito” and “Madoff Made Off,” Ferguson says it isn’t strictly a political band.

“Afrobeat music is obviously a very large inspiration and influence on the band, and it’s historically a very political music,” he says. “Fela was a very political figure, and we’d certainly like to pay respect to that. But we’re not out there playing rallies and protests.”

Zongo Junction plays three free shows in D.C. this week, giving listeners plenty of opportunities to immerse themselves in the group’s sophisticated sound, which leans heavily on its members’ excellent musicianship.

“Most of the guys are coming from a jazz background,” Ferguson says, something that’s apparent in the expert horn arrangements. “Some of the influences we’re drawing from are all the way from deep, grooving reggae music to crazy, improvised, free-jazz music. It’s a giant band with really powerful music.”

In that regard, the band does well honoring Fela’s legacy. With Afrobeat at its core, Zongo Junction’s main goal is to move people — particularly from the waist down. - Washington Post Express

It’s a peculiar Thursday night. It’s the beginning of a weekend in Boston, and many are trying to figure out how to get over their slump of the hustle and grind. Brighton Music Hall invited dozens of their closest friends to ring in Friday with the Brooklyn Afrobeat of Zongo Junction.

Zongo is said to “electrify dance floors wherever they perform” and they more than live up to this reputation. Even the biggest square in the audience was likely to be unwound by the AfroJazz beats. Brighton Music Hall’s partially packed crowd comfortably grooved and swung a dance partner around. There was no such dance move out of line, because truthfully, with this group, anything goes. The room danced under the spells of salsa, merengue, cumbia, and straight funk n’ soul.

The band consists of Charlie Ferguson, drums, Morgan Greenstreet, percussion, Jordan Hyde, guitar, Mikey Hart, guitar, Noah Garabedian, bass, Ross Edwards, keys, Adam Schatz, tenor sax, Jonah Parzen-Johnson, baritone sax, Joe Hartnett, alto sax, Kevin Moehringer, trombone, and Aaron Rockers, trumpet. They entertain a polyrhythmic percussion style, funky chord rotations, grooving guitar licks, and may be considered the peak of perfection when it comes to a party-- complete with explosive and lively bass, keys, horn melodies, and solos. Funky 70’s styled ballads such as “Elephant and Mosquito” rang in a groovy anthem with carefree basslines that accented jazz infusions. As Schatz, tenor sax, interacted with the audience during the set with an undeniably engaging stage presence, the horn section commanded like a tribal marching band parading through a tropical Mardi Gras on the 4th of July.

Afrobeat is a genre that isn’t easy to just pick up and run with, which led me to inquire as to how Zongo initially formed. It all became clearer when I learned of drummer Charlie Ferguson’s love of African Music. Ferguson grew up in the Bay Area, where he was exposed to Afrobeat and many types of music at an early age. He came to NY to attend The New School for music where he graduated. After spending six months in Ghana and West Africa, he returned to NY to form a band with 4-5 members, some of which he previously knew in the Bay Area. Eventually, that band became the Zongo Junction we now love.

The final horn honked the last note at the end of the set, echoing throughout Brighton Music Hall, leaving dancers on their toes awaiting an encore. Perhaps forgetting that there was still another band to come, the crowd was more than warmed up by the end of Zongo’s set, and with a healthy applause, expressed their satisfaction for the Brooklyn collective. For those that missed out, their EP “Thieves” is available at http://zongojunction.net/store/. It’s a great listen, but next time they hit Boston, be sure you’re there, and ready to move.

-Linsdsey Mann - Allston Pudding

Brooklyn’s Zongo Junction are an 11-man afrobeat ensemble boasting five horns and a six-piece rhythm section. The group, formed by drummer Charles Ferguson after a trip to Ghana, plays an indefatigable and full-fledged take on the classic West African sounds of Fela, Tony Allen, Sunny Ade and more. Stream Zongo Junction’s “The Van That Got Away,” the lead single off their upcoming record, below — which is up for free download on their website. And catch them live on their US tour which kicks off this week. - OkayAfrica

The horn-powered Nigerian style known as Afrobeat continues its gyrating march across the United States under the banner of the hit Tony Award-winning musical "Fela!"

There's no denying the show's commercial and artistic success, but the legacy of Afrobeat's firebrand patriarch Fela Kuti isn't defined by Bill T. Jones' rousing, high-energy production. The heart of Afrobeat in America pulses not on Broadway, but in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the funk-laden sound has spawned a thriving scene.

One of the borough's most exciting ensembles is Zongo Junction, an 11-piece combo founded by several alumni of Berkeley High. The band's hard-charging 2010 debut, "Thieves!," earned Zongo Junction some deserved national notice -- attention they've capitalized on by heading out on the road for a series of extensive tours.

The band concludes its annual West Coast tour next week with several dates in Northern California, including Dec. 27 at Slim's in San Francisco, Dec. 30 at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz and New Year's Eve at Pizzaiolo in Oakland.

Judging from "The Van That Got Away," the single released last month from the band's upcoming second album, the group has come into its own. While Fela's seminal influence is unmistakable, the band has distilled various African diaspora musical currents within Afrobeat's relentless flow.

"Everyone in the band has different interests," says Berkeley-raised drummer Charlie Ferguson, Zongo Junction's founder and guiding spirit. "A lot of us are interested in jazz, traditional Gypsy swing, Afro-Cuban music, metal and grunge, and we're drawing on a lot of different styles.

"I feel like everyone's influences are coming together, and we've developed a pretty unique sound."

While Afrobeat is powered by a dense web of West African polyrhythms, the style's trademark feel is built upon a surging tide of brass. In R&B and funk, the horn section usually serves as a chorus responding to the lead singer's call. Performing at home, Zongo Junction often is joined by guest vocalists, such as Ghanaian-American "Fela!" cast member Abena Koomson, who also contributes to the upcoming album.

But on the road, the band is essentially an instrumental ensemble "and the five horns play the lead vocals," says tenor saxophonist Adam Schatz, who co-produced "Thieves" with Ferguson.

"Audiences are more used to hearing horns spicing something up," he says. "When we get going, it's a pretty earthshaking sound, and as a horn player who's part of that section, it's the best thing in the world. We've had the same people for several years, and it really feels you're part of something bigger."

Ferguson credits his Berkeley upbringing with opening his ears to an international array of sounds. As a member of the Berkeley High Jazz Band, he studied with illustrious alumni, most importantly drummer Josh Jones and multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum, a world jazz pioneer with his band Hieroglyphics Ensemble.

Shortly after moving to New York City to study music at the New School in 2006, Ferguson tried to get an Afrobeat band off the ground. However, he didn't find a dedicated cadre of players until after he had spent six months immersing himself in West African music in Ghana. Back in New York, working with several friends from Berkeley, he launched Zongo Junction.

He took the name from a bustling intersection in the northern part of Accra, Ghana's capital, where "you can catch a bus to almost anywhere in the country and even to neighboring countries like Togo and Burkina Faso," Ferguson says.

"There are hundreds of vendors selling anything you can imagine: socks, music, TVs, food. I just loved the way the two words sound together, but I think the actual place is a weird representation of the power and big sound of the band."

Many American Afrobeat bands also have embraced the uncompromising political stance that made Fela such a thorn in the side of Nigeria's military regimes. From the early 1970s through his death in 1997, he refused to soften his denunciations of corruption and repression, despite dozens of brutal beatings. Unlike say, Antibalas, the band that sparked Brooklyn's Afrobeat scene, Zongo Junction doesn't couple propulsive dance music with polemic statements.

"We don't have lyrics on a lot of our songs, and we're not a highly political band," Ferguson says. "But it's loud, powerful music that moves the masses. When you hear the sound of five horns blasting, it brings out emotions. At the root, we're a dance band. First and foremost, we're about the groove."

zongo junction - San Jose Mercury News

Zongo Junction is leading the charge, carrying the afrobeat torch...a band that's on the cusp of the afrobeat movement. - DJ Afro Marc - The Afrobeat Blog

The only thing Zongo Junction has to do to start a legitimate dance party is show up and plug in...anyone within a square block earshot of this Ford-tough funk factory would be hard pressed not to join in the hoopla. - SF Station