Bongo Love

biography
As an emerging musical force, this dynamic group has fused styles from all over the world with the sounds of their native Zimbabwe to create a unique and utterly infectious music. As they combine dance with impromptu call-and-response vocal styles, listeners are drawn in, creating a wonderful collaboration of performer and audience. This youthful, beautifully connected group of musicians caters to
people with an interest in traditional music, jazz, reggae, pop, or just a night of great dancing. This is an opportunity to experience something truly innovative.
Bongo Love utilizes traditional Zimbabwean marimba and mbira music and integrates it with a contemporary groove to create a musical experience both rich and original. The rhythms and harmonies all four musicians produce reveal a deep sense of artistry cultivated over a decade of living and playing together.
Bongo Love has risen fast in popularity allowing them to complete their fifth US tour last summer. Their international journey began in 2006, when they won a national prize in Zimbabwe and were selected to participate in the Southern African Interregional Festival - Music Crossroads as representatives of Zimbabwe. They competed against participants from Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania to bring home the Ethno-Music Prize and gained an invitation to perform in Sweden and the Dominican Republic that year. The international exposure led to their first major tour in the United States in 2007. Since that time they have traveled extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and several African countries playing on a variety of stages including festivals, camps, clubs, and private social functions.
CNN named Bongo Love Ambassadors of Hope in 2008 as seen in this CNN produced segment. These cultural envoys also teach workshops wherever they go, to any who wish to learn marimba, mbira, drumming, dancing, and singing. Gaining fame with all ages, races, and creeds, Bongo Loves story is far from finished they are currently recording their fourth album in Zimbabwe, while their previous albums, Future Voices, Afrocoustics, and Rwendo continue to widen their fan base around the world.
performances

African Caribbean Music Festival (ACP) 2006, Dominican Republic
Spanish Cultural Centre - 2006, Equatorial Guinea, West Africa
Madison Square Garden - 2007, New York, NY
Chicago House of Blues - 2008, Chicago, IL
Opening band for State Radios Take the Country Back tour - 2008, East Coast U.S.
Chimanimani Arts Festival - 2008, Zimbabwe
Opening band for Thomas Mapfumo - 2008, Eugene, OR
Manyika Music Festival with Oliver Mtukudzi - 2008, Zimbabwe
Oregon Country Fair Main Stage - 2009, Veneta, OR
Davinci Days Festival with Ladysmith Black Mambazo - 2009, Corvallis, OR
Zanzibar Film Festival 2010, Tanzania
TD Gardens Arena with Dispatch - 2011, Boston, MA
Speak Zim Love USA Tour 2011, bi-coastal U.S.
Opening band for Vieux Farka Toure 2011, Boston, MA
media/contact
Photos: Music Samples: Social Media:
Email: bongolovemusic@gmail.com Website: http://www.bongolovemuzik.com