With infectious Afro-pop grooves, lock-step dance moves, and vocal harmonies reminiscent of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, it is no wonder Mokoomba has been hailed as “quite simply the most impressive band Zimbabwe has produced in recent memory” by Afropop Worldwide’s Banning Eyre. The band’s unique mix of traditional Tonga, Luvale, & Nyanja rhythms combined with other pan-African music cultures and generous dashes of Rap, Ska, Soukous and Afro-Cuban music has gained worldwide attention.

Mokoomba's distinct sound is a product of the band's home region of Chinotimba Township in the tourist border town of Victoria Falls, a melting pot of cultures. “With all the elements that it has, and becoming also a border town to other South African countries, is what makes also our music more, you know, different and interesting,” says singer/bassist Abundance Mutori. “Because we are fusing also with all these other elements that we grow up listening to, from these pan-African sounds and fusing them with our own tradition and culture.”

The band’s name is also a reference to its culture, specifically along the Zambezi River, which courses through the country: Mokoomba is what Zimbabweans call the vibrant life experience lived on river banks. Since winning the Music Crossroads Inter-regional Festival Competition in Malawi (2008), Mokoomba has toured more than 40 countries on 5 continents, including the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, the first and only Zimbabwean group to do so.

8pm | $18, $15 mbrs | + $3 at the door