Kotoko Brass

Arts at the Armory presents POP African Music Series with two of the most beloved African bands in the Greater Boston area participating: Kotoko Brass and Kina Zore. Lead members in the respective bands are originally from Ghana and Mozambique, and their music represents the richness of the African continent, which we are so fortunate to experience right here in Somerville. Opening for Kotoko Brass is Dzidzor, and opening for Kina Zore is author Pacifique Irankunda, originally from Burundi. 
January 29, 5:00 p.m.: Kotoko Brass with Dzizdor to open. Click here for tickets. $15. Also available at the door. 

February 5, 4:00 p.m.: Kina Zore with author Pacifique Irankunda to open with book talk. Tickets are $10 at the door.

The Center for Arts at the Armory is located at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143. To learn more visit  artsatthearmory.org, Facebook page, and follow them on Instagram at @ArtsattheArmory

About Kotoko Brass: Inspired by the traditional drum rhythms of Ghana, Kotoko Brass has created a unique, joyful, and improvisational style of West African dance music described by the Boston Globe as “propulsive, infectious party music.” The drums provide the heart and soul of Kotoko Brass—merging syncopated African percussion polyrhythms with hard-hitting dance grooves on the drumset. The horns blend traditional sounds of New Orleans with the famous West African brass band sound heard from Ghana to Nigeria, and the guitar, keys, and bass evoke classic African and Caribbean styles of highlife, afrobeat, and reggae. A celebratory and energetic synthesis of music, people, and cultures from around the world, Kotoko Brass features musicians from Ghana, Antigua, Japan, and the United States playing together in unity. Kotoko Brass has shared the stage with Angelique Kidjo, Red Baraat, Femi Kuti, Vieux Farka Toure, the Boston Pops, Rubblebucket, and more. www.kotokobrass.com

About Kina Zore: For 15 years, Kina Zore has brought jubilation to hundreds of dance floors across North America with award-winning songwriting and virtuosic instrumental performances. Kina Zoré is Mozambican native Helder Tsinine’s vehicle for preserving the beautiful and endangered cultures of Mozambique. After Mozambique’s independence from the colonial Portuguese in 1975, a 15-year civil war afflicted the country with violence, illness, and poverty. Living in the city away from war, Helder’s family housed refugees from all over the country who shared different cultures, language, and music. Many of Tsinine’s song lyrics depict critical social issues – war, HIV/AIDS, famine and more – that continue to affect Mozambicans and many others all over the world. Helder’s original song, “Va Gumulelana (They Are Fighting)” won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize. The band has shared the stage with Angelique Kidjo, the Skatalites, Red Baraat, Zap Mama, Debo Band, Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars and Jazzmeia Horn.

About Dzizdor: Dzidzor (Jee-Jaw) is an African folklorist, performing artist, author and entrepreneur. Didzor’s style of call and response has re-imagined poetry and story-telling as a way to include the audience in an experience to challenge, inspire and encourage self beyond traditional forms. She began performing through slam poetry and now curates spaces Black Cotton Club, and teaches in Boston. Born in Italy, to Ghanaian Parents and raised in North Carolina, she’s immersed herself in merging cultures from the South to Ghanaian culture. She’s a vessel chosen to deliver a message through writing, performance, and community organizing. Her debut poetry collection, “For Girls Who Cry in Yellow,” explores the healing process through the perspective of an African woman. Dzidzor has been nominated twice for a Boston Music Award. www.dzidzor.com

About Pacifique Irankunda: Pacifique Irankunda was born in Burundi, a small country in East Africa bordered by Rwanda, Tanzania, and Congo. He came to America at the age of nineteen as a scholarship student at Deerfield Academy in western Massachusetts. His first published work, “Playing at Violence,” appeared in The American Scholar and won a Pushcart Prize. Irankunda was awarded a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant in 2017. His memoir The Tears of a Man Flow Inward: Growing Up in the Civil War in Burundi was published by Random House in 2022. He graduated from Williams College with a degree in psychology and political science. He lives in Brooklyn. www.pacifiqueirankunda.com

About Arts at the Armory’s Performance Opportunity Program (POP): POP provides subsidized use of the Armory Performance Hall on the off-peak nights of Wednesday – Sunday to individuals and groups focused around the arts, culture and community building. POP provides opportunities that are critical to an artist’s trajectory. Being able to present work in a professional venue allows for funding, marketing and PR opportunities, audience development, and more. POP applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and are chosen based on how well they reflect values of community, creativity, and inclusivity. Events must be open to the public, and feature music, theater, dance, circus, film, media arts or spoken word/literary arts. artsatthearmory.org/pop