Mulatu Astatke

Mulatu Astake is an Ethiopian musician and arranger. He is known as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Astatke was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston, where he was the first African student at Berklee College of Music. He would later combine his jazz and Latin music influences with traditional Ethiopian music.

He has worked with many influential jazz artists such as Duke Ellington during the 1970s. After meeting the Massachusetts-based Either Orchestra in Addis Ababa in 2004, Astatke began a collaboration with the band which continues today, with the most recent performances in Scandinavia in summer 2006.

In 2005, his music appeared on the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers. Also, Volume 4 of the Ethiopiques series is devoted entirely to his music. He has recently released an album sold exclusively to passengers of Ethiopian Airlines. It is a two-disc set—the first a compilation of the different styles from different regions of Ethiopia, and the second, studio originals. Astatke has recently been invited to play at Harvard University to display and lecture on his wide range of musical influences.

Richard Bona

Jazz bassist Richard Bona was born and raised in the West African nation of Cameroon, going on to session dates with Regina Carter, Bob James, and Joe Zawinul, as well as a two-year stint as musical director for the great Harry Belafonte. He made his debut as a headliner in 1999 with Scenes from My Life, followed two years later by Reverence. In 2003, Bona made his Verve debut with Munia: The Tale, which explored the territories of rock and jazz while keeping his West African influences, and 2005's Toto Bona Lokua was a joint effort with Lokua Kanza (from the Congo) and Gerald Toto (from Martinique). In 2006, Tiki, featuring guest artists like John Legend and Djavan, was released.

Darius Brubeck

Darius Brubeck is a jazz keyboardist and educator. He is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. He spent many years in Durban, South Africa as a professor and head of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of Natal. He now lives in Istanbul.

Angelique Kidjo

Angelique Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin. By the time she was 6, Kidjo was performing with her mother's theater troupe, giving her an early appreciation for music and dance. Continuing political conflicts in Benin led Kidjo to relocate to Paris around 1982. She started out as a backup singer in local bands, before establishing her own band. In 1985, she became the front singer of Jasper van't Hof's Euro-African jazz/rock band Pili Pili. Three studio albums followed and by the end of the 1980s, she had become one of the most popular live performers in Paris. Kidjo is fluent in Fon, French, Yoruba, and English and sings in all four languages; she also has her own personal language, which includes words that serve as song titles such as "Batonga." "Malaika" is a song sung in Swahili language. She often utilizes Benin's traditional Zilin vocal technique and jazz vocalese. She is married to musician and producer Jean Hebrail with whom she has daughter and is currently based in New York. Her fourth album Djin Djin won her a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Music Album in 2008.

Bakithi Kumalo

Bakithi Kumalo's bass-playing history began in Soweto where he grew up surrounded by music. A native of Soweto Township outside Johannesburg, South Africa, Bakithi Kumalo's musical career has been characterized by a series of serendipitous events, ranging from his debut gig as a precocious 7-year-old filling in for the bassist in his uncle's band to his enlistment into Paul Simon's group during the recording sessions of the pop star's landmark Graceland album in 1985. While Kumalo became a professional at an early age in his uncle's band, life under apartheid in South Africa posed many challenges; so many, in fact, that Kumalo began to look for work outside the music field. However, a producer friend introduced him to Simon, whose music was largely unfamiliar to him. Despite his nervousness in meeting the American pop star in a studio setting, Kumalo says Simon immediately gravitated to his bass style. It was an 18-month road trip with his uncle's band to Zululand when he was 10 that helped to solidify his bass voice. The band gigged as well as played at schools and hospitals, but got stranded there. During that downtime, Kumalo had a dream where he saw someone playing, using his thumb in a particular way. That set him on the path of bass discovery. Kumalo's work on Graceland opened the doors for him to pursue other avenues, including recordings with Herbie Hancock, Randy Brecker, and Cyndi Lauper. Plus, he hooked up with former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, who took the bassist on tour with him.

In addition to touring with Simon on his current North American tour, he's also recorded and/or toured with the likes of Gloria Estefan, Chaka Khan, Harry Belafonte, Gerald Albright, Miriam Makeba, Josh Groban, and Chris Botti.

Lionel Loueke

West African guitarist Lionel Loueke '00 was inspired in his late teens by his brother, who taught him how to play. Stops at the Ivory Coast's National Institute of Arts, Paris' American School of More Than Music, and Berklee College of Music led Loueke to appearances on a series of high-profile recordings, including Terence Blanchard's Bounce and Flow, Charlie Haden's Land of the Sun, and Herbie Hancock's Possibilities. Apart from his role in the trio Gilfema (with bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth), Loueke has recorded on his own, including the live In a Trance and Virgin Forest. Loueke is featured on Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, which earned an Album of the Year Grammy Award in 2008; the same year, his Blue Note debut album Karibu was released.

Leni Stern

Born in Munich, Germany, Leni Stern '80 started playing piano at the age of 6 and guitar at 11. At 17, she formed her own acting company, and in 1977, she turned her attention to music and left for the United States to study film scoring at Berklee College of Music. Scoring gave way to her love for guitar and in 1981, Stern moved to New York to play in a variety of rock and jazz bands. In 1983, she formed a group of her own with Paul Motion on drums and Bill Frisell on guitar. As a recording artist, she originally made a name for herself in jazz circles (her first nine albums were instrumental,) then crossed her talents over into the singer-songwriter realm, garnering consistent praise in the process. Her recent album boldly juxtaposes her trademark inventive guitar and vocal explorations with the indigenous sounds of accomplished African instrumentalists and singers. The result is at once haunting, exuberant, cinematic, personal, and resoundingly assured. Stern has discovered her surest artistic footing in the sahel and savanna of Africa.

Stewart Sukuma

Stewart Sukuma (born Luis Pereira) combines traditional and urban Mozambican and other contemporary rhythms to create his infectious dance music. The recipient of three prestigious Ngoma Mozambique awards in 1983 and a nomination for best male video at the Channel O African Music Video Awards in 2005, Sukuma has continued to be one of southern Africa's leading performers. A native of Cuamba, a small village in the Mozambican state of Niassa, Sukuma grew up in the Portuguese-dominated region of Afrolusamerica. Receiving his first guitar at a charity celebration for children of impoverished families, he continued his musical knowledge by later teaching himself to play percussion and keyboards. For much of his career, Sukuma worked as a sideman. He toured with Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Mozambique at the end of the 1980s. His debut album Afrikiti, recorded in Johannesburg with musicians from Mozambique and South Africa, was not released until 1997. In 2004, he released a compilation of old songs, as well as the album Nkhuvu, meaning "celebration," in late 2007. Stewart remains actively involved with AIDS relief programs and a portion of the proceeds from sales of the album Afrikiti was donated to environmental organizations. The musical traditions of Mozambique continue to provide the foundation for Sukuma's music. In addition to his native language, Sukuma sings in Portuguese, English, Koti, Swahili, Zulu, and Tsonga.

Eric Wainaina

Eric Wainaina '02 is a Kenyan Kora Award-winning singer-songwriter whose solo career was launched with his debut album, Sawa Sawa, in 2001. Wainaina's music is a blend of Kenyan Benga rhythm and East African guitars, with some modern harmony. He has received local and international accolade for his vocal belief in social justice as well as his stand against corruption. He graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music, double majoring in songwriting and music production and engineering. During his years at Berklee, Wainaina and his band traveled to different parts of the country to perform, as well as held regular shows in Boston.