TURNERS FALLS, Mass. — Out there on the outskirts of what is considered “popular” music, there exists a sonic form that defies categorization, that resists labeling or confinement to a single genre. That’s where Toubab Krewe thrives.
The Asheville, North Carolina-based band, which plays the Shea Theater Arts Center, about 25 minutes from Brattleboro, Vt., on Friday night, is a vibrant instrumental powerhouse that swirls together African traditions, surf rock and jam-band sensibilities, Appalachian and international folk strains, and more. Formed in 2005, Toubab Krewe has tenaciously honed its craft through relentless touring and a fierce dedication to carving its own unique path.
“It’s definitely something different,” said percussionist Luke Quaranta by phone Wednesday from an airport in New Orleans, ready to board a plane en route to the band’s Northeast swing this weekend. “You know, what we’re bringing is somewhere kind of in between worlds. It’s very much rooted in tradition with African music and instrumentation, but as much kind of inspired by Appalachian roots and rock and roll and everything we grew up with in the states. So yeah, I think it’s something very different and kind of hard to put in a box, and it’s always fun going to different places and exposing it to people who might not have heard that kind of musical blend before.”
The band — which includes Justin Perkins (kora, kamel ngoni, guitar, percussion), Terrence Houston (drumset), Drew Heller (guitar, organ), Justin Kimmel (bass, keys), and Quaranta (djembe, congas, dundun, sangban, kinkini) — has made regular appearances at major U.S. festivals like Bonnaroo, High Sierra, Rothbury and Wakarusa, and abroad at such gatherings as the Festival In The Desert in Essakane, Mali. The band has also released several highly regarded albums, including its latest, STYLO, which the Boston Herald described as “expertly meshed surf guitar with Malian rhythmic patterns, a Dick Dale moves-to-Timbuktu experiment in Afro-California fusion.”
Toubab carries echoes of African greats like Ali Farka Toure, Orchestra Baobab and Salif Keita, picked up during the group’s travels to study and live in Guinea, Ivory Coast and Mali. But what differentiates Toubab Krewe from other American bands inspired by African music is how the musicians innovate on what they’ve learned to honor the originators while making something unique and contemporary.
“In a way, it was kind of unintentionally intentional, in the sense that at first we were just young Americans who got totally passionate about African style of music, to the point where we wanted to go to the source and actually really see what this is about,” Quaranta said.
A native of New Rochelle, N.Y., Quaranta met Asheville natives Heller and Perkins while studying at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C. He first traveled to Guinea and the Ivory Coast with a drum and dance troupe from the college and explored the music of West Africa, which relies on percussive instruments such as the djembe and the balafon. Heller and Perkins lived in Mali for about four months and studied the traditional music and instruments of that country, including the kora, a 21-string, harplike instrument. But they also went to concerts and clubs “where artists were totally pushing the envelope and integrating Western instrumentation like drumset and electric bass and electric guitars,” Quaranta said.
“That’s when the light bulb went off,” he said. “I remember getting an email (from Heller) saying ‘We have to start a band.’ And I was like, ‘I’m down,’ because I think then I realized that you can take all those influences and perform in the traditional style, but also start to take some creative license. And then if you’re lucky, hopefully you’re able to do something unique in the style. So everything kind of was on the table there. So, as we started the band, and as we started to perform these traditional songs, we started to arrange them in our own way and naturally, the Appalachian roots and the rock and roll aesthetic came in.”
The music also has plenty of room for improvisation, which keeps things exciting for the band members and makes the jam-band fans happy. “A lot of times, something that’s never happened before happens, you know, and that’s kind of where the magic is,” Quaranta said. “So, at our best, we try to have as much room for improvisation within the arrangements as possible, while still maintaining the arrangements as kind of the roadmap. So from point A to B, anything can happen, or from B to C. That’s the kind of aesthetic that we’ve been leaning into.”
Toubab Krewe’s current tour takes the band to Turners Falls on Friday, followed by an appearance in Manchester, N.H., on Saturday and the Zen Barn in Waterbury, Vt., on Sunday. Toubab Krewe is no stranger to Vermont: for years, the band hosted the Sol Harvest Festivus for the Restivus in rural Cabot at the family home of former bassist Dave Pransky, whose new band La Lovo will open at the Zen Barn.
“We love Vermont,” Quaranta said. “We’ve been coming up there for as long as we’ve been a band.”
