Doors 21:00, Music 21:30 tickets 10-20 (Sliding Scale, including membership)
De Ruimte presents the new series Space Echo! Adventurous, genre-defying music from all over the globe. This edition Layba Diawara, Bembeya Jazz veteran will play a special solo-set on Kora. The 10-piece afrobeat band Kiala & the Afroblaster led by Kiala Nzavotunga guitarist in fela kuti’s egypt 80 band will play their groovy, modern take on the vintage Afrobeat sound!

KIALA & THE AFROBLASTER
Kiala & the Afroblaster is a 10-man Afrobeat band of Kiala Nzavotunga, former guitarist of Fela Kuti, and Afrogrooves, an Amsterdam-based collective of musicians with a passion for Afrobeat music. The band is a modern take on the vintage Afrobeat sound, full of tight percussion and horn lines, bluesy guitar riffs, and powerful lyrics.

In 2023, the band wrote and recorded new music, the EP Spiritual Power, which will be released in 2024. Spiritual Power expands on the band’s classic Afrobeat sound with an injection of powerful hip hop and funk influences. In the words of Kiala, “The music is the message and the message is the music.” Kiala and the Afroblaster have entertained audiences at Amsterdam Dance Event (Amsterdam), Echoes of a Pilgrim (The Hague), Musica Mundo (Amersfoort), Copacobana (Gent, Belgium) and a sold-out Cinetol.

Kiala Nzavotunga – lead vocals, guitar | Thomas Hanenberg – keys | Yinske Silva – vocals | Mark Oomen – guitar | Steven Jones – vocals | Jermano Ivanello – bass | Robbert Jaspers – drums | Abriel Ferreira – trumpet | Ibou Ndong – percussion | Oliver Emmitt – trombone

LAYBA DIAWARA
Toured the world in the 1980s as Bembeya Jazz’s guitarist and marimba player. He comes from a long lineage of griots (musician-poets) from Guinea Conakry, where he was brought up with the classical music of the Mandingue culture in the tradition of his father and grandfather. On 24 May, he will play a special solo set on Kora.