Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang Premiere New Video for “Feba” and Announce Tour Dates
Click here to watch the video for “Feba” at the Stereogum premiere.
Watch the video for “Somebody” at The FADER or YouTube.
Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang have released a new video for their single “Feba,” taken from their full-length debut, En Yay Sah, available on Luaka Bop (Tom Zé, Javelin, Delicate Steve). Following a year of performances with everyone from Omar Souleyman to Lee Fields & the Expressions, including dates at Bonnaroo, The Getty, and the MOMA, the band returns to the west coast this week for a run of dates starting at The Echo this Thursday, May 16 in Los Angeles before heading back east for a special Sierra Leone Concert (Palm Orchard Conference) in the DC area on Sunday, May 26, a performance at Celebrate Brooklyn! with Os Mutantes and Javelin, and more. These new dates follow their last set of memorable NYC shows, one of which The Wall Street Journal commented on the crowd’s enthusiasm and the band’s “percolating, kinetic rhythm.”
According to Janka, “‘Feba’ is about a baby that you have with a woman that you are really are in love with, but you are not totally sure is yours. Even though the baby looks sort of like you, you’re still not sure of the back story.” Director Jon Casey said, “I wanted to show the tension that going on tour has on a relationship, in this case having a birth test show up positive right before you are about to go on tour, and the stress that can cause. But how the tour can defuse some of this stress with good friends, being on the road, and seeing new cities. Seeing Janka with his head in his hands, looking to cheer him up, helping him come back to come to a resolution with his lady, finding his peace along the road from NYC, to Niagara Falls.”
Janka Nabay single-handedly radicalized bubu within his native country of Sierra Leone. He now resides in Washington, D.C. and plays with the first Bubu band ever in America, consisting of Jonathan Leland (Skeletons), Michael Gallope (Starring) and vocalist Boshra Al-Saadi, Nico Testa and Drew Hagelin. Read his full story here.
Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang in Concert
5/16 Los Angeles, CA ~ The Echo
5/17 San Diego, CA ~ The Void
5/18 Joshua Tree, CA ~ Joshua Tree Music Festival
5/26 Silver Spring, MD ~ Palm Orchard Conference w/ Afro National, Emmerson
6/7 Baltimore, MD ~ The Metro Gallery w/ Celebration
6/8 Greensboro, NC ~ Mosaic Festival
6/8 Greensboro, NC ~ The Blind Tiger
6/22 Brooklyn, NY ~ Secret Project Robot w/ Zs, White Bike
6/29 Brooklyn, NY ~ Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell with Os Mutantes, Javelin
En Yay Sah Track Listing
1. Feba
2. Eh Mane Ah
3. Tay Su Tan-Tan
4. Ro Lungi
5. En Yay Sah
6. Kill Me With Bongo
7. Somebody
8. Rotin
“The King of Bubu Music…mysterious and mesmerizing” ~ NPR “All Things Considered”
“… so intensely modern it’s practically futuristic.” ~ Pitchfork
“…a phenomenon, bordering on genius…you should go see [Janka Nabay] and his clearly inexhaustible Bubu Gang perform any and every chance you get.” ~ Noisey
For more info, please visit:
bighassle.com/publicity/janka-and-the-bubu-gang