The Kutimangoes / jazzahead! 2018

Biography

In 2013, a group of renowned Danish musicians showed up on the club scene. Their goal was to put together a band which would fuse their European backgrounds with the west African music of Fela Kuti and the eclectic music of jazz bassist Charles Mingus. Led by Gustav Rasmussen and Michael Blicher, they released their debut album Afro-Fire a year later.

Afro-Fire was nominated for 5 Danish Grammy Awards, winning “BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM” and “BEST WORLD MUSIC TRACK” as well as gaining international critical acclaim and radio airplay on BBC, Bayerische Rundfunk (DE), FM4 (AU), Radio X (DE), WNYU Radio (US) and many others.

Following this success, the band has toured worldwide, appearing at festivals in Asia, Africa and Europe such as Reeperbahn Festival (DE), Jarasum Int. Jazz Festival (S. Korea), Reykjavik Jazz Festival (I), Jazzy Koum Ben (Mali), Copenhagen Jazz Festival (DK), OCT-Loft Festival (Ch). After a concert in Burkina Faso at Jazz à Ouaga, the festival’s artistic director Abdoulaye Diallo termed their music:

“a rarely successful unification of African and European music. Fantastic!”

Patrick Kabré, born and raised in Burkina Faso, was the featured singer on “Afro-Fire”, and in the spring of 2016, the band returned to West Africa to record their second album with Kabré and a number of other master Burkina Faso and Mali musicians.

On the album Made in Africa (out in November ’16), The KutiMangoes want to find the spirit of the music that first inspired them on their journey to share and unite people and cultures through music. “It is with the greatest reverence and respect for that music and the stories they unfold that we unite West Africa with our own musical heritage, to offer something hardwon, heartfelt, and human-forward.”

Michael Blicher // saxophones and flute
Gustav Rasmussen // trombones and guitar
Aske Drasbæk // saxophones
Johannes Buhl Andresen // fender rhodes and moog bass
Casper Mikkelsen/Eddi Jarl // drums
Magnus Lindgaard Jochumsen // percussion

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