Jamarek African Dance Band

Jamarek African Dance Band: Celebrating the Music and Culture of Africa

Looking for great music in Hawaii? Get ready for dancing in the aisles, you won’t be able to sit still through the contagious music of Jamarek. Hawaii’s premiere world music dance band will take the stage to share their African & Latin inspired music at Hawaii Public Radio’s Atherton Studio on Saturday, July 15th.  They’ll be performing music from their recently released studio album “Fechal” as well as newly arranged songs.

“Jamarek” means “peace only” and is a greeting used by the Wolof people of Senegal in response to the question “How are you?” and sums up the mission of this locally band, many of whose members have traveled and performed around the world. Jamarek musicians include: Daryl Cabral (djembe, sabar), Kapono Ciotti (djembe, sabar), Pete Shimazaki Doktor (bass), Ikaika Hussey (guitar), Kahnma K (vocals), Lori Kimata (doun-doun, percussion), Tirrell McGruder (shekere, doun-doun, percussion), and Kirstin

Pauka (doun-doun, percussion).

To order tickets online visit hprtickets.org or call the station at (955-8821). Tickete are $30 general, $25 for HPR members, and $15 for students with ID. (service fees applied for online orders)  Atherton Studio is located in the heart of Honolulu at 738 Kaheka Street. Advance ticket purchase strongly recommeded as house seats frequently sell out before performance dates.

About the leading artists
Kapono Ciotti is one of the founding members and the current musical director of Jamarek. He started his musical career at the age of three taking drum lessons with Harold Chang. In high school, he began serious studies of world percussion with professional percussionist Michel Seguin. At 17, as a part of the group Sundrum, Ciotti opened for Carlos Santana. From there he dedicated himself to the study of West African percussion, moving to Dakar (Senegal) to study with the family of Doudou Ndiaye Rose, as well as with Vieux Sing Faye. In Dakar, he performed for the president of Senegal, and was initiated as a drummer in exorcism ceremonies, wrestling matches, circumcision ceremonies, and many other traditional events. Since then, Kapono has traveled and lived in several areas in West Africa where he maintains a second residence. Ciotti is also a leading researcher for the Guewel Tradition Project, a research project based out of Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. The project documents, archives, and protects the Sabar drumming tradition – a rich and living tradition in West Africa.  He has given talks on West African music in Hawaiʻi, Boston, and in West Africa.
 
Kahnma K has been the lead vocalist in Jamarek for over seven years. She has been a part of the music industry for a long time and has worked on noteworthy projects, including the Nā Hōkū- nominated album she put out last year with her pop-reggae band Jookbox City. It is singing with Jamarek, however, that she feels most at home. “I get to lose myself and connect to the spirit of my ancestors” is how she describes what she embodies when performing with Jamarek, allowing her to perform in her native tongue, the Bassa language of Liberia, West Africa.  She will take you on a memorable journey with an electrifying combination of the passion of her homeland and her smooth melodic vocals.

by Honolulu Vibes