Yankari Presents: The Big Calabash Xmas Bash

THE BIG CALABASH XMAS BASH

A calabash is made for sharing, and this one is full to the brim.

Yankari Afrobeat Collective close out the year with a pre-release party for their new album, Snake in the Monkey Shadow, coming soon on Love Universal, the UK label founded by Jon Jones of Hot Biscuit Recordings and home to DJ Nature and Ge-ology. And they’ve brought family. Joining them is Kinshasa-born guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, whose playing on Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi’s They’re Calling Me Home earned him a Grammy, and who has shared stages with Sinéad O’Connor, Glen Hansard and Baaba Maal. Together they pay tribute to the giants of African music: Hugh Masekela, Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas and more.

Also on the bill are Rithim. Éamonn Cagney is Ireland’s foremost hand-drum percussionist and Niwel’s longtime musical partner. Ronan Skillen brings a hybrid kit of tabla, didgeridoo and handmade percussion, shaped by decades of playing in South Africa alongside greats like Johnny Clegg and Manu Dibango.

On the decks is Frawl, the Limerick selector behind the Backwards parties, whose remix of Yankari’s Enyimba heralded the album on Love Universal. He brings three decades of crate digging to keep the floor moving long after the last horn.

Sunday 27 December. Doors 7:30pm.

Come share the calabash.