This thread always brings me smiles and warmth when I page through it and listen to the many wonderful clips people have included here (or gone off chasing after those that have been removed from youtube). Today I'd like to recommend that you read
this news story about an incredible band of street musicians from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, called
Staff Benda Bilili (which means "Look Beyond Appearances"). They all came from poverty and most are disabled survivors of polio; all play and sing Congolese rumba with other influences. Some were turned away by other bands, having been told they were likely to be late to practices because they were in wheelchairs, and they can't dance. They aren't stars in their home country, in fact many of them are still traders or electricians, the sort of entrepreneurs we support through Kiva loans. What's unique is the ingenuity they use in creating their music, the unusual instruments some of them play (check out Roger Landu's satonge, a one-stringed lute made from a fish can), and the fact that they are now on a major tour of Europe, where they have a large following. Their album, "Très Très Fort", was released earlier this year.
Watch the 6 1/2-minute video on the page linked above (linked again
here ), and then check out some of their music elsewhere. I guarantee if I were at the concert last night (video snippet below), I would have been on my feet the entire time.
I just wanted to point out that Staff Benda Bilili is coming on tour in North America soon - debuting near me in Folsom, CA, and continuing on to SF, LA, Seattle, Eugene, Chicago, NY, Vancouver(BC), Cedar Rapids, Columbus, Madison, etc (their link above in Dianes post has the live concert places and dates) (and they are currently in Munich and then Zurich).
Trailer for a film being prepared about the band (with their infectious music in the background):
