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ATONGO ZIMBA was born in the savannahs of northern Ghana in 1967. His grandfather taught him how to build and play his koliko (or molo), a two-stringed calabash lute, and the first songs he learned were rooted firmly in tradition, dealing with everyday life in the countryside of northern Ghana's Bolgatanga region.
Being a child of his time, he was also exposed to African popular music on the radio and like many of his contemporaries, he was enthralled by the sounds of Fela Kuti's afrobeat.
It was to have a seminal influence on his musical development. Afrobeat inspired him so much he decided to leave his hometown and explore the musical idioms of the surrounding regions.
Atongo started busking on street corners, at markets and funerals throughout Ghana for a few pennies. People used to mock him and tell him to go and look for a job, but the young troubadour was determined to play his music. After travelling through several West African countries, his wanderings brought him to Fela Kuti's Shrine Club in Lagos, Nigeria. Atongo was playing at a nearby market, when some of Fela's disciples noticed him and brought him to the master himself. Atongo was well regarded in the community, and for the next year and a half, he was the opening act at the Shrine club shows, for which he was paid one dollar. After that, Atongo went back to Ghana, moving along the coast before settling in the capital Accra.
Atongo Zimba then began playing at various venues all over the capital and he was the opening act for great African musicians such as Osibisa at PANAFEST (Pan African Festival of Arts and Culture), Manu Dibango, Hugh Masekela, Francis Fuster and Angelique Kidjo, to mention but a few.
Atongo recorded his first album "Allah Mongode" with Swiss drummer Gabriel Schildknecht and in 1994, he went on tour throughout Switzerland.
Upon returning to Ghana, he worked with the National Road Safety Programme on educational tours, played at local jazz venues with a number of groups which included Jimmy Beckley's Afro-Jazz Combo. His growing reputation landed him other gigs, either working on the stage or as a studio musician with such artists as the reggae singer Rocky Dawuni, and in collaborations with John Collins, the world renowned musicologist. Atongo’s distinctive voice was also increasingly heard on radio and TV commercials, which gained him nationwide fame.
Eager to try his luck abroad, he again headed for Europe where he toured in Spain and Germany, and in 2002 he made a series of recordings in the Netherlands with his old friend Rob Bierings. In 2003, Atongo moved to London, where, in 1994, he recorded his second album. Since then he has steadily gained more recognition. Atongo recently finished a long stint as one of the musicians in the UK production of Kwame Kwei-Armah's award-winning theatre play "Elmina's Kitchen". Atongos' most recent musical forays have included a solo gig at the 2005 Womad festival, and performing with Rita Ray’s Shrine Synchro System. He has also had very favourable exposure on BBC's "Africa On Your Street."
The songs on the award winning album “Savannah Breeze” are sung in a variety of languages, Atongo's native language of Frafra, Pidgin English and in the West African languages of Hausa, Twi and Ga. The lyrics remain true to the roots of his savannah upbringing, dealing with simple everyday themes.
The musical production however marks out “Savannah Breeze” as modern Afro-fusion. Producer and arranger Sultan Makendé (aka Dave Yowell), who co-produced the legendary CAPTAIN YABBA album in the late 1990s, came up with a funky modern African sound which fused modern electronic instruments with the acoustic roots of the African Sahel. Savannah Breeze builds on the musical ideas and grooves he pioneered together with ace Ghanaian percussionist Francis Fuster.
Working with musicians steeped in jazz, funk and African music, Savannah Breeze moves effortlessly through a variety of grooves available to the contemporary musician - funk here, jazz there, a searing griot solo.
Atongo’s own repertoire has also been informed by his countless encounters with musicians from a variety of traditions. His cover version of the polka classic "No Beer In Heaven" is a major hit in Ghana.
In 2007, Hippo Records released Atongo’s third album, “Barefoot in the Sand”. The music is very different from the music of “Savanna Breeze”, and shows how versatile an artist Atongo Zimba can be.
Atongo Zimba received a world music award in Holland for “Barefoot in the Sand” in December 2007 and the album was voted Best African Album of the year by the Dutch Music TV Channel which is their equivalent of MTV.
Atongo loves to perform - what catches the listener’s ear throughout his shows, is that distinctive voice, alternately praising, cajoling, poking fun, criticizing, and caressing
He is a truly accomplished artist whose name will be heard and heard again on the European world music scene, now that he is coming back to England, from his native Ghana, where he has a flourishing musical career.
In order to promote his current and beautiful album “Barefoot in the Sand” (released in the winter of 2007), Atongo Zimba will be playing at festivals in the UK in the summer of 2008 and then touring art centres and music venues from September to the end of November 2008.
“Barefoot in the Sand” marks a return to and reworking of some old songs which the troubadour used to sing in Fra Fra in his home country of Ghana. For Atongo, this is a return to his rural roots. Some of the tunes remind us of the griot music of the Sahel, although the koliko is not an instrument which belongs to the Sahel tradition, but with instruments like the tabla, the flute, and the saxophone, as well as the kora, this album has a different feel to what we are used to, coming from North Africa. Some of the grooves are Arabic in essence, some of them feel like Senegalese music… Atongo says that he tried to make it all fit into one Arabic-Indian-African groove – and he wants to make us feel like it belongs to all three traditions.
PLEASE NOTE: the venue comprises both seated and standing space. There are a limited number of tables. These are allocated on a first come first served basis, with priority given to diners. If you’d like a table, please ensure you arrive early (doors open 7pm).
Music starts at 9pm. NO ENTRY AFTER 9.30pm
