"Bubu King" Janka Nabay Headlines Greenbelt Rhythm & Drum Festival, Sept. 27

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Ahmed Janka Nabay, the heralded Sierra Leonian King of Bubu music, will headline the outdoor main stage at the Greenbelt Rhythm & Drum Festival happening Sept. 27 in Greenbelt’s Roosevelt Center, from 11am-11pm. Janka and his group, “the Bubu Gang,” perform at 6pm.

Janka, a tall, lanky, fun-loving and soulful guy, has developed music that is frenetic and infectious.

“His music sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before,” says Janka’s guitarist Rob Coltun. “It seems to move very fast - when people hear it, they begin to jump and shake. There are similarities with other types of West African music, but with nuances that make it something really very different.”

Nabay’s music has deep roots. Originally used in witchcraft ceremonies by the Temne people, its folk origins involve playing various-sized bamboo cane flutes and metal pipes - often repurposed auto parts - to create a quick, flowing rhythm. Janka Nabay is famed with modernizing Bubu music by adding electric studio instrumentation, and with bringing the music to the international audience. During the Sierra Leone Civil War, Nabay became the first musician to actually record Bubu music. His songs assert the underlying message of Bubu - peace, good governance, and the empowerment of women or “ponchus.” With this message and its unstoppable pulse, Nabay’s music became popular amongst the rebel youth of war-torn Sierra Leone in the 1990s, which forced Nabay to flee the country.

Janka Nabay came to the US in 2003 and the power of his music took hold. He was first backed by members of 3 indie groups in Brooklyn, NY, who became the original Bubu Gang, which eventually signed a 3 album record deal with the Talking Heads label, Luaka Bop. His current Bubu gang includes members of New York’s Les Rhinoceros band, as well as DC musicians including Michael Kweku Owusu on African percussion.

So why is this famed international artist performing at the Greenbelt Rhythm & Drum Festival? “I’m here in America to show my talent,” said Janka. “This festival is different than any I’ve seen in the D-M-V, because it portrays all different cultures. That’s why I’m happy to play.”

The day-long FREE festival offers performances, drum classes and drum circles for all ages. The lineup of multi-cultural drum ensembles features music and rhythms from Japan, the Caribbean, Africa, Cuba, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. There will be drum classes in West African, Middle Eastern and Afro-Cuban drumming. Between performances, interactive drum jams allow participants to take what they’ve learned in class and apply it right away. Special activities for kids include two parades and drum play-stations where kids of all ages can bang, hit, scrape, shake, rattle and roll. There will be stilt walkers, jugglers and festive clowns to entertain all day long, along with a variety of local drum and craft vendors.

Performing on the same stage as Janka will be the best in local talent including Miyako Taiko, Stream and the Blue Dragons, Dom Pakka Chikki, the Pantones, the Bele Bele Rhythm Collective, and Black Masala, who will perform inside the New Deal Cafe at 8pm.