JEMBAA GROOVE

‚Jazzy Afro-Soul Music – Ghana’s Highlife going by the heartbeat of 70s Soul Music‘

JEMBAA GROOVE is a Berlin based Afro-Soul group founded in late 2020 by Yannick Nolting (bass,composer,producer)and Eric Owusu (vocals,percussion,songwriter). Speaking the same musical language, the two musical nomads quickly realised the fruitful outcome of their encounter. Digging deep into both their backgrounds and musical identities, they came up with an new and yet authentic vibe ready to be spread across the globe. After seeking for the right companions for the upcoming journey and stumbling on a few of Berlin’s finest musicians, they finally formed Jembaa Groove, a 7-piece band that combines jazzy sounds from Berlin’s uprising underground scene with traditional West-African sounds from Ghana and Mali, such as Highlife, Adowa and Wassoulou.

The music of Jembaa Groove is as much influenced by the soulful rhythms and baritone chords of 70’s black America and contemporary artists like Lee Fields and Ikebe Shakedown, as it is by highlife artists such as Ebo Taylor and Pat Thomas, with whom Eric has been touring and recording for many years. Garnering a smattering of support from the media world like KEXP, KCRW, Worldwide FM, Rinse FM, WDR Cosmo and enough stations round the world off the back of their Bassa Bassa track, Jembaa Groove are causing a storm with their hybrid West African meets US soul & jazz sound. Their debut album ‚Susuma‘ will be released via Agogo Records on 18.03.

2b fuzzy ist seit über zwanzig jahren als DJ aktiv, wichtig ist ihm die Vielfalt in seinen Sets. Zuletzt hat er viel Support für Afrobands wie Isaac Birituro & The Rail Abandon, Gnawa Electric Laune (TruThougthts) und Onom Agemo & The Disco Jumpers (Agogo Records) gespielt.Er kuratiert eine eigene Compilation- reihe „Two Tribes- an intercontinental journey in rhythm“ auf Agogo Records. Neben seiner hauptberuflichen Tätigkeit in der PR für Labels wie Strut, Légère, Jalapeno; because Music und vielen anderen schreibt er eine monatliche Kolumne im Faze und betreut die monatlich Webradioshow „Different Drum Berlin“