Kiala & The Afroblaster EP Release Party
Line up: Kiala & The Afroblaster, DJ Ness Afro

Dance the night away with Afrobeat 10-piece band of Kiala Nzavotunga, former Fela Kuti Egypt 80 & Ghetto Blaster guitarist, to celebrate the release of their EP "Spiritual Power." As Kiala always says, "The Music is the Message and the Message is the Music."

Opening times:
20:00 doors open
21:00 show starts

Line up: 
Kiala Nzavatunga - Lead vocals and guitar
Yinske Silva - vocals
Steven Jones - vocals
Abriël Ferreira - trumpet
Oliver Emmitt - trombone
Thomas Hanenberg - keys
Mark Oomen - guitar
Jermano Hoop - bass
Robbert Jaspers - drums
Ibou Ndong - Percussion

Kiala & The Afroblaster is a 10-man Afrobeat band of Kiala Nzavotunga (Fela Kuti Egypt 80, Ghetto Blaster), and Afrogrooves, an Amsterdam-based collective of musicians with a passion for Afrobeat music. The band has the unmistakable basis of Fela’s bands in terms of groove and instrumentation, but incorporates Kiala’s unique bluesy sound as well as strong hip hop and funk influences in both the music and the social and politically relevant lyrics. In the words of Kiala, “The music is the message and the message is the music.”
Kiala Nzavotunga is a singer/guitarist/songwriter born in Angola. After moving to Lagos as a young man, Kiala solidified his mark as a musician on the continent and in Nigeria as guitarist of Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 band. After years of recording and internationally touring with Fela, Kiala settled in Paris, France where he continued writing and playing with a variety of bands, the most well-known being Ghetto Blaster, who toured the US opening for James Brown.
Reflecting on his experience inspired Kiala to compile and release the album Money in 2018, a modern take on the vintage Afrobeat sound full of tight percussion and horn lines, bluesy guitar riffs, and powerful lyrics. Traveling to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, later in 2018 led to a chance meeting with fellow Afrobeat enthusiasts Afrogrooves at one of their jam sessions. Mutual admiration for Afrobeat music and the tenets on which it was founded sparked camaraderie and instant musical chemistry, leading to key members of the Afrogrooves collective becoming Kiala’s band.
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DJ Ness Afro
A music and vinyl enthusiast from a very young age and the DJ for Fela Day at the New Morning, he has been a member of the Afro Beat No Limit collective for 25 years. Chosen by Sodi, the producer for Femi, Fela, and Made Kuti, he curated the opening of the Fela Kuti exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris.
He has opened for Seun & Femi Kuti, Ebo Taylor, The Soul Jazz Orchestra, and Jungle By Night, as well as for hip-hop groups such as The Pharcyde, Supernatural, Apollo Brown & Skyzoo, and Delinquent Habits… As a producer and manager, he has released eight albums, including 'One Race' by Kiala & the Afroblaster, Orixa by Drama On The Corner and the legendary French hip-hop group 2 Bal 2 Neg. Close to Dele Sosimi, Ness was also involved in Seun Kuti’s debut album and has produced remixes for Mop Mop and Fairuz. He had the opportunity to perform at the Shrine in Harlem and in San Francisco during a U.S. tour a few years ago that took him to Miami, New Orleans, and Oakland.
Ness was part of the Star Wax team for 12 years and worked on the playlist for Star Wax’s 5 LPs. Co-founder of the famous Beat Tape Session collective (Ground Control; La Place, New Morning), Radio Deejay, and a journalist for Ness Radio,  Rinse France, Le Melletron, and occasionally on national radio stations such as Radio Nova or RFI in France. Close friends with Betino in Paris, he contributed to the release of two EPs by the Parisian jazz-funk group The Big Hustle on Betino’s label, and he is the producer & manager of the Afrobeat group Lagos Thugs, based in Lagos called Lagos Thugs.
He serves as the international press representative for labels such as Betino's Record, Palenque Records, and Tangential Music, and also acts as the press representative for Ghanaian singer Kyekyeku, as well as Kiala, Franck Biyong, Oua-Anou Diarra, Youthie, and Drama On the Corner, Joan Reggae Drummer... 
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