West African dance music at its best
SIERRA LEONE'S REFUGEE ALLSTARS

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 7:30
Santa Fe Brewing Company, Santa Fe

TICKET OPTIONS:
1. $25 advance, $29 door. General Admission. Tickets at Lensic Box Office, 988-1234, or at the Brewing Co.
2. $100 VIP PACKAGE. 2 tickets, artist CD, acknowledgment from stage. Helps fund K-12 programs. Call 473-5723 to reserve.
3.SW Roots Music members call 473-5723 at least 3 days in advance for a discount.

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars are a group of musicians who escaped the horrific violence of Sierra Leone's civil war, landed in a West African refugee camp, and formed a band with humble beginnings that has grown into an international sensation. An unbelievable testament to the human spirit, the journey of Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars exemplifies the universal healing power of music.

This concert is a benefit for Hope International for Tikar People, a non-profit working to improve the quality of life for marginalized indigenous Tikar and Bedzan (Pygmy) people in Cameroon. Hope International collaborates with local villages to implement sustainable health, education and art projects, providing medicine, emergency medical supplies, shoes, books, school supplies, school bags, clothes and toys to seven villages in the Tikar region.

Near the turn of the 21st Century, when Sierra Leone's war-ravaged capital was burning, thousands fled to neighboring countries. Among them were Reuben Koroma and Francis Lamgba (Franco) who began making music for fellow refugees in a camp in Guinea. The developing band was able to acquire a rusted-out sound system and beat up electric guitars as they moved from camp to camp playing their uplifting, can't-help-but-dance live shows, which included Black Nature, a teenage orphan with a gift for rap, as well as Abdulrahim Kamara (Arahim) and Mohamed Bangura (Medo), both of whom had had limbs amputated by the rebels. Recognizing the extremely high quality of musicianship, the United Nations was instrumental in financing the band's first studio recordings. The rest, as they say, is history.

Please join us for an uplifting evening of dance music by one of the greatest outfits ever to emerge from West Africa.