Artist description The perfect world dance party music! !AKimbo combines the world's best dance grooves with contemplative lyrics to produce original world beat, moves the soul while begging your feet to dance.

Music Style Dance Party/World Beat/Adult Contemporary/WOMAD

Musical Influences African/Caribbean/Pop/Rock

Similar Artists Paul Simon, David Byrne,Peter Gabriel,Johnny Clegg, The Corrs

Artist History Formed in 1995 in Davis, CA. 5 men and 3 women. Perform all over Northern California

Group Members Phil Summers : Bass, Kurt Roggli: Guitar, Jeff Devine: Drums, Shawn King: Percussion, Melissa Frago: Vocals, Dianna Craig: Vocals, Linda Deering: Sax, Flute, Penny Whistle

Instruments Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Sax, Flute, Vocals, Drums. Penny Whistle

Albums !Akimbo 1996, Here With Us 1999, Bones Don't Lie 2003

Press Reviews NPR Sacramernto "From the exciting, Fela Kuti-like vibe of "Numbers" to the soca sounds of "No Guarantee" and chimurenga guitar lines on "E Maa Yo," !Akimbo! prove they can handle intricate rhythms that move the body as well as write attractive melodies that inspire us to sing ." --Steve Milney KXJZ .............................................................................. .............................................................................. San Francisco Bay Guardian: Mixing German, Gaelic, Navajo, Russian, and French lyrics with didgeridoo's, conga drums, and penny whistles, Davis-based !Akimbo! expand the definition of world beat from its trademark Afro-Caribbean rhythms into a multicultural jive so dizzying that it exceeds the limitations of one stage".one stage." --The San Francisco Bay Guardian................. ................................................................................ ................................Music & Sound 2000 " The sophomore CD from Davis' !Akimbo, Here With Us, fuses African and Jamaican rhythms, rock guitar, and sometimes brooding lyrics to create a unique listening experience. With eight members, Akimbo captures a big sound without seeming cluttered - a phenomenon that often happens when a large band goes in to record. Famous for their spirited live performances, nothing here gets lost in the studio translation. Inside the cover is a great live shot of the band at the 1998 Whole Earth Festival in Davis. This photograph is a testament to what you'll hear on this disc - a taste of a communal, greater love society. The infectious grooves of "Sunday Song" and "E Maa Yo" will have you dancing around your living room while the lyrics in "A Wish" ("I'm falling down, the deep so blue...") will send you to a decidedly darker place. Catherine LeBlanc's strong lead vocals on this track are especially exceptional, reminiscent of Natalie Merchant. Often the band mixes their upbeat music with searching lyrics that question the motives of human nature. The result is an interesting contrast, similar to eating salt with chocolate. Here With Us is a standout world beat album with cynical California sensibility. Pauline Hess........................... ................................................................................. ............................................................................ Dirty Linen Magazine 1999 " Akimbo Here with us.... The second CD from this talented eight-piece world beat/dance group from Davis, California, is as good as their debut of a couple of years back, Their smart, sparkling music brings the best of African high life grooves and Latin rhythm and percussion grafted onto contemporary Californian lyric and arrangement sensibilities, as exemplified on the laid-back, shimmering "Sunday Song". Standouts include lead singer Catherine LeBlanc's " Here With US", with its sinuous flute line and smooth guitar grooves, and and "No Guarantee", with its bubbling bass and percussion grafted onto an infectious chorus. On this fine sophomore effort, !Akimbo's world fusion sounds as effortless as it does jubilant". ...................................................................................... ..................................................................................... ............................. ................................................................................... ................................................................................... KXJZ's Steve Milney:"Akimbo, the Sacramento area's premier world music band, just keeps getting better and better. Three years after their debut album, the group is now much tighter and more confident. Here with Us, their newly released second CD, draws upon a broad palette of influences including Afro-beat, soukous, reggae and salsa. But at the core of all their global beats and international flavors is good pop songwriting and arranging. from the exciting, Fela Kuti-like vibe of Numbers to the soca sounds of No Guarantee and chimurenga guitar lines on E Maa Yo, Akimbo prove they can handle intricate rhythms that move the body as well as write attractive melodies that inspire us to sing"..... ................................................................................. ..................................................................................."Dirty Linen (International Magazine of Folk and World Music. "!Akimbo Here with us.... The second CD from this talented eight-piece world beat/dance group from Davis, California , is as good as their debut of a couple of years back, Their smart, sparkling music brings the best of African high life grooves and Latin rhythm and percussion grafted onto contemporary Californian lyric and arrangement sensibilities, as exemplified on the laid-back, shimmering "Sunday Song". Standouts include lead singer Catherine LeBlanc's " Here With US", with its sinuous flute line and smooth guitar grooves, and and "No Guarantee", with its bubbling bass and percussion grafted onto an infectious chorus. On this fine sophomore effort, !Akimbo's world fusion sounds as effortless as it does jubilant". ........................................ ................................................................................... ................................................................................. THE BEAT: (International Magazine of World and Reggae Music)"From Davis, CA (home of guitarist Gary Saylin) comes world best band !AKIMBO on their debut cd and label of the same name. The fearless octet tilts mainly towards reworkings of Southern African genres, blending Catherine LeBlanc's folkie lead vocals with everything from mbaqanga to soukous, jit and marabi with dollops of steel band rhythms tossed into "L'Oiseau" and Linda Deering's Flute injecting "Okulolo" with orientalisms. Message song gets a little too heavy for its title with a social-conscience spoken commentary, but the rest of the disc is engagingly light and infectious with solid arrangements and virtuosity from all quarters." ..................................................................................... .................................................................................... DIRTY LINEN (The Magazine of folk, electric folk, traditional and world music):"!Akimbo is an eight piece band from Davis, California which, for somereason, has become a hotbed of multicultural dance bands. The 14 tracks on their debut CD features polyrhythmic percussion provided by Tom Paslay and Shawn King underpinning sinuously interwoven instrumental lines courtesy of keyboardist Olga Simons, guitarists Kurt Roggli, Jeff Simons, and Phil Summers, flute player Linda Deering, and saxophonist Catherine LeBlanc. Lead vocalist LeBlanc and Roggli write most of the groups material, which, on tracks like "L'Oiseau" and the bouncy "Mango Tango", contrast a strong mainland African instrumental influence with LeBlanc's gentle, almost folksy vocals. Other memorable tracks include "Eilean Mo Gradh", a slow reggae tune, and the horn-driven "Island in the Sea". !Akimbo i s a tight, creative band that sounds like they would have no trouble filling the dance floor all night long." ................................................................................... .................................................................................... KXCI-FM Tucson:Lively African-inspired dance music from Davis, California. Whodathunikit! This 8-piece ensemble produces dense, syncopatedsongs, the syrupy, throaty lead vocals of Catherine LeBlanc supported by percussion aplenty, electric guitars, basses, flutes, saxes, and the odd didgeridoo. The opening track, Imagine This, sprints into a pulsing two-step, synth, hilife guitar and a mixed background chorus driving an oblique parable of global cooperation and harmony. And you can dance to it! Imagine that! Okulolo takes a more deliberate path to rockin'rhythm, jazzy touches suggesting dark dance floor sweat, warbling organ swirling around the lead vocal. Celtic islands sway gently under palm trees and cool breezes in Eilean Mo Gradh, a calm reggae rhythm providing LeBlanc's lead vocal an opportunity to soar. The pace speeds up in the ska Hold On, playful percussion and flute keeping the mood light. Papillon swings to a guitar-saturated township shuffle, the lead vocal pretty and mysterious in French, punctuated by a dreamy narnration of the evils and injustices of modern life. There are a few instrumentals, as well, including Quid Pro Xeno, island saxes intoning over a bed of xylophone and percussion; it doesn't go much anywhere, but sounds great getting there. !Akimbo's music is redolent of the sounds, the moods, almost the smells of the islands, of Africa, the exotic lands of dreams. ..................................................................................... ..................................................................................... ALIVE AND KICKING (Sacramento):" !AKIMBO describe themselves as Western Pop combined with the world's best dance grooves. Well I ain't gonnna argue with that. Pop the CD in your player and instantly you're hit with "Imagine This" , a catchy, rhythmic kickoff to one great number after another. The playing, production and singing on this disc are top notch. If I may make the most accessible comparison...think Paul Simon's GRACELAND in terms of feel. But !AKIMBO really does draw influences from aall over the globe. They truly are "World" beat. Good Stuff." ..................................................................................... ...................................................................................... SACRAMENTO NEWS AND REVIEW:"With gently rocking rhythms and intoxicating melodies, Davis' !Akimbo effects a new Amercican-born and bred world beat music that owes as much to the sounds of Fleetwood Mac and Talking Heads as it does African and Caribbean beats. !Akimbo, eight members strong, builds its music on Catherine LeBlanc's lulling vocals as well as a plethora of penny whistles, guitars and keyboards. The band recently released its debut self-titled CD, and though they're usually touted as a premier party band in the style of Mumbo Gumbo (read: shake your body), the CD showcases the lyric's contemplative essence, which might give you pause on the dance floor. "It spins us high then wrings us dry while wrinkling us in time/Droning deaf, it drowns us mute and draws our futures blind"

Location Davis, CA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).