Featuring: Chris Berry & Michael Kang (SCI)
World Music pioneers from Africa to America!
www.panjeamusic.com
www.reverbnation.com/panjea
www.myspace.com/
PANJEA Promo video: >> CLICK HERE <<
"Chris Berry picked up where Paul Simon left off," says Michael Kang, violinist and mandolin-player for The String Cheese Incident. "Chris’ music glides across all racial and ethnic lines making everyone feel at home within the music. The conscious lyrics are a road map for humanity and Chris is one of the few people able to carry this message to a wide audience."
Berry’s story "sounds like it was written by a Hollywood script writer" (Steve Leggett, All Music Guide). Maybe that is because it is hard to believe that a California White boy moved to Africa, became a spirit caller, and went on to sell over a million records in Southern Africa, where he still sells out stadiums. Now he is positioned to do the same in America.
After over a decade living in Africa, Berry has now settled back in America following the edict given to him by African ancestor spirits to make a difference here, launching a slew of new activities to convey his message of justice and peace. His renewed American mission launches when Chris Berry and his band Panjea release Dancemakers, on Wrasse Records on April 18, 2006. Panjea’s Inclusion of String Cheese’s Michael Kang for new collaborations, has created quite a buzz in the World Music and Jamband scene fusing the two genres and exposing hundreds of thousands of listeners to a fresh new sound. They have recorded a new album and it will be released mid 2009.
Berry’s fascination of Zimbabwean mbira (thumb piano) music eventually lured him to Harare, where he settled and studied under legendary mbira master Monderek Muchena for ten years. During that time, Berry put together his band Panjea, whose pioneering blend of indigenous music, dance hall, and hip-hop earned platinum album sales throughout Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and beyond.
While studying in Zimbabwe, Berry became one of the first Westerners to be accepted among the elder mbira masters as one of their own. "I played for a lot of ceremonies where people would become possessed," said Berry. "Some of the old ancestors who came back spoke to me through these people: ‘What are you doing here? There are lots of misguided people, lost and confused people, in your country. They’re killing each other there. It’s time for you to take what you’ve learned and bring it to your own country because they need it more than we need it here. That’s your job. You’re the bridge maker.’"
And so back on his native soil we find him today, preaching an uplifting transcontinental message of hope to contagious, dance beats based in the Zimbabwean mbira and sacred Congolese ngoma drum rhythms. Berry has been deemed a master of both mbira and ngoma drum, earning the title of gwenyambira ("one whose music calls the spirits"), a distinction reserved only for those who have achieved the highest fusion of the technical and the magical in music from the elder with whom he lived and studied during his years abroad.
Panjea includes Michael Kang of the String Cheese Incident, Danny Sears, Patrice Blanchard, Zivanai Masango, and has special guest including Jason Haan.
Berry and Panjea bring it all home to America with their high-energy mix. But the root is Africa: "Africa is the source for almost all the popular music of the world," he insists. "You can hear it in blues, rock & roll, funk, hip-hop, and jazz. I’ve just found a more direct line to the source. I’ve got the medicine, and it’s pure and strong."
Panjea has grown from a band to a full-fledged non-profit institution: the Panjea Foundation for Cultural Education. "Panjea believes that through the sharing of ideas and open cultural exchanges the world can once again become a new kind of "Pangaea", united not by its physically joined continents but by its people." Berry, along with his family, and band all join in the foundation’s activities, which include cultural tours to Africa, drum and dance classes, camps and workshops, and special performances, including an appearance at the 2000 Olympics.
Management:
Soja Music Productions
Contact: Jamie Soja
510.710.0527