Jembaa Groove hail from Germany and are one of the top Afrofusion acts in Europe today. Co-led by Ghanaian singer and percussion legend Eric Owusu and German bass player and producer Yannick Nolting, the Berlin based outfit has established itself as a top international touring band over the past 3 years, releasing 2 albums ("Susuma" 2022, "Ye! Akansa" 2024), and a brace of singles on Agogo Records, all to great critical acclaim.
 
Their debut album "Susuma" in 2022 had heavy support from KEXP, BBC 6 Music (Gilles Peterson, Cerys Matthews), Jazz FM, Soulection, WDR, FIP etc, and the follow-up "Ye! Akansa" received great critical acclaim for it's modern and original take on classic African music genres such as Ghanaian Highlife and Nigerian Afrobeat. The latter featured a collaboration with UK Ghanaian music star K.O.G ("Sweet My Ear"), and fans of his music will love Jembaa Groove.

Over the last few years, the outfit has established itself as a top international touring band with a mix of tight arrangements and spontaneous improvisation infused with punching hornlines, stirring guitars, driving percussion and celestial vocals...a contemporary take on Highlife, Afrobeat, World Jazz and Global Soul.

They have performed on a BBC6 Music "Live At Maida Vale" session for Cerys Matthews and have played some of the finest stages around the globe including SXSW Festival (USA), Supersonic Jazz and ESNS festivals in Holland, London Jazz Cafe, Paris New Morning, Madrid Sala Villanos, Berlin Gretchen, Amsterdam Paradiso, São Paulo (Brazil) Blue Note and many more.

Jembaa Groove consists of former band members of the groups of African music legends Tony Allen, Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas and Orlando Julius. Playing and recording with these legends of Highlife and Afrobeat for decades shaped Jembaa's Groove's perception of sound and dynamics. With members of African and European descent and hailing from different corners of the planet, JembaaGroove is a melting pot of musical influences that produces a true 21st century Afrofusion sound.

"Legendary stuff!...sounding beautiful“ - Cerys Matthews (BBC6 Music)

"They blend beautifully on a parade of chilled and catchy tracks. Bassist Yannick Nolting’s arrangements are spot on. The album would make any audiophile’s sound system sing" - Songlines Magazine

“This Jembaa Groove is so good!” - Coco Maria (Worldwide FM/NTS Radio)
 
Support band Kontiki are a well established Afrofunk/Afrojazz band whose members are based in Bradford and Leeds. To date, they have self-released three EPs/albums since 2019 - "Zucchini Weather", "Brother Chumbo" and "Mangrove Big Head" - and the latter two received support and airplay across Jazz FM, BBC 6 Music, Worldwide FM, Totally Wired Radio. They have sold out/packed out Leeds venues such as Hyde Park Book Club and Hifi Club and supported a host of African music artists at Brudenell Social Club, including K.O.G and ONIPA. Pure Afrofunk fireworks, get down for 7.30pm to catch their set.
 
Doors 6.45pm. Kontiki 7.30pm. Jembaa Groove 8.30pm. Curfew 10.00pm.