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Daily Local News , Concert Preview >>
Performing tonight at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, is not your typical rock band.
Like many young musicians, Berry took off from home (Sebastopol, Calif.) when he was in his late teens to pursue a musical career in another place. But Berry's destination was Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo's capital city.
"When I was 15, I started an apprenticeship with a master drummer, Titos Sampa," Berry said during a phone interview. "When I was 19, he took me back to Africa - to the Congo.
"After a while, I moved to Zimbabwe to concentrate on studying the mbira (African thumb piano). I started a band with some of the guys I was living with in one of Harare's township ghettos. We won Zimbabwe's version of 'Star Search' and that got us recognized."
Berry also studied mbira and the ngoma drum with masters in Zimbabwe, and eventually reached the master stage himself. He earned the title gwenyam- bira, which means "one whose music calls the spirits." He recorded a number of albums in Zimbabwe before returning to America.
"The early albums I did in Zimbabwe were all sung in " Berry said. "It was all traditional music. Then I started branching out, I was born here, but spent half my adult life in Africa. My roots were in American funk music, so my music started to become a marriage of the two."
Panjea's repertoire includes songs in English and Shona, songs with funk horns, songs written on mbira and even some done in Zimbabwe's Chimurenga style. The audience seems to love them all.
"Surprisingly, it's been really easy to find an audience in the states lately," Berry said. "At times in the past, I'd come here and run into brick walls. Now, it seems the world is ready. Our CD is selling really well. People have embraced it" 05/03/06
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