Biography
Bamboula 2000 roots its multicultural identity in the historic grounds of Congo Square, New Orleans, where Caribbean and West African communities sustained dance and music rituals across centuries. The term bamboula once denoted a love dance executed to drum accompaniment, its fluid, sensuous gestures traditionally delivered by either a woman or a man. That same syncopated pulse later shaped musical forms across Martinique, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, and New Orleans, among them calypso, zouk, and dancehall. The ensemble preserves this lineage while composing fresh material that fuses reggae, jazz, funk, urban styles, and additional genres. Its debut album, Cultural Warrior, appeared in 1996; that year the group also collected both an Offbeat Music Award and a Big Easy Award after touring throughout the United States and overseas. In 2000 the ensemble marked its sixth appearance at New Orleans’s annual Jazz & Heritage Festival and released its second album, New Society.
Percussionist Luther Gray serves as the group’s director. In 1993 he led the campaign that placed Congo Square on the National Register of Historic Places; four years earlier, alongside Jamilah Muhammed, he had co-founded the Congo Square Foundation. The remaining members include keyboardist Lloyd Daly, percussionist Eric Burt, guitarist Mario Tio, drummer Cameron Woods, lead vocalist Elbert “Moses” Fulgham, bassist Terrence Anderson, and background vocalists Carde, Drena Clay, and Cheryl Jenkins. Dancers Kai Knight, Erica “Famata” Larkins, Jamilah Peters-Muhammad, and Charlene Tantira Bridges—known collectively as the Bamboula Queens—complete the ensemble.
Percussionist Luther Gray serves as the group’s director. In 1993 he led the campaign that placed Congo Square on the National Register of Historic Places; four years earlier, alongside Jamilah Muhammed, he had co-founded the Congo Square Foundation. The remaining members include keyboardist Lloyd Daly, percussionist Eric Burt, guitarist Mario Tio, drummer Cameron Woods, lead vocalist Elbert “Moses” Fulgham, bassist Terrence Anderson, and background vocalists Carde, Drena Clay, and Cheryl Jenkins. Dancers Kai Knight, Erica “Famata” Larkins, Jamilah Peters-Muhammad, and Charlene Tantira Bridges—known collectively as the Bamboula Queens—complete the ensemble.
Albums
