ALBINO! West Coast Tour

ALBINO! Ignites the West Coast with Burning Man flair on Their Upcoming Winter Tour

ALBINO!

ALBINO!, the San Francisco Bay Area’s award-winning 10-piece Afrobeat ensemble is charging up the West Coast on its Winter 2009 tour. On this nine show run, the band will bring its trademark high-energy grooves and explosive stage show over the Canadian border for the third time. Debuting on Vancouver Island, BC and a shared bill with legendary Zimbabwean vocalist Thomas Mapfumo in Eugene, OR promise to be among the tour’s highlights.

ALBINO! looks forward to connecting with the Burning Man community and always encourages burners to attend their shows wearing playa attire. The band’s performances at the other-worldly summer arts festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert over the last three years have made them a popular favorite on the playa. Last summer, the Current TV cable network shot an excellent video documentary about the band preparing for its first Burning Man performance (viewable here). The year before at the infamous Critical Tits After Party, the band earned the Pathfinder Medal of Honor for performing through a torrential desert sand and rain storm for a mud-splattered crowd of thousands of naked female cyclists.

Back in the “real” world, ALBINO! has blazed onto the international jazz scene of late. In March, the band will kick off the prestigious SF JAZZ 2009 Spring Season at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Last summer at the world-renowned Montreal Jazz Festival, the ALBINO! enjoyed an overwhelming reception from crowds of over 5,000 during their two-night stand over Fourth of July weekend. The band also debuted at Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA last summer, one of the most respected jazz clubs in the country. ALBINO!’s simultaneous international jazz pedigree and hard-earned Burning Man credibility attest to what a unique phenomenon this band is, as well as to the extremely broad appeal of their music.

Although ALBINO! is not a jazz band per se, Afrobeat music, popularized in 1970’s Nigeria by the revolutionary Fela Kuti, borrows heavily from the jazz tradition. Extended solo improvisations, sophisticated harmonies, and an intricately arranged four-piece horn section are among the jazzier elements of ALBINO!’s sound.

On this tour, ALBINO! will feature a preview of material from its highly anticipated second studio album. Recorded in Colorado on the heels of a national tour, and mixed by Dan Prothero of Fog City Records (Galactic, Robert Walter), the album is now in the final stages of production and will be released this spring.

Tour Dates
02/13/09 Fri Arcata Playhouse Arcata, CA
02/14/09 Sat GoodFoot Lounge Portland, OR
02/15/09 Sun Nectar Seattle, WA
02/16/09 Mon Queen’s Hotel Nanaimo, BC
02/17/09 Tue Hermann’s Jazz Club Victoria, BC
02/18/09 Wed Eastside Tavern Olympia, WA
02/19/09 Thu The Wild Buffalo Bellingham, WA
02/20/09 Fri WOW Hall Eugene, OR
02/21/09 Sat Ashland Armory Ashland, OR
03/07/09 Sat Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum San Francisco, CA