Trio Mokili by Trio Mokili

Trio Mokili plays music from across the African continent with arrangements that embrace the traditional as well as the experimental. These tracks feature deep improvisations that spiral within the worlds of African music, contemporary jazz, indie rock, and the avant-garde. The project was started by guitarist Nathaniel Braddock as a creative offshoot of his group Occidental Brothers Dance Band International—a way to explore different repertoires from his collaborations with musicians from around the continent. Braddock travels frequently in Africa, with lengthy stays in the DRC and Ghana. Mokili is a Lingala word meaning “the world” and all of the things and people in it, and it is the title of a song written by Braddock with the Congolese singer Samba Mapangala.

Braddock is joined on drums by Makaya McCraven, at that time the drummer of the Occidental Brothers, and Chicago bassist Junius Paul. The group played many shows in the Midwest, and the album results from two recording sessions at Electrical Audio.

Nathaniel Braddock tours internationally and in venues as disparate as underground arts spaces and Lincoln Center. Based for years in Chicago and Sydney, Australia, and now in Cambridge, Mass. He performs solo, and leads African styles groups Trio Mokili and Occidental Brothers Dance Band Int'l.

http://nathanielbraddock.com/

nathanielbraddock.com