Muito Kaballa

Labelled world music artists, Muito Kaballa, in fact, exhibits the charismatic abandonment of a punk provocateur. Informed by such post-punk luminaries as Maximum Joy (an outfit that was formed from the ashes of ‘70s peace-disturbers The Pop Group and Glaxo Babies, and employed Afrobeat rhythms), Kaballa executes an honourable balance between focused discipline and wily experimentation.

Muito Kaballa offers grooves of an Afrobeat persuasion, refracted through the restless energy of punk; kindred spirits Ebo Taylor and Fela Kuti, legends of African highlife music, impress upon his work indelibly.

Such musicianship has produced a pleasing cacophony in Everything is Broke (2019, Switchstance Recordings), the first album by founder, composer and tenor saxophonist Niklas Mündemann which started the project off as a one-man show. Everything is Broke takes in his usual influences of street funk, jazz, Afrobeat and just the slightest etchings of hip-hop. Edging out even further in his experiments this time, it explores the nervous, juddering energy of New Orleans inspired pop, running freely the course of the album with the sensual sounds of the city’s Latin Quarter.

After gaining attention quickly grew, Niklas decided to expand the one-man show, together with Jan Janzen (Keys) into a real band. Muito Kaballa then recorded their debut band album, Mamari (2021, Rebel Up Records). The result is a jazz album that brims with afrobeat, afro-cuban and funk influences and current activist thoughts on social equality, racial politics, climate change and more, all through the voices & bodies of this young ensemble. Mamari gained over 600 000 views on YouTube and quickly sold out.

This was followed by the album Little Child (2022) filled fat grooves with clearly recognizable Afrobeat influences. The group works together with the renowned German/Nigerian musician Ade Bantu and the Angolan guitarist Juresse Amie Tieti Ndombasi and picks up their listeners where they left off with Mamari.

Since then, the band has been touring Europe and released their third band album, Like a River, on 1 September via the London-based label Batov Records. The theme of rivers features heavily throughout the album – each song conjuring up the notion of being swept up in something you have no power to control.