In the West African voodoo tradition, each spirit has its own rhythm. How happy the spirits must be with Nana Benz du Togo because the five musicians (three women, two men) really know the rhythms of the realm of the gods and ancestors. At the same time, they inject a 21st-century jolt of energy into their music that makes everyone dance whether you’re a believer or not! The lyrics in English, French and Mina are humorous and full of feminist bravura. Their band name is with good reason a nod to the powerful businesswomen who dominated the Togolese economy in the 1970s. You’ll hear Afrobeat, funk and pop – a sound the group conjures from PVC pipes and recycled instruments, among other things. In essence, Nana Benz du Togo is all about the forces of nature, togetherness, rhythm and trance: the things that all spirits tap into.
