Owiny Sigoma Band, Rich Mix

The Owiny Sigoma Band counts its hometowns as London and Nairobi. Their music is a fusion of Kenyan Luo and UK electronic in which the nyatiti, a kind of plucked lyre, shines amid skipping synth runs and nyiduonge rhythms.

In 2009, a group of London musicians made a trip to Nairobi where they began writing music with local artists Joseph Nyamungu and Charles Owoko. It’s from these early sessions that the Owiny Sigoma Band sprung. Signed to the internationally-minded impresario Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood imprint, the group released their third album in 2015. Nyanza contains some of their finest work to date. Ranging from the dancefloor-ready techno beats of ‘Luo Land’ to the unabashedly touching pop balladry of ‘I Made You/You Made Me,’ it’s a varied album, and one which really ploughs its own furrow.

On May 26, the group come to London’s Rich Mix. They’re one of the most original bands out there, with a sound that coaxes unity from different traditions. We heartily recommend.