Fresh off their new album release Stylo, Toubab Krewe returned to Atlanta for the first time in 4 years. Now with a full tour in the fall of 2017 and a handful of shows in 2018 since their 3 year hiatus, the Krewe had tight playing and was full of smiles on stage. They took Terminal West on a musical journey through their West African jam hybrid soundscapes. Songs like Maliba would transport me to the West African beaches and have me feeling like I was floating on water, only to take a turn halfway through the song and deliver psychedelic space funk with their multitude of instruments. Mansani Cisse was a particular highlight for me in which Justin Perkins switched away from his kora to an electric guitar and Drew Heller switched from the normal electric guitar to a 12 string guitar (you can watch this segment on FunkCity.net’s exclusive YouTube video below). Perkins was able to use a similar fingering style he uses for the kora plus the use of a normal guitar pic to create amazing rhythm lines for Drew Heller to rip a guitar solo on top of. Terminal West was treated with 7 tracks off the new album Stylo with only Marima missing.
Toubab Krewe went on to Asheville the next two nights for their hometown throwdown, and you catch them at festivals such as Purple Hatters Ball and Element Music Festival this summer. Overall, the FunkCity.net team grooves on world music with vibes similar to TK, including Bokanté, Michael League’s (Snarky Puppy) side project. In fact, it seems like TK would be a great fit for next year’s GroundUP Music Festival 2019 in Miami Beach. A TK + Bokanté collaboration would we awesome!