Doors at 7:00pm ~ Dance Lesson at 7:30pm ~ Open Dancing at 8:00pm

Doors at 8pm ~ Performance at 8:30pm

Welcome to the return of the exciting Ashkenaz tradition, "Musical Night in Africa". Bandleader and host Babá Ken Okulolo invites you to “Come with the entire family for a fun night as we transport you spiritually through the music of Africa and beyond, from the land that begot all of us. Be ready to dance, dance, dance!”

The night features musical performances from Babá Ken and West African Highlife, an all-star group of West African master musicians offering a unique and delightful celebration of intoxicating dance hits from the highlife era of the 50s-70s. Babá Ken and West African Highlife's eclectic repertoire ranges from highlife to Afrobeat to Afrofunk and everything in between.

African Highlife dance classics are the heart and soul of concerts by the West African Highlife Band. Launched by Kotoja’s Babá Ken Okulolo, the West African Highlife Band was born from a request by the late founder of Ashkenaz, David Nadel, for a band to concentrate on Ghanaian and West African highlife dance music and rhythmic styles. With master musicians from several West African countries and the United States, the band draws on folk traditions combined with modern stylistic elements, played with acoustic and electric instruments, and revives classic highlife dance hits of Ghana and Nigeria. The group has been a favorite ever since, not just at Ashkenaz or in the Bay Area, but wherever it travels with its infectiously uplifting and upbeat music.

Babá Ken Okulolo first came to the U.S. as part of King Sunny Ade’s band, and he was also the bassist in Nigeria’s seminal Afro-rock group Monomono. He is known for his work with Nigeria’s legendary Afrobeat creator Fela Anikulapo Kuti, highlife master Dr. Victor Olaiya, and the seminal Afro-rock group Monomono.

He has countless Nigerian and American recording dates to his credit, and the Nigerian Journalists' Association five times voted him the country's top bassist. He founded the international super-group Babá Ken & KOTOJA, famed for its bubbling brew of Afrobeat, highlife, juju, and jazz, and which inspired the start-up of Putumayo World Music. Since moving to Oakland in 1985, he has created a stable of African bands including West African Highlife Band, and the Nigerian Brothers.