Whether you’re a Vampire Weekend–loving teenager or a Graceland-loving boomer, the West African Highlife Band entertain this weekend with all the African music you’ve been only partially exposed to through American hybrids. Well-situated to acoustic settings and even more at home in their electric form, the group—and its abridged offshoot, the Nigerian Brothers—is led by King Sunny Adé veteran Ken Okulolo, repeatedly voted “Nigeria’s best bassist.” True to its name, the group’s five-man interplay is joyous, buoyant and light, topped with the killer guitar work of Soji Odukogbe, who spent five years as Fela Kuti’s lead guitarist. In the heat of summertime, highlife is the perfect music to “rise above the pain and suffering,” as Okulolo puts it. Feel the positive outdoor vibes on Saturday, July 10, at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center. 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. 7pm. $5–$25. 415.444.8000.
.July 10: West African Highlife Band in San Rafael
