Students who feel like dancing and want to support a good cause are in luck this weekend. Boston Afrobeat band the Superpowers will play Saturday night in Leung Gallery as part of its second annual Darfur Benefit. The event is co-sponsored by Darfur Action Network, Phi Kappa Psi, Amnesty International and Brown-RISD Hillel.
The band, which usually numbers about a dozen people, was started in 2005 by drummer Adam Clark and identifies with the music genre Afrobeat - a term coined by influential Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. Superpowers trombonist Alex Asher described Afrobeat as a combination of Nigerian rhythms, juju music and American funk.
According to Asher, the Superpowers, formerly known as the Boston Afrobeat Society, started as a repertoire band playing Fela's music, but they have since grown from there. Asher described the band as "young, mid-20s, primarily white musicians" who were influenced by Fela's music because of its beauty and its political significance but also seek to remain true to their own sound.
"We're going our own path (and) making music for dance," he said, touting the band's propulsive rhythms and the cathartic dance experience it inspires.
"We're calling it a 21st-century dance band," Asher said. He added that community outreach is important to the group, which makes a point of performing at Darfur benefits and events for other causes.
The Superpowers - winners of Best World Music Act in the 2006 Boston Music Awards and the 2007 Boston Phoenix Music Awards - released their debut album, "Revival Time," in September. According to a press release, the band has been hailed by critics as a "poly-rhythmic juggernaut." The band has since been touring to support its album, Asher said.
The band is made up of four horn players, two guitarists, an electric bassist, keyboardist, drummer and two or three percussionists, using a variety of instruments including shakers and bells, Asher said. "We're a really big band (with a) really big powerhouse sound."
Band members make use of a clave - a rhythmic pattern used in African and Spanish Caribbean music - which makes up the structural foundation of the piece.
The Afrobeat movement, as Asher described it, stems from the work of Fela, whom Asher compares to Bob Marley. Although Fela created his music largely in the 1960s and 70s, he has only been discovered in America more recently. His influence can be heard in the music of contemporary artists such as Duke Amayo. In recent years, Afrobeat bands have cropped up in various parts of the country, Asher said.
After a positive experience at last year's benefit, Asher said students this year should expect a "rager" and should leave their inhibitions at the door.
Scott Warren '09, a leading member of Darfur Action Network, said the energetic band drew a lot of people at last year's performance.
"It's a great band," Warren said. "It's a different kind of scene."
All proceeds will go directly to humanitarian aid and there will be photographs and information about events happening in Darfur, he added. "We want people to have fun but we want to positively impact the situation as well," Warren said.
