The Afro Pop music of Kalifa & Koliba and the Big Band Soul of Afro D All Starz will be at Beatnik’s in Worcester on March 16, as both groups celebrate the release of their new CDs

Kalifa & Koliba play international dance music. Leader and Berklee professor Mohammed “Kalifa” Kamara is no stranger to Worcester. The current lineup started in a studio on Front Street and has grown into an eight-piece band that plays clubs, theaters and festivals around Massachusets. The new CD, River Gambia was recorded at Culture Studio in Worcester. It blends traditional West African rhythms with an aggressive local attitude and flavor.  The band now rehearses at Berklee and calls Boston home, but half the band members still live in the Worcester area, and Kalifa still teaches West African drumming at WPI and other Worcester spots.

The Afro D All Starz are a 10-piece musical collective that incorporates violin, flute, trumpet, saxophone and much more into a high-energy, socially conscious cornucopia of instruments, singing and socially-conscious rhymes. The group’s new CD is Strength in Numbers.

Band leader/MC/trumpet player Pete “Afro D” Shungu also spent some time in town. While living in Worcester for three busy years, Afro D served as an Americorps* VISTA, worked in community engagement at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science and played with local bands, Soul Movement and Giraffe.

As a self proclaimed “part time musician, full-time advocate for positive social change,” Afro D also served on multiple committees for the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, was a part of the Rebuilding Together Worcester board and collaborated with the Worcester Youth Center, UPCS and other schools and youth organizations to support hip-hop programming for youth.

This double headliner hits Beatnik’s on Park Avenue at 9 p.m. Saturday, March 16, with Tropical Sound System spinning between bands and a guest appearance from Worcester’s own West African Rhythm Project. Cost is $8 at the door.

CHECK OUT THE MUSIC AT:

www.facebook.com/Kalifa.and.Koliba

www.facebook.com/afrodallstarz

www.reverbnation.com/westafricanrhythmproject