Bamboula 2000 enters this new millennium, and catches up with their name, with the release of their second CD, New Society. It’s a natural progression from their award-winning 1996 release Cultural Warrior.

Through the efforts of Music Director Luther Gray, formerly of Percussion, Inc., New Orleans’ Congo Square was registered as a National Historic Site, a place where people of African, Caribbean and Native-American descent once gathered. Bamboula 2000 celebrates this cultural legacy and musically marks the evolution starting with the rhythmic and spiritual roots of West Africa. They follow these traditions to Congo Square, making reference to Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s 1845 piano concerto based on the bamboula, one of the famous dances of Congo Square. They then bring it into the new millennium with the addition of electric instruments, fusing it with the rhythms of reggae, jazz and a healthy dose of New Orleans funk, including an homage to the Mardi Gras Indians on “Hey Pocky Way” with special guest Big Chief Brian Nelson of the Guardians of the Flame.

Bamboula 2000 has a message in its music. In the short spoken piece “Interlude to New Society” Luther Gray and his young child Jamon talk about what’s going to happen to us in the 21st century. “The pace of change is accelerated…it’s a time when we can make a change in the world.” That’s what Bamboula 2000 is about, making a New Society, where we can all live together in peace and harmony. Through them we can still hear the rhythms carried on the wind from Congo Square.