A Unique Cultural Exchange of Music

Afrozep and Seneke have teamed up for a joint venture that mixes music and cultures to create a one of a kind experience. Their performance blends traditional West African drumming into original arrangement of the music of Led Zeppelin – the Worlds Greatest Hard Rock Band.

Afro-Zep is a collective of Chicago-based musicians that perform a set of all Led Zeppelin songs that have been re-arranged with Afro-beat and Afro-pop influences.

Seneke is a West African Percussion Ensemble that performs and teaches traditional forms of dance, song and music world wide.

Both Afro-Zep and Seneke have recorded and performed all over the country, sharing their unique takes on both traditional and modern African music.

Marshall Greenhouse, founding member of Afro-Zep, and Sekou Conde, founder of Seneke, first met many years ago while performing together with Chicago Afrobeat Project. The two had a common bond for drums and percussion and began working together on various other projects; including booking workshops, running summer drum camps and live performances. Sekou was the obvious first call to play percussion in Afro-Zep when the group headed out on their debut tour.

Then, in early 2011, Afro-Zep booked studio time to work on follow up tracks after their first three recordings were so well received. For these particular arrangements the band was looking to add many layers of drums and percussion to the songs. Instead of overdubs and multi-tracking, members of Afro-Zep had the idea to bring in Seneke Ensemble. This would give the tunes a much more realistic and natural feel allowing the percussionists to feed off each other the same way they would in a live performance.

The two groups really clicked working together so they decided to take it one step further and book a show together. Lincoln Hall in Chicago hosted the debut performance of Afro-Zep featuring Seneke in May of 2011 and a packed house witnessed Led Zeppelin songs performed like never before, with up to 14 musicians on-stage at a time.

Afro-Zep and Seneke have continued working together performing at Universities, street festivals and private parties. Afro-Zep featuring Seneke continues to tour and is available for live performances as well as workshops. The number of musicians vary depending on availability and budget.

Workshops/Lessons

Many members of Afro-Zep and Seneke are not only first class musicians but also act as private and group music instructors and clinicians. They are available to come into the classroom to present workshops and lectures on a variety of topics including: West African Drumming (for all levels beginner to advanced), the History and Assimilation of West African Music and Rhythm, Introduction to Drum Circles, Afro-beat groove workshops, as well as private and small group music instruction. Both Sekou and Marshall also bring years of experience working with kids and any of the workshops or classes can be geared towards classrooms of any age. For more information please contact: marshall@afrozep.com or info@seneke.com