Madalitso is a duo from Malawi whose intuitive, authentic, and ruthless rhythms have taken Europe by storm. Madalitso will make you clap, dance, smile and rethink what you thought you knew about African sound and instrumentation. Their authenticity is the reason they have been invited to perform in festivals and clubs around the world, including WOMAD in the UK and Roskilde in Denmark.

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Madalitso's story begins in 2009 when a local producer in Lilongwe, the capitol of Malawi, overheard the duo busking outside a shopping center.  Eight years later the duo performs its first concert outside of Malawi at the Sauti Za Busara Festival in 2017. And six months after that the duo headed to Europe for a 2 week tour, the first time they travelled by airplane. Audiences enthusiastically embraced the down-to-earth nature and raw energy onstage of the duo, and thus their international touring took off. 2018 and 2019 saw them returning to Europe for increasingly extended tours. In 2019 the duo released their second album called Wasala on Bongo Joe Records. Bongo Joe Records subscribes to Madalitso's ethos of "why should we buy our instruments when we can build our own and get the sound we want"? The babatone played by Yobu is a handmade single-stringed instrument that is the perfect foil to Josefe's guitar playing and steady foot-tapping drumbeat. Their music is full of joy, lush harmonies, and syncopated rhythms that will infuse you with delight and haunt you long after the last note has played. 

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