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Cure the Monday blues with kindness

Doundounba an uplifting experience Who: Doundounba Where : The Boot Pub When : Monday, Sept.

Doundounba an uplifting experience

Who:

Doundounba

Where

: The Boot Pub

When

: Monday, Sept. 15

The regular Monday night live music event at the Boot Pub goes by the moniker Monday Madness, but this week looks to be less about madness and more about kindness.

Vancouver world beat ensemble Doundounba are set to rock the joint with their brand of up-tempo dancehall music, known as amasumbou in its native West Africa. Kindness is the name of their first album and they’ll kindly have you dancing the night away with a gigantic grin on your face.

Kindness

is actually a translation of the album’s official title, Fanyifan, which the group released this past July. It’s a tribute to those qualities group leader Aboubacar Camara says he gained a new appreciation for after immigrating to Canada from Guinea in 1995 and struggling with a new language, a new culture and a new climate.

"Life is difficult and it’s hard to make it through on your own," he says, extolling the difference a little human kindness and patience can make.

In 1997 he formed a group to play the upbeat music of his homeland and three years ago the band took on its current shape of six musicians, all of West African descent, playing a combination of western and traditional instruments. World music opens the door to a new culture, and through interest in Doundounba, Camara says he has been able to promote awareness of the issues faced by Guinea, a country that doesn’t often appear in the mainstream news.

While their album title refers to a kinder, more patient world, the name Doundounba, says Camara, means "strong people." When people are happy, they feel strong, he explains, adding, "You got to be strong to accomplish whatever you want to do. You got to be strong to make it through."

It’s a positive message that is particularly applicable to a Monday night crowd facing the week ahead and looking for a little lift, a perfect cure for those inclinations to sit scowling and slouching at a dark table and drown your sorrows in a pint of whatever’s cheapest.

"When you come to my show, it will bring your life up," says Camara. "You don’t just watch the show, you will be a part of it."

Doundounba plays at the Boot Pub’s Monday Madness live music night this Monday, Sept. 15.