Refugee All Stars Return Home
[29 min 36 sec] add to playlist
The Refugee All Stars (from left), Black Nature, Efuah Grace, Francis John Langba, Reuben Koroma and Abdul Rahim Kamara.
Talk of the Nation, June 12, 2007 - The members of the Refugee All Stars are all survivors of Sierra Leone's bloody civil war. Yet amid west Africa's refugee camps, the musicians found a common cause. Their music tells stories of survival, of living in exile, and of returning home. Members of the Refugee All Stars tell their stories of courage, song and return.
Reuben Koroma, founding member of Refugee All Stars
Ashadad Pearce, singer, guitarist, Refugee All Stars
Black Nature, rapper, Refugee All Stars
Refugee All-Stars: Sounds from Sierra Leone
Set List
- "Living Like a Refugee"
- "Jah Come Down"
- "Black Nature Raps"
- "Weapon Conflict"
World Cafe, January 17, 2007 - The Refugee All-Stars formed after civil war forced a collective of Sierra Leone musicians into refuge in the Republic of Guinea. The 11 performers, led by vocalist and songwriter Reuben Komora, were discovered in a documentary film by Zach Niles and Banker White. Niles and White traveled to Guinea to shoot a feature on music in the refugee camps, where they came across a polished group of performers in the Sembakounya Refugee Camp belting out the distinctive tune "Living Like a Refugee." They became the stars of the film, which was financed in part by rock legends Keith Richards, Paul McCartney and Graham Nash.
The film has gone on to tour at film festivals and win numerous awards, while the band has become an overnight sensation. It recently recorded a full-length studio album of traditional, infectious, up-tempo Afro-beat, native folk and reggae sounds, appropriately titled Living Like a Refugee.
