Khairi Arby with The Sway Machinery @ Echoplex

KhaIra Arby was born in the village of Abaradjou in the Sahara Desert north of Timbuktu. You can hear these cultures in her music; she sings in several languages. The instrumentation and rhythms are just as varied with electric guitar and bass, calabash, ngoni, traditional violin, and percussion creating a complex mixture of sound and structure. Some people compare the effect to the rhythms of the camel caravans crossing the Sahara, others to the cosmopolitan city of Timbuktu. For those who have seen The Sway Machinery in action, little explanation is needed. The band’s combination of rhythmic power and potent folklore takes no prisoners. On stage the energy of submerged worlds is torn out into the light of day. And indeed, the historical tradition of Cantorial music, which is the focus of the band’s work, is very much a lost world. The music of The Sway Machinery invites the listener to become like children wandering in the forest, discovering something mythic and wonderful. $12 pre-sale . $14 at the door