Kanaga System Krush and Chris Berry

Prairie Sun recently hosted a mix for Grammy winning world music artist Chris Berry. Our favorite fair trade music label Kanaga System Krush brought the project to be mixed by engineer Oz Fritz. The story behind Chris Berry's music is unique and provides a compelling backdrop for the listener.

Chris Berry was born in California and moved to Africa at age 19 with his musical mentor Titos Sampa. Chris became immersed in Zimbabwean culture and music for over a decade studying mbira (thumb piano) and the ngoma drum. Berry has been open about his mission to be a healer and a bridge maker through music. Chris has been one of the first western artists to be accepted in the South African culture as a true mbira master. The music you will find on the upcoming album follows his mission of being a "bridge maker through music" blending western music pop sensibility / production with traditional time tested South African instrumentation and musical inspiration.

Speaking with K.S.K founder Aja Salvatore about what the future of world music was eye opening. The future will not be just about importing indigenous music but will be more of the Chris Berry paradigm of fusion of culture and style. This will truely create world music in the sense it will bring the world together in a place that is usually not easly accessible through just one style of music. A quote from Michael Kang of the string cheese incident says it well.

“CHRIS BERRY PICKED UP WHERE PAUL SIMON LEFT OFF. CHRIS’ MUSIC GLIDES ACROSS ALL RACIAL AND ETHNIC LINES MAKING EVERYONE FEEL AT HOME WITHIN THE MUSIC. THE CONSCIOUS LYRICS ARE A ROAD MAP FOR HUMANITY AND CHRIS IS ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE ABLE TO CARRY THIS MESSAGE TO A WIDE AUDIENCE.” - MICHAEL KANG FROM STRING CHEESE INCIDENT

The basic tracks were recorded at the K.S.K recording studio with a film crew in tow. Be sure to keep an eye out for in the studio videos we guarantee there will be sights and sounds that you will want to see. Keep in touch for more on Chris Berry and Kanaga System Krush.