The Budos Band

Staten Island is home to the extraordinary Budos Band whose Afrobeat-influenced jazz-funk has caused many a dance floor meltdown at clubs and theatres across the land. At the core of the band are a handful of musicians who met at an after-school jazz program. They used to take late-night ferry rides to Manhattan to hear groups like Antibalas and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Those lessons in Afro-soul clearly struck a chord, because the 11-member Budos Band was soon bending ears with its hot sound – so much so that they were signed to Brooklyn’s Daptone Records and have since release an album titled Budos Band II. Don’t miss what promises to be an electrifying JazzFest premiere!