Toubab Krewe

If the divide between American and African music seems to almost disappear when you hear someone like Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, consider Toubab Krewe, an Asheville, North Carolina, quintet that plays a convincing fusion of West African music and rock 'n' roll. If anything, the African elements, which band members learned from local masters during several sojourns in Mali, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, prevail in the Krewe's sound, in which a skittering kora line can ricochet off a rock or reggae beat, or a Western melody played on guitar can float on a shimmering pool of meticulously textured African percussion. The all-instrumental Krewe stir up a jam-band feel at times, but more often sound like maverick Mandingos schooled on surf guitar and alt-roots rock. 18+.
Sat., March 29, 8:30 p.m., 2008