The band was founded in the early 1990s by the late Amdo Jawaya and Samuel Nyariwo and the name translates from Luo into ?fusion of small, exhilarating instruments?. They started out as musicians for the Catering Levy Trust Choir but by the late 1990s had acquired new members, including their current leader, George Achieng, and began to create a more contemporary sound, focusing on the benga rhythm.

Benga in Luo means ?something beautiful?. It originated with Luo musicians coming from the area around Lake Victoria in western Kenya and was strongly influenced by the dance
rhythms of the Lingala music of the Congo. Originally popularised in the 1960s by Daniel
Owino Mesiani, ?Grandfather of Benga? and leader of Shirati Jazz, it has gone on to be played in clubs all over eastern and central Africa.

Introducing Kenge Kenge is an album of high-energy music and pulsing beat. The band works with traditional Luo instruments, from which the benga beat originally drew its sound, using the orutu (one-stringed fiddle) and the nyangile (gong), plus percussion, drums, horn and flute.

Introducing Kenge Kenge (World Music Network, 2007)