Worldbeat Marimba and the Stairwells with Randy Armstrong & Ben Baldwin

Randy Armstrong and WorldBeat Marimba with Ben Baldwin and the Stairwells present music of South Africa, Zimbabwe, and popular songs of the global music scene.

Randy Armstrong and the WorldBeat Marimba Band in collaboration with Ben Baldwin and the Stairwells present vocal & instrumental music of South Africa, Zimbabwe, and popular songs of the global music scene. Performing on a beautiful set of South African marimbas with world percussion instruments, their repertoire includes the music of the Beatles, Paul Simon, Miriam Makeba, traditional songs of the southern African region, and many others. Special guest drummer & percussionist, Marty Quinn will join in the concert.

This journey began in the summer of 2018 when world fusion music pioneer, Randy Armstrong accompanied the seacoast New Hampshire women’s chorus, Voices From The Heart on a South African tour. A tour highlight was performing for Desmond Tutu and his family. At this concert, a talented and energetic group of young South African Marimba players performed traditional songs and pop tunes that had the entire audience on their feet. Even “Papa Tutu” as he’s affectionately known in South Africa danced to the song, PATA PATA made famous by Miriam Makeba, and played brilliantly by the Marimba band. At that moment, Randy was inspired to commission a set of South African Marimbas which were handcrafted by ethnomusicologist, Gavin Coppenhall of African Ethos Instruments in Cape Town. The Marimbas arrived at the Port of New York on Christmas Eve 2018 and the rest is history. Randy offers weekly classes and rehearsals at his Beauty Hill Music Studio in Barrington, New Hampshire throughout the year.

The Stairwells evolved from an eight week a cappella class at Traip Academy in Kittery in the early 90's. At the close of the session, they wanted more and Instructor/music director Ben Baldwin, felt the same. They continued rehearsals each week for many years and after a brief hiatus, re-formed in 2010 and con