POPULAR Afro Jazz band Hélélé will be treating Thornbury to a night of world music on May 1 to raise funds for a health centre and school in Cameroon.

The five-piece band from Bristol will be performing at the Armstong Hall - a few weeks before joining South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela at the Bath Fringe Festival.

Hélélé is led by Cameroon-born Alphonse Touna - who sings and plays the balafon (African marimba), which he made himself, as well as the guitar, djembe drum and percussion.

He set up the band “to share his music and culture with the world” - and his songs take their influence from the Bantu Forests of equatorial Africa and traditional music such as Makossa. The haunting lyrics are sung in Alphonse’s own language (Bassa) and the rhythms - a unique blend of catchy Afrobeat, jazz, Latin and funk - have packed dance floors across the UK.

Alphonse explains: “Hélélé means ‘beyond celebration’ and I want audiences to leave the concerts feeling uplifted, enthusiastic and full of life…”

This infectious music has resulted in the band going from strength to strength attracting fans of all ages and headlining at major festivals including Glastonbury (Jazz tent), Cheltenham Music Festival and Marlborough Jazz Festival.

Hélélé has also performed at a string of key venues from London’s South Bank Centre to Bristol’s Colston Hall – where the band supported Cuban singer and guitarist Eliades Ochoa from the Buena Vista Social Club.

It’s the band’s first time to perform in Thornbury – and this is one of many charity concerts in the South West this year for a cause close to Alphonse’s heart.

He started Project Mahola two years ago to build a much-needed health centre and secondary school near the isolated village of Sillyegue, where he grew up – with no proper roads, electricity, running water or medical facilities.

He explains: “We have raised money before for the Congo, Malawi and Haiti and I think music is a good way of raising awareness and helping to tackle suffering and poverty across the globe.”

Hélélé performs at the Armstrong Hall, Chapel Street, on 1 May, with doors opening at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at Thornbury Garden Shop or ring 01454 416 906.