Rhythm Rovers

Illinois musicians Rocky Maffit and Chad Dunn want to take your pop song on a world tour.

Based in Champaign, these energetic and entertaining performers expand the boundaries of contemporary music by reworking well-known songs into veritable showcases of world music. Choosing songs from a variety of American musical idioms – rock, folk, jazz and blues – " Maffit and Dunn reinterpret these familiar songs through the rhythms and instruments of different cultures.

Dedicated drummers, the duo have given great study to Latin and African percussion traditions. Maffit toured the world to learn directly from masters and eventually turned his passion into an award award-winning book and audio CD, Rhythm & Beauty: The Art of Percussion.

And when Dunn isn't playing samba, bossa nova and forro with various Brazilian music ensembles, the instrument maker likes to give discarded trash a new, musical life through his "Recycled Rhythms" project.

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Catch Chad Dunn at Sun Foundation workshops or at the Foundation's annual Art and Science in the Woods camp.