That opening marimba figure announces Africa before the first word lands. The Low Darts rebuild it from the ground up. The five-piece classic rock, pop, and soul band, led by singer and keyboardist Colman Connolly, filmed a live cover of Toto’s biggest song that treats the studio production as a blueprint rather than a backing track.
Toto packed Africa with sounds that hide in plain sight. David Paich and Jeff Porcaro wrote the track for 1982’s Toto IV, layering a marimba and kalimba hook against wide synthesizer beds and one of the most recognizable group vocal choruses in pop.
Rebuild the percussion hook
The looping mallet pattern drives the entire song, and it never lets up under the verses. A live band must reproduce that motion without the studio’s overdubs.
Colman and Sebastian Rodriguez handle the layered keyboard and synth parts, recreating the marimba line and the airy pads that frame it. Colman’s grounding as a producer shows in how cleanly those layers separate on stage. Hear how the parts stack across the band’s live music section.
Blend the group harmonies
The chorus of Africa stacks several voices into a single wall of sound, and a thin harmony exposes the gap immediately. Four of the five Low Darts sing, so Luke Foote, Sebastian, and drummer Sean Byington surround Colman’s lead with the full vocal blend the chorus demands.
That depth comes from real musicianship, the kind rooted in Colman Connolly’s musical roots in trad piano and audio production. Watch the live clip above, then catch their take on another Toto classic done live. To bring this level of detail to your stage, reach out through the band’s booking page.
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