Les Mamans du Congo x Rrobin will perform Saturday, July 26.

Gladys Samba was a restaurateur in the Congolese capital Brazzaville, worried a few years ago that new mothers in the city weren’t singing Bantu lullabies, and that her beloved traditional language would be lost to urban modernity. So, she began hosting sessions for a few women to teach them the gentle children’s melodies.

A few restaurant lullaby singalong sessions soon became workshops at a theatre festival,

Those became the Les Mamans du Congo, five voices rising in glorious song. And Gladys became Mama Glad: guardian of heritage, empowerer of women and bringer of joy.

Les Mamans sing about the history of their people and the daily life of Congolese women, subverting domestic expectations by using forks, kitchen pots, baskets and even grain in bowls as percussion. Adding another layer of rhythm is Rrobin, the DJ who fuses the traditional sound with electronic beats and hip hop — somehow making this already entrancing music even more danceable.

That’s not normally what lullabies are supposed to make the listener do, but Les Mamans are all about defying cultural norms and expectations.

- Jason Markusoff