The 7th London African Music Festival
Friday 11, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2009
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Ticket Office: 0871 663 2500 | www.southbankcentre.org.uk
www.myspace.com/londonafricanmusicfestival
Since 2003 the London African Music Festival has been at the forefront of new African music bringing today’s stars like Souad Massi, Simphiwe Dana, Lionel Loueke, Mayra Andrade, Teofilo Chantre to London for their first major concerts. Legends like King Sunny Ade, Boubacar Traore, Thomas Mapfumo, Africando, Koffi Olomide, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Queen Salawa Abeni have also graced the festival with their star quality making the festival the best of its kind in the UK .
The London African Music Festival 2009 is no exception as we feature true legends - Oliver Mtukudzi, Lord Eric Sugumugu, the leader of the mighty Master Drummers of Africa, who premiers his new acoustic group and maverick jazz organist Ed Bentley who leads his new high energy group that fuses hi-life with funk and jazz solos. As always we feature women leaders and this year’s stars include The Yoruba Women Choir, Uganda ’s diva Rachel Magoola, contemporary jazz saxophonist YolanDa Brown and Hilary Mwelwa leads her remarkable group, Hil St Soul. New themes The Soul of Africa focuses this year on the first international star from Western Sahara, Aziza Brahim and The Future Sounds of Africa stars a galactic collection of young scions of African music curated by guitarist Femi Temowo.
Biyi Adepegba, artistic director
Friday 11 September
RFH Foyer | 1.00pm | free | KAZ KASOZI AND MARAFIKI (Uganda)
Front Room | 5.30pm | free| BATANAI (Pan Africa)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 7.30pm | £20.00 | THE YORUBA WOMEN CHOIR (Nigeria)
Purcell Room | 8.30pm | £15.00 | ED BENTLEY HI-LIFE FUNK EXPRESS (Ghana)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 10.00pm | £20.00 | THE CONGO ALLSTARS (Congo)
Saturday 12 September
Front Room | 1.30pm | free | FAYYAZ VIRJI (Tanzania)
Front Room | 4.30pm | free | KUNLE OLASOJU (Nigeria)
Purcell Room | 3.00pm | N'FALY KOUYATE KORA TRIO (Guinea)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 7.30pm | AZIZA BRAHIM (Western Sahara)
Purcell Room | 8.30pm | EL ANDALUZ (Algeria)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 10.00pm | THE FUTURE SOUNDS OF AFRICA
Sunday 13 September
Front Room | 1.30pm | free | ANNA MUDEKA (Zimbabwe)
Front Room | 4.30pm | free |SAM DJEGUE (Cameroon) ANNA MUDEKA (Zimbabwe)
Purcell Room | 3.00pm | LORD ERIC SUGUMUGU (Ghana)
Purcell Room | 5.30pm | RACHEL MAGOOLA (Uganda)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 7.30pm | HIL ST SOUL (Zambia)
Purcell Room | 8.30pm | DELE SOSIMI (Nigeria)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 10.00pm | OLIVER MTUKUDZI (Zimbabwe)
Friday 11 September
KAZ KASOZI AND MARAFIKI (Uganda)
RFH FOYER | 1.00pm | free
Soulful funk from guitarist Kaz Kasozi and his band Marafiki as they feature new cd “Naked and Blue” (Madhead Kitchen)
BATANAI (Pan Africa)
QEH Front Room | 5.30pm | free
Awesome percussion driven ensemble that creates thunderous sounds
THE YORUBA WOMEN CHOIR (Nigeria)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 7.30pm
Singers: Funmi Akanbi | Oyin Osisanya | Joy Aigbekan | Nike Fagbuaro |Comfort Oyelumade, Biola Dosumu | Dupe Lawnson | Mary Oguntade | Ayinke Martins | Funmi Olawumi | Oluwakemi Balogun | Olubukola Ajala
musicians: Kunle Olasoju, guitar/MD | Gbenga Ogunbameru, keyboards |Kayode Adeniran, bass| Wole Aina, conga | Abiodun Ojikutu, kit drum |Ayanlere Alajede, talking drum
The Yoruba Women Choir are something very special and one of the most incredible choirs on the planet creating music that is simply beautiful. Their exquisite harmonies are as deep as the ocean and their joyful songs lift your spirit and soothe your soul. The 10 soloists in the choir and their 6-piece band create a stunning stage show that leaves you breathless from the moment they arrive on stage. Expect a spectacular show in the grand tradition of Nigerian music.
ED BENTLEY HI-LIFE FUNK EXPRESS (Ghana)
Purcell Room | 8.30pm
Ed Bentley is one of the most unique musicians in Africa today. A brilliant jazz organist, whose music links American jazz, Ghanaian hi-life and Nigerian afrobeat. His is an inventive music that is as sharp as a machete. A charismatic figure and amazing live performer who seeks out new directions that keep his music dazzlingly raw and original. This is contemporary African music unlike anyone else’s. Ed Bentley leads the Hi-Life Funk Express featuring trumpter Claude Deppa, tenor saxophonist Greg Bonnie, guitarist Chris Lamptey, bassist Miles Danso, drummer Robert Fordjour and percusssionist Francis Fuster.
THE CONGO ALLSTARS (Congo)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 10.00pm
With its four singers, three guitarists and a rock solid rhythm section Congo Allstars returns with a new cd MBONGE (Bumpaku) to reclaim their crown as the finest dance band in Africa today. The Congo Allstars brings soukous right up to date with funky rumba beats and cutting-edge dub reggae creating an irresistible mix of old-school rumba and modern soukous. With leader and master percussionist Koko Kanyinda directing the band expect a sizzling show that confirms why Congolese soukous is one of the most passionate dance music in the world.
Saturday 12 September
FAYYAZ VIRJI (Tanzania)
Front Room | 1.30pm | free
Tanzanian Fayyaz Virji's trombone sound has been heard with everyone from Ray Charles to Jools Holland to The African Jazz Allstars. In this free flowing session he premiers his new 7-piece band.
KUNLE OLASOJU (Nigeria)
Front Room | 4.30pm | free
The Yoruba Women Choir’s musical director and Afro-jazz funk guitarist and his group.
N'FALY KOUYATE / BA CISSOKO / PRINCE DIABATE KORA TRIO (Guinea)
Saturday 12th September | Purcell Room | 3.00pm | £15.00
Three astounding kora masters, childhood friends since their involvement in the National Children's Theatre in Conakry, Guinea will be performing together for the first time in fifteen years to demonstrate the versatility of the iconic kora.
Modern griots, infusing fresh life into a rich, age-old tradition, they are giving the art of kora playing a new dimension, turning this emblematic instrument into a cool and urban one, capable of a razor sharp sound. Expect beautiful, melodic music and exhilarating kora solos taking you on a musical excursion into Manding heritage.
YOLANDA BROWN (UK)
Purcell Room | 5.30pm
Saxophonist YolanDa Brown has won a string of awards including Best Jazz category at the MOBO Awards 2008 and a UMA award nominee for Best Jazz. Her stunning mix of contemporary jazz saxophone and urban grooves has made her one of UK’s finest contemporary musicians in any genre of music. Her fresh approach to jazz has made her music accessible and compelling, rich in complex harmonies and steely mysticism. She performs with her 9-piece group.
AZIZA BRAHIM (Western Sahara)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 7.30pm
The Soul of Africa presents one of those singers that comes once in a while and redefines our understanding of African music. That singer is Aziza Brahim, a Sahrawi from Western Sahara, born in a refugee camp in Algeria, she grew up in Cuba and now resides in Spain. She combines all these global influences to create spine tingling music. Aziza Brahim embodies the new voice of the Sahrawis, a people who resist and fight to win their independence. Her songs evoke exile and the right to freedom in the 21st Century. We are proud that she makes her UK debut with the festival leading a cracking band that drops Latin rhythms alongside desert blues without missing a beat.
EL ANDALUZ (Algeria)
Purcell Room | 8.30pm
The leading exponents of classical Arabic and Andalusian music, El-Andaluz features the elite team of Yazid Fentazi (oud/vocals), Karim Dellali (derbouka), Frank Biddulph (violin) and Hamid Bouri (bass). The group brings this ancient music to the 21st Century with dazzling contemporary rhythms of the modern North Africa. El-Andaluz takes the audience on a wonderful journey around the southern shores of the Mediterranean, beginning with a poetic and reflective Andalusian Nuba travelling on to the trance-like Sufi music of the Sahara. This is contemporary Arabic classic music at its very best.
THE FUTURE SOUNDS OF AFRICA
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 10.00pm
TY, Sean Allen, Xantone Blacq, Femi Temowo (curator), Zem Audu,
Jenny Adejayan, Michael Olatuja, Nathan Allen and Jonathan Idiagbonya
For the first time ever in London the new stars of African music come together to celebrate their incredible richness of musical heritage in the year of Barack Obama. This amazing star studded project curated by guitarist Femi Temowo, features Hip Hop MC super star Ty, Grime MC Sean Allen, vocalist Xantone Blaque driven by saxophonist Zem Audu, drummer Nathan Allen, bassist Michael Olatuja, cellist Jenny Adejayan, keyboardist Jonathan Idiagbonya . The Future Sounds of Africa brings together the rhythms of the motherland and the underground urban grooves of London and New York to create an exhilarating new sound bringing African music bang up to date.
Sunday 13 September
ANNA MUDEKA (Zimbabwe)
Front Room | 1.30pm | free
A brilliant vocalist who sings in Shona and Manyika.
SAM DJENGUE (Cameroon)
Front Room | 4.30pm | free
Deep funk bass grooves from bassist Sam Djengue and his group
LORD ERIC SUGUMUGU ACOUSTIC SOUL (Ghana)
Purcell Room | 3.00pm
The leader of the mighty Master Drummers of Africa, Lord Eric Sugumugu brings his new acoustic project to the UK for the first time. The music is stripped down to its bare essentials, giving the artists the opportunity to re-create the sound every time it is performed. Lord Eric Sugumugu’s infectious rhythms drive the grooves laid down by kora player Jojo Yates, koloko player Antongo Zimba, balafon master Paulinus Bozie and percussionist Ga Odatey. The new vocal discovery Zaina Baezie brings a touch of West African cool to the group.
RACHEL MAGOOLA (Uganda)
Purcell Room | 5.30pm |
Rachel Magoola is an originator who is putting Ugandan music on the international map with her breathtaking mix of African cross rhythms and deep funk grooves. On top of that she possesses one of the most soulful voices in African music today and writes sharp intelligent lyrics. After six studio CDs she continues to explore fresh musical territory, mixing sounds from London, New York, Paris and Havana into the African grooves creating world music dance floor smash. Tonight she features songs from her new cd EISADHA (2009).
HIL ST SOUL (Zambia)
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 7.30pm |
Africa’s finest soul singer Hillary Mwelwa and her band Hil St Soul fuse R&B Soul, Western pop and African rhythms to create an unique sound that shines brightly in five studio albums. The current cd “Black Rose” (2008) is acclaimed by critics as one of the best urban R&B of recent years. The sublime voice of Hilary Mwelwa combined with the skin-tight band Hil St Soul is a match made in heaven and together they create remarkable music that is timeless. Think of Anita Baker and Oumou Sangare to get the measure of range and sophistication Hillary Mwelwa brings to her music.
DELE SOSIMI AFROBEAT ORCHESTRA (Nigeria)
Purcell Room | 8.30pm
Radiant afrobeat rhythms from Fela Kuti’s and Femi Kuti’s former pianist Dele Sosimi who takes afrobeat to a new direction as he seamlessly mixes funk and soul with Yoruba rhythms. The afrobeat hallmarks of fat bass lines, sizzling horns, razor sharp guitar riffs and funky rhythms are present and correct on his current CD “Identity” (Helico). A remarkable achievement confirming that Dele Sosimi is a PhD holder in afrobeat obtained from Fela Kuti Black President University. This set sees Dele Sosimi leading a cracking 10-piece band.
OLIVER MTUKUDZI (Zimbabwe) & Black Spirits
Queen Elizabeth Hall | 10.00pm
A true giant of African music finally makes his festival debut. Oliver Mtukudzi has been the voice of Zimbabwe for over 30 years. His uplifting songs give hope to a whole nation during recent history of Zimbabwe. His heartfelt songs are a continuous source of celebration. With a killer band - The Black Spirits - that knows how to rock - the man known as Tuku never fails to move your soul and body. His appeal extends to young and old alike. He works in a mixture of Shona, Ndebele and English and has developed a style so distinctive it is called “TUKU”.
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