African Soul Rebels
Music Beyond Mainstream
Thu 25 Feb 8pm
Butterworth Hall, £20 (£18)
Musicians: Oumou Sangare (Mali) / Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou (Benin) / Kalahari Surfers (South Africa)
The sixth African Soul Rebels tour brings together some of the continent’s most spectacular performers.
The Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou was one of the greatest African bands of the 70s. Based in Benin, they mixed funk and Afrobeat with the bewitching rhythms of their native Voudoun tradition. While the musicians scattered over the intervening years, their sensational return concert at the Barbican last September showed that the power, energy and all-round funkiness of the 11-piece band is undimmed.
“ tremendous show…outrageously tight, yet mentally loosening funk…they are fully potent, late-blooming stars” The Independent
The Kalahari Surfers formed in South Africa in 1982 and their energising mixture of rhythm and outspoken social commentary promptly resulted in the banning of their first three albums under the apartheid regime. Having been influenced by Robert Wyatt and Henry Cow, the Surfers’ prime mover Warrick Sony relocated to London. Projects with Brendan Jury and Massive Attack followed, and a longer term collaboration with rebel dub poet Tebogo Shumba, who appears tonight.
Oumou Sangare’s outstanding CD releases on World Circuit – including the latest Seya (Joy) – have gained her a great reputation over the years, but her live shows are even better, driven by her majestic presence and spellbinding voice. A huge force for women’s rights and economic development in her native Mali, Oumou and her super-tight band bring an irrepressible energy and joie de vivre to their performances.
“If Oumou Sangare were from Milwaukee instead of Mali, she’d be bigger that Whitney ever was” Time Out
News: Oumou Sangaré‘s album ‘Seya’ was nominated for a Grammy. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on January 31st 2010 in Los Angeles.
Oumou Sangaré
Orchestre Poly Rythmo
Kalahari Surfers
| Thu 25 Feb | Butterworth Hall | 8:00pm |
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CloseButterworth Hall
With a maximum capacity of 2000 standing or 1500 seated this concert hall has an outstanding natural acoustic and is the home of our International Concert Series, as well as the majority of our music gigs and big name comedians. Butterworth Hall has recently had a £6.9 million redevelopment and reopened in autumn 2009 .
