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AFRICAN SOUL REBELS TOUR 2009 Tuesday 3rd March The fifth chapter in the celebrated African Soul Rebels series proves exactly how important music is when it comes to changing the world, and change is in the air. One act points the way to a new future in which African rhythms and rock unite; one is on a mission to explain his continent to the world; and the third provided the soundtracks to a civil war and a revolution. The African Soul Rebels 2009 tour is the most pan-African yet. Opening the show with an irresistible East African beat are Extra Golden, a Chicago-based band who offer a unique collision between Kenyan benga and Midwestern rock. Alongside members of his longstanding band Daande Lenol, Baaba Maal will be digging deep into the treasure trove of Senegalese music for a powerful acoustic set. Closing the show is Oliver Mtukudzi and his band, the Black Spirits, for many years the most challenging outfit in Zimbabwe and guaranteed to get any dance floor shaking. Baaba Maal needs no introduction: although last year’s official bootleg, On The Road, was his first album in seven years, he has been working as a Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Programme, raising awareness of the disadvantages faced by people whose countries are ravaged by poverty, a lack of education and the threat of disease. The past 12 months have seen him become an integral part in the Africa Express concerts, where he and his musicians have been mixing their music with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Damon Albarn and Jarvis Cocker. When Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980, Oliver Mtukudzi was already one of the most respected singers and songwriters in southern Africa, his music having chronicled the years of struggle and civil war. Almost 30 years on, his latest album, Tsimba Itsoka asks hard questions of both his government and his compatriots, telling it like it is and forcing people inside and outside his beleaguered country to consider the consequences of their actions and confront their legacies. When Extra Golden first played together in Nairobi in 2004, none of the members would have predicted that five years later the band would be touring Britain on the back of their third album. Unlike other African sounds, benga has had a low profile outside the continent in recent years, but Kenya’s crisp guitar lines had a huge impact across Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. This is the perfect time for the world to rediscover the groove, however, and Barack Obama, who shares their Kenyan-American lineage and helped out with visa issues, is proud to be one of their earliest fans. |
