Shaheera Asante
January 2005 - Africa 05, Julien Jacob, Laye Sow
Welcome! 2005 will be a big year for African culture.
Africa 05
Africa 05 has finally arrived! It's a year-long programme of exciting African arts and cultural events throughout the UK. We're hosting the website here on the BBC and it's up and running now. 2005 also marks the 20th anniversary of the ground-breaking Live Aid performances, and Britain will host both the G8 summit and the EU presidency, putting Africa high on the agenda. London will be at the centre of all this activity and the focal point for some the biggest decisions affecting the African continent in the past decade.
Africa 05 launches 10 February 2005 with Africa Remix . Make sure you check out this incredible exhibition of contemporary African art, featuring the work of 60 artists. The show includes painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, film and video - many of which have never been seen before. There's also a full programme of concerts including the London African Music Festival featuring superstars such as Koffi Olomide , King Sunny Ade and MC Solaar . Africa 05 will showcase the rich diversity of African culture and open it up to a wider UK audience, and I sincerely hope, create more awareness understanding and appreciation of our beautiful continent and give her the respect she deserves as truly being the first home of all human beings.
Benin's pioneer Julien Jacob
'My music is about inner peace, love, hope and the joy of life within everybody', says Julien Jacob .
Julien Jacob was born in Benin and is now based in Brittany, France. Over the decades, only a few talented and pioneering musicians have managed to invent a new musical style, but have any have invented a new bona-fide verbal language?
As a composer, singer, writer, poet and spiritualist Julien Jacob has managed to do just that, with ease. Although he sings in - for a lack of a better word -'jibberish', he somehow conveys his musical intention to speak to the spirit of every listener. 'It was not deliberate to make up a language, it just happened one day. I was inside my house in Brittany and I just started to sing in this special way - from a special feeling inside of me, it all came from emotion inside,' he says.
For Jacob, the meaning of words and the pressure to understand them sometimes encumbers the impact of music. His own imaginary language, which is inspired by the timbre and vibration of words, is intended to release the listener and allow her or him to interpret the song in their own way. 'For me, music communicates on another level, another wavelength all people can understand. I want people to listen with their hearts, my music is not for the head'.
Born in Benin, Jacob's family moved to southern France when he was four years of age. After discovering rock and jazz in his youth, Jacob pursued growing interests in literature, poetry and spirituality. He hung out with musical heroes like Fela Kuti , Miles Davies and Al Jarreau and then moved to Paris to develop his music.
In the mid 1990s he finally settled in Brittany where he wrote a series of books and recorded songs for future release. After teaming up with Breton producers and musical visionaries Ghislain Baran and Thierry Nedelec, Jacob recorded his first album Shanti (Warners) at the end of the 1990s.
With many places in the world at present in a state of pain and chaos, we need musicians who recognize the important healing vibration of music and those who transcend the popular culture to produce genuine music that touches the heart. I find Julian Jacob's music soothing and timely.
His current album Cotonou (released by Wrasse Records on 24 January), named after the second largest city in Benin, is refreshingly unlike any African music I've heard in a long time, full of original nuances, twists and the musical compositions of a very rich imagination. My favourite track Rag demonstrates this to its fullest.
Free February gigs
If you overspent during the Christmas and holiday period, here are some free, yes, FREE, concerts in London, part of Africa Remix. All free concerts take place in the Main Foyer of the Royal Festival Hall.
Laye Sow is from Podor in the Futa Toro region of Northern Senegal. Together with other band members from across the globe, his music is fusion of Senegalese folk and American blues. He plays on 10 and 12 February 2005 at 12:30pm.
A multi-talented artist, from a family of musicians, Seckou Keita from Mali represents the emergence of a new generation of African musicians. One of the few Kora players able to get people out of their chairs and on their feet! Catch him on 11 February 2005
Dubbed the 'Algerian King of Rai' - Adelkader Saadoun returns to the South Bank on 13 February 2005 with an acoustic line-up to perform his latest songs.
Peace and love and happy 1st birthday Africa on your Street! And don't forget to share your musical discoveries by posting your comments .
Shaheera x
Shaheera Asante's Recommended CDs
Julien Jacob - Cotonou
Laye Sow - Djamano
Check out my recommended CDs this month in the CD Reviews section or go to Music Search to look at our archive of recommended CDs.