Yve Ngoo
February 2007 - African Soul Rebels, N'faly Kouyaté and more
Happy new year to all Africa on Your Street fans in the North of England, and - brrr - is it cold? However, I'm sure the contents of my first column of 2007 will warm you up:
- Ghana 50 celebrations in the North East
- African Soul Rebels 2007
- Touching base with Africa On Your Street
- N'faly Kouyaté
- Yemi and Olufunke Sobo
- Yve Ngoo's Recommended CDs
Ghana 50 celebrations in the North East
For many years the Suadwa family have been leaders in the North East's African community. Daddy of the family is Tony Suadwa, a retired civil servant, originally from Ghana. He now lives in Newcastle and since retirement has been an active community volunteer. Following in Tony's footsteps is son, Fred, a youth worker based in Newcastle and a key founder of GUNE (Ghana Union North East) .
GUNE is hosting a spectacular event celebrating 50 years of Ghana's independence, on Saturday, 17 March at Blackfriars Hall, New Bridge Street, Newcastle NE1 2TQ. The celebrations promise food, music, dancing and cultural displays. Tickets are available from Peter N'daa (0191 2415354) with proceeds going to GUNE, Newcastle NHS Trust and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. See you there!
African Soul Rebels 2007
Following the success of the African Soul Rebels UK tours in 2005 and 2006, another triple bill of sensational musicians from the African continent return to the Sage Gateshead. As usual, there is no headline act as such with each of the three artists being worthy of centre stage. This year's line-up features the son of the originator of Afrobeat, an Algerian singer-songwriter on the verge of international success and the king of contemporary kora.
Nigerian bandleader and saxophonist Femi Kuti - in the footsteps of his father Fela - is the undisputed heavyweight of West Africa's funkiest music, Afrobeat. Femi delivers his red-hot message of human liberation, anti-corruption, poverty and oppression with great showmanship and a fourteen-piece band plus dancers. Fela will be looking down with pride as his son delivers Afrobeat to a new generation.
Algerian singer-songwriter Akli D brings together a wide range of influences, from reggae, blues, rock and folk to the trance-like Berber rhythms of North Africa. His UK premier at WOMAD enraptured audiences and fellow musicians alike.
Trail-blazing Guinean kora master Ba Cissoko makes as a welcome return to the UK. Following a prestigious nomination for the BBC World Music Awards, Ba Cissoko and his band bring a vibrant and hip edge to age-old traditions, fusing the ancient sounds of the acoustic kora with an electro jazz-reggae-rock beat driven by frenetic percussion and funky bass guitar.
The African Soul Rebels 2007 proves once again that contemporary Africa's music and musicians are amongst the freshest, most innovative and radically relevant in the world today.
On Tuesday, 20 February, the tour comes to the North East, to the Sage Gateshead, Hall One, in Newcastle. Tickets are available from the Sage Gateshead , by calling 0191 443 4661 or by logging on to the Sage Gateshead website .
I have 25 African Soul Rebels 2007 sampler CDs to give away. The six-track CDs, featuring tracks by Femi Kuti, Ba Cissoko and Akli D, are rare items – so if you would like to get your ears around one, just email us your name and full address before 29 March 2007. Good luck!
PLEASE NOTE THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.
Touching base with Africa On Your Street
News from Giress M'badinga , Newcastle's No. 1 African music producer and the man who brought Ballas to our attention. Giress has just launched a new African club/music night called Club Afrique which takes place every Tuesday, 10pm - 2.30am at Venue, Market Street, Newcastle NE1 6XE (0191 232 1111/ Venue's website . DJs Gildo and Shackon will be mixing all the Motherland music genres including Coupe Decale, Makossa, Salsa, Rumba and Kizomba, plus there will be guest DJs bringing R'nB and Reggae flavour straight from the USA, Paris and Jamaica. Entry is £3. Meanwhile, here's a New Year's message from Giress to Africa On Your Street:
Thanks again for your support, and I wish you more strength and commitment for 2007, positive changes have been felt in our community this past years, projects like the Francophone news on BBC Radio Newcastle is one of a big achievement we have had so far and I hope we will be able to hear African music in the near future as well'.
I hope so too, Giress!
N'faly Kouyaté
And another message to Africa On Your Street, this one from Maryam Kouyaté, manager of Guinean kora player N'faly Kouyaté , core member of the Afro-Celt Sound System:
Thank you so much, Africa on Your Street, for your support of N'faly Kouyaté and 'Kora Grooves'. It's hard to believe that it's been released almost two years ago now, so let me fill you in on our news …
N'faly is doing great and his group Dunyakan is going very strong, a very cohesive unit by now and it really shows when they are all on stage. His school, Cadence Mandingue, in Brussels, is now in its third year and is also doing great; in fact, they now have annual workshops in France, too, so we're hoping to expand its base even further.
N'faly's new CD, Tunya 'Truth' will be released in 2007. 'Kora Grooves' did very well, internationally too, and we got some great reviews. I find as I write to radio people, journalists, etc. that people are very eager to hear the new music and most of them are still playing 'Kora Grooves' which is great! The new music is a real departure for N'faly and very exciting, wonderful stuff.
N'faly has had a great year, from Sori-WOMAD in South Korea, Malta, to Bucharest, Belgium, Spain and Switzerland, in addition to his touring with Afrocelts. He was also in Brussels for Oxfam's 35th anniversary. N'faly's also been performing with Urban Trad, a very well-known Belgian Celtic fusion ensemble, and also Ialma, a Galician-Belge women's group, his kora sounds just divine with that as you can imagine! And he was featured on Urban Trad's CD single release a few months back with his song 'Diama Dén'.
Meanwhile, check out N'faly Kouyaté & Dunyakan's website for all the latest news (in English and French) and the Cadence Mandingue website . Thanks again for your support. Love your Africa on Your Street site and always check out, it's one of the best, most organic and really supportive to musicians!'
Yemi and Olufunke Sobo
Finally, this was one of the most tragic news stories of last year. One of Newcastle's most loved and respected families suffered an inexplicable tragedy. Four members of the Sobo family, who originally came to Newcastle from Nigeria, lost their lives late last year. I knew Yemi Sobo, as did a lot of people in and around the region. He was a very popular figure and photographer on the North East music and club scene. Yemi, his sister Olufunke and her two children, will be sorely missed. On behalf of 'Africa on Your Street' I would like to take this opportunity to bid Yemi Sobo and his family best wishes for now and forever.
That's it for now. Check out my recommended CDs below – music to keep you warm during these cold months.
As always, we look forward to hearing from you.
Yve
Yve Ngoo's Recommended CDs
Drums of Burundi – Ensemble Folklorique Batimbo
Tinariwen – Aman Iman (Water Is Life)
Thomas Mapfumo – Choice Chimurenga
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.