Songlines Encounters Festival 2024
16-19 May 2024, Kings Place, London
This is Songlines’ 25th anniversary year and the Songlines Encounters Festival at Kings Place has become a treasured annual event offering a special chance to hear some of the artists we’ve been championing at close quarters. We have a strong range of female vocalists this year, with Asmâa Hamzaoui, Soema Montenegro, Enji and the Regia Ishag-fronted The Scorpios, and more names still to be announced.
Festival Lineup
Asmâa Hamzaoui (© Lars Opstad)
Thursday May 16
Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou
(Hall One)
The daughter of a respected Gnawa maalem (master), Asmâa is the most prominent of very few female Gnawa musicians in Morocco singing and playing the deep gimbri lute. She comes with her female backing group Bnat Timbouktou (Daughters of Timbuktu) who’ve done headline shows at Essaouira’s legendary Gnawa Festival. Be prepared for trance-like sensations.
More information: kingsplace.co.uk
Vieux Farka Touré (© Kiss Diouara)
Friday May 17
Vieux Farka Touré: Fundraiser for Gaza
(Hall One)
Vieux Farka Touré has firmly cemented his name and star power alongside his esteemed father Ali Farka Touré, both in songwriting and masterful guitarwork: oscillating artfully between Malian Folk, with the unique instrumentation and style of Songhai’s deep musical tradition and the Desert Blues, which first made the Farka Touré name legend.
More information: kingsplace.co.uk
Soema Montenegro
Friday May 17
Soema Montenegro
(Hall Two) UK Premiere
Argentinian ‘shaman-poet’ Montenegro is a magical realist blending Indigenous and urban sounds in her music. Her recent album Círculo Radiante (Radiant Circle) is a musical journey through northern Argentina with guitar, Venezuelan cuatro and snare drum.
More information: kingsplace.co.uk
The Scorpios
Saturday May 18
The Scorpios
(Hall Two)
The mostly Sudanese members of this ten-strong band are now in London and, with the wonderfully raw vocals of Regia Ishag and others, they present a heady mix of shuffling guitar, stabbing horns and swirling synth. Expect a steamy night of razor-sharp and rootsy east African music.
More information: kingsplace.co.uk
Enji
Sunday May 19
Enji
(Hall Two)
From Ulaan Bator, Enji is a rising star of Mongolian music, performing here in a trio with guitar and double bass. ‘The Mongolian language is a wonderful vehicle for vocal jazz,’ said our Songlines Top of the World review of her last album Ulaan, ‘with its distinctive trills and invitation to subtly scoop from one pitch to another in a manner suggestive of the spaces between standardised tones.’ Her music promises something personal, visionary and different.
More information: kingsplace.co.uk
For tickets, visit www.kingsplace.co.uk or call the box office: +44 (0)20 7520 1490
