Musical-political giants tour the UK in African Soul Rebels 2009
Posted on February 16th, 2009 in World Music.
The fifth African Soul Rebels tour of the UK – taking place March 3-14 – is almost as much a political as a musical roadshow. The pan-African line-up takes in Senegal in the west, Kenya in the east and Zimbabwe in the south. The opening act – Extra Golden [Top of the World #48] – are a band who have found increasing limelight due to the support of US president Barack Obama. Based in Obama’s home city of Chicago, the band plays a mixture of Kenyan benga and US Midwestern rock that is pretty much a musical embodiment of Obama himself.
Extra Golden are joined by two towering giants of African music. Senegalese singer Baaba Maal is one of West Africa’s biggest musical exports, most recently becoming part of the Africa Express sessions, but he is also one of the region’s most articulate social activists as a Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Programme. Oliver Mtukudzi has been a giant of southern African music since 1977 and his homeland of Zimbabwe has become the focus of world attention in the last few years for all the wrong reasons. Maal and Mtukudzi are both backed by their longstanding bands Daande Lenol and the Black Spirits respectively.
www.musicbeyondmainstream.co.uk