Anvil Arts

Tickets: £19; under 16s and students £9.50

Oumou Sangare (Mali)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou (Benin)
Kalahari Surfers (South Africa)

The sixth African Soul Rebels tour brings together some of the continent's most spectacular performers.

The Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou was one of the greatest African bands of the 70s. Based in Benin, they mixed funk and Afrobeat with the bewitching rhythms of their native Voudoun tradition. While the musicians scattered over the intervening years, their sensational return concert at the Barbican last September showed that the power, energy and all-round funkiness of the 11-piece band is undimmed.

" tremendous show...outrageously tight, yet mentally loosening funk...they are fully potent, late-blooming stars" The Independent

The Kalahari Surfers formed in South Africa in 1982 and their energising mixture of rhythm and outspoken social commentary promptly resulted in the banning of their first three albums under the apartheid regime. Having been influenced by Robert Wyatt and Henry Cow, the Surfers' prime mover Warrick Sony relocated to London. Projects with Brendan Jury and Massive Attack followed.

Oumou Sangare's outstanding CD releases on World Circuit - including the latest Seya (Joy) - have gained her a great reputation over the years, but her live shows are even better, driven by her majestic presence and spellbinding voice. A huge force for women's rights and economic development in her native Mali, Oumou (pictured) and her super-tight band bring an irrepressible energy and joie de vivre to their performances.

Read The Times interview with Orchestre Poly-Rythmo here

www.musicbeyondmainstream.org.uk

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