aaamusic | On 10, Jun 2011

Oumou Sangare
+ Anibal Velasquez y Los Locos del Swing

Thursday 30th June 2011, 7.30pm at Barbican Hall
Produced by the Barbican

Tickets £15/ 20/ 25
Box Office: 0845 120 7550 www.barbican.org.uk/blaze
Barbican Centre Silk, Street London EC2Y 8DS

One of Africa’s finest female vocalists returns to the Barbican with songs from her Grammy-nominated album Seya. A truly charismatic performer with a sublime voice, a tight funky band, and irrepressible energy, Sangare is adored by her public. She is one of the most popular female singers in Mali (and along with Salif Keita arguably the most famous musician). On the international stage she has collaborated with a wide number of stars including Alicia Keys, Bela Fleck, Trilok Gurtu and Herbie Hancock, and taken part in Africa Express.

The great Malian singer is in radiant form throughout Seya, her first album in five years: decrying forced marriages, paying homage to her elders, marveling at her own success. Her exuberance is more than contagious; it?s entirely credible.’ The New York Times – Top 10 albums of 2009

Frenzied, highly contagious Afro-Caribbean influenced dance music from ?El Mago? ? legendary Colombian accordionist Anibal Velasquez opens the evening. Born in 1936, Velasquez is said to have recorded more than 300 LPs in his career, whilst he was at the forefront of the Música Tropical movement.

His greatest recordings were featured as part of the Analog Africa series in 2010, in the album Mambo Loco. African rhythms feature heavily in his music, filtered through the Caribbean into an exhilarating Latin brew.