Joyful Noise presents
The 17th London African Music Festival
(06 Sept – 24 Oct)

This year’s festival looks at the impact of African sounds and rhythms across the world as it settles in the UK. Grupo Lokito present GRUPO LOKITO BIG BAND SPECIAL to put fire into their already explosive sound. While Fofoulah bring their global sound into play.

Cuba’s Chicas De La Habana and Morocco’s Abdul and The Gang make their UK debut. Two bands separate by ocean but still cooking African flavour music. While artists like Ineza, Carmen Souza, Tony Dudu and Ayinke Martins bring two or more cultural sounds into their African influenced music.

Dub poet and national treasure Benjamin Zephaniah and his Revolutionary Minds make their debut at the festival. The support is from The Afrocentrics who represent the future along with new singer INEZA. SPECTRUM with pianist and keyboardist NIRAN OBASA, bassist DARLINGTON JOSEPH and drummer STANLEY OHIOS represent the new direction for African jazz that looks to African rhythms for inspiration. The Hi Life Orchestra join the line-up representing Ghana/UK taking the magical sounds of hi-life and updating it with modern grooves.

FRIDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 11 Gillett Square London, N16 8AZ
INEZA (Rwanda/Belgium)
Ineza is a Rwandan born Belgian raised Jazz singer who graduated from the prestigious Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and known for her unique sound, powerful voice and smooth scat singing.
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SATURDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
JAZZLIVE AT THE CRYPT, St. Giles Church, Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8JB
TONY DUDU (GUINEA BISSAU)
TONY DUDU and GUMBE JAZZ bring their fusion of West African rhythms, Latin grooves, South African rhythms and Jazz. This is an original music that connects the sounds and rhythms of African diaspora.
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WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 11 Gillett Square London, N16 8AZ
CARMEN SOUZA (CAPE VERDE/PORTUGAL)
Carmen Souza is a Portuguese-born jazz singer and songwriter of Cape Verdean heritage. She has won wide acclaim for her innovative style which is a Jazz fusion of Cape Verdean traditional forms with contemporary and traditional jazz elements.
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THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
RICHMIX 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
ABDUL AND THE GANG (MOROCCO) – FIRST UK SHOW
A group of Gangsters mixing chaabi music, gnawa rhythms and funk. Eight musicians that will transform you into the desert and into a far-west to accompany the Arabic songs of Abdul (Abu Ben Salem). With their album Chibani, Abdul and the Gang will blow you away with their funk-afrobeat-gnawa trance. Abdul and The Gang have concoct a new sound from the East, the Maghreb, chaabi melodies and gnawas rhythms, and confronts them with the groove and arrangements of funk or afrobeat. From this mix of genres a new genre is born the Gnawa Funk.
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SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 11 Gillett Square London, N16 8AZ
AYINKE MARTINS (Nigeria)
Singer, writer and producer AYINKE MARTINS is the light in Nigerian jazz music. She fuses various African musical styles to create Afro Jazz a musical style of her own. Her two CDs (FIRST FRUIT and AYINKE NOW) are testimony to her originality. Expect to hear classics like BI ALA, EDI DE, NI RESA.
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TUESDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 11 Gillett Square London, N16 8AZ
THE HI-LIFE ORCHESTRA (Ghana/UK)
THE HI-LIFE ORCHESTRA takes the magical sounds of hi-life and update it with modern grooves that drives you crazy with its infectious riffs and blazing horn lines. This is a re-birth of Hi-Life that continues to play important roles in shaping the future sounds of West Africa. Expect to hear classics from the hi-life’s incredible musical history. Book tickets

Thursday 19th September, 8.00pm
RICHMIX 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
GRUPO LOKITO BIG BAND SPECIAL (Congo/UK)
Grupo Lokito have expanded their sound into Big Band Special by adding extra percussion and a horn section to make their dynamic blend of Cuban and Congolese dance grooves even more powerful.
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FRIDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
THE JAGO (Passing Cloud) 440 Kingsland Road, London, E8 4AA
FOFOULAH (Senegal/Gambia/UK)
Open-eared and experimental Afro-dub six-piece whose broad church welcomes sabar drums, electronica, jazz and dubby bass. As Mojo notes, “the vibe switches from Ethiopia to Algeria to Senegal to Bristol in a heartbeat”.
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SATURDAY 21TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
JAZZLIVE AT THE CRYPT, St. Giles Church, Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8JB
MODOU NDIAYE (Senegal)
Modou Ndiaye is a virtuoso kora player and vocalist. His group blends together an irresistible mix of beautiful harmonies with the gentle yet lively tones of the kora and uniting traditional and modern sounds that will leave you invigorated and inspired.
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WEDNESDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER, 7.00pm
EARTH HACKNEY, 11-17 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 8BH
BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH (UK/JAMAICA)
+ The Afrocentrics
Pioneering dub poet, writer, social commentator and music maker Benjamin Zephaniah makes his first appearance at the festival to play music from Revolutionary Minds CD.
As a live entity, the five strong Revolutionary Minds expertly provide rich, upbeat, hypnotic dub rhythms behind Benjamin’s beloved vocal and lyrical mastery.
The Afrocentrics open the show with their unique take on the rhythms and sounds of the black diaspora.
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FRIDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00PM
THE JAGO (Passing Cloud) 440 Kingsland Road, London, E8 4AA
GNAWA BLUES ALLSTARS (Morocco)
GNAWA BLUES ALL STARS a shapeshifting project headed up by the brilliant Simo Lagnawi who is one of leading Guembri players and Gnawa Master from Morocco. Simo Lagnawi continuously pushes new boundaries fusing Gnawa music and he mixes his traditional Gnawa style with that of his fellow Saharan Blues musicians and West African special guests.
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SATURDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
JAZZLIVE AT THE CRYPT, St. Giles Church, Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8JB
KEL ASSOUF (Niger)
KEL ASSOUF is a power trio with guitarist and singer ANANA HAROUNA, SOFYANN BEN YOUSSEF (organ and the Moog SUB 37) and OLIVIER PENU (drums). They play African trance rhythms which melt into the energy of vintage rock which move to a dance floor somewhere between London and Niamey – a powerful groove machine from Niger.
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MONDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER, 8.00pm
VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 11 Gillett Square London, N16 8AZ
SPECTRUM (Nigeria)
NIRAN OBASA (piano/keys), DARLINGTON JOSEPH (bass) and STANLEY OHIOS (drums).
A new direction in African jazz with trio SPECTRUM who combine evocative melodies of the pianist and keyboardist NIRAN OBASA, strong bass driven motifs by bassist DARLINGTON JOSEPH and deep grooves by the drummer STANLEY OHIOS. Together they create hypnotic free flowing exuberant modern African jazz.
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THURSDAY 24TH OCTOBER, 8.00pm
RICHMIX 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
CHICAS DE LA HABANA (Cuba) – UK DEBUT SHOW
Chicas de la Habana is a virtuoso Cuban women musical group. Their bass heavy Latin rhythms and Cuban music have made them friends all over the world. Their Latin dance sound couples with incredible musicianship has made their show a must. The Girls of Havana features HILDA ROSA on bass, ROLAINE (lead vocals), JOANNA GLEZ (piano), MAIDELYN SPINY (percussion). During their performances they combine different current rhythms such as Reggaetón, Hause, and rap, all without losing the Cuban roots while performing classic Latin jazz with classic Cuban music. A must for the lover of Cuban music.
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