support from Sweet Billy Pilgrim
Rokia Traoré
Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré has always walked her own line. Her iconoclastic spirit was already evident on her self-produced second album Wanita (2000) and its follow-up, Bowmboï; both delivered an intoxicating blend of acoustic Malian roots with a compelling contemporary edge. Since then she has toured the US celebrating the life of Billie Holliday and written an African response to Mozart for maverick director Peter Sellars. She's also snapped up every accolade going for her ubiquitously praised Tchamantché, a New York Times Top 10 album of 2009. With a subtle yet heady mix of tradition and innovation, Mali's 'most ambitious, experimental singer' (Financial Times) has fashioned a whole new sound and attitude from West Africa.
Sharing Rokia's outré sensibility are British folktronica trio Sweet Billy Pilgrim. Named after Kurt Vonnegut's hapless antihero, the band recorded both its albums in a garden shed! The results - an artful fusion of folk, pop, post-rock and electronica - have secured the band wide acclaim, culminating in a Mercury Music Prize nomination for 2009's Twice Born Men.
'Arguably the most exciting, most thrilling live African music show around.' The Guardian on Rokia Traoré
'The trio's brooding folk pop ... pitches and rolls like a ship on the waves. A dark rum pleasure.' The Independent on Sweet Billy Pilgrim
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