SOZNAK launch Festival Afrique
Monday, 06 September 2010 00:00 | 
Written by Steven Walker | 
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SOZNAK launch Festival Afrique... don’t miss the free concert in the lobby at the Sage Gateshead; Showtime 6.00pm, September 11.
Berizo lutonda has returned to Newcastle from Africa to play with Soznak.
Soznak will feature three main vocalists Berizo lutonda, Dems Ndume, and the Chloe Allen another wonderful singer who has joined the band since 2009.
Other new additions are a sousaphone played by Andy Strong allowing a switch to brass bass mode a fantastic development as the band goes mobile among the dancers
With Sara palmer our new drummer, enhancements of the brass section, and plenty of new original tunes this gig should be a belter.
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Soznak - Dear Dad Tango
The debut release from this multi-faceted cross-cultural collective from Newcastle-upon-Tyne is one of the most surprising and consistently engaging treats of the year. |
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With members drawn from the refugee and other migrant communities from Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Iran and Iraq - as well as the UK, Spain and Ireland — Soznak (who take their name from a Middle-Eastern musical mode) honed their craft during al fresco street gigs in the north-eastern city. And despite a seemingly uncontrollably large array of local musicians, this is a taut and highly accomplished set of songs. After a loose, upbeat horn-driven opener, it’s Angolan Beriso Lutonda who really kicks things off with ‘Weekily’, a humorous tale of new-to-the-UK payment woes backed by an irrepressible soukous-meets-highlife meeting of sparkling guitar and punchy horns, with vibrant gospel backing from the wonderfully-named Black Voices choir from Birmingham. That track is is followed by ‘Sugar Stick’, a part-Afrobeat, part-Zimbabwean jazzy almost-instrumental, and so it goes on through Congolese rumba, Cubanismo, North African and middle-eastern flavours, flamenco, and of course Argentine tango (the closer and title track is a madcap and melancholy take on that melodramatic genre). Those funky horns are the main constant here, along with always-engaging vocalists, but apart from that pretty much anything goes, with the manifold influences pouring out of every tune. Put this lot in the same bag of multi-rooted uniqueness as the 3 Mustafas 3, Abdul Tee Jay’s Rokoto, jazz-funk era Blockheads, Strummer and Mescaleros, 17 Hippies and Think of One. They sound like all of these and none of them — fresh, funky, hugely entertaining and totally, uniquely, wonderfully themselves. —Con Murphy |
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Some Soznak Radio plays of Dear dad Tango the first Soznak CD 2009
- Bbc3 Friday 8th may World on 3 - Lopa Kothari Tsunami song
- Mary Ann Kennedy World on 3 Fri, 29 May 2009, 23:15 on BBC Radio 3. & 5th june
- Bbc Newcastle
- Cultural collage Manchester radio several plays
- Froots playlist may Weekily
- Last Fmradio indy
- Radio indy see review gold artist
- Froots radio see froots reviews
Festival Afrique
African music Stars and veteran Black campaigner headline 2010 L’Afrique festival
L’Afrique 2010 brings food for the mind and the soul to the North East of England with giants of African music Meiway and Don Kikas performing live in Gateshead and outspoken Black activist Darcus Howe giving a lecture in Newcastle.
Ivory Coast’s Meiway and his band Zo-Gang international will headline a concert at the Sage Gateshead on September 11. Meiway has won multiple international awards over the course of a 15 year career and is the darling of dance floors across the African continent. L’Afrique offers an unmissable chance to catch one of the continent’s best live performers and savour or discover his personal take on the catchy Zoblazo style that originates in the South of the Ivory Coast.
For the first time the festival will be graced by a performer from Angola, with Don Kikas promising to live up to his name (!). A huge star in his country of origin, he combines zouk, afro beat and R ‘n’ B with influences ranging from Ed Motta to Stevie Wonder. He will be at the Sage Gateshead for a special one-off UK performance.
Mercury Prize nominee Ty, one of the most innovative rappers on the British hip –hop scene completes the bill.
Inaugural ‘Roots’ lecture
In addition to its usual high quality music offering, the L’Afrique Festival presents this year the first ever Roots lecture - named after the book by Alex Haley which explored the African origins of African- Americans and the African Diaspora.
These lectures will invite prominent speakers to comment on the experiences of Black people in UK and will promote debate on questions surrounding identity, immigration and belonging in contemporary Britain.
For this first event, L’Afrique welcomes veteran campaigner and broadcaster Darcus Howe, who will discuss the importance of Roots, the TV miniseries adapted from Haley’s Pulitzer awarded novel. Darcus Howe’s speech will be preceded by a screening of an episode of Roots.
A full programme of events can be found at www.lafriquefestival.com
Main event times, dates and ticket prices:
Concert:
Saturday 11 September
Venue: Hall One, The Sage Gateshead
Show Starts: 7PM Ends: 11 PM
Sage Gateshead Ticket Office: 0191 443 4661
The inaugural Roots lecture with Darcus Howe
Date: Friday 10 September 2010
Time: Starts 6pm (prompt)
Venue: World Headquarters Curtis Mayfield House
Carliol Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6UQ
Tickets priced: £5 waged / £3 Concessions Tickets are available in advance from the shop, Made in Newcastle, 22 Nun Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, and on the venue from 4pm on the evening of the event.
Further information:
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Or call Manoute Seri on 07737298755
Hello from the new Project CoordinatorThursday, 02 September 2010 10:45 | Written by Steven Walker | | |
HELLO WORLD,
My name is Steven Walker and I am very pleased to say that I am the newly appointed Project Coordinator at Intercultural Arts and have great aspirations for working with the rather lively team here.
I have setup camp in the environs of the Dance City office and I am acquainting myself with the general operations, projects, and the plethora of exciting ideas we can develop with many fine and brilliant artists, venues and partners. As well as project management and being as much help as possible to the director and board members, watch this space for a new look website and the beginning of an exciting new project I am developing with the team.
Please feel free to get in touch with us to help YOU with your professional development aspirations for your work, project and network building.
...WATCH THIS SPACE!
Steven Nominate your group for an epic award deadline extendedFriday, 27 August 2010 11:19 | Written by Oscar Watson | | |
- posted: 26.8.2010 VAE area: England
The epic awards, from Voluntary Arts England are here to shine a spotlight on the excellent work taking place within the voluntary and amateur arts, which we know is happening all over the country.
untitled ...Friday, 16 July 2010 14:18 | Written by Fouad | | |
Fouad made a new film. The film is called "untitled". It was released this week and its already a success "It left a lump in my throat, (to me) this is a nice poem" "Life changes - a few seconds in which the world becomes a completely different place and we are never the same again." "...a poignant and moving video" "that was intense!..." "A profoundly moving piece from the heart" "Very touching..." "that is beautiful!"
Its a brief moment in the life of a 5 year old girl The music was origially featured in the Oscar winner film "The Piano" and it was donated by the composer Mr Michael Nyman
To watch the film please click on "read more..." Last Updated (Thursday, 22 July 2010 09:22)
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