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NEXT  MWALIMU EXPRESS:

Sun Sept 16
NAMVULA

Zambian-Scottish song-sculptress Namvula blends the folk and urban traditions of her Zambian homeland with London’s eclectic music scene, creating uplifting and emotive songs. Her sets will be filled with tracks from her new album

QUIET REVOLUTION

 https://namvula.bandcamp.com/

 

 

PLUS ONSCREEN

 African cinema from  SCREEN STATION

 

Meanwhile check the BBC Iplayer for all three episodes of BBC4's

AFRICA: A Journey into Music

Presented by Rita Ray, Director Ruhi Hamid (2017)

Jammy Rita, as she likes to describe herself, got the dream job of schlepping over to the Motherland to listen to amazing African musicians across 3 countries, South Africa, Mali and Nigeria. ' I spoke to legends, pioneers, new voices and innovators of African music who gave me the lowdown enlightened me about the harmonies, the melodies, the instruments and the rhythms that are the foundation of most of the popular music we listen to.'

 

'I’ve been known to be a bit down on BBC4’s Friday night music docs. You know how they go: blokes sitting in front of their massive vinyl collections and mixing desks, listing people from “back in the day”, showing off about how much they know, while dropping names and hinting at wild times. These shows can sometimes seem to be more about talking about the music than the music itself.

Not this lovely one though, which is full of joy and wonderful music. Presenting is Rita Ray, broadcaster and DJ (she co-ran the legendary Mambo Inn in Brixton in the 1990s that I remember very fondly … hang on, who’s being boring and showing-off now?). Now, she’s starting her whistle-stop African music odyssey, which will also drop in to Mali and South Africa, in Nigeria.

It’s not just about old dudes and the past, or just about men. Singer and actor Nneka sings a beautiful song in a vegetable market on Lagos island. And on the more affluent Victoria Island, Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage tells Ray why she left America, where she worked with Babyface, and Fantasia and Whitney Houston, to come back home. Because Nigeria – and Africa – is where it’s at.

Nneka sings beautifully in a market on Lagos island. This is a serious, authoritative, fascinating music documentary that demonstrates how ancient rhythms formed the foundations and then punctuated the evolution of Nigerian popular music from juju and highlife to fuji, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, and now the Afrobeats (with an s) pop music revolution that is sweeping not just Africa but the world.

But it’s not too muso-ish, or dull. Ray is also a massive fan and she’s travelled to Nigeria to find out what makes the country’s musicians tick.

She has a dialog with a talking drum and meets (pop and actual Yoruba) royalty King Sunny Adé. She visits a musical hero, Orlando Julius, who sings along to his 1966 hit Jagua Nana. There’s highlife superstar Victor Uwaifo, who demonstrates his amazing spinning guitar, and then takes Ray for a spin in his equally amazing, apparently rocket-powered, car.'

 

  ...... and all those things that make the Mwalimu

 THE MWALIMU will be back in September

Always Free, Always will be

DJ's Max Reinhardt and Rita Ray behind the decks
Babies toddlers Kids and parents dance sessions

with Lucy Angell John
Hone your Oware skills with Seth

and the junior pebble demons
Plus all your favourite Market stalls

and Little Baobab ( www.littlebaobab.co.uk) African street food fresh from the pot
Mwalimu Express 3rd Sunday of the Month Sept-May

 

for more information about us:

www.facebook.com/mwalimuxpress

http://theshrine.uk.com/

https://www.richmix.org.uk/events/family/mwalimu-express

www.screenstation.net

 

 

 

Next Mwalimu Express Session: Sun 16 Sept 2-5.30pm Rich Mix feat Namvula Live plus African Cinema brought to you by ScreenStation