Africa Express
Biographie Africa Express
Africa Express
started in 2006 in Mali, connecting local stars Toumani Diabaté, Bassekou Kouyaté and Amadou & Mariam with visiting artists including Martha Wainwright, Fatboy Slim and co-founder Damon Albarn. Now it is a globally-known project - yet it never loses its capacity to surprise, whether live or on record. It has invited Western artists to countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Mali; staged collaborative concerts lasting up to seven hours from Liverpool to Lagos; taken a train filled with musicians around Britain to mark the London Olympics; reformed a Syrian orchestra divided by civil war; and recorded the first African interpretation of Terry Riley's minimalist classic In C. Participating artists have included Baaba Maal, Blur, Charli XCX, Faia Younan, Femi Kuti, Flea, Franz Ferdinand, Kano, Oumou Sangaré, Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Rachid Taha, Rokia Traoré and Tony Allen among many others.
