CityLife

Must see: African Soul Rebels

Oumou Sangare

The profile of world music in the UK has rarely been at a higher point.

The emergence of artists like Amadou and Mariam and the Sahara Desert's band of exiles Tinariwen brought global music to newer, broader audiences, and the annual African Soul Rebels tour (from which both the aforementioned acts emerged) has become a defining gig in this field.

Keen to leave an equally lasting impression in 2010, the tour has lined up three spectacular headliners for its sixth international tour – all of them longstanding highflyers in their musical fields but currently little known over here.

The shared bill brings to the Bridgewater Hall 'Mali’s queen of Wassoulou music' Oumou Sangare, 1970s African funk and Afrobeat group Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou and electronica band Kalahari Surfers, who were exiled from Africa during their early post-punk days under Apartheid rules.

Which is the kind of line up that sums up Soul Rebels' provocative aim, but one that also satisfies musically on so many levels.

Bridgewater Hall - February 28, 2010 - £17-£20.