Thought this might be of interest to those in the London area


African Musicians to Stage British Extravaganza Wed Apr 24,10:01 AM ET
By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - A selection of the cream of African popular musicians is
set to stage a marathon music spectacular in London in July.
Drawn from all quarters of the African continent, the eight acts will take
to the stage in Alexandra Palace in North London for a 10-hour extravaganza
through the night from July 13 to dawn on July 14 -- Bastille Day.
"African music has been a major influence on European musicians but while
the Europeans are household names, many of the Africans are barely known
outside their continent," concert director Ruben Nuwb-Uhuru told Reuters on
Wednesday.

"This will be a showcase for these top musicians and we hope it will
encourage European audiences to explore this vast cultural repository," he
added.

South Africa's Miriam Makeba -- known popularly at home as Mama Africa --
who is celebrating her 70 birthday, will be among the top names on show.
She will be sharing the spotlight at the Africa Sounds concert with Papa
Wemba, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but now
resident in France, and leading West African contemporary fusion musician
Salif Keita from Mali.

Alongside them will be Nigerian jazz saxophonist Lagbaja, Algeria's lyrical
songstress Souad Massi, Angolan athlete-turned-musician Bonga, Republic of
Congo's multi-talented Zao and Ivory Coast's leading group Magic System.
Many of the acts are household names at home and in parts of Europe, but
because the majority are from francophone Africa they are barely known
elsewhere.

European and American musicians have frequently turned to Africa for
inspiration -- from drum superstar Ginger Baker in the 1970s to Paul Simon
in the mid-1980s when his Graceland album put South Africa's Ladysmith
Black Mambaza on the map.

More recently Britain's Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz fame visited West
Africa to collect material.

Albarn will present Makeba with a birthday cake on stage at the height of
the concert.

Tickets for the event are hardly a snip at 60 pounds a head for an ordinary
punter to double the amount for a VIP ticket.
But despite the price, the organizers are expecting more than 7,000 people
to visit the event through the night and are already planning repeats -- in
London again in 2003, in Japan in 2004, then back to London and on to St.
Petersburg in 2005.

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