Selected to join hundreds of artists from across mainly Africa and the Middle East and some from Europe and Latin America, we headed to Morocco’s capital Rabat to perform at music industry showcase event Visa For Music – the largest of its kind on the African continent.
July 2019 and we were asked to once again play at the amazing Timitar Festival in Agadir, Morocco, so took the opportunity to record that most Moroccan of instruments – the Ribab (which we didn’t record last time we were here in 2014).
June 2014, and while performing Orchestra of Samples at the Timitar music festival in Agadir, Morocco, the festival organised a recording session for us at the local Jazzawiya studios, where many international artists have rehearsed – including, at one time, the legend Bob Marley himself! Guitarist Oussama Belmamoune, from the band Mehdi Nassouli, who were headlining that night at the festival, introduced us to a number of his amazing musician friends who we recorded for the project – including himself, who we recorded first.
December 2011 and with the Arab Spring still in motion across the Middle-East and North Africa, we headed to Egypt to perform at the Disco Cairo 2011 event at Scharazad in the West El Balad area of the capital. Only just this year, the country has been through the Egyptian revolution but is still in it’s transitionary period and while we were there, there were still mass demonstrations in the streets and particularly in the famous Tahrir Square.
In June 2011 we travelled to post-revolution Tunisia to play at electronic culture festival FEST, being held at the Acropolium de Carthage – the incredible gothic cathedral in the ancient part of the capital city Tunis. Involving themselves in the…
Abdoul Mbaye (on the left) comes from a ‘griot’ family – essientially storytellers in western Africa who perpetuate the traditions & history of a family or village in song. The keeper of ‘history’s living…
In Dakar, during a night time power cut, we met up in total darkness with musician Pap Guissé who that night invited us to visit the idyllic and peaceful village of Ndem where he’s from (about 4 or 5 hours drive from Dakar) to record…
While in Dakar, we hooked up for an afternoon of filming with the I-Science crew at the very happening arts centre and work space Les Petites Pierres, a great place where music meets arts meets fashion. Founders Senegalese…
While in Dakar in Senegal, we went to a concert of world music star Baaba Maal and were utterly captivated by his tama drum player Massamba Diop. So after the concert we spoke with him to see if he was up for being recorded and to be…
