King Sunny Ade inducted into Afropop Hall of Fame

Although he has slipped from the spotlight slightly of late, King Sunny Adé remains one of Africa’s most respected (and enjoyable) musicians. A master musician and bandmaster, Adé is the king of Juju music and follows Youssou N’Dour, Oumou Sangare, Angelique Kidjo and Thomas Mapfumo in receiving the award (even though he preceded them all musically) and was recently inducted into the Afropop Hall of Fame. Watching the video, I wish he was playing Europe this summer. Click through for the video.

Checkpoint 303 in Rome and Venice

Palestinian/Tunisian/French electro outfit Checkpoint 303 will be appearing (for free) in Rome on Sunday May 31 as part of the “Finding Palestine” event, featuring traditional and contemporary arts. They will also be appearing at the Venice Biennale. Click “read more” for further details.

Conneticut to host int’l Hip-Hop gathering

Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. will host the 4th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, the first and largest international hip-hop festival in the US, on April 3rd and 4th, 2009. This year, the event is headlined by K’naan, the rising star in international hip-hop. The Somali MC spent the last 2 years touring with Damian and Stephen Marley. His vividly spoken images of war-torn Somalia and fierce criticism of American gangster rap has garnered him appearances on BET, MTV and collaborations with Mos Def and M1 of dead prez. K’naan signed with A&M/Octone in 2008 and released Troubadour in February 2009.

Rokia Traore: Dounia

Rokia Traore provides another superb track in “Dounia”, with a clip that is as elegant, refined and intriguing as her music. She recently won a César award in France for the album “Tchamanche” and has a date in Paris in May. Click through for other dates and to see the clip of “Dounia”:

Checkpoint 303 in Paris and Angers

The Palestinian/French/Tunisian electro collective will be appearing at the Générale en Manufacture in Paris on February 2:

They will then appear at the Chabada in Angers the following day, February 3. Click through for details.

Electronic mayhem in 3 parts

Slam and Hip-Hop sessions in Brussels

Brussels is getting ready for three days of slam and hip-hop. The “Sessions Ubraines” will feature a presentation of the new book “Souterrain 95-08 Bxl”, the first of its kind about the Belgian scene. There’s an extensive panel of guests from noted journalists to rappers Defi J, Lady N and others. Date December 17 at the Mason du livre.

Over at the Botanique on December 18, a rap session will bring together AB7, Mari’M, Invaderdz, Sismik, Maky, Gandhi & D’Johnny Six, Stan et Yassin, Za and L’Huissier.

The last night, the 19th, will see urban lyricists and slam artists battling it out. The organisers have done this several times already, and it’s usually worth checking out. Guests include Be-Lion Vagabond, Maky, Veence Hanao, Dynamic & B-Flow, Mochelan, Posa (from RCS), Verbal, Leawsane, Rézie , BD Banx, Maïa Chauvier, Stan (Les Autres), Manza. The night will finish with the incredible award-winning Baloji (check the album “Hotel Impala”).

For the full details, visit: Lezarts Urbains.

Fanfare Ciocarlia announce January/February Australian and Euro tour dates

Romania’s impressive Fanfare Ciocarlia has announced a series of Australian and European dates in January and February. Zece Prajini is a village of just four hundred souls and home to the twelve Romany Gypsy musicians who make up the Fanfare Ciocarlia brass ensemble. The rugged, secluded hills have been echoing to the sounds of brass band music since the Turkish military bands marched in with the Ottoman occupation at the beginning of the 19th century. In addition to still being the most in-demand band for local weddings, funerals and other occasions, they have in the last years been touring around the world, a story well-documented in the must-see film by German director Ralf Marschalleck: “Iag Bari - Brass on Fire”.

Click through for the dates.

Africa Fete celebrates 30 years as festival and promoter

Africa fete festival

For 30 years already, Africa Fete has been one of the motors of African music, through their annual festival in Dakar and different events in France. The founder, Mamadou Konte, died some time ago but had built a up a highly professional team that is pursuing his work. If you look a the festivals and releases of the past two years, it is clear that African music is having a particularly hard time. So the role of Africa Fete is all the more important in continuing to allow new African music to survive.

The 30th anniversary will feaure a combination of new and established acts, that include: les Amazones de Guinée, Fallyssa, Imhotep (IAM) appearing Didier Awadi, Duggy T and others as well as Omar Pene, Thione Seck, Alioune Mbaye Nder, Saintrick and other surprise guests, playing with the Africa Fête big band.

The festival is to be held on December 6 in Dakar. For details, visit Africa Fete.

Speed Caravan dates in London and Paris

Mehdi Haddab & The Speed Caravan

Nutty oud players DuOud will be playing shows in London and Paris over the coming weeks. Mehdi Haddab’s experiment in blending percussive and snappy oud playing with electronics and even speed metal is a sight to see. They’ll be at the K-Wa in Paris on the 22nd and the Ginglik in London on the 27th, notably. Click through for dates.