To end 2020 we make a Rendez-vous with three generations of afrobeat and celebrate a Nigerian musical dynasty. As Fela is honoured with a Black Plaque at his old music conservatoire Trinity Laban in Greenwich, we consider how the musical idiom he created remains more popular than ever. Track list: 1….

Shakespeare said it all with ‘If music be the food of love, play on’.  Music is the blood that runs through the veins of our very best human experiences. Celebration. Expression. Dance. Evolution. Art. Intimacy. Communication. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have no longer been able to congregate for performance…

There are some performers that we have the pleasure of seeing on stage who bewitch, beguile and bewilder with their exuberance, their talent and their sheer ability to put on a show. Fatoumata Diawara is one such artist. Born in Ivory Coast to Malian parents and now living in France,…

It wasn’t the first time that we had experienced and enjoyed a Doña Onete gig, still, she blew us away. Throughout her latest London show – which was organised by Movimientos and Mama Sound and took place at Rich Mix on the 17th of July – her energy and kaleidoscopic…

Walking into the small, church-like Stanley Halls, one could hear the familiar stabbing-horn sounds of afrobeat emanating from the hall. The venue almost juxtaposed the performance on stage; as one entered, a musical, colourful spectacle erupted from the stage, held together with aged wooden beams and high ceilings. The sound…

Black Times opens with warm congas, followed by afro-typical cyclical riffs on the guitar, layered with repetitive female chorus, the introduction of bass and full drum kit, then a short break before bursting full power back into the groove – this time with an added horn section of trumpet, tenor…

A one-off performance for a one-off event. It doesn’t happen too often that we get to enjoy a Fatoumata Diawara gig in London, but on the rare occasions when the Malian musician visits the British capital, her shows are always hard-to-forget experiences. That’s how it went on the 26th of…

Last year Groovalizacion Radio selected monthly the best albums for you. What better way to celebrate the new year than looking back at these fine albums from 2017? Out of our selections, we distilled a top 20 from the past year. The higher the album is ranked, the more it is supported by our…

Although the story behind how Aliou Touré, Garba Touré, Oumar Touré and Nathaneal Dembélé became Songhoy Blues is not all roses — they were forced to fled to the capital Bamako after northern Mali was occupied by jihadists — their music is everything but sorrowful. A sold-out Roundhouse could not…

For the thirteenth year in a row, London becomes the northernmost African city. Twenty-six acts spread over ten days of “glorious music” and ten London vibrant venues will bring to life the 2015 edition of the London African Music Festival. The event, organized by Joyful Noise since 2003, has always…