Category: .Think Africa Press
-
An Interview with Aar Maanta
“Until Recently Dhaanto was a Dying Art”: An Interview with Aar Maanta Soon after Aar Maanta arrived in the UK from Somalia in the late-1980s as a child, his homeland changed dramatically. Civil war broke out and at one point the singer’s own official nationality switched overnight from Somali to…
-
Interview with Manu Dibango
Interview with Manu Dibango: The Cameroonian Soul King Looks Back When Manu Dibango took to the stage at Womad Festival last month, one got the overwhelming feeling that he has enjoyed every moment of his career. Even after 80 years and counting, it was clear that the great Cameroonian saxophonist…
-
An Interview with Afrikan Boy
Just Turn the Volume Up”: An Interview with Afrikan Boy After Afrikan Boy’s incredibly energetic set at Womad Festival, I feel pretty guilty pressing him for an interview. Merely obeying his Afrobeat-influenced call-and-response commands induces a sweat for those in the audience, so one can imagine how Afrikan Boy himself…
-
Interview with General Paolino
Interview with General Paolino The man behind South Sudan’s protest songs In addition to producing established African names such as desert rockers Tinariwen, Ian Brennan has shown a good ear for discovering new talent. General Paolino, a blind guitarist from South Sudan, seems a perfect African incarnation of American country blues;…
-
Interview with Mokoomba
Mokoomba Takes Tonga Music to the World Stage Mokoomba in concert: Mathias Muzaza (far left), Abundance Mutori (second from left). Charlton Park, UK: Characterised by the lush backdrop of their Victoria Falls homeland, one of Zimbabwe’s most exciting new musical groups is now officially an international act. Mokoomba had the…
-
Interview with Bassekou Kouyate
Interview with Bassekou Kouyate The ngoni maestro discusses the Malian conflict and his new album, Jama Ko Bassekou Kouyate’s Jama Ko was recorded as Mali’s coup-d’état erupted around him. By the evening of his first recording day, rumours had materialised into the news that President Amadou Toumani had fled…
-
Interview with Idan Raichel
An Interview with Idan Raichel Vieux Farke Touré jamming with Idan Raichel. When Ali Farka Touré travelled to Los Angeles to record with Ry Cooder, it was very much an exploration of the remarkable similarities between these two guitarists. Ali, a Malian, had frequently seen his music categorised as ‘blues’,…
-
Interview with Carlou D
An Interview with Carlou D As an elected member of Senegalese hip hop group Positive Black Soul, Carlou D had a leg up towards a rapping career of which every kid in Dakar would have dreamed. Coming from a musical family, it was a solid commitment to music, rather than…
I'm Clyde Macfarlane, an NCTJ qualified journalist and illustrator. 