What’s On in the Northern Quarter ~ Saturday 21st July 2012

In celebration of the city-wide We Face Forward festival of West African art and music, Band on the Wall are delighted to welcome us to their free festival party featuring the cream of professional West African performers and to get in the party mood, they’ll also be serving up a selection of fine West African inspired food before the show. The line-up consists of a number of West Africa’s best performers currently resident in and around the Manchester area, including:

Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh

Born into a family of traditional oral historians or Griots in The Gambia, Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh is a master of the African harp or Kora, an instrument built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a notched bridge like a lute or guitar. Jali has recently been featured on the international BBC children’s programme, Zingzillas and supported Afrocubism at their recent concert at the Bridgewater Hall.

Sam Maitland aka PapaSam Alafia

Accomplished composer songwriter and music teacher, Sam Maitland, aka Papa Sam Alafia, moved to the UK from Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa in the late 1980s. Sam toured the United States and Japan with the African band Rokoto and more recently has been working with the Post Modern African Peoples Dance Group Sakoba.  He has also performed with internationally known artists such as Seal and King Masco.

Sidiki Dembele

The second son of a Griot family, and playing from the age of six, Sidiki has achieved acclaim throughout West Africa and Europe as a master percussionist.  He has worked with various ballet and touring companies in his native Ivory Coast and in the UK. He was the featured lead percussionist and Djembefola in the international African touring circus Afrika!Afrika! Since settling in England he has appeared in festivals, worked alongside musical legends such as Salif Keita and been involved in community projects. He is acknowledged as one of the strongest percussion soloists in the UK and his unique style excites and inspires his audiences wherever he goes.

Kuwor Sylvanus Kwashie

Sylvanus Kwashie Kuwor is a Ghanaian master drummer, dancer and general practitioner of a range of dance forms from the West African sub-region.  Kwashie began his performing arts and cultural training from early childhood. A graduate of the Ghanaian School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Kwashie is currently pursuing a PhD in Dance Anthropology at the University of Roehampton, where he also teaches dances from the West African sub-region on the World Music and Dance Course.

Sens Sagna & Friends

Sens is an experienced and inspirational dancer, singer and teacher from the Cassamance region of Senegal, West Africa. Cassamance has a strong history in maintaining culture through rhythm, song and dance. Sens comes from the Jolla tribe and performs and teaches both choreographed and freestyle dance, to rhythms from Jolla, Mandinka and Olof cultures. Before coming to live and work in Manchester in 2005, Sens performed and toured extensively with a number of percussion and dance ensembles in Senegal. Sens draws on his traditional heritage and his vast performance experience, to bring his African roots alive. Currently Sens provides regular dance classes and workshops; is artistic director of the vibrant performance group ‘Kajamor Family’ as well as collaborating with a range of other artists at events throughout the country.

Presented by Band on the Wall in association with We Face Forward - a season of contemporary art and music from West Africa, celebrated across Manchester as part of the London 2012 Festival. www.wefaceforward.org 

7.30pm / FREE
Band On The Wall / 25 Swan Street / Northern Quarter / Manchester
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2022NQ
TUSK presents DIGITS live

TUSK are proud to present a special one-off show, featuring a stellar line up including DIGITS (Live), John Thorp (Work Them), Shapes and the TUSK residents for a very special night of music in the newly opened 2022NQ off Dale Street. Adding to the feel on the night will be some fantastic live visuals from some amazing local artists.

DIGITS

Digits is Alt Altman, a melancholy minimalist synthpop/R&B artist from Toronto, currently living in Berlin after six months in London. In April 2012, Digits went from being almost unknown to becoming a critical darling among newspaper critics, online magazines and influential blogs with the release of a 12-song mixtape of all-original songs called ‘Death and Desire‘. It featured a remix by minimalist R&B pop artist Nite Jewel (Secretly Canadian). The release instantly found an audience among webzines, with Prefix, Clash Magazine, Exclaim, and Dummy all posting the mixtape in its entirety on their sites, with glowing reviews. Features in The Guardian and the Toronto Star (Canada’s most-read newspaper) followed. Performing using two synthesizers, a laptop, and a looping pedal to reproduce his songs live, Digits has opened for YACHT, Class Actress, Au Palais, Mmoths and Dan Black. You really should head over to his website to check out more of his music;  DIGITS

John Thorp / Shapes / TUSK

John Thorp is a writer, DJ, admin assistant, former sex shop worker and failed stand-up comedian from Manchester. In 2011 he, along with a few friends, established Work Them, a forward thinking alt disco dedicated to future classic, current groovers and records that still sound as fresh as any.

Also making an appearance tonight is Scott from new weekly clubnight, Shapes. Providing punters with their fill of indie, electro, disco and everything in-between, Scott will be treating us to a special set featuring a choice selection of records that span every genre imaginable.

Last but by no means least on the bill are the TUSK residents will be filling in the gaps, playing you the best house, disco and any other oddities they can find in their record bag.

10pm – 3am / £4 adv / £5 otd
2022NQ / 20-22 Dale Street / Northern Quarter / Manchester / M1 1EZ
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