Rafiki Jazz #UpClose2019 Yellow Arch Studios Sheffield Thu 7 Nov

#RAFIKIJAZZUpClose2019
migrations | mothertongues | memories

‘How to do East meets West with subtlety & flair..Rafiki Jazz, the best of British’ (Songlines Top of The World)
‘A truly spellbinding performance & my WOMAD 2018 highlight’ (Katharina Herrman e-Festivals)

Nine native and migrant folk remix roots music and tell modern day stories with a glance back to the ancients. Celebrating unity in diversity with their 4th CD release ‘Saraba Sufiyana’’ (Mystic Utopia) Rafiki Jazz music is ‘a love-letter to this intricate world in all its beauty and complexity’ and features at its heart the compelling vocal quartet of Sufi Sarah Yaseen, Hebrew-Hindi singer-songwriter Avital Raz, Egyptian master-musician Mina Salama and Senegalese griot Kadialy Kouyate.

#UpClose2019  tour shows reach out with passionate new songs of migrations & memories, offering a great chance to get close & personal with this acclaimed world music collective & their special guest singers. Expect a rich masala of mesmerising music traversing continents, languages and cultures, set within a hypnotically looping digital animation commissioned from award-winning Islamic geometric artist Zarah Hussain. Enchanting, soulful, exquisite!

A post-show talkback will bring together the audience & musicians for a topical panel discussion hosted by a guest MC from a select roster of young cultural changemakers.

singers & players:
Sarah Yaseen: Urdu & Punjabi vocals, ektara, percussion
Avital Raz: Hebrew & Hindi vocals, tanpura, guitar
Mina Mikhail Salama: Coptic & Arabic vocals, oud, ney & kawala flutes, duduk
Kadialy Kouyate: Mandinka & Wolof vocals, kora, sabar
Cath Carr: guitar, steelpans
Tony Koni: bass guitar, sabar
Johnny Ball: tabla, derbuka
Guery Tibirica: berimbau, pandeiro, gumbe
Vijay Venkat: Carnatic violin, bansuri

plus special guest Gaelic & English folk singers Kaitlin Ross & Nancy Kerr’s #SheffieldFolkHarmonyCollective ! 

#RafikiJazzUpClose2019
www.rafikijazz.co.uk
a Konimusic production www.konimusic.co.uk