Many of the biggest names in world music have been
lined up to play Scotland's capital in 2009 for a special season of
concerts at The Edinburgh Picture House, in what is a considerable coup for
Edinburgh's newest venue.
Opening the season at the end of February are African
superstars Amadou & Mariam whose new album Welcome to Mali is riding high in numerous end of year charts including no.2 album of the year
in The Observer Music Magazine.
The couple, who have been performing since meeting at Mali's
Institute for Young Blind in 1977, have been propelled to international
recognition for their vibrant, uplifting songs and their collaborations with
Manu Chao and Damon Albarn.
Buena Vista Social Club's
Eliades Ochoa comes to the venue at the
beginning of March. The Grammy award winner, popularly known as ‘the
Cuban Johnny Cash' because of his trademark cowboy hat, shot to
global stardom on the back of the Buena Vista Social Club documentary by Wim
Wenders.
The season also features the only Scottish date for a
special Contemporary Music Network collaboration between folk rock pop
experimentalists Tunng and the
desert blues group Tinariwen who
are famed for their hypnotic rhythms and trance-like melodies.
Senegal's
Orchestra Baobab, who perform in
April, are one of Africa's most iconic
bands. Taking their name from the Dakar
night-club where they were resident for most of the 70's, the group is
famous for it's sublime and truly distinctive Afro-Cuban pop sound.
The last concert of the series is Ivo
Papasov who brings his world famous Wedding Band at the beginning of May. The first Balkan
Gypsy musician to win a wide international following with his two Joe Boyd-produced
albums for Hannibal Records in the early 1990s and won the Award from the BBC's
Radio3 World Music Audience Award in 2005 for his band's blistering paced
and upbeat live shows.
Manager of The Picture House, John Stout
said:
"The Picture House is a fantastic space in which to experience
live music so I'm incredibly excited that we have some of the very best
names in world music lined up to perform here.
Musically, the Edinburgh
audience is very sophisticated with a very open attitude to world music.
There haven't been that many big names coming here for the last
couple of years so it's great to be able to put Edinburgh
and Scotland
firmly back on the map again and we hope to be adding world music names to the
line-up on a regular basis in future.
The world music concerts confirmed for The Picture House so far are:
Amadou & Mariam (Saturday 28th February)
Buena Vista Social Club presents Eliades Ochoa (Wednesday 4th March)
Tunng with Tinariwen (Saturday 21st March)
Orchestra Baobab (Sunday 5th April)
Ivo Papasov Wedding Band and special guests (Tuesday 5th May)