There is news at petergabriel.com:
AFRICA CALLING at the Eden Project : July 2
A Live8 Event
Presented in association with WOMAD
(World of Music, Arts & Dance)
The Eden Project is to stage a major Live8 concert on 2nd July under the banner of “Africa Calling”.
The event will be programmed and presented in association with WOMAD and its co-founder Peter Gabriel, together with Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour.
The evening itself will be hosted by Peter Gabriel, who has championed World Music for the past 25 years. Youssou N’Dour and Peter Gabriel have invited many of their favourite African artists to perform at the event.
These include the gutsy and charismatic West African vocalist/songwriter Angelique Kidjo, Somalia’s powerful and dynamic female vocalist Maryam Mursal, and Salif Keita, who has earned himself the title of the Golden Voice of Africa.
Also appearing will be Zimbabwe-born musical and political hero Thomas Mapfumo with his group the Blacks Unlimited; Tinariwen, a Touareg group from the southern Sahara; award-winning Senegalese hip hop group Daara J; Arab-Andalusian singer and musician Akim El Sikameya; engaging and dynamic South African singers and dancers Shikisha; Kenyan lyre player and singer Ayub Ogada; and Modou Diouf & O Fogum, bringing intoxicating Sabar drum rhythms and unbelievable dance.
The concert will be held on the stage in the Eden arena with the world’s biggest greenhouses providing a spectacular backdrop in the crater.
This outstanding line-up will bring the Eden site alive with unbeatable African party spirit. Transmissions will be made from the event by the BBC as part of the Live8 celebration.
More info here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4094482.stm
Eden Project African gig revealed
Youssou N’Dour will play at the London, Paris and Eden Project
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Singer Youssou N’Dour will join other African musicians in another Live 8 concert at the Eden Project in Cornwall, it has been confirmed.
Africa Calling will be held on the same day as the main Live 8 shows in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin and Rome.
The concerts are aimed at raising awareness of world poverty and will take place just days before the G8 summit of world leaders at Gleneagles.
N’Dour will perform at the London, Paris and Cornwall concerts on 2 July.
World music
Other African musicians taking place include Angelique Kidjo, Maryam Mursal, Salif Keita and Thomas Mapfumo.
The evening concert will be hosted by Peter Gabriel, who has championed world music for the past 25 years, and is the co-founder of the word music body Womad.
Womad – which stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance – is working closely with the Eden Project and Live 8 to help hold the event.
Tim Smit, the Eden Project’s chief executive, said they hoped to create "an authentic voice for Africa that was moving and personal".
He added: "We want people to come along and say ‘I was there and I will remember it until the day I die’."
‘Special evening’
Smit shrugged off criticisms that it was a token gesture in light of criticisms that criticisms there were too few black artists taking part in the main Live 8 London concert.
His thoughts were echoed by Kidjo. She said: "For me, the Eden show is not a token, it’s something, and that is better than never.
"This is an opportunity for the media to realise that when it comes to Africa, we need to be a part of it. You couldn’t help us without us.
Gabriel said he hoped it would be a "special evening" and give African artists the chance to be heard.
"We have a chance to do more to redress the balance. Africa Calling will be about voices of Africa undiluted," he said.
The BBC will broadcast from the event as part of the Live 8 coverage.
