Brazil Archives – Afri-love

Interview with Percussionist Adriano Adewale

** Adriano is performing at the first of the Afri-love Sundown Sessions, tonight – Friday 16th October, 2015 – in London. There are still some £10 tickets available**

Today I'm very pleased to share this interview with the dynamic percussionist, Adriano Adewale. Before I went to one of his shows, I didn't really appreciate how exciting, intriguing, magical and satisfying a percussion concert could be. If you've seen Adriano perform, you'll know exactly what I mean. Adriano pushes the boundaries of what we consider musical instruments to be (bucket of water anyone?) and tells musical stories with charm and an endearing playfulness.

The London-based Brazilian-born musician discusses his journey and reflects on the necessity of putting in the work to make things happen.

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30 Unchained: 30 Creative Women from Across the Diaspora Inspire Live Unchained’s Interactive Anniversary Challenge

If you've been reading the blog a while, you'll recall me mentioning Live Unchained – an initiative to celebrate women artists across the African Diaspora and represent our collective and individual creativity. As they approach their 4th anniversary, they're calling us to help celebrate with a series of creative challenges dubbed 30 Unchained (#30unchained).

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Africa- and Diaspora-related events in the UK this Summer

It's not all about the Olympics this Summer in the UK. There are a multitude of arts, culture and entertainment events going on throughout the country over the next few months, including some exciting Africa- and Diaspora-related ones that you may want to check out.

I'll be updating this post weekly as I discover suitable additions to the list. If you know of any I haven't yet included, please do drop me a line.

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2 JUNE – 16 SEPTEMBER

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TGIF! The best of 2011: great music discoveries

Staff Benda Bilili. I highly recommend the film, Benda Bilili – a documentary about the groups rise from poverty and obscurity to international success. It's proper feel-good.

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Africa at the Fringe

Every August, Edinburgh, Scotland is taken over by 100s (maybe 1000s) of arts and cultural events courtesy of various festivals. These include the Edinburgh International Festival and more famously, the incredibly diverse Edinburgh Festival Fringe – claiming to be "the largest, and greatest, arts festival in the world". There's just one week of this year's programme left but I thought I'd round up some of the Africa-related events to whet your appetite for the possibilities next year.

Comedy

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TGIF! with Adriano Adewale

It's been a beautiful day – both in terms of the weather and in terms of some wonderful Skype sessions that I've had with some very inspiring women (more on that soon). The music of Brazillian percussionist, Adriano Adewale, seemed like the perfect complement and a fabulous way to begin the weekend. Having seen Adriano perform on stage, I must say – get yourself to one of his concerts soonest – it's the most fun you'll have watching music being made!

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