WOMAD

Da Lata was originally founded by musician and producer Chris Franck and DJ Patrick Forge in the summer of 1996. The idea for the project was to blend afro-brazilian influences with modern dance sensibility incorporating both acoustic and electronic elements in the music. Early experimentation came in the form of remixes rather than original material which proved to be a great way of honing the sound and at the same time gave exposure to the name.

Read more about Da Lata on Last.fm.

Seun Kuti is Fela Anikulapo Kuti ‘s last son. Seun’s father, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, was Nigeria’s most beloved popular musician and most acerbic social critic until his death in 1997. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, one of Africa s best-known pop music stars in the 1970s and 1980s and known for his songs criticizing the Nigerian military junta. Seun started learning to play saxophone when he was eight, which is also when he started taking piano lessons.

Born in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1963, Debashish Bhattacharya began learning classical Indian music from his parents in his childhood, and went on to a groundbreaking career. His invention, the 24-string Hindustani slide guitar, was modified from the Western guitar to create an entirely new instrument that is nevertheless faithful to the classical Indian tradition. Bhattacharya has collaborated with the American slide guitarist Bob Brozman and the jazz-fusion artist John McLaughlin of Shakti.

Terakaft is a gang of guitarists, in the same vein as Tinariwen. Nothing astonishing about that if you consider that Terakaft was founded by Kedou and Diara, two formative and historical guitarists from Tinariwen. Moreover Kedou accompanied Tinariwen to the very first Festival with the Desert by Chock-Essako in January 2001, and contributes four songs on their first album The Radio Tisdas Sessions.

Read more about Terakaft on Last.fm.