Africa Calling: BBC Five Live interview

Peter Gabriel (6 min) Broadcast on Five Live - Sat 02 Jul - 10:21

Peter Gabriel, one of the organisers of the Africa Calling concert at the Eden Project, speaks frankly and openly about the event's relationship with Live 8

Gabriel plans train trips to overcome writer's block

09/07/2005 01:39

Rocker Peter Gabriel has the perfect way to overcome writer's block - he hops on a train.

The former Genesis frontman discovered many years ago that lyrics and song ideas flow when he's taking train journeys, so if he's ever struggling to complete songs he goes travelling.

He says, "I have this theory that the brain is stimulated by peripheral motion." Gabriel also has other little tricks when he needs to come up with song lyrics. He adds, "I really have to leave home and go off to some bed and breakfast, an obscure place where I'm on my own - no washing to put in the machine or garden jobs."

Daniel Lanois : méditation et autocontemplation

Discret pendant la décennie qui a suivi la sortie de son superbe album For the Beauty of Wynona, le réalisateur, auteur et compositeur Daniel Lanois semble pris d'une soudaine envie de faire carrière.
....

Après avoir passé des années en studio à faire des disques fabuleux avec U2, Peter Gabriel et Bob Dylan, pour ne nommer que ses collaborations les plus prestigieuses, il a visiblement la bougeotte. «Si je reste trop longtemps assis dans un studio, me retrouver sur scène finit par me manquer, raconte le musicien, joint il y a quelques jours à Toronto. Je suis mon instinct. Ça me plaît de sortir plus de disques en ce moment. Je suis plus à l'aise avec qui je suis et avec la beauté de mon travail.»
........

Jorane et Lanois

Jamais à court de surprises, Jorane en a causé toute une en offrant une version d'une très belle chanson de Daniel Lanois, Pour ton sourire, sur Évapore et, plus tard, sur The You and the Now. Encore mieux, le célèbre réalisateur a même consenti à chanter et à participer à l'enregistrement de sa chanson. «Ce n'était pas prévu», admet-il.

Mais comme c'est un ami à lui, Michael Brooke, qui réalisait le disque, il s'est investi plus que prévu.«J'ai été très heureux d'entrer dans l'univers de Jorane pendant un moment», affirme-t-il. Suffisamment heureux pour accepter d'apparaître dans le clip... qui a d'ailleurs été tourné dans son appartement torontois.

«De quoi ai-je l'air?» demande-t-il, puisqu'il n'a pas vu le clip en question. En vérité, le courant a l'air de passer entre les deux artistes, sur disque comme au petit écran. Daniel Lanois affirme que ce n'est pas par envie de tout contrôler qu'il s'est investi dans ce petit projet. «Non, c'est mon côté généreux, je veux aider, dit-il. Je ne suis pas très protectionniste avec mon travail. Si quelqu'un veut faire une de mes chansons, c'est correct! Emmylou Harris a d'ailleurs enregistré Where Will I Be?, que je n'ai jamais mise sur un de mes disques. Mais on va la faire à Montréal.»

Batteur né

Photo: Gilda Hémon

7 juillet 2005

Manu Katché

Ralph Boncy

Manu Katché: "Je suis tout sauf un sideman frustré!"

Manu Katché, le batteur le plus précis et le plus recherché des temps modernes, a travaillé avec Sting, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits, Francis Cabrel. Entouré d'un énigmatique quartette jazz, il présente un projet baptisé Tendances.

Lorsqu'on obtient une entrevue par téléphone avec un artiste qui doit se rendre prochainement à Montréal pour un concert important, il n'est pas rare que celui-ci vante exagérément les vertus de notre ville, question, dirait-on, de flatter le lecteur dans le sens du poil... Dans le cas de Manu Katché, c'est légèrement différent.

Le batteur branché ne se contente pas de lâcher "Ouais, Montréal, c'est cool", il devient même assez sérieux à ce sujet. "C'était à un point où je voulais m'installer là-bas pour de bon. J'y suis même carrément déménagé au début des années 90. C'était à l'époque où je travaillais avec Peter Gabriel sur la tournée signée Robert Lepage. J'ai vécu au Québec pendant plus d'un an et demi."

La dernière fois que j'ai vu Katché ici, c'était avec Sting, en juillet 2000, sur la tournée Brand New Day. Mais il affirme être revenu récemment pour le Drumfest et avoir vraiment pris son pied. Avec Sting, il a aussi enregistré ce live All This Time, le 11 septembre 2001. Il me raconte l'ambiance terrible, ce soir-là, en compagnie du contrebassiste Christian McBride et des choristes américaines. En fait, Manu a des histoires plein la besace. Une collection de tours du monde, des collaborations mémorables... et quelques projets personnels, pour se faire plaisir: "À un moment donné, j'ai voulu chanter. J'ai enregistré mon album solo, j'en ai vendu 60 000 copies. Voilà, j'étais content."

C'était l'album It's About Time, il y a 12 ans. Un peu plus tard, un autre projet plus lucratif: la musique du film Un Indien dans la ville cartonne en France. Dans le trio KOD, le K, c'est Katché. Comme dit la rengaine: "Chacun sa route, chacun son chemin. Passe le message à ton voisin."

"Les années rock ont laissé comme image du batteur la caricature d'un gars en short qui martèle le rythme le plus basique comme un forcené. Je suis de l'école des batteurs plus mélodiques."

Et pour cause! Papa ivoirien chanteur de gospel, maman française de famille musicale, Manu a débuté au piano à sept ans, a pratiqué la danse classique lorsqu'il était enfant et est rentré très jeune au Conservatoire National Supérieur à Paris dont il ressortira avec un premier prix en percussion, avec aussi ce règne absolu sur les cymbales qui fera sa réputation.

Le batteur à la casquette à l'envers s'exprime maintenant dans un quartette instrumental français avec trompette, contrebasse et piano. Les titres positifs qu'on peut écouter sur son site Internet s'appellent So Groovy, New World, Good Influence et aussi Miles Away, qui n'est pas sans rappeler la période Miles avec le funky Marcus Miller.

Son gérant n'a pas voulu autoriser qu'on nous en remette la moindre copie à l'avance mais l'album Neighborhood de Manu Katché est bel et bien prévu pour cet été. On y retrouve le prodigieux saxophoniste norvégien Jan Garbarek, et deux musiciens polonais. "Un vrai projet jazz avec solo de batterie, plaisante Manu. Une musique de climat avec une attitude très black, ce qui est rare chez ECM, l'étiquette nordique par excellence. Il y a des relents d'Afrique et une attitude, une rythmique dans mon travail."

Car parmi les 200 albums indispensables que Katché a ponctués de sa présence, il y a ceux dont on parle moins. Comme les cinq qu'il a faits avec Garbarek, jusqu'au dernier de la série, le très atmosphérique In Praise of Dreams qui était en nomination pour un Grammy en 2005. À ces occasions, Manu s'est naturellement lié d'amitié avec Manfred Eicher, le patron du label. D'où ce projet qui éclot à son rythme, comme à point nommé...

"On ne sait jamais vraiment à l'avance le bon moment de prendre un virage comme celui-ci, dit le batteur, intuitif. Ce n'est même pas que je voulais faire un ego trip ou endosser absolument la position de leader car je suis tout sauf un sideman frustré! J'ai énormément reçu de ces gens extraordinaires que j'ai accompagnés. En plus, ils étaient des bourreaux de travail, la plupart du temps. Il fallait donc que je redonne un peu de tout ce que j'avais emmagasiné."

Le 7 juillet Au Spectrum

Africa Calling 2005 reviews-Introduction-

Introduction

Live 8 - Africa Calling 2005

reviews 05-07-05

What a venue to hold an event such as this. In fact it has to rate as one of the best venues in the world and in this idyllic setting of environmental transformation 5,000 of us gathered to watch the only line up of all the Live 8 events outside of Africa to be showcasing the music of the continent, celebrating Africa as well as highlighting her problems. With two stages Eden was able to offer the same number of acts who could play longer sets.

I’d suspect we were the only one of the live events who had campaign stalls (make poverty history, amnesty international, control arms, send a cow, Oxfam, Wateraid, (Intermediate Technology Development Group, Uneeka, Christian Aid, Co-Op, Traidcraft and Dandaro Cylch) in any numbers, rather than burger bars and enough space to dance and no queues for the toilets.

Here the majority of those in the audience (of all ethnic persuasions I may add) were there acutely aware of the problems Africa faces rather than arriving merely to celebrate the music and celebrity of the Hyde Park event. Dare I say this was the real deal, rather than a bunch of music lovers listening to 15 minute greatest hit sets. Worryingly many of the press I overheard around the site appeared to not be there for the right reasons, many not looking forward to the day and moaning about how far they were from London! Shocking!

Press Call

Which leads me to the press call. Peter Gabriel, co-founder of the World Organisation of Music and Dance (WOMAD) and Tim Smit (founder of The Eden Project) introduced four African artists - Chartwell Dutiro, Mariza, Geoffrey Oryema and Emmanuel Jal. The media briefly asked if the artists were disappointed that more African music was not on the stage at Hyde Park. The artists all replied that they were a little disappointed, but hoped that Live 8 would still bring Africa’s problems to global attention in a celebratory way.

In answer to what effect all the events happening for Live 8 would have on Africa’s problems they emphasised that it is important that people are not just entertained for a day, and then move on and forget about Africa, but that instead pressure for change in Africa is still on going after Live 8.

Voice of Africa Radio asked where they thought Africa would be 20 years from this big day. What a shame it would be if a further event like this would be needed still twenty years on. The artists all placed the blame for the continuing crisis in Africa squarely with corrupt African leaders, the banks and the multinational companies that support them.

They challenged the media to report what is going on in Africa now, to actually go there and see first hand what they are writing about. Rather than 20 year old images of starving children in famine, it was today more a case of AIDs pandemics, malaria, wars, genocide and greed. Have to say that most of the media bristled at this and from what I saw of the media most are pretty much immune to any concerns of Africa as far as I could see.

The organisers and artists of Africa Calling said their main appeal to the world leaders of the G8 would be for them to put pressure on African leaders to end corruption and dictatorships by supporting the International Criminal Court. Rather than an appeal for money which with it being Live 8 many people confused this issue for because of the event to help Ethiopia 20 years ago.

Towards the end of the conference we were introduced to a lady who would actually speak at the G8 and would be presenting our case before the most powerful men in the World. It was reassuring to see her determination, to see she had such passion for the cause and that the message we were supporting today would get through.

The weather was brightening slightly as we wandered down through the lush vegetation to the main stage area. But it was still being put together feverishly so we wandered into the biomes to walk amongst huge banana trees in sweltering humidity and listen to African music from speakers hidden in the giant tropical undergrowth.

Finally 1pm rolled around and they let us into the arena and shortly afterward Peter Gabriel and Johnny Kalsi appear before a crowd representing a diverse mix of ethnicity, age and social background to welcome the first act.

review by Scott Williams

Africa Calling 2005 reviews - the Afternoon

The Afternoon

Live 8 - Africa Calling

2005 reviews 05-07-05

Ayub Ogada and Uno

Playing a tradional lyre, the West Kenyan whitles and sings along to some rootsy African rhythms, with an excellent soulful voice and the sound enriched with his backing band Uno. He says his people have been calling for a 1000 years and it’s taken a long time for people to hear him calling. The songs are peaceful, soulful and full of peace. It’s hypnotic stuff and with the flags and plants all around us a fitting start to celebrating another continent.

Chartwell Dutiro

We dash to the temperate biome, which has restricted numbers although the performance is also transmitted to the big screens in the arena to catch Chartwell Dutiro in ceremonial dress playing the bizarre looking mbira a large hollowed out gourd bowl with metal paddles inside it – which make a distinct noise. It sounds a bit like rain drops and is also mesmerizing and you can tell it’s an ancient and powerful instrument which is used in spirit medium ceremonies. With his voice and the mbira Chartwell’s music is infectious and in the humid lush location again Africa has come to Cornwall.


Mariza

Mariza is next up on the Main stage. Playing fada which is traditional Portuguese music born 2000 years ago as mixture of music from African slaves and Portuguese sailors the singer born in Mozambique is stunningly attractive and exquisite at singing. With it’s bluesy, Mediterranean rhythms and her lush vocal the crowd are clapping from the start. Mariza cuts a distinctive figure with her short cropped blond hair and full length evening gown. The music is beautiful and breath taking at the same time and powerfully delivered, dripping with feeling and it lifts our spirits as drizzle dissipates. The highlight is the single Mil Fada Mil from her new album Transparent a lilting tune with strings which raises the temperature of the crowd.


Mayram Mursal

Accompanied by two woman chanters, with three male chanters and a three piece band. The biodome reverberates with magical sounds and chanted rhythms as the crowd start to liven up and join in with the celebration of African sounds and culture.

Thomas Mapfumo and the Black Unlimited

It’s Thomas’ birthday and the eight piece band bring us songs from Africa. There a people dancing in the crowd and a real atmospheres starting to develop at Eden. Thomas is an exile from his homeland of Zimbabwe and his appeal to “Help to do away with dictatorship in Africa!” is resounding cheered by the crowd many of whom are echoing the sentiment with their ‘Make Mugabe History’ shirts. Seconds later the cheers are just as loud as the sun breaks out and all the crowd start to dance. While Jan (of Jan’s van fame) keeps the kids entertained with ribbons on sticks and it’s good to see so many kids here. The set finishes with the whole crowd singing Thomas a Happy Birthday.

Coco Mbassi

Agelina Jolie introduces the Cameroon singer and thanks us for being there and celebrating the beauty and strength of people and the music on this day when the needs of Africa are highlighted. Coco normally has an eight piece band but today only has an acoustic guitar and some form of maracas for company. Her soaring vocals and the rhythm from her hand is delightful and well appreciated by the crowd. As the media all race off to trail after Angelina and her son.



Shikisha

The WOMAD favourites entertain us with their vibrant dancing and loud vocals from the five girls who bounce and giggle and dance and kick. They get everyone in the biodome dancing with their crazy rhythms while two men on drums provide additional beats. As the singing reverberates around the dome there is some serious swinging of hips as the girls dance themselves into a frenzy!



Madou Diouf and O Fogum

Modou and his family come from a long line of musicians from the Serre people’s of Senegal. With Sabar and Tama drums the family dressed in electric blue traditional dress play with intensity and the explosive rhythms and Madou is all smiles and dance and it’s invigorating stuff. The dancers are able to dance at such pace and perform awesome displays of agility as the sun appears and the arena fills up even more.

Then Peter Gabriel introduces us to the Father of Eden Tim Smit who tells us about Eden being the most exciting development from nothing and that the reason why Eden works is that it’s built by us the people not as some government request and that more businesses need to get involved in Africa instead of governments. The woman who is the delegate we spoke to earlier and off to the G8 summit addresses us afterwards with shameful figures of child death, poverty, AIDs and it’s crushing and emotional and we all agree it’s time to make a change. I’m glad it’s her taking our message to the G8 as if anyone can make the world leaders listen it’s her.See the whole thing on the BBC website here.

M6 et la dépendance

LE MONDE 04.07.05

L 'Afrique serait-elle virtuelle ? En tout cas, M6, opérateur français du Live 8 avec NRJ, n'a pas poussé l'amour du continent noir jusqu'à sacrifier des parts de marché acquises grâce à Smallville et Largo Winch, qui passèrent d'abord le 2 juillet.

Présentateur confiné aux coulisses, Laurent Boyer annonçait les écrans publicitaires ­ - Nokia, l'un des sponsors officiels du Live 8, en tête. Puis les dosettes jetables pour café instantané, voitures high tech et jus de fruits reconstitués, de quoi faire avancer la cause africaine et le commerce équitable ! A lire les programmes de télévision, il y aurait eu ce jour-là Renaud, Johnny Hallyday, Manu Chao à Versailles.

Il y avait tromperie sur la marchandise : ces trois-là n'ont jamais manifesté la moindre velléité de se présenter aux portes du château où fut élaboré, en 1685, le Code Noir de Colbert, qui commençait ainsi : "Comme nous devons également nos soins à tous les peuples que la divine Providence a mis sous notre obéissance..."

Où en sommes-nous de la dépendance ? Evénement télévisuel, le Live 8 s'est attiré l'ire des musiciens africains. Mal filmé, mal ficelé, le concert vu par la lucarne M 6 était un assemblage de chansons sans feu ni lieu, mises bout à bout, avec slogans imprécis ­ - "Plus d'excuses". D'excuses à quoi ? Zapping à Londres pour la reformation, pâlichonne, de Pink Floyd, "le plus grand groupe de rock du monde" avant U2 : Roger Waters, rondouillard au crâne d'œuf, David Gilmour, grande gigue à la morgue affichée.

Le temps passe. Sur le mur noir et blanc qui servit de pochette au manifeste abrasif et révolutionnaire que fut The Wall, un autre slogan pris dans le florilège bobgeldofien : "A bas la pauvreté".

Les Africains d'Afrique étaient pendant ce temps dans la profondeur des Cornouailles devant 5 000 spectateurs aux pieds nus. Avec Peter Gabriel en chef de file, l'une des rares rock star à avoir pensé que le continent se sauvera en travaillant et qu'il est bon de l'y aider ­ - comme il l'a fait avec le festival Womad, créé en 1987, et son label RealWorld.

La fête était planétaire, il eût fallu la suivre sur Internet plutôt que sur les vieilles télévisions. Sur aol. fr, par exemple, en temps réel et à la carte. De quoi estomper la vacuité étalée et de lire en creux ce que le Live 8 aurait pu réussir : que Bob Geldof serrât la main au bluesman Ali Farka Touré, maire de Niafounké, plutôt qu'à Bill Gates, ou que Bono invitât un Nègre mal connu à partager, trois minutes durant, une parcelle de sa gloire.

Véronique Mortaigne

Article paru dans l'édition du 05.07.05

MobiTV & ABC News Now Bring Live 8 Concert Broadcast To Mobile Phone Users Across America

4th July, 2005,

MobiTV, provided live broadcast of the Live 8 "Africa Calling" concert from Cornwall, England. Africa Calling, organized by musician Peter Gabriel, featured an all-African line-up of performers and was part of the Live 8 concert series designed to raise awareness of poverty in Africa.

The Live 8 concerts took place on the same day in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Toronto, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Moscow, Scotland, and in Philadelphia. Gabriel and Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour hosted the Africa Calling event, and the concert included African performers such as Maryam Mursal, Salif Keita and Thomas Mapfumo.

MobiTV is the most popular mobile television service in the market today, providing subscribers a variety of the best news, sports, and entertainment programming. U.S. customers can purchase MobiTV through Sprint PCS, Cingular and other regional carriers. The service is available on a wide range of phones, and on the new 3G wireless networks offers customers a near broadcast-quality viewing experience.

African music in a Cornish garden

By Alan Beattie in London, Henry Tricks in Cornwall and John Reed in Johannesburg

The world's attention this weekend fell on a assembly of giants from the rich world promising to help Africa. Not the Group of Eight meeting itself, but mammoth rock concerts in London, Philadelphia, Berlin and other G8 cities, where some of the world's most famous musicians performed for a global television audience in the hundreds of millions. But mirroring the unglamorous, low-profile efforts of African nations to pull themselves out of poverty were the struggles of the continent's musicians to showcase their talent as well.

Compared with the fundraising of Live Aid, 20 years ago, the 10-hour Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park had a more explicitly political edge, even if the complexities of foreign aid, debt relief and trade policy are harder to convey than the simple injunction of 1985 to “feed the world”. “We don't want your money we want your name”, an electronic message scrolled over the top of the stage, along with the warnings to “eight men in one room” not to let campaigners down.

Bill Gates, the Microsoft multi-billionaire and philanthropist, and Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general, came on to bring some heavyweight, if faintly incongruous, backing to the campaign. Bob Geldof, the organiser, indulged himself by performing a single Boomtown Rats song but spent more time railing against cynicism and defeatism towards aid and Africa.

The shows in G8 capitals were about raising consciousness about Africa, not about showcasing the music of the continent. Perhaps this explains why the only concert in Africa itself a hastily arranged event in Johannesburg drew around 7,000 fans compared with the 40,000 expected, and explains the relegation of the cream of the African music scene to a former quarry pit in Cornwall.

But even the whiff of discrimination failed to damp spirits at the Eden Project, the Cornish gardens complex and symbol of environmental transformation. There, 20 acts, including some of the greatest African musicians alive, swelled their voices into a dazzling gesture of defiance as if the eyes of the world, not just of 5,000 people, were turned on them.

The veteran British rock star Peter Gabriel organised the concert with the Senegalese legend Youssou N'Dour after failing to convince the man he called “Chairman Bob” to put more African acts on the Hyde Park stage apart from a brief appearance by N'Dour to duet with the singer Dido and an African children's choir to accompany the American diva Mariah Carey.

“It's about Africa, and if you're not empowering the African music community, what are you doing?” Mr Gabriel said.

Assembled in just two weeks, the Africa Calling concert was a pygmy compared with the Hyde Park extravaganza. The mood was part celebration, part justification. African musicians struggled to explain why a worldwide event designed to offer opportunities to Africa failed to give some of the greatest African entrepreneurs a chance to sell themselves.

But they made some telling points about Africa's responsibility to itself.

“How long is Africa going to depend on aid?” asked Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier from Sudan now making hot-selling rap records in Kenya. “Aid is needed, but will the world continue to supply food to Africa or can it provide food for itself?”

Eden hears Africa's call

Anushka Asthana

Sunday July 3, 2005

The Observer

The dancer swung her body from side to side, stamping her feet and shaking her hips in time to the music. She seemed unable to stop smiling. Next to her the singer Thomas Mapfumo stopped to address the crowd. He told them that, living in exile in America after fleeing his native Zimbabwe, he understood Africa's plight. 'Help us to do away with dictatorship,' he cried.

The crowd, more than 5,000 strong, raised their hands and cheered. They were at the outside arena of the Africa Calling, Live8 concert at the Eden project. 'The Eden project is like the signature of sustainability,' said Mike Amies, as he clapped his hands to the music. 'I can't think of a more appropriate location to hold a concert drawing attention to the G8 summit.'

Bands were playing on the main stage and inside the Mediterranean biome, dancing and singing with an enormous range of plant species as a stunning backdrop. Next door, people could wander into the humid tropics biome, where African music emerged from speakers hidden behind giant plants.

In the afternoon, actress Angelina Jolie appeared on stage to introduce one of the acts. She had travelled by helicopter after receiving a call from organiser Peter Gabriel on Friday night.

Backstage, the rapper Emmanuel Jal was getting excited about his performance. 'This is like Africa,' he said. 'The people of Cornwall smile so much more than those in London.' Jal is a former child soldier from war-torn Sudan. He has spent the past six months at the top of the Kenyan charts.

He said it was important that the campaign did not tail off after these events. 'If I told you I loved you today and then didn't say it tomorrow it would look like a joke. We are saying we love Africa today, but I know that after the concerts people will forget unless we keep up the pressure.'

Jal said he was happy to be at yesterday's event but wished he and others had been invited to play in London where their message would have 'more effect'. There was a giant screen showing the events at Hyde Park and African artists were amongthose sitting and watching. On the main stage there were regular announcements about other Live8 events, adding to the feeling of participation in an event that spanned the world.

African star Geoffrey Oryema, who fled Uganda in the Seventies, could be seen talking to fans yesterday. He said it was a shame that there were not more African stars in London. 'This is about the problems in the continent of Africa, so these artists should be there to tell people about it.' He was positive, however, that Bob Geldof's push could one day help to make poverty history.

Had some of the artists been allowed to tread the boards of Hyde Park, Gabriel said it would have been a good thing. Yesterday he insisted Geldof had 'scored an own goal'. He said: 'I mentioned it to chairman Bob and he was of the opinion that unfamiliar artists from whichever country would probably switch people off.' Gabriel added that small bursts of such music would have only added to the entertainment. The electric atmosphere at the Eden project seemed to confirm his opinion.

Make Poverty History Official site

The Day We Made History... Hour By Hour

...Back in the UK, Cornwall’s contribution to Live8 at the Eden Project near St Austell has started out as a typically chilled-out affair. “It’s filling up slowly,” announces host Peter Gabriel, co-founder of Womad, introducing the acts of Africa Calling which feature some of the best musicians from the continent. Kenyans Ayub Ogada and Uno start proceedings on the main stage but play to a sparse crowd.

The first superstar of the day is Mariza, a Mozambique-born Fado singer now based in Lisbon. Six feet tall, she takes to the stage looking like a princess in a black dress, stunning the audience with her beautiful, evocative voice.

For some in the crowd, the attraction of the Eden concert was worth an overnight coach trip from London. Single mothers Andrea, 30, and Rasheed, 34, have come all the way from London, shunning the Hyde Park show because they didn’t feel it was representative of black Britons. “We don’t listen to Coldplay or U2,” says Rasheed, “yet the concert was supposed to represent us.” For Andrea, “it was better to be here supporting the black African musicians.”

In Johannesburg itself it’s a beautiful highveld mid-winter day. There isn’t a cloud in the sky and the air is like champagne. Nelson Mandela will appear later; right now it’s the 4Peace drummers and the Mahotella Queens – three African women in their 60s who began rocking against apartheid decades ago – who are entertaining the crowd in Mary Fitzgerald Square. There’s 50,000 of them – black, white and every shade between, shaking and swaying...

Discord behind the harmonies for artists who felt snubbed

The finale of the Africa Calling concert at the Eden Project. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty

Patrick Barkham

Monday July 4, 2005

Guardian

"Don't be surprised to see my face this way, but I'll try to give you what I can," Emmanuel Jal, a Sudanese refugee, former child soldier and rising star of African hip-hop, told his audience in Cornwall - and tried to smile.

When the 25-year-old got the call to fly to Britain for Live 8, he hoped to show millions of people "what an African can offer even when they have gone through hardship". Instead, he ended up rapping in Arabic, Nuer and English before barely 50 people in the Mediterranean dome at the Eden Project.

The hurriedly arranged Africa Calling gig was probably the most convivial concert in the world: dahlias outnumbered security staff and there was hardly a crash barrier in sight as 5,000 people swayed to a diverse bill of African beats.

But despite flying visits from A-listers including Angelina Jolie, Dido and Youssou N'Dour, the voices of Africa Calling - from the Portuguese Fado of Mariza to the soulful guitar and vocals of Ugandan Geoffrey Oryema - were hardly heard on the global TV stage.

Jal, who has topped the charts in Kenya where he is still a refugee, confronted Bob Geldof when he met him in the UK. "He said to me you have to sell more than 4m records to come and perform at Hyde Park," Jal said. "He said that people in China will not want to listen to my music because they do not know me. I like the spirit behind this - helping the poor - but when I look at him [Geldof] it looks like he is making history by using the poor people. Years ago, he helped the Ethiopians but this time he lost my respect."

Jal said he received calls from similarly disillusioned Africans. "Thousands of people will think this day is about making pop stars more famous and creating a name for themselves out of poor Africans. Africans are complaining why aren't African performers there to represent them? The idea is good but making poverty history in a concert is not going to happen."

For the audience, it was simpler. "It's their loss," said Jane Acton, 45, from Porthleven in Cornwall about Live 8's failure to schedule African bands at Hyde Park. "I'd rather be here than Hyde Park any day. There's only one or two bands there I want to see, whereas here you're getting an education and watching bands you'll never see again."

After performing Seven Seconds and Thank You with Dido, the Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour said there definitely should have been more African artists on the London bill. Although the artists, from countries including Algeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Mozambique, Somalia and Sudan, sensed they had been overlooked, they strived to make the most of their day in Cornwall.

The exiled Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo appealed for an end to dictatorship during his vibrant set, a call echoed by other African musicians who stressed the importance of rooting out their continent's corrupt leaders beyond the Make Poverty History agenda.

Peter Gabriel, who hosted the event and played a key role in assembling the bill, pointed out the role western banks and multinationals play in propping up tyrannical African leaders and called for a clean banking campaign.

Gabriel said Geldof had scored an own goal by not putting more African artists on the Hyde Park bill and suggested that the Live 8 organiser was behind the times. "I mentioned it to Chairman Bob and he was of the opinion that with billions of eyes watching the TV, unfamiliar artists from whichever country would probably switch people off. I don't agree."

But Gabriel balked at the broadcaster Andy Kershaw's phrase "musical apartheid" to describe the day at Eden. "You can harp on about tokenism and apartheid but in the end something bigger and bolder is being attempted here," he said. "You've got to forget all that shit."

England show brings out African voices

AP Photo/LEFTERIS PITARAKIS Dido and Youssou N'Dour perform at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London, Saturday July 2, 2005. The concert is part of a series of free concerts being held around the world designed to press leaders of the rich G8 countries to help impoverished African nations.

By D'ARCY DORAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


ST. AUSTELL, England (AP) - Top African musicians who have spent their lives fighting for change in Africa brought their music to the worldwide Live 8 audience on Saturday.

Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour was headlining the bill, which featured more than 18 acts from 14 countries, including Beninoise diva Angelique Kidjo, a three-time Grammy nominee.

Host and co-organizer Peter Gabriel said it was possibly the best African lineup to perform outside the continent. "You can see how civilized people are by where they put the boundary between 'them' and 'us'. Hopefully today we can push that line back so that 'us' becomes a much bigger category," Gabriel told reporters before the concert.

Thousands danced to African rhythms outside the world's largest greenhouse on the floor of a lush green crater in St. Austell in the southwestern region of Cornwall. Organizers expected the concert to draw about 5,000.

The "Africa Calling" concert near the Eden Project and the Live 8 concert in Johannesburg, South Africa, were organized after criticism that African artists had been largely excluded from global music marathon aimed at raising awareness of Africa's poverty.

The other concerts being held Saturday were in London and in the other countries that make up the Group of Eight major industrial nations - the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia.

Thomas Mapfumo, whose songs became anthems for Zimbabwe's independence movement in 1980 but who has been banned by state radio and forced into exile in the United States, provided an early highlight. He celebrated his 60th birthday swinging his hips to bongo beats and shimmering guitars.

"We have to do away with dictatorships. Help to do away with dictatorships," he said after criticizing Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's latest so-called urban renewal drive for leaving tens of thousands homeless. He closed his set with a song rejoicing at the death of a dictator.

Angelina Jolie, accompanied by her son Maddox, was among the movie stars at the concert.
"With all that we have in the world, we can fix what is happening in Africa, we can save lives, we can turn it around," Jolie told reporters.

But concerts are only a step in addressing Africa's problems, said performer Emmanuel Jal, who was a former child soldier in his native Sudan before he escaped to Kenya at age 11.
"We make a big concert, we entertain people, but what's next?" Jal said. "Because they'll be entertained, but after a while then they'll forget. We need something to follow-up raising that consciousness so that that pressure can be put on the leaders of the G8."

Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof rejected criticism that top African artists had been excluded from the main concert venues Saturday, including London and Philadelphia, arguing that only the biggest-selling names could ensure a global television audience would stay tuned.

N'Dour, who helped organize the "Africa Calling" bill, was set to be Live 8's main African face on Saturday. He was scheduled to perform at three of Saturday's 10 concerts - traveling from London to St. Austell, then to Paris.