Blankets & Wine XLIV, Jun. 2 2013 @ Carnivore

Pack your picnic baskets, wine, blankets and join the 44th edition of Blankets & Wine. On stage at this edition of East Africa’s premier music festival will be the ambient Prisca Ajwang, the jaunty Dela, the undiluted Alsarah from Sudan and the phenomenal 2013 double South African Music Awards winner, Zahara from South Africa.

Date: June 2, 2013
Venue: Carnivore Grounds
Time: from 1 – 9pm
Tickets: Gate Kshs 2000, Advance Kshs 1500
Children between 5 to 12 years pay 500 Ksh. and free for children under 5

Fresh out of Sauti Academy’s magnificent music factory, Prisca makes her big stage debut as part of Blankets & Wine’s promise to deliver fresh talent every month.

Our 2nd act, US based Sudanese singer Alsarah promises a unique treat with her ethno-urban flavour.

On her second Blankets & Wine appearance since her 2010 debut, Dela returns with new material from her soon to be completed new album.

2013 double South Africa Music Award (SAMA) winner Zahara winds up our amazing lineup bringing on board her acclaimed sound and a slew of chart topping singles and platinum selling albums. Zahara’s highly anticipated performance will be a sure delight for young and old music lovers alike.

This edition will host the first ever Blankets & Wine Craft Fair with over a dozen Kenyan artists and designers showcasing and selling their locally made crafts at the event.

Blankets & Wine will also be commemorating the June 5th world Environment Day under the theme ‘Think.Eat.Save’ as part of Blankets & Wine’s ongoing ‘Up-Cycling’ project geared towards Reducing, Recycling and Reusing waste and environmental pollution.

European Film Festival: Searching for Sugar Man, May 13, 19 & 23 2013 @ Alliance

Venue: Alliance Francaise
Tickets: Kshs 50

Screening Dates & Time
May 13, 2013 at 5.30 pm
May 19, 2013 at 5.30 pm
May 23, 2013 at 7.30 pm

Searching for Sugar Man tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest ’70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late ’60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez. — (C) Sony Pictures Classics

Winner of the 2013 Oscar for Best Documentary & BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary

Call for Application: 6th Talent Campus Durban –South Africa, by Apr.1 2013

Applications are open for 2013… The deadline is the 1st April. To apply create a profile and complete the on-line application here…

About
Talent Campus Durban is a 5-day intensive programme that runs during the Durban International Film Festival.

Talent Campus Durban seeks to provide selected participants with an opportunity to meet with international industry professionals and experts in various aspects of the film making business through participations in a 5-day programme of master classes, workshops and industry networking events.

For more info visit their Facebook Page

Out of Town: 10th Sauti za Busara Festival, Feb. 14-17 2013 @ Old Fort in Zanzibar

Dates: February 14-17, 2013
Venue: Old Fort in Zanzibar
Festival Tickets*: EA Residents US $29, International Visitors US $109
Programme: Festival Timetable

*Festival admission prices vary with citizeship. Find full info here

The Festival
The festival will celebrate a lifetime achievement of bringing together artists and audiences from around Africa and beyond with enriching cultural experiences, promoting cultural diversity and social development for the past 10 years.
Sauti za Busara is an annual music event in East Africa and widely known as ‘the friendliest festival on the planet’. This edition will feature 200 musicians: more than twenty five groups from East Africa and beyond; acoustic and electric, upcoming and established – all performing live.

The Old Fort will host three nights of non-stop live music, with the main programme continuing Friday through Sunday with performances from 5pm until 1am.

The festival also features African Music Films: documentaries, music videos and live concert footage, all focused on promoting the richness and diversity of African music as screened in the amphitheatre of the Old Fort.

Headline Artist Cheikh Lo – Senegal
Headline artist for the 10th edition of Sauti za Busara is internationally acclaimed Baye Fall artist Cheikh Lo from Senegal. A superb singer and songwriter as well as a distinctive guitarist, percussionist and drummer he has personalized and distilled a variety of influences from West and Central Africa, to create a style that is uniquely his own.

To celebrate ten years of Sauti za Busara, the festival showcases “Best of the Best”; audience favourites of past years including Tanzania’s DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra.

Zanzibar’s Culture Musical Club will also showcase at the 10th edition and they remain the most prolific and successful taarab orchestra from East Africa.

Other main acts include Khaira Arby (Mali), Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka (Zimbabwe), Atongo Zimba (Ghana), N’Faly Kouyaté (Guinea), Nathalie Natiembe (Reunion), Nawal & Les Femmes de la Lune (Comoros/Mayotte), Wazimbo (Mozambique), The Moreira Project (Mozambique/South Africa), Owiny Sigoma Band (Kenya/UK), Mokoomba (Zimbabwe), Msafiri Zawose & Sauti Band (Tanzania), Mani Martin (Rwanda), Burkina Electric (Burkina Faso/USA), Lumumba Theatre Group (Tanzania), Sousou & Maher Cissoko (Senegal/Sweden), Super Maya Baikoko (Tanzania), Peter Msechu (Tanzania) and many more.

Networking Space
Sauti za Busara will continue to host the Movers & Shakers networking forum for local and visiting arts professionals. This networking space facilitates discussions, exchange and development of ideas on the creative industries in the East African region and beyond.

Fringe Events
It’s not just the festival that puts on a show; the local community is encouraged to take part by hosting Busara Xtra fringe events. These include traditional ngoma drum and dance, fashion shows, dhow races, open-mic sessions, after-parties and performances of Zanzibar’s oldest taarab orchestras as arranged by the local community.

For More Information: www.busaramusic.org

Free Album Download: A Dollar a day – deluxe edition

on 12th of January 2012 A Dollar a daywas released, as a collaboration between Maisha yetu and Dexstraw Studio. It is a Pan-African collaborative music project that featured artists from Kenya,SA,Zim,Zambia,Bots,Naija and the States just to mention but a few.  Now 12007 free downloads down the line, here’s our appreciation for showing us so much support. To all our fans,critiques,supporters music,art lovers,sponsors we present to you an end-year musical bonus of two albums  for your christmas package. Download it, enjoy it and share it with other hip-hop fans worldwide!

This is a continued effort of collaboration between Kenya  and South Africa in empowering young people to use their talent. To encourage Sub-Saharan African youth to to view themselves as a resource and not a marginalized community.

Out of Town: Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Music Festival, Aug. 23-25 2012 @ Johannesburg-South Africa

Dates: August 23-25, 2012
Venue: Newtown, Johannesburg

For more information visit: http://www.joyofjazz.co.za/