Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Experience / Brudenell Social Club Leeds

UK afrobeat music’s royalty is in the house at Brudenell Social Club Leeds on Saturday 9th May with the return of Dele Sosimi.

Dele Sosimi, the Nigerian-British afrobeat ambassador, musician and educator, has been at the heart of the global afrobeat scene since relocating to the UK in December 1995. He started his musical career while still in his teens in 1979 in Lagos Nigeria, playing keyboards with the godfather of afrobeat Fela Kuti and his Egypt 80 band. Dele would become musical director of that band in 1984 for two years, until 1986, and then he then teamed up with childhood friend and Fela’s eldest son Femi Kuti to kick start the latter’s afrobeat band Positive Force. It would see Dele touring, recording and performing worldwide with Femi until his return to the UK in the mid-1990s, when he started his own afrobeat orchestra under his name.

Over forty years later, he remains a tireless ambassador for the unique musical movement all over the world. His blend of complex funk grooves, traditional Nigerian music, African percussion and an underlying sense of jazz combines with his virtuoso keyboard skills and rhythmic singing to make him one of the most respected Afrobeat authorities of his era.

Hackney-born and UK-based, Dele has performed all over the planet, from the Montreux Jazz Festival to Mawazine Festival in Rabat (Morocco), Ollin Khan in Mexico, to the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Dele was also the afrobeat music consultant for the National Theatre’s production of the musical “Fela!”, often performing in it with fellow afrobeat pioneer and Fela’s original drummer Tony Allen.

Dele’s pioneering musicality has also spawned collaborations with an impressive range of artists, including Estuary 21, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, electronic artist Medlar, the Afro-Latin ensemble CubAfrobeat, plus London bands Lokkhi Terra, and Eparapo, led by his own regular bassist, composer and producer Suman Joshi. These collaborations have spawned an impressive discography, ranging from his solo album “You No Fit Touch Am” to the brand new LP ‘The Confluence’ with Estuary 21. He’s also collaborated/performed with international afrobeat bands including Newen Afrobeat (Chile), and Jembaa Groove (Berlin).

He rarely plays Leeds (maybe just 3-4 times in his whole career), and it’s almost 2 years since his last Brudenell show, so it’s great to have him back with the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Experience.
Support acts to be confirmed.

“Special… a really great new track he’s got out on Wah Wah 45s.” – Gilles Peterson (BBC 6 Music)

“Something special.. .an exclusive first play of a brand new single from the afrobeat legend Dele Sosimi.” – Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2)

“A true master of the form.” – Clash Magazine

“Dele Sosimi….a total music legend!” – Cerys Matthews (BBC 6 Music)

“Organically shimmering with sun-lit horns and synth powered grooves.” ★★★★ – Songlines Magazine

“Horn fanfares create a typically joyous afrobeat sound, but there are also intriguing experiments into downtempo grooves” – The Guardian

“Dele Sosimi has distilled things into a form of bonsai afrobeat….a terrific album by an impeccable band” – Songlines