Fri 21st Oct 2022
Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Quartet
7:30pm - 10:00pm
Price: £15 advance/£17.50 on the day
Dele Sosimi stands out as one of the most active musicians currently on the Afrobeat scene worldwide. Dele‘s career began when he joined Fela‘s Anikulapo-Kuti‘s Egypt 80 (1979–1986) and then subsequently with Fela‘s son Femi Anikulapo-Kuti‘s Positive Force (1986-1994). In both bands he was musical director and keyboard player. Since Fela createa Afrobeat, Dele‘s Afrobeat pedigree is therefore impeccable.
The music is a blend of complex but highly danceable funk grooves, Nigerian traditional music (including hi-life), African percussion, underpinning the jazz horns and solos from other instruments, as well as rhythmical singing.
Dele has toured extensively around the world with Fela and Femi, re-orchestrating and arranging music, and also handling the recruiting and training of new musicians. He has performed all over the world (for example ,the Montreux Jazz Festival, Joe Zawinul‘s Birdland (Vienna – Dele was invited to perform as a guest alongside the late great Joe Zawinul at his Charity Event for survivors of Hurricane Katrina), Canada Afrobeat Summit in Calgary (August 2007) and in London (frequent appearances at the Jazz Café, Kemia Bar at Momo‘s, ‘The Shrine, and the South Bank Centre (Queen Elizabeth Hall& Purcell Room), Soho Jazz Festival, to name a few.
Currently based in London, Dele is an educator and instructor in Afrobeat (via his Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Foundation, and as a Visiting Lecturer in Music and Media, London Metropolitan University). Dele performs in one of three formats, each as compelling and funky as the others – a 15-piece Afrobeat Orchestra (featuring a 5-piece horn section and dancers), a 6–9 piece band (the most frequently used format) or a trio/quartet (with bass and drums/percussion).
Dates
- Friday, October 21, 2022
The Hat Factory
The Hat Factory is Luton's leading arts and entertainment venue featuring live music, club nights, theatre, dance, films, children's activities, workshops, classes and gallery exhibitions.
It's a centre of artistic excellence set within a vibrant urban environment. It offers the young and the young at heart the chance to engage with the arts, to be inspired by the UK’s leading arts practitioners, and to develop artistic skills and confidence.
The Hat Factory is a combined arts venue in the centre of Luton. It opened in 2003 and since then has been the area’s main provider of contemporary theatre, dance and music. We work with both emerging and proven producers and artists, through programming, engagement programmes and our Associate Artist scheme. Their music programming is vibrant, offering an eclectic portfolio of high quality artists from the worlds of jazz, blues, folk, world music, indie and hip hop. Complementing their own programming, they welcome local/regional promoters to the venue, broadening their music offer and at the same time supporting young promoters and their businesses. They programme contemporary theatre and dance with a focus on fresh, new and relevant stories from both established and emerging touring companies who are making high quality work in the UK. They’ve programmed companies like Earthfall, Chickenshed, New International Encounter (NIE), Trestle, Menagerie, Eastern Angles, Atma, State of Emergency, 30 Bird, Tavaziva, Analogue and Jean Abreu Dance to name but a few.
Venue Hire
The Hat Factory has flexible spaces of various sizes to suit every need. See Venue Hire for more information.
Programming
To become part of The Hat Factory's programme, please contact our Head of Arts & Cultural Programmes, Fahim Qureshi at Fahim.Qureshi@LutonCulture.com