Afropean Express

Afropean Express are Sierra Leonean-German singer Mariama, Nigerian-German singer Donabi and his brother Adé Bantu. This unique collective has worked with Maceo Parker, UB40, Tony Allen, Patrice or Xavier Naidoo.

On Stage

  1. from 20:20 h to 21:15 h

Afropean Express

Afropean Express

The Afropean Express is a musical project made up of Sierra Leonean-German singer Mariama, Nigerian-German singer Donabi and his brother Adé Bantu. This unique collective has collaborated and performed jointly or as solo artists with colleagues as diverse as Maceo Parker, UB40, Tony Allen, Patrice or Xavier Naidoo and worked on a number of critically acclaimed albums always pushing the envelope of creativity and challenging the pigeonholing philosophy of their audience and and musical critics. Therefore it was only natural for them to pull their creative resources together in a bid to explore and expand on the Afropean Blues concept – a reoccurring theme in their songs, lyrics, philosophy as well as in their social activism (it is important to note that they are the founders of the Afro German project Brothers Keepers).

As Afropeans Mariama, Donabi & Adé Bantu have been constantly confronted with the friction, prejudice and pain of an uneven dialogue between two worlds. That notwithstanding they have learnt over the years to mediate and navigate between this man made divide appealing to the fundamentals principles of humanity in an effort to heal the wounds of the atrocious past through music.

Their live performances effortlessly draw from their urban West African musical heritages of Highlife and Afrobeat connecting it with classical diaspora elements of Soul, Blues and Hiphop. By stripping their music to the bone and going back to the basics, they bare out their soul, just like African Americans along the Mississippi river did, taking the Afropean blues to its African roots.

Adé Bantu

Bantu aka Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity is a musical collective formed by Adé Bantu. He was raised in Lagos( Nigeria) and Cologne( Germany) and currently resides in both cities. This musician sees himself as an Afropean who is constantly inspired by both continents. His music is an eclectic fusion of the rich cultural heritage of the Yorubas and the sounds of the African diaspora. His debut album “Bantu” which explored this connection of worlds featured Senegalese Hiphop veterans P.B.S. and Jamaican riddim maestro Sly Dunbar.

This musical adventure was further burnished by his trailblazing collaboration with the Nigerian Fuji star Adewale Ayuba titled “Fuji Satisfaction”- a melange of Fuji,AfroFunk, Dancehall, Hiphop & Afrobeat that earned him the 2005 edition of the prestigious Kora Award (the Pan African equivalent of the Grammy) in the categories Best Group West Africa and Best Group Africa. A deciding factor for this recognition seemed to have been that Adé Bantu’s songs like those of Peter Tosh or Fela Kuti always connect the personal and political. He proved how successful this musical stance can be with the AfroGerman NGO and musical collective named Brothers Keepers whose musical offerings made it to the top position of the German Pop Charts with their uncompromising statement against racism.

Adé Bantu now usually performs with the 11- piece Band Afrobeat Academy. An ensemble that celebrates Fela Kuti’s musical vision in a unique and exciting way. Their live performances merge the energy and vitality of Afrobeat with universal sounds and styles to create the ongoing soundtrack of the Pan African Rennaisance Movement. He has shared the stage on numerous occasions with Afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen both in Nigeria and Europe and gigged alongside Afrobeat stellar personalities like Dede Mabiaku, Seun Kuti and the legendary Egypt 80 band. Bantu has toured Nigeria, Sweden, England, Germany, Uganda, Ghana, Denmark and France and has collaborated with UB40, Gentleman, Xavier Naidoo and Patrice.

Mariama

God’s gift. This is the meaning behind the young singer and songwriters name who was born in Freetown/Sierra Leone and grew up in Cologne/Germany. As for her relation to music – this name describes it pretty well. “Not all my songs are religious in the first instance but I believe that my voice and the ability to write songs are the greatest and most beautiful gifts I have ever recieved in my life.”

Now life is what Mariamas songs are all about. Sweetly and easily she sings herself through the emotions and situations life brings about. Wether it is pain, melancholy, or happiness, love, or heartache, hope, or desparation, or simply somebody elses story – she’ll sing to you about it, starting with her voice and her guitar. “You could call it acoustic soul. At least I believe one could describe it like that. It is always difficult for me to define myself or my music. As I like to listen to different songs in different situations I also write each song in a different state of mind.”

By now Mariama has collected enough snap-shots and personal views to make a complete album and she is determined to realise it. “I want it to be like a journey. Everybody will be invited to travel through space and time with me.” Now that is something to be curios about! Anyone who wants to see her on stage will certainly get a chance. At present she is touring through clubs in Germany with „Flomega“ from Bremen and his band „the Ruffcats“. And what is more she will jump at any chance to take her guitar and perform.

Donabi

Donabi ist ein Entertainer, ein Performer, einer der Musiker, die sich nicht nur durch ihre Songs auf einem Album mitteilen können, sondern erst recht live auf der Bühne ihre explosive Kraft entfalten und ihrer Musik vor Publikum wieder ganz neue emotionale und kreative Qualitäten und Dimensionen hinzufügen und ein Konzert zu einem richtigen Live-Erlebnis machen. Donabi ist ein Live-Artist, der mit seinem Charme, seinem Charisma, seiner Ausnahmestimme und auch seiner Attraktivität das Publikum für sich einnimmt – vom ersten bis zum letzten Song. Entdecken Sie die Seele eines musikalischen Nomaden gepaart mit der Energie eines Entertainers, der sich am wohlsten fühlt in bzw. in diesem Fall auf seinem Element – der Bühne.

Donabis Einfluss beim Projekt Brothers Keepers (»Adriano letzte Warnung«) machte sein Gesicht im deutschsprachigen Raum bekannt und durch seine Mitwirkung in der Band BANTU (Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity) kennt man ihn auch über diese Grenzen hinaus. Er war schon mit dem gesamten Who’s Who der deutschen Reggae, Dancehall und Hiphop-Szene auf der Bühne. Donabi ist kein Newcomer. Die Veröffentlichung seiner Solokünstler-EP »Act of Love« im Sommer 2003 war ein gelungener Vorgeschmack auf den nun fertig gestellten Longplayer »No Philosophy«. »Musik ist mein Weg« ist die kompromisslose Aussage des 1972 in London geborenen Sängers, der seine Kindheit in Lagos (Nigeria) verbracht hat und nun schon seit vielen Jahren in Deutschland lebt.

»Mir geht es darum Musik zu schaffen, die zeitlos ist. Die Frage nach Kompromissen ist überflüssig, denn Musik ist meine Herausforderung, meine Passion und mein Antrieb. Für mich gibt es keinen anderen Weg.« Und dabei erinnert sich Donabi auch immer wieder an seinen verstorbenen Vater, dessen Einflüsse ihn bis heute begleiten: »Mein Vater legte für uns Kinder
immer sonntags auf, das war unser Gottesdienst. Reggae und Soul und davon viel. Selbst meinen ersten Lieblingssong »I Need A Roof« (Mighty Diamonds) höre ich heute noch gerne.« Donabi liebt die Herausforderung, Menschen immer wieder mit neuen Sounds und musikalischen Ideen zu überraschen: »Gib den Leuten einen kleinen Vorgeschmack, schon bist du ein Reggae-Act. Doch ich lasse mich nicht mehr einengen oder
in Schubladen stecken. Meine Songs sind nicht zuletzt deshalb voller kreativer Spannung und Energie und ohne genau diese Vibes wäre Musik einfach nur pure Langeweile.« Es ist Love and Passion, was Donabi vorwärts treibt, das manifestiert sich auch in der Arbeit an seinen Songs – ein kreativer Prozess, eine Wandlung, die Zeit braucht und bodenständig ist.

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