The Endless Journey is a spectacular multi-media concert at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music bringing together four musicians from two of Niger’s leading internationally known music groups, Mamane Barka and Etran Finatawa.
The Endless Journey is a live music show, a documentary film and a photographic exhibition. This is the story of these acclaimed musicians from Niger, West Africa, who travelled the world promoting their nomadic culture and desert blues music only to realise that whilst they were away their children were turning their back’s on their cultural heritage. So they took a desert road trip to try to reinvigorate the tradition for a new generation. German photographer and film-maker Jean Molitor accompanied them and the supporting exhibition and documentary film are a new dimension to this fascinating and stunning live performance.
The musicians are Mamane Barka and Oumarou Adamou who toured the UK in 2010 and Alhousseini Anivolla and Bammo Agonla from Etran Finatawa who have spent the last 7 years performing world-wide. In this new collaboration their hypnotic musical groove evokes the breathless heat and shimmering horizon of the Sahara bringing together the electric guitar beloved of Tuareg musicians, the haunting vocals of the Wodaabe, the rippling strings of biram master Mamane Barka and the instinctive hypnotic percussion of Griot Oumarou Adamou.
The Endless Journey is presented as part of the We Face Forward music programme. Look out for other events across other Manchester music venues that include Afro Cubism (3 June), Kanda Bongo Man (15 June), Jaliba Kuyateh and Kumareh Band (29 June) and Femi Kuti (4 July tbc).
This performance is part of We Face Forward, a season of contemporary art and music from West Africa, celebrated across Manchester. We Face Forward is part of the London 2012 Festival.