African Summer: free live music by Amani Creatives at Home, Oldham Library & in Salford

African music collective, Amani Creatives, are playing three free shows in Greater Manchester this summer. Showcasing live music by African musicians from Manchester and the North West, the events take place at Home, Manchester (Sat 16 Jun), Oldham Library (Thu 21 Jun) and Sacred Trinity Church in Salford (Sat 21 Jul), with more to follow later in the year. Amani Creatives is an African-led, not-for-profit organisation based in Manchester which celebrates and promotes traditional and contemporary cultures of local African communities – click here to find out more about them. Show details as follows:

Mama Jo & Emmanuela Yogolelo live + drumming & dance workshops
Turn up for these free drumming and dance workshops between 2-3pm, where visitors can participate followed by with live African music between 9 & 10pm. Artists performing include Mama Jo who interprets traditional and performs her own material. Expect thrilling afro r&b with traditional Congolese elements. She is joined by Emmanuela Yogolelo, a Congolese singer-songwriter who performs African world music. In her own words: “the base is traditional African, but the spices are from all over the world”. Listen to Yogolelo’s Soundcloud.
Sat 16 Jun, Home, 2, Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN. Tel: 0161 200 1500, 2pm & 9pm, FREE, www.homemcr.org

Mama Jo, Robert Maseko and Muntu Valdo live
Enjoy live music by Mama Jo (see above), Robert Maseka, a talented drummer, who has been described as ‘the Congolose rhythm king of the North of England’. Originally from Kinshasa, he among the UK’s finest ambassadors of African music. Muntu Valdo is a leading jazz guitarist, harmonica player and singer from Doula, Cameroon who has played with, among others, Ali Farka Toure and Manu Dibango. Watch Valdo live at the BBC: www.youtube.com
Thu 21 Jun, Oldham Library, Cultural Quarter, Greaves Street, Oldham OL1 1AL. Tel: 0161 770 8000, 7pm, FREE, www.oldham-council.co.uk

Rumba – Community Sharing Day where Cuban & Congolese culture meet
The two performances above are followed by a day of collaboration and cultural sharing called ‘Rumba’ which seeks to showcase the parallels between Congolese and Cuban music and culture. This event includes a performance by Tagne Tebu. Born and raised in Cameroon, Tebu is a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist musician; his music blends African melodies and grooves with jazz harmony and is based on African storytelling on the themes of love, war and peace. Listen to Tebu’s Soundcloud.
Sat 21 Jul, Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford, M3 5DW. Tel: 0161 839 1180, noon-8pm, www.amanicreatives.wordpress.com